Opinion ID: 1889713
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: sufficiency of the jury charge

Text: On appeal petitioner argued, for the first time, that the elements of premeditation, unlawfulness, and malice aforethought should have been included in the charge. Failure to include these elements, he argued, constituted plain error which affected his substantial rights. A.R. A.P. 39(k). We disagree. The oral charge must be judged within the context of the facts in dispute. Van Antwerp v. State, 358 So.2d 782, 786 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 358 So.2d 791 (Ala.1978). There was no dispute as to whether the killings were premeditated, unlawful, and done with malice aforethought. Tomlin either carried out the brutal, execution-style killings after months of planning or he was in Texas at the time of the killings and had no knowledge of them. There was no evidence to suggest accident, passion, justification, or provocation.