Wilkins v. State

373 So. 2d 353, 1979 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1350
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJuly 17, 1979
Docket6 Div. 39
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 373 So. 2d 353 (Wilkins 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
Wilkins v. State, 373 So. 2d 353, 1979 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1350 (Ala. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

TYSON, Judge.

From an incident occurring shortly after 6:00 o’clock on the evening of July 2, 1978, near the Western Super Market at Mountain Brook Village in Jefferson County, two indictments arose against the appellant, Jerome Wilkins. The first charged the appellant with grand larceny of a two-door Javelin automobile of the value of $2000.00, the property of Patricia Quinn Duke. The second count in this indictment charged the appellant with the buying, receiving, or concealing the said Javelin automobile. A second indictment was returned, charging the appellant with kidnapping Patricia Quinn Duke. At the request and consent of the appellant, the two cases were consolidated for trial. At the close of the evidence, the State dismissed and struck the buying, receiving, or concealing count, which was Count Two in Indictment No. 7801949, and the case went to the jury on the larceny and kidnapping charges.

The jury found the appellant guilty of “grand larceny,” as charged in the indictment, and fixed the value of the stolen property at $2000.00. The jury found the appellant “not guilty of kidnapping,” as charged in the indictment. The trial judge deferred sentencing, then set sentence at ten years imprisonment in the penitentiary and directed the appellant be given credit for “all jail time.”

[354]*354Richard W. Duke of 4319 Cliff Road in Birmingham testified that, accompanied by his wife, Patricia Duke, he drove to the Western Super Market in Mountain Brook Village, arriving there at approximately 6:00 o’clock on the evening of July 2, 1978. He stated that his automobile was a 1968 two-door Javelin, and as this was a very hot day, he left the motor running and the air conditioner on, after he pulled into the parking lot in front of the store. Hé stated that he and his wife were on their way to a cookout and he needed to pick up some meat.

As Duke was walking toward the entrance of the store, he passed the appellant, Jerome Wilkins, whom he positively identified in court. He stated that, though he had never seen the appellant before, the appellant nodded at him and patted his own pants pockets. He stated that Wilkins hesitated again, and that he, Duke, then went in the store and was there less than five minutes when he heard someone exclaim something about someone trying to drive off in a car. He stated that he ran out of the store and noticed that his car had been moved about one-half the length of the store, and that his wife was standing outside the vehicle and three men were holding the appellant, Jerome Wilkins. Mountain Brook police officers came up shortly thereafter and arrested the appellant.

Patricia Quinn Duke related that she rode with her husband, Richard Duke, to the front of the Western Super Market in Mountain Brook Village on the evening of July 2, 1978, arriving there at approximately 6:00 p. m. Because it was real hot, her husband left the motor and the air conditioner on while he went inside the store to get a chicken for a cookout. Just before her husband entered the store, she noticed a black male, the appellant, Jerome Wilkins, come around the corner of the store. She saw him look toward the car, then hesitate, and as her husband walked by him, Wilkins nodded at him and patted his own pants’ pockets. As her husband entered the store, she saw Wilkins start running toward the car, and she endeavored to lean over to the driver’s side to lock the door. She stated that the appellant grabbed the door on the driver’s side and jerked it open, that this broke a fingernail that had been caught in the upholstery as she was trying to lock the door. She stated that she attempted to push the appellant back; but he pushed her aside, turned the key in the ignition, and put the car into reverse. She felt the car move back, then forward, and she opened the door on the passenger’s side and rolled out.

Mrs. Duke stated that she fell on her left side and bruised her knee and arm, but that she was screaming and yelling for help. She stated that as she looked up she saw her purse lying on the floor, and she grabbed it and attempted to swing at the appellant, Jerome Wilkins, who leaped over her. She stated that two men pursued Wilkins and grabbed him, that in a few minutes her husband came out of the store, and the Mountain Brook police drove up and arrested Wilkins.

James L. Johnson, a manufacturer’s agent, who resided at 4414 Briar Green Circle in Mountain Brook, stated that, shortly after 6:00 o’clock on the evening of July 2, 1978, he and his wife came out of the Western Super Market at Mountain Brook Village. Mr. Johnson indicated he had just placed groceries in his car when he saw the appellant, a black male, whom he positively identified in court, running toward a two-door automobile, and saw a lady inside the car reach over and attempt to lock the door on the driver’s side. He observed the appellant pull the door open and grasp the female by the throat, then push her back inside the car. As the car started backing up, Johnson ran to the side of the car and “slammed his hands” against the door and held the door closed. As he did so, the appellant “killed the engine and tried to get out.” Mr. Johnson stated that, when he would not let him out, he pushed the female, jumped out on the passenger’s side, and ran. Johnson ran along by the side of the appellant, as did another man, and they grabbed him, threw him to the ground, and held him until Mountain Brook police officers arrived.

[355]*355L. M. Horne operated a service station at the corner of Montevallo Road and Cahaba Road “right in front of the Western Super Market” on July 2, 1978. Horne indicated he had just come out of the Western Super Market after buying some groceries, and as he turned he heard a woman scream and saw a colored boy trying to get in the car. The car began to back up, then went forward. As it did, a white man “slammed” against the side of the car, and the black man stopped the car, pushed the woman, and jumped out the passenger’s side. Horne stated that, as the black man, whom he positively identified in court as the appellant, began to run, he and another man grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground. Horne stated they held the man until the Mountain Brook police drove up and arrested him.

Carl Joseph Lotz of 4208 Old Leeds Lane stated he was eighteen years old and attended John Carroll School. Lotz indicated that he was employed at the Western Super Market “sacking groceries” during the summer of 1978. He stated that shortly after 6:00 o’clock on the evening of July 2, 1978, he had seen a black man drive up in a Mustang automobile and get out. Lotz stated that he had put some groceries in a car nearby, and as he headed back to the front of the store, he heard a woman scream. As he turned around he saw the appellant, whom he positively identified in court, back the car, in which a woman was riding, then start forward. As he did, a white man ran to the side of the car, and another man started to the car also. Lotz indicated that the black man pushed the woman out of his way and jumped out the passenger’s side and ran. Lotz indicated that just as the appellant began running he tackled him in the parking lot and two other men came up, grabbed the appellant, and held him until the Mountain Brook police officers arrived. Lotz made a positive in-court identification of the appellant as the man he saw getting in the Javelin car, then jumping out.

William C. Waites, a Mountain Brook police officer, testified that he was on duty, working the 3:00 to 11:00 p. m. shift on July 2, 1978.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Day v. State
481 So. 2d 1164 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1985)
Scott v. State
409 So. 2d 933 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1981)
Simas v. State
410 So. 2d 139 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1981)
Wilcox v. State
401 So. 2d 789 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
373 So. 2d 353, 1979 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1350, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilkins-v-state-alacrimapp-1979.