Williams v. State

384 So. 2d 1205, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1249
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMay 27, 1980
Docket3 Div. 819
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 384 So. 2d 1205 (Williams 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
Williams v. State, 384 So. 2d 1205, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1249 (Ala. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

DeCARLO, Judge.

Murder; life.

The State has filed a motion to strike the court reporter’s transcript of the evidence and to dismiss the appeal, contending that the transcript was not filed with the circuit court within the time allowed by law. Under Rule 2, A.R.A.P., we exercise our discretion and review the record.

On October 9, 1974, Daisy Johnson, cashier at Delchamps in Montgomery County, Montgomery, Alabama, was present during a robbery of the store in which Crawford Herring, an employee, was shot and killed. She testified that, at approximately 8:30 P.M. on the evening of the alleged incident, she was operating cash register number four when she heard a “clatter at the door like something hit the glass.” When she turned around, she saw “these men standing there with shotguns.” According to Johnson, two men stayed at the front, one holding a shotgun and one holding a pistol and the others dispersed in different directions over the store. She said that the men were dressed in dark, long coats and wore ski masks.

The man with the pistol pointed it at her and attempted to open the register. When he was unable to open the register, she opened it, removed the money, and placed it in a bag which he had slung over his shoulder. Johnson stated that another man stood at the front holding the shotgun on the other people in the store. All were directed to lie on the floor, face down. While lying on the floor, she heard one of the men tell Crawford Herring “to get up and open the other register.” According to Johnson, Crawford got up and opened the register. She then heard the man say, “This white man thinks I’m playing.” At that point, she heard a gunshot and after the shot, she heard the man say, “Let’s go.” She then heard “a lot of people running,” as the men were leaving the store.

Johnson testified that she was afraid during the incident. When she got up after the robbers were gone, she saw Herring lying on the floor in a puddle of blood. He had been shot in the neck and was not breathing. Further, the witness stated that there was a nurse in the store and, after examining Herring, she determined that he was dead. The police, the manager and the assistant manager of the store arrived later.

Johnson could not identify any of the people who had robbed the store. She recalled that she was directed to open the register by the man holding the pistol.

During cross-examination, the witness acknowledged that she could not identify the voices of any of the men involved in the robbery. She stated that, when the men first entered the store, the man with the shotgun approached her register and said, “This is a holdup,” or, “This is a robbery.” According to Johnson, the man with the pistol was standing beside the man with the shotgun.

On the night of the robbery, Floyd Stin-son had gone to the Delchamps Supermarket to make some purchases. He testified that he was there at approximately 8:30 P.M., when four men ran into the store. Two of them ran to the back and two stayed at the front. Stinson said that all the men wore masks over their faces and that one of the two men who remained at the front of the store carried a shotgun while the other man held a pistol.

Stinson described the man holding the pistol as approximately five feet and seven inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds. The witness described the pistol as a .38 with a long barrel. He stated that the armed man removed the money from the register and placed it into a bag.

Stinson testified that, after he got on the floor and immediately before the men ran from the store, he heard a shot. He said that, after the men left the store, he saw Herring lying in a puddle of blood with a hole in his neck.

During cross-examination, Stinson acknowledged that the leader appeared to be the man armed with the shotgun. Stinson recalled that, when the money was being removed from the register, the man with the pistol said, “Get it all.”

[1207]*1207Sixteen-year-old Mickey Hodge was working at Delchamps on the evening of the robbery, and he, along with Harold A. Henderson, was in the “ware room” at the time of the robbery. Hodge testified that, as he was about to go to the front of the store, one of the men wearing a mask rushed through the door to the ware room and asked, “Is there anybody upstairs?” Hodge recalled that he informed the man that no one was upstairs. The man then left and went back to the front of the store. Hodge said that, after a second, the man came running back to the ware room and ordered, “Get on the floor.” The witness said that a “sawed off shotgun” was in the man’s hand and that he and Harold fell to the floor. When the man turned and ran back through the ware room to a door toward the front of the store, Hodge heard a loud noise like a shot.

According to Hodge, after a minute, he heard a noise at the back of the building. When he looked out the back door he saw a group of men running down the street, all dressed in masks and overcoats. Hodge closed the back door and locked it, then walked to the front of the store. He said that Daisy Johnson was yelling that “they shot Crawford and to call the police.” Hodge saw Crawford Herring, bleeding from the back, lying near register number two. He said that Herring did not moan or say anything at that time. During further questioning, Hodge stated that he had never had a “sawed-off shotgun” pointed at him before the robbery at Delchamps and that he was afraid.

Harold Henderson, Jr., an employee at Delchamps on the night of the robbery, gave testimony which was substantially the same as that given by Mickey Hodge. Henderson stated that he saw approximately four or five men running down the street when he and Hodge looked out the back door after the robbery.

Wayne Bullard was the assistant manager of Delchamps on the evening that it was robbed. He testified that he was called to the store where he checked the registers and determined that $630.00 had been taken during the robbery. On the night of the robbery, Bullard saw Herring lying on the floor in a puddle of blood near the second register. Bullard said that it was his observation that Herring was dead.

Detective Cecil H. Humphrey of the Montgomery Police Department investigated the Delchamps’ robbery on the night of its occurrence. He testified that he found several shotgun shells outside, strewn from the front door, south, to Hannon Street, then, west, toward the rear of the store. According to Humphrey, about ten, twenty gauge shotgun shells were found, and only one shell was spent or fired. The officer said that the spent shell was turned over to Dr. Charles White, a State toxicologist.

Humphrey recalled that, on Saturday, October 12,1974, three days after the robbery, he went to the WPAX radio station. At that time, Arthur Lewis, along with others came out of the radio station. Humphrey acknowledged that, on that occasion, he had found more than one shotgun in the station.

During the trial, he identified State’s Exhibit No. 5 as the twenty gauge pump shotgun that he found inside the radio station. Humphrey testified that this gun had been turned over to State Toxicologist, Dr. Charles Smith.

During cross-examination, Humphrey stated that he did not see the appellant on October 12,1974, nor did he see him on the night of the robbery at Delchamps.

On further questioning, this witness stated that he saw three individuals come out of the radio station. They were Julian Davis, Reginald Reese Robinson and Arthur Lewis.

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825 So. 2d 246 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2001)
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Williams v. State
387 So. 2d 258 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
384 So. 2d 1205, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1249, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-state-alacrimapp-1980.