Westbrook v. State

722 So. 2d 788, 1998 WL 130223
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedAugust 14, 1998
DocketCR-96-0667
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 722 So. 2d 788 (Westbrook v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Westbrook v. State, 722 So. 2d 788, 1998 WL 130223 (Ala. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

722 So.2d 788 (1998)

Walter WESTBROOK II
v.
STATE.

CR-96-0667.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

March 20, 1998.
Opinion on Return to Remand August 14, 1998.

*789 Roger C. Appell, Birmingham, for appellant.

Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and J. Thomas Leverette, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

McMILLAN, Judge.

The appellant, Walter Westbrook II, was indicted for attempted murder in December 1994, and was tried on October 28, 1996. As the State indicates in its brief to this court, the court reporter's transcript and the entry of judgment reflected in the case action summary sheet conflict as to exactly what crime the jury convicted the appellant of. According to the reporter's transcript, the jury convicted the appellant of the lesser included offense of attempted assault in the first degree. The reporter's transcript reflects that the jury foreperson read the following verdict following its deliberation: "We, the jury, find the defendant, Walter Westbrook, guilty of attempted assault in the first degree as charged in the indictment." The trial judge then adjudicated the appellant guilty of "attempted assault in the first degree." However, the entry in the case action summary sheet shows a conviction for assault in the first degree.

*790 A review of the entire transcript, including the trial judge's instructions to the jury and defense counsel's objections to those instructions, indicates that the terms "assault in the first degree" and "attempted assault in the first degree" were used interchangeably throughout these proceedings. When the trial judge instructed the jury, he used the term "attempted assault in the first degree," but proceeded to list the elements for assault in the first degree, without making any reference to the elements of attempt as he had properly done in charging the jury on the elements of attempted murder. It is also impossible to conclude from the record which offense the trial judge used as the basis for determining the appellant's sentence. The sentencing hearing was not made a part of the record and the case action summary sheet reflects only that punishment was set at 20 years' incarceration.

I.

The issue whether the appellant was convicted of assault in the first degree or attempted assault in the first degree must be resolved before we can address the first issue raised by the appellant on appeal. The appellant has argued on appeal that the evidence does not support a conviction for assault in the first degree. If the appellant was actually convicted of attempted assault in the first degree, then his argument is moot. However, if the appellant was convicted of assault in the first degree, then his argument has merit, because, although there is evidence to support a conviction for attempted assault in the first degree, the evidence does not support a conviction for assault in the first degree.

The evidence at trial tended to show that on March 3, 1994, the appellant shot Andre Allen while both were students at Ensley High School. Allen was a member of a gang and had been involved with other members of that gang in acts of violence and intimidation against Derrell Robinson, a friend of the appellant's, for a couple of days before the shooting. On the morning of the shooting, the appellant saw Allen and other members of the gang engage in a brutal initiation in which the gang members beat the potential gang member. The appellant testified that he had been threatened by Allen both the day before the shooting and the day of the shooting. Just before noon on the day of the shooting, between the gym and the band room, the appellant shot at Allen three times, hitting him once in the side. The bullet exited Allen's back, leaving an exit scar. Although Allen spent five days in the hospital as a result of the shooting, there was no medical testimony regarding procedures used or Allen's condition or prognosis.

The evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support a conviction for assault in the first degree. According to § 13A-6-20, Code of Alabama 1975:

"(a) A person commits the crime of assault in the first degree if:
"(1) With intent to cause serious physical injury to any person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument, he causes serious physical injury to any person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument."

The evidence at trial was insufficient to prove that Allen had suffered a "serious physical injury" as a result of the appellant's shooting. Although it is undisputed that a gun is a "deadly weapon or dangerous instrument" as that term is used in the statute, this Court has consistently held that evidence of a gunshot wound alone is insufficient to prove that the victim had suffered a "serious physical injury." Cowan v. State, 540 So.2d 99, 100-101 (Ala.Cr.App.1988); Davis v. State, 467 So.2d 265, 267 (Ala.Cr.App.1985); and Vo v. State, 612 So.2d 1323, 1325-26 (Ala.Cr.App. 1992). Code of Alabama 1975, § 13A-1-2(9) defines "serious physical injury" as:

"Physical injury which creates a substantial risk of death, or which causes serious and protracted disfigurement, protracted impairment of health, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ."

The State argues that Allen's five days in the hospital and the "permanent scars" that resulted from the gunshot wound provided enough evidence from which the jury could infer a "serious physical injury." Although Allen showed his scars to the jury, there was no testimony regarding whether the scars *791 were permanent. Furthermore, although the victim in Davis v. State, supra, showed her scars to the jury, this Court determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove a serious physical injury. Davis, 467 So.2d at 266. The only distinction between Davis and that case is that Allen spent five days in the hospital whereas the victim in Davis spent only one night. However, without any testimony concerning Allen's medical condition that required such a stay in the hospital, the jury is left to speculate as to whether Allen suffered a "substantial risk of death,... serious and protracted disfigurement, protracted impairment of health, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ." In Alvis v. State, 434 So.2d 859, 862 (Ala.Cr.App.1983), this Court held that no serious physical injury had been shown despite the victim's two-and-a-half day stay in the hospital. There was evidence in that case that the victim's hospital stay had been "merely for observation." Id. In this case, there is no testimony as to why Allen remained in the hospital for five days. Without such testimony, a finding of a serious physical injury can be based only upon mere speculation.

If the appellant was, in fact, convicted of assault in the first degree, that conviction is due to be reversed. However, there was sufficient evidence at trial to convict the appellant of assault in the second degree. According to § 13A-6-21, Code of Alabama 1975:

"(a) A person commits the crime of assault in the second degree if:
"(2) With intent to cause physical injury to another person, he causes physical injury to any person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument."

Code of Alabama,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
722 So. 2d 788, 1998 WL 130223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westbrook-v-state-alacrimapp-1998.