Case Title: Ex Parte Clark

Citation: 728 So. 2d 1126

Docket Number: 1951368

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 1998-05-15T00:00:00Z

Document:
728 So. 2d 1126 (1998)
Ex parte Andrew Bert CLARK.
(Re Andrew Bert Clark v. State).
1951368.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
May 15, 1998.
*1127 Charles D. Decker, Dothan, for petitioner.
Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and Michael B. Billingsley, asst. atty. gen., for respondent.
COOK, Justice.
We granted Andrew Bert Clark's petition for the writ of certiorari to review his capital murder conviction and his sentence of death by electrocution.
Clark was convicted of murder made capital pursuant to § 13A-5-40(2), Ala.Code 1975, because the murder occurred during the commission of a first degree robbery. Following a sentencing hearing, the jury, by a 9 to 3 vote, recommended that Clark be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. The trial judge, pursuant to the authority given him by § 13A-5-47(e), overrode *1128 the jury's recommendation of life without parole and sentenced Clark to death by electrocution. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Clark's conviction and sentence, and, in its opinion, set forth the following facts:
Clark v. State, 728 So. 2d 1117 (Ala.Cr.App. 1996).
In affirming Clark's conviction and sentence, the Court of Criminal Appeals addressed the following issues: whether the trial judge erred in denying Clark's motion for recusal; whether the trial court erred in refusing to strike a prospective juror for cause; whether the trial court erred in allowing photographs of Posey's body into evidence; whether the trial judge erred in failing to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of manslaughter; and whether there was sufficient evidence to convict Clark of capital murder. The Court of Criminal Appeals adequately addressed these issues in its opinion and we, therefore, adopt the reasoning and holding of the Court of Criminal Appeals on those issues as part of the opinion of this Court. We will address the following additional issues raised by Clark in this Court.
Clark contends that the prosecutor impermissibly directly and indirectly referred to the fact that Clark did not testify at the trial. Clark argues that during closing arguments the prosecutor made a direct reference to his failure to testify, when the prosecutor told the jury:
R.T. at 917. Clark argues that this comment directly referred to his failure to testify at trial and, consequently, was reversible error. The record indicates that the comment made by the prosecutor during closing arguments was made after the following comment made by the defense:
R.T. at 912-13. The defendant did not object at trial to the prosecutor's statement during closing argument. This Court has written:
Ex parte Payne, 683 So. 2d 458, 465 (Ala. 1996).
*1130 In Ex parte Brooks, 695 So. 2d 184 (Ala. 1997), this Court wrote:
695 So. 2d  at 188-89. The statement made by the prosecutor in this case was clearly in response to the earlier comment made by defense counsel. The prosecutor's statement was, in our opinion, an attempt to clarify the type of evidence the State had offered during the trial. While the prosecutor's comment indirectly referred to the fact that the defendant did not take the stand to testify, the statement, "viewed in the context of the evidence presented in the case and the entire closing arguments made to the juryboth defense counsel's and the prosecutor's," did not constitute plain error.
Clark also submits that the prosecutor's statements during the trial that Clark exhibited no remorse were also indirect references to his failure to testify and should mandate a reversal of his conviction. We disagree. The statements, made during closing arguments of the guilt phase of the trial, were as follows:
R.T. at 874.
R.T. at 881. Neither of these comments was objected to; thus, they are subject to review for plain error. See Kuenzel v. State, 577 So. 2d 474, 481-82 (Ala.Cr.App.1990), aff'd, 577 So. 2d 531 (Ala.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 886, 112 S. Ct. 242, 116 L. Ed. 2d 197 (1991).
