Case Title: Ex Parte Pincheon

Citation: 751 So. 2d 1219

Docket Number: 1971729

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 1999-05-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
751 So. 2d 1219 (1999)
Ex parte James Earl PINCHEON.
(Re James Earl Pincheon v. State).
1971729.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
May 14, 1999.
Rehearing Denied September 24, 1999.
Kimberlyn P. Malone, Huntsville, for petitioner.
Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and J. Thomas Leverette, asst. atty. gen., for respondent.
PER CURIAM.
James Earl Pincheon was found guilty by a jury of interference with the custody of a child, J. K., in violation of § 13A-6-45, Ala.Code 1975, and of rape in the second degree of M. K., in violation of § 13A-6-62, Ala.Code 1975. Pincheon was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on the interference-with-custody count and to 20 years' imprisonment on the second-degree-rape count, with the sentences to run concurrently. The Court of Criminal Appeals, on May 8, 1998, affirmed, by an unpublished memorandum. Pincheon v. State, 738 So. 2d 940 (Ala.Crim.App.1998) (table). We reverse and remand.
In 1994, Pincheon, an African-American male who was a student at a junior college in Marion County, became friends with J.K., a white female high school student. J.K.'s parents did not approve of her relationship with Pincheon. On October 28, 1994, J.K.'s father charged by affidavit and warrant that Pincheon did "interfere, knowingly, with custody of minor child, J.K., in violation of § 12-15-15, Code of Alabama." Pincheon was arrested on the same day; he was released on a $1,000 bond two days later. The "Alabama Uniform Arrest Report" cites the case number as "DC-95-231." After his arrest, Pincheon left Marion County and returned to his home in Huntsville.
On March 13, 1995, the State filed a motion to amend the conditions of bond in case no. DC-95-231. The motion charged: "2. That since the defendant has been released from custody he has continued to interfere with said custody." This motion was set for a hearing on April 17, 1995. The order setting the hearing was served upon Pincheon on March 29, 1995, at his home in Huntsville.
*1220 Grand Jury No. 69 filed an indictment in the circuit clerk's office on April 17, 1995. It stated:
Written across the top of the indictment are case number notations: "CC-95-77" and "DC-95-231."
On July 27, 1995, Pincheon filed a "Waiver of Arraignment and Written Plea of Not Guilty" in case no. CC-95-77. On August 14, 1995, Pincheon filed a request for production and disclosure in that same case. (Apparently, the prosecutor never responded, because Pincheon's attorney, Alphonso Beckles, sent a letter dated April 28, 1997, to the clerk of the court asking that a "motion to compel" be filed in case no. CC-95-77 before the case came to trial.)
The testimony indicated that in August 1995, after J.K. had completed high school, she moved to Huntsville, determined to live with Pincheon. J.K. testified that she and Pincheon consider themselves to have a common-law marriage. She was pregnant with his child at the time of the trial. At Easter in 1996, Pincheon and J.K. went to Hamilton so that J.K. could visit her mother and her sister, M.K. On Easter Sunday afternoon, J.K. visited with her mother and M.K. at a McDonald's restaurant, where her mother was working. That night J.K. and Pincheon stayed in a motel in Hamilton. Early the next morning, J.K. and Pincheon again went to the McDonald's restaurant to see J.K.'s mother. About 8 a.m., Pincheon, J.K., and M.K. went to the motel in order to pack clothes. One month later, M.K. alleged that Pincheon had raped her at the motel. J.K. testified that M.K. and Pincheon were never alone, because, J.K. said, she never left the room during the time they were at the motel, and, thus, that no rape could have occurred.
