Outlet number 3 was marked and admitted as State's exhibit number 78. Haney v. State, 603 So.2d 368, 389 (Ala.Crim.App.1991). Although Scott was charged with and convicted of three counts of capital murder, only one countmurder for pecuniary gainhas a corresponding aggravating circumstance defined in 13549, Ala.Code 1975, that made Scott eligible for the death penalty. Indeed, we have held that the opinion of the friends or relatives of the defendant that the defendant should not be sentenced to death is not a relevant mitigating circumstances for the jury to consider at the penalty phase of a capital case. Taylor v. State, 666 So.2d 36, 53 (Ala.Crim.App.1994). She opened the door and found Scott and Noah. Even though a prospective juror admits to potential bias, if further voir dire examination reveals that the juror in question can and will base his decision on the evidence alone, then a trial judge's refusal to grant a motion to strike for cause is not error. Perryman v. State, 558 So.2d 972, 977 (Ala.Crim.App.1989). However, evidence of distinct and independent offenses is admissible in the trial of a person accused of a specific crime when its purpose is to establish identity or a single plan, design, scheme, or system. Contact info: scott.christie@osbe.idaho.gov Find more info on AllPeople about Scott Christie and Idaho State Board of Education, as well as people who work for similar businesses nearby, colleagues for other branches, and more people with said during voir dire that she had discussed the case with her husband, that she knew Scott's family, and that she was a tenderhearted person. Specifically, she argues that there was no evidence that she intentionally started or caused a fire and that she intended to kill Mason. 2464, 2471, 91 L.Ed.2d 144 (1986), quoting Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 94 S.Ct. also responded that he had no confidence in the Russellville Police Department. Scott called two experts to testify concerning the cause of the fire. See Ford v. State, 628 So.2d 1068 (Ala.Crim.App.1993). The jury had already spent over four weeks hearing testimony in this case. Indeed, our review of the record fails to show that police officers, firefighters, or any other State officials acted in bad faith during the investigation of the fire/homicide. Kirk Berryman, a former agent with Farm Bureau Insurance, testified that in February 2005 he sold the Scotts insurance for their home on Steel Frame Road in the amount of $116,000. Each of our sister Circuits to consider the issue has concluded that Rule 404(b) extends to non-criminal acts or wrongs, and we now join them.''. We went to my room and went to bed. The record shows that four witnesses testified concerning Scott's disciplining Mason in their presence. Another witness testified that after the fire, Scott told him she did not know how she could be so unluckythat she had had three house fires in two years and that God was punishing her for not wanting to raise Mason, an autistic child. See State v. Hester, 324 S.W.3d 1, 80 (Tenn.2010) ([W]e find that Mr. Hester has not offered a persuasive argument for revisiting this Court's previous decisions upholding the constitutionality of Tennessee's lethal injection protocol.); Henyard v. State, 992 So.3d 120, 130 (Fla.2009) (We have previously concluded in Lightbourne [v. McCollum, 969 So.2d 326 (Fla.2007),] and Schwab [v. State, 969 So.2d 318 (Fla.2007),] that the Florida protocols do not violate any of the possible standards, and that holding cannot conflict with the narrow holding in Baze. Was that appropriate for the death penalty every time? C. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence 69.01(8) (5th ed.1996); Ex parte Arthur, 472 So.2d 665 (Ala.1985); and Robertson v. State, 680 So.2d 929 (Ala.Crim.App.1994). The circuit court did not err in excusing A.