In Harris v. State, 632 So. 2d 503, 536 (Ala.Cr.App. 1992), the Court of Criminal Appeals held that a reference to the defendant's lack of remorse during the sentencing stage of the trial was not improper because, it said, the comment
Likewise, in Dobyne v. State, 672 So. 2d 1319 (Ala.Cr.App.1994), the Court of Criminal Appeals held that a prosecutor's comment, during the sentencing phase of the trial, on the defendant's lack of remorse was a comment "on the appellant's demeanor when he made his statement to police." 672 So. 2d  at 1349. Although the comments made by the prosecutor in Clark's case were made during the guilt phase of the trial, we find no error. The second comment clearly was a proper inference drawn from the defendant's actions following the murder. The first comment was a reference to the defendant's demeanor. Neither comment constituted plain error.
Clark argues that the trial judge erred by not suppressing statements Clark made to Headland police officer Lynnwood Stokes. Clark contends that he made these statements without having been properly advised of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966). At trial, Stokes testified that he read Clark his rights on April 21, 1994, before taking a taped statement from Clark. Stokes, however, testified that Clark had made incriminating statements to him on April 19 after having been transported from Montana to Headland, Alabama. While Stokes did testify that Clark had been advised of his rights on April 17 by another *1132 officer, Clark contends that Stokes did not set forth the Miranda warnings with sufficient clarity to overcome the presumption of inadmissibility. See Ex parte Johnson, 620 So. 2d 709 (Ala.1993), citing Swicegood v. State, 50 Ala.App. 105, 277 So. 2d 380 (Ala.Cr. App.1973). Furthermore, Clark argues that the length of time between any Miranda warnings given to him on April 17 in Montana and incriminating statements made by him on April 19, in Alabama, was significant and, therefore, rendered his statements inadmissible.
The statements Clark now challenges were made pursuant to conversations with Lt. Stokes, which were initiated by Clark.
Worthington v. State, 652 So. 2d 790, 792-93 (Ala.Cr.App.1994). The court did not err in admitting Clark's statements into evidence.
Clark argues that the State was impermissibly allowed to present evidence of extraneous crimes allegedly committed by Clark. He contends that the evidence of these crimes was irrelevant to the present crime for which he was accused and was highly prejudicial. Specifically, Clark complains that the prosecutor stated during opening arguments:
R.T. at 488. Clark also argues that the following testimony given by Henry County District Judge Woodham was irrelevant to the facts of the case, was highly prejudicial, and, therefore, was erroneously admitted:
R.T. 525-27. This testimony, Clark contends, brought two extraneous crimes to the attention of the jury and magnified their importance because Clark, as a consequence of those crimes, was banished from Henry and Houston Counties except for a brief period when he was allowed to return to consult with his attorney.
Clark did not object to the testimony of Judge Woodham. Any error, therefore, is subject to review pursuant to the plain error rule.
Guthrie v. State, 616 So. 2d 914, 922 (Ala.Cr. App.1993). The State contends that the evidence indicating that Clark had committed collateral crimes was both relevant and necessary to establish the facts in this case and that it was admissible as an exception to the exclusionary rule. In particular, the State submits that the fact that Posey posted Clark's bond is a relevant fact necessary to show the relationship between the accused and the victim before the murder. Furthermore, the State argues that the fact that Clark was "banished" from Henry and Houston Counties was relevant because his initial arrest in Montana was based on a violation of that order. We agree. We note that the State was not allowed to introduce evidence directly related to the other crimes allegedly committed by Clark, only evidence that Clark had been released into Posey's custody after Posey had posted Clark's bond and that Clark's arrest in Montana was based on a violation of a release order. Both facts were logically relevant to the case.
Clark argues that the trial judge improperly denied a continuance to allow him additional time to obtain his mental health records from Charter Woods Hospital. On April 7, 1995, ten days before the trial, the defendant filed a motion for a continuance, wherein he stated:
C.R. at 84. The defendant's medical records had been subpoenaed from Charter Woods Hospital in Dothan, Alabama, at the time of the sentencing hearing; however, Charter Woods had refused to comply with the subpoena. The lack of this evidence, Clark contends, caused the trial judge not to give proper weight to the mitigating factors offered by the defendant. The result, Clark claims, was that the trial judge overrode the jury's recommendation of life imprisonment without parole. In particular, Clark contends that the continuance requested would have allowed him to provide important evidence indicating that he had been severely abused as a child and that his mental and/or emotional problems should have been given considerable weight as mitigating factors.