On May 5, 1997, the circuit clerk issued a writ of arrest for Pincheon. The writ-of-arrest form was filled in so that it read as follows (the underlined portion was added by hand): "An indictment having been found against James Earl Pincheon at the December Term, 1996, of the Circuit Court of Marion County, for the offense of interference with custody. You are therefore commanded forthwith to arrest said James Earl Pincheon and commit him to jail, unless he give bail to answer such Indictment at the next term of our Circuit Court to be holden for next term next, and make return of this writ according to law." There is no mention in the writ of arrest of any charge save interference with custody. An Alabama Uniform Arrest Report, dated the same date, lists charges of "Rape 2nd," "Rape 1st," and "Interference with custody." However, the report is not signed, nor is there any notation on it indicating that Pincheon saw this arrest report. The case action summary sheet contains an entry stating that on May 5, 1997, Pincheon appeared with counsel, Alphonso Beckles, "and waive[ed] the reading of the indictment and plead[ed] not guilty."
On September 22, 1997, the case came on to be tried. In the record is a copy of what purports to be an indictment, entitled "Grand Jury No. 50" and "December Term 1996." It charges that James Earl Pincheon: Count 1) "did knowingly take or entice J. K., a child under the age of 18 from the lawful custody of its parent, guardian, or other lawful custodian, in violation of Section 13A-6-45";[1] Count 2) *1221 "did engage in sexual intercourse with [M. K.], a female, by forcible compulsion in violation of Section 13A-6-61"; Count 3) "did engage in sexual intercourse with [M. K.], a female, who was less than sixteen years of age and more than twelve years of age ... in violation of § 13A-6-62." However, there is no evidence in the record to indicate that the indictment was signed by the foreman of the grand jury or was filed in the clerk's office.
The first matter considered by the trial court was Pincheon's motion to sever. The record contains this conversation:
Pincheon's attorney claimed that he had not filed a motion for severance at an earlier date because nothing on the record indicated that the prosecutor was going to consolidate the cases. The court denied Pincheon's motion to sever as untimely.
Rule 13.3(a), Ala. R.Crim. P., provides, in part:
The Court of Criminal Appeals, in its unpublished memorandum, noted that Pincheon appeared with counsel on May 5, 1997, waived a reading of the indictment, and entered a plea of not guilty. The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that Pincheon should have known that the cases would be tried together, because on that same day he filed a consolidated appearance bond that shows each of these charges.
In Kennedy v. State, 640 So. 2d 22 (Ala. Crim.App.1993), the Court of Criminal Appeals confronted a case similar to this one. The defendant in that case was charged with interference with custody, in violation of § 13A-6-45, as to one person and was charged with second-degree rape, in violation of § 13A-6-62, as to another. The Court of Criminals Appeals reversed the defendant's convictions, on the grounds that he must be tried separately for these crimes against different victims. The court explained:
640 So. 2d  at 28-30.
Here, the charges against Pincheon are not of the same or of a similar character, they are not based on the same conduct, and they are not alleged to have been part of a common scheme or plan. In addition, the charges relate to two separate victims. The only connection is that the alleged victims are sisters. Consistent with the conclusion of the Court of Criminal Appeals in Kennedy, we conclude that there is an obvious prejudice to the defendant inherent in his being forced to defend against the charge of interference with the custody of J.K., when he was additionally charged with first- and second-degree rape of M.K. We believe this prejudice is a "compelling prejudice" that requires a conclusion that the trial court abused its discretion in not granting a severance. Ex parte Hinton, 548 So. 2d 562 (Ala.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 969, 110 S. Ct. 419, 107 L. Ed. 2d 383 (1989). We must, therefore, reverse the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals affirming Pincheon's convictions. That court's judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
*1224 HOOPER, C.J., and MADDOX, HOUSTON, KENNEDY, COOK, SEE, LYONS, and JOHNSTONE, JJ., concur.
BROWN, J., recuses herself.[*]
[1]  The original charge under which Pincheon was indicted in DC-95-231, although also referred to as "interference with custody," was that Pincheon did "interfere, knowingly, with custody of minor child, J.K., in violation of § 12-15-15, Code of Alabama."
[*]  Note from the reporter of decisions: Justice Brown was a member of the Court of Criminal Appeals when that court considered this case.