Court Opinion

ID: 9859203
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 19:13:58.869118+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:09:29.706463
License: Public Domain

ON REHEARING
DeCARLO, Judge.
Application for rehearing overruled and opinion extended by adding the' following facts at the request of appellant :
1. That, after the Co-Defendant, Gary Luschen, armed himself with a knife at appellant’s apartment, prior to the homicide, Luschen demanded of the appellant that appellant accompany him to the Ray Young apartment, and, at the time of the demand, Luschen threatened the appellant with the knife; that, as appellant was accompanying Luschen to the Young apartment, Luschen was carrying the knife; that the appellant, as he and Luschen approached the Young apartment, told Luschen that he didn’t want to have anything to do with whatever was going to happen between Luschen and the deceased, Caneer, (Tr. p. 336); that the appellant left Luschen as soon as he and Luschen entered the Young apartment where Caneer was later killed by Luschen and the appellant went into the bathroom of the Young apartment and locked the door (Tr. p. 338); that after hearing Caneer cry out, “Why, man, why?”, Luschen went to the door of the bathroom and called to the appellant, saying, “You have got to help me”; that the appellant then unlocked and opened the bathroom door and saw Luschen standing directly outside the door, covered with blood, and holding a bloody knife, and at that point Luschen told appellant that he had killed Caneer (Tr. pp. 341-342).
2. That the Madison County Jury Commission compiled the Madison County Jury Roll from not more than 1,000 so-called “volunteers” whose names were obtained by individual members of the Jury Commission, plus names obtained by the Jury Commission systematically selecting every eighth, ninth or tenth name from the Huntsville City Directory, the Huntsville telephone book, the Madison County voters registration list, and the Madison County Tax Assessor’s rolls, exclusively; that each person whose name was so obtained was required to complete a form labeled “Jury Qualification Form”, which contained information designed to disclose whether the candidate for jury service was disqualified for same by reason of some specific statutory disqualification; that, if one of the statutory grounds for disqualification did not appear on the form after it was completed, the candidate for jury service was automatically approved and his name was placed on the jury roll, and no other effort was made to ascertain his qualifications for *699jury service; and that there were approximately 66,000 registered electors of Madison County at the time, and approximately 15,000 persons were placed on the jury roll.
3. That the incident wherein the appellant was read his “rights” by a police officer on April 21, 1971, occurred at approximately 12:00 o’clock midnight, and that the appellant had conceded in his prior testimony that he had been given the Miranda warning before he gave a statement to the police admitting his presence in the Ray Young apartment at the time Caneer was killed by Luschen, and that appellant had not disputed the testimony of police officers that he was given the Miranda warning at the time he was taken into custody, and before he made any admissions to the police.
Although the foregoing facts were in the record, they were only a portion of the evidence considered in forming our opinion.
We adhere to our original decision in this case and overrule the application for rehearing.
Opinion extended and application for rehearing overruled.
CATES, P. J., and TYSON and HARRIS, JJ., concur.