Fortenberry v. State, 545 So. 2d 129, 138 (Ala. Cr.App.1988). In denying the motion for a continuance, the trial court stated, "Well, I will deny the motion to continue. The case has been pending a year.... [T]here is nothing the State has done or any outside set of circumstances that's caused it. It's been his hesitancy to provide this information." *1135 C.R. at 20. We agree with the trial court that any delay in obtaining Clark's mental health records was caused by Clark's own refusal to divulge their existence to his counsel. Thus, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing a continuance.
Clark also claims that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury with regard to the lesser included offenses of robbery and felony murder. He first argues that the jury could have determined that the evidence supported a finding that Clark committed a first degree robbery, but did not intend to murder Posey, i.e., that the jury could have found him guilty of felony murder. The refusal of the trial judge to charge the jury with regard to this lesser included offense, Clark claims, resulted in his unwarranted conviction for capital murder.
The judge's failure to charge the jury with regard to felony murder is subject to review under the plain error rule. Based on our review of the record, we conclude that a conviction of felony murder would have been inconsistent with the evidence presented at trial because "[t]he [victim's death was] not `unintended [death] caused by [the defendant's] dangerous conduct.'" Taylor v. State, 666 So. 2d 36, 55 (Ala.Cr.App.1994) (citations omitted). Clark maintained at trial that he could not be guilty of capital murder because, although he said he did commit the murder, he did not rob the victim. Clark's attorney stated in closing argument:
R.T. at 891-93. Thus, Clark admitted to the murder, but claimed that he did not rob Posey. Based on the evidence offered at trial, a jury charge on felony murder would have been inappropriate. For the same reasons, the trial court's failure to give a jury instruction on the lesser included offense of robbery was also not plain error.
Citing Ex parte Weaver, 678 So. 2d 284 (Ala.1996), Clark argues that the trial judge's instruction on flight led the jury to believe that the only conclusion that could be drawn from Clark's flight was that Clark was guilty. The trial judge gave the following instruction to the jury regarding flight:
R.T. at 950. Clark argues that at the time the murder was committed he was under a court order not to be in Henry or Houston County and that the jury could have inferred *1136 that he was simply complying with the court order rather than fleeing to escape prosecution.
This Court discussed the law regarding flight in Ex parte Jones, 541 So. 2d 1052 (Ala.1989):
541 So. 2d  at 1055-57. (Citations omitted; some emphasis added.) This material quoted from Ex parte Jones has also been quoted in Rogers v. State, 630 So. 2d 88, 90-92 (Ala. 1992). The facts of Weaver are distinguishable from the facts of this case. In Ex parte Weaver, the defendant Weaver murdered the victim in December 1989 and left the state in September 1990. When Weaver left the state, he was not aware that he was under suspicion for the crime for which he was later accused. Clark, on the other hand, left the state almost immediately after the crime and traveled extensively, using the victim's automobile and credit cards. The immediacy of his departure, coupled with his attempt to take money from Posey's account before that departure, clearly, in our opinion, made flight pertinent for the jury to consider.
Clark argues that the trial court erred in finding, as an aggravating circumstance, that the murder was "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel." § 13A-5-49(8), Ala.Code 1975. For the following reasons, we agree.
In Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 92 S. Ct. 2726, 33 L. Ed. 2d 346 (1972), the Supreme Court of the United States held that the application of certain state death penalty *1138 statutes violated the Eighth Amendment[1] to the United States Constitution as applied to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.[2] The Supreme Court held that those statutes' lack of principled standards to prevent the sentencing authority from arbitrarily and capriciously imposing capital punishment rendered the application of the sentencing scheme constitutionally infirm. E.g., id. at 310, 92 S. Ct. 2726 (Stewart, J., concurring); id. at 311, 92 S. Ct. 2726 (White, J., concurring).
