Title: Ex Parte Beck
Citation: 485 So. 2d 1207
Docket Number: N/A
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: August 23, 1985

485 So. 2d 1207 (1985)
Ex parte Gilbert Franklin BECK.
(Re Gilbert Franklin Beck v. State of Alabama).
83-1198.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
August 23, 1985.
*1208 Julian L. McPhillips, Jr. of McPhillips &amp; DeBardelaben, Montgomery, for petitioner.
Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and William D. Little, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
MADDOX, Justice.
This is a capital murder case.
In 1977, Gilbert Franklin Beck was convicted of capital murder, Code 1975, § 13-11-2(a)(2), in Etowah County, sentenced to die. His conviction was affirmed by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, Beck v. State, 365 So. 2d 985 (Ala.Crim.App. 1978), and by this Court, Ex parte Beck, 365 So. 2d 1006 (Ala.1978); however, his conviction was overturned by the United States Supreme Court, Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 100 S. Ct. 2382, 65 L. Ed. 2d 392 (1980), which held the "preclusion clause" of the Alabama Death Penalty Act to be unconstitutional. Based upon the Supreme Court's decision, this Court held that the legislature intended to pass a constitutional act, and that the preclusion clause could be severed from the Death Penalty Act. Based upon that reasoning, this Court reversed and remanded Beck's case to the Court of Criminal Appeals, Beck v. State, 396 So. 2d 645 (Ala.1981) [hereinafter cited as Beck II], which, in turn, reversed and remanded the case to the Circuit Court of Etowah County for new trial, Beck v. State, 396 So. 2d 666 (Ala.Crim.App.1981). Upon retrial, Beck was again convicted and sentenced to die. He again appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals, claiming that his sentence of death should be vacated; the Court of Criminal Appeals agreed, and remanded his case to the trial court for a hearing to determine whether another retrial should be conducted based upon the holding in Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S. Ct. 1770, 20 L. Ed. 2d 776 (1968). Beck v. State, 485 So. 2d 1196 (Ala. Crim.App.1982). After receiving a record of that hearing, the Court of Criminal Appeals, holding that a "Witherspoon error" did occur at Beck's first retrial, reversed and remanded. Beck v. State, [MS. 7 Div. 909, March 1, 1983] (Ala.Crim.App.1983). The State petitioned here for certiorari, which this Court granted, and reversed and remanded the cause to the Court of Criminal Appeals, holding that while Beck was entitled to a new sentencing hearing under Witherspoon, he was not entitled to a new determination of his guilt. Ex parte State, 485 So. 2d 1201 (Ala.1984). On remand, the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Beck's conviction but remanded to the trial court for resentencing. Beck v. State, 485 So. 2d 1203 (Ala.Crim.App.1984). Before a resentencing proceeding could be held, however, Beck again petitioned here for certiorari, asking this Court to review the propriety of his conviction. The State agreed that this Court should review the issue of Beck's guilt, even though resentencing was still pending. This Court granted certiorari and heard oral arguments and has now reviewed the record.
The issues now before this Court are (1) whether an inculpatory statement made by Beck was incident to an illegal arrest and, therefore, improperly admitted; (2) whether *1209 the trial court erred in not dismissing all prospective jurors who knew of Beck's previous conviction arising out of the same occurrence; (3) whether the trial court's charge to the jury, particularly as to lesser included offenses, was incorrect and misleading, and; (4) whether this Court's decision in Beck II was an unconstitutional usurpation of legislative authority. We will first address issue four and then proceed to address the remaining issues in order.
Did this Court usurp legislative power in Beck v. State, 396 So.2d 645? The answer is in the negative.
In Ex parte Clisby, 456 So. 2d 95 (Ala. 1983), the defendant/petitioner raised this same argument now advanced by Beck, that by striking the preclusion clause from the Alabama Death Penalty Act in Beck II, this Court usurped the authority of the legislature. In Clisby, this Court, speaking through Justice Faulkner, held that all actions taken by the Court in Beck II were constitutional. Our opinion regarding the constitutionality of the statute under which Beck was convicted has not changed; therefore, Beck is not entitled to a reversal of his conviction on this ground.
Petitioner argues that an inculpatory statement he made after his arrest should not have been admitted into evidence because it was the "first" of his illegal arrests. The trial court found that petitioner's arrest was not illegal, specifically stating the following:
The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court and, regarding the admission of the inculpatory statement, held:
Petitioner argues, in brief, that these findings of fact are "incorrect." He states:
The State counters by arguing that "[t]he pages to which reference is made are part of the defendant's first trial," and that "[a] portion of that transcript was included in the record of this case on appeal as a supplemental transcript on motion of the defendant; however, the pages to which the defendant refers were not included in the supplemental transcript and thus are not part of the record in this case. An appellate court generally cannot consider any matter outside of the record. Dates v. State, 282 Ala. 457, 212 So. 2d 845 (1968)."
The State also argues that the record in the current case supports the findings made by the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals regarding the time when the boots were found. In brief, the State points out:
The actual testimony of the investigating officer is as follows:
The State also argues that "probable cause existed even if the only fact known to police at the time of the arrest was that the defendant's truck had been seen at the Malone home on the afternoon of the killing. To support its contention, the State argues:
The State's ultimate position is that, assuming that the arrest was illegal because of a lack of probable cause, the confession should not be suppressed because there was no causal connection between the arrest and the confession.
We do not address the question of whether the confession was "tainted" under the principle announced in Taylor v. Alabama, 457 U.S. 687, 102 S. Ct. 2664, 73 L. Ed. 2d 314 (1982), because we find, as did the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals, that there was sufficient probable cause for the petitioner's arrest.
Beck's next argument is that the trial court should have excused all those jurors who knew of his previous conviction. The record does show, as Beck argues, that twenty-eight of the prospective jurors knew of his previous conviction and that three of those veniremen eventually sat on the jury that convicted him. The Court of Criminal Appeals held:
The searching, sifting cross-examination of prospective jurors by two very able defense lawyers convinces us that the Court *1212 of Criminal Appeals correctly applied the law to the facts; therefore, its judgment is due to be affirmed on this issue. However, there is absolutely no evidence to indicate that any of these three jurors were in any way prejudiced against Beck because of the knowledge they possessed.
Finally, we agree with the Court of Criminal Appeals that the trial court's instructions to the jury, when viewed as a whole, were adequate to apprise the jurors of the elements of capital murder and its pertinent lesser included offenses.
The Court of Criminal Appeals, while finding the trial court's charge was "somewhat complex and confusing," nevertheless, found that the jury was not left in a state of confusion, and held:
After reviewing the court's oral instructions and requested written instructions which were given, we are convinced that prejudicial error has not been shown. The judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals in this issue is due to be affirmed.
Having considered each of the issues raised by Beck and finding none which warrants reversal, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals.
AFFIRMED.
TORBERT, C.J., and FAULKNER, JONES, ALMON, SHORES, EMBRY, BEATTY and ADAMS, JJ., concur.