Washington v. State

448 So. 2d 398, 1983 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4536
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Washington v. State. Read the opinion of the Court — 1981 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 2469
Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama·Decided May 31, 1983·No. 6 Div. 23·Published

Opinion

TYSON, Judge.

James Lee Washington was charged by indictment with the murder of Nathaniel Walker, Jr., by “shooting him with a pistol” in violation of § 13A-6-2, Code of Alabama, 1975.

The jury found the appellant “guilty of murder as charged” and the trial court, following a habitual offender hearing, at which three convictions obtained in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama, on October 27, 1980, for grand larceny, buying and receiving stolen property, and burglary and grand larceny were all placed in evidence, appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

Emily Jones, the mother of the deceased, Nathaniel Walker, Jr., testified that her son was killed at Salter’s Barbecue on the night of October 8, 1980, and identified some photographs of his body and his automobile parked at the scene. She stated that her son was 19 years old at the time of his death and was employed at North American Van Lines in Birmingham. On cross-examination, she admitted that her son did occasionally drink “a beer or two”.

Dr. Bruce Alexander, a forensic pathologist who assisted the coroner’s office, testified he examined the body of Nathaniel Walker, Jr., on October 9, 1980, and the victim died “of a gunshot wound to the left chest and heart with resulting hemorrhage.” On cross-examination, the doctor stated that the blood alcohol content was .24%.

Reginald L. Rogers, a construction worker who was being held in the Jefferson County Jail on a robbery charge, testified that he was present at Salter’s Barbecue on the night Nathaniel Walker was shot. He [400]*400stated that he saw the victim fall to the ground and the police drive up. He saw two black males running away, one of them wearing blue jeans, a dark colored shirt, and had on a baseball cap which he thought was yellow in color. He stated he later talked with Sergeant Bill Gautt at City Hall on the night of October 8 about 10:00 o’clock. Rogers related that he had overheard the victim, Nathaniel Walker, attempting to talk on the telephone and that he overheard him say to the black male wearing the baseball cap, “You put your own damn money in the phone.” He stated that later he saw the victim walk back toward his car and overheard Walker state, “Why are you walking up on me?” and the black male with the baseball cap on pulled out a pistol and fired. Then the black male and his companion ran off.

On cross-examination, Rogers stated the party who fired the shot at Walker was wearing a “red baseball cap” (R. 60), but he was unable to make an identification in court of the appellant or the other party who had approached the victim, Nathaniel Walker. On cross-examination, Rogers said that the victim did not have any weapon in his hand. Rogers also admitted that his own attorney and some assistants from the district attorney’s office had talked with him at the jail, but Rogers insisted that he could not recognize the party who fired the shot.

Claudia Hill testified that she was working at Salter’s Barbecue on the night of October 8, 1980. She positively identified the appellant, James Lee Washington, in court as being one of two black males that she observed near the telephone shortly after 8:00 o’clock p.m. She also stated that she knew the victim, Nathaniel Walker, Jr., and had seen him talking on the telephone. She further testified that the appellant was wearing a red baseball cap and a pair of blue jeans and she heard Washington tell Walker, the victim, “He wasn't scared of nobody that walked.”

Claudia Hill stated that she was preparing an order for a customer and that she next heard one shot and went outside and saw Nathaniel Walker lying on the ground and saw Washington running from the phone booth down 7th Avenue and that he was wearing a red baseball cap. She also identified her sister, Sylvia Carson, as another employee working at Salter’s Barbecue. She stated that she telephoned the police after the shooting.

Sylvia Carson, a sister of Claudia Hill, testified that on the night of October 8, 1980, she too was working at Salter’s Barbecue. Shortly after 8:00 o’clock in the evening, she testified that she saw two men come up and that one of them appeared to be “drunk or something” because he had “a syringe hanging out of his arm.” She testified the two men came from the direction of a “dope house” across the street. She said the taller of the two men was cursing and she overheard him say, “He wasn’t scared of nobody, and he would kill any m.f_” She noticed that he had a pistol. She said a few minutes later she saw him go near the telephone booth and a few moments later she heard a shot. She stated that she and her sister came outside and saw the victim, Nathaniel Walker, lying on the ground, and she called to her sister to call the police. She said that someone came and put a pillow under Walker’s head and that she saw the taller man who was wearing blue jeans and a baseball 'cap “run across the lot and down 7th Avenue.” and the shorter man disappeared. She said the police and ambulance came a few minutes later and that she only heard one shot and saw no weapon on the victim, Nathaniel Walker. She, however, was not able to recognize or identify the man whom she saw wearing the red baseball cap.

Birmingham Police Detective William T. Gautt, testified that he went to the crime scene on October 8, 1980, arriving shortly after the victim’s body had been removed. He stated that he interviewed Reginald Rogers and Claudia Hill that night. He stated that he later went to California, on August 12, 1981, and brought Washington back to Birmingham.

[401]*401William Woods testified he lived at 1210 Apartment 8, 7th Avenue North in Birmingham. His home was two houses from Salter’s Barbecue. Sometime after 8:00 o’clock on the night of October 8, 1980, he heard a shot and saw two men running down the street and heard the taller man say, “Well, we got him,” but that he did not get a good look at either man and would not be able to identify either. He stated that the tall one had on a red baseball cap, a brown jacket and blue jeans. Woods stated that he walked over to Salter’s Barbecue and saw a black male lying on the ground and a few moments later saw the police and ambulance arrive and remove the victim.

The appellant made a motion to exclude and also a motion for judgment of acquittal because of the insufficiency of the State’s evidence. These motions were overruled.

The appellant presented no testimony at trial and following argument the trial court gave an extensive oral charge to which no exception was made except that counsel “objected to including the second count, recklessness.” (R. 173).

I

The appellant first argues that the trial court committed reversible error by allowing the State’s case to go to the jury, asserting that the evidence presented was insufficient to support a conviction. The appellant essentially bases his argument on the vagueness of the State’s witnesses’ testimony and the fact that much of the evidence is circumstantial in nature.

“In Cumbo v. State, 368 So.2d 871 (Ala.Cr.App.1978), cert. denied, 368 So.2d 877 (Ala.1979), an opinion authored by Judge Bowen of this court, we find the following authority pertinent to the issue before us:
‘In reviewing a conviction based on circumstantial evidence, this court must view that evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution.

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Washington v. State, 448 So. 2d 398, 1983 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4536 (Ala. Ct. App. 1983).

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