Since Furman, many states have revised their death penalty statutes to require that the sentencing authority consider aggravating and mitigating circumstances, thus limiting the discretion of the sentencing authority. See Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U.S. 356, 362, 108 S. Ct. 1853, 100 L. Ed. 2d 372 (1988). The Supreme Court's post-Furman cases make it clear that to survive Eighth Amendment scrutiny, a factor used as an aggravating circumstance in a capital punishment statute must provide a "principled way to distinguish" cases in which the death penalty is appropriate from cases in which it is not. See, e.g., Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420, 433, 100 S. Ct. 1759, 64 L. Ed. 2d 398 (1980). The Supreme Court has held that the "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" aggravating circumstance provides such a principled distinction only where the state appellate courts employ a consistent and narrow interpretation of that circumstance to channel the discretion of the sentencer. See Cartwright, 486 U.S.  at 365-66, 108 S. Ct. 1853 (upholding the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals' interpretation of the "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" aggravating circumstance to require, before a death sentence is imposed, a finding that the victim was tortured or was caused to suffer serious physical abuse).
In Lindsey v. Thigpen, 875 F.2d 1509 (11th Cir.1989), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld this Court's application of the "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" aggravating circumstance[3] because this Court's application of it provided a "principled way to distinguish" cases in which the death penalty is appropriately imposed from cases in which it is not. Id. at 1513, 1515 (upholding our application of Ala. Code 1975, § 13A-5-49(8) and quoting Godfrey, 446 U.S.  at 431, 100 S.Ct. 1759). The Eleventh Circuit emphasized that the Alabama appellate courts' interpretation of § 13A-5-49(8) passed muster under the Eighth Amendment because this Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals had consistently defined "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" to include only "those conscienceless or pitiless homicides which are unnecessarily torturous to the victim." Lindsey v. Thigpen, at 1514 (quoting Ex parte Kyzer, 399 So. 2d 330, 334 (Ala.1981)) (emphasis added).
In Bush v. State, 695 So. 2d 70 (Ala.Cr.App. 1995), affirmed, Ex parte Bush, 695 So. 2d 138 (Ala.1997), the Court of Criminal Appeals addressed the defendant Bush's argument that his crime, an execution-style murder, was not "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" and that the trial court therefore erred in finding the aggravating circumstance:
695 So. 2d  at 84. In Bush, the trial court made the following findings in its sentencing order:
Bush v. State, 695 So. 2d  at 84-85 (emphasis added).
This Court has affirmed findings that certain "execution style" murders were "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel." See, Rieber v. State, 663 So. 2d 985, 992-93 (Ala.Cr. App.1994), aff'd, 663 So. 2d 999 (Ala.1995) (the victim had been stalked by the defendant before the murder; the victim was very much afraid of the defendant; she was robbed and was shot in the wrist and then in the head; she was alive when she was found, but subsequently died); Wright v. State, 494 So. 2d 726, 744 (Ala.Cr.App.1985), aff'd, 494 So. 2d 745 (Ala.1986) (trial court found that the two victims were murdered "in order that they would not be witnesses" and that they "were each shot in the head [and] slowly died in a pool of blood"); Lawhorn v. State, 581 So. 2d 1159, 1174 (Ala.Cr.App.1990), aff'd, 581 So. 2d 1179 (Ala.1991) (victim was run down and was "confronted with the barrel of a shotgun in his face"; he was shot and shot again after getting back up; he was then shot three times while lying on the ground "trapped and making gurgling noises"). In those cases cited here, the victims were aware of what was happening to them.
The victim in this case sustained five shots to the back and the head, with a final sixth shot behind the ear. Although the prosecution *1140 tried to imply during the trial that the victim had tried to "run for the woods" (R.T. at 875), the record indicates that whether Posey was in fact even conscious and aware after the initial shots were fired would be a matter of mere speculation. Dr. Alfredo Paredes testified on cross-examination:
R.T. at 621-25. The State urges us to hold that the "execution-style" murder in this case, for which the record does not reflect torture of the victim, is nonetheless "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel." Such an expansion of the aggravating circumstance set out in § 13A-5-49(8) to encompass a murder not involving torture, merely because the State labels the murder an "executionstyle" slaying would abandon the very interpretation that the Eleventh Circuit held critical to the constitutional application of that aggravating circumstance. Indeed, the Supreme Court of the United States has held that a state supreme court's failure to apply its previously recognized limiting construction of an aggravating circumstance, which required a finding of torture or aggravated battery of the victim, rendered the application of the aggravating circumstance unconstitutional. Godfrey, 446 U.S.  at 429, 432, 100 S. Ct. 1759.
We cannot depart from the established meaning of the words enacted by the Legislature *1141 "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel"and apply those words to include murders that do not involve the infliction of torture on the victim.[4] Such a departure would abandon the essential characteristic that made our previous applications of § 13A-5-49(8) compatible with the Eighth Amendment. We are bound to retain the interpretation of "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" that has provided a consistent and principled distinction between those murders for which the death sentence is appropriate and those for which it is not. See Cartwright, 486 U.S.  at 363, 108 S. Ct. 1853; Godfrey, 446 U.S.  at 433, 100 S. Ct. 1759.
We agree that this murder, like all murders, is a terrible crime; nevertheless, given our consistently applied narrow interpretation of the phrase "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel," we cannot hold that this murder was, in comparison, "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel."
After thoroughly reviewing the record and considering the issues raised, we find no reversible error as to Clark's conviction of capital murder. As to the conviction, the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals is affirmed. As discussed in Part VII of this opinion, however, the principles established by the federal courts mandate that we reverse as to the sentence and remand this case for the Court of Criminal Appeals to direct the trial court to reconsider all aggravating and mitigating circumstances, excluding the aggravating circumstance set out in § 13A-5-49(8), in determining whether the death sentence is appropriate in this case.
AFFIRMED AS TO THE CONVICTION; REVERSED AS TO THE SENTENCE; AND REMANDED.
MADDOX, SHORES, HOUSTON, KENNEDY, SEE, and LYONS, JJ., concur.
HOOPER, C. J., concurs in part and dissents in part.
HOOPER, Chief Justice (concurring in part and dissenting in part).
I agree with the majority that Clark's conviction is due to be affirmed, but I cannot agree that this murder was not especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. I am aware of the constitutional limits on the use of this aggravating circumstance, but I believe that Clark's actions were indeed heinous. It is undisputed that Clark shot his victim six timesthree times in the chest, three times in the headwith the final shot to his victim's brain clearly intended to be the coup de grace stilling him permanently. I would find that Clark's acts evince a disregard of human life and of the suffering of his victim great enough to constitute a particularly heinous, atrocious, or cruel crime properly punishable by the death penalty.
[1]  The Eighth Amendment provides:

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
[2]  The Due Process Clause provides:

"No State shall ... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law...."
The Supreme Court of the United States has held that the Due Process Clause makes the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments applicable to the states. See Louisiana ex rel. Francis v. Resweber, 329 U.S. 459, 67 S. Ct. 374, 91 L. Ed. 422 (1947).
[3]  Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-5-49 (1994 repl. vol.), provides in pertinent part:

"Aggravating circumstances shall be the following:
". . . .
"(8) The capital offense was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel compared to other capital offenses."
[4]  Unlike the Alabama Legislature, the Florida Legislature has amended its death penalty statute to include a distinct aggravating circumstance for "cold, calculated, and premeditated" murders. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 921.141(5)(i) (West 1998). We note that execution-style murders generally implicate the "cold, calculated, and premeditated" aggravating circumstance, not the "heinous, atrocious, or cruel" circumstance. Hartley v. State, 686 So. 2d 1316, 1323 (Fla.1996) (discussing Fla. Stat. Ann. § 921.141(5)(i) and (h)), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 118 S. Ct. 86, 139 L. Ed. 2d 43 (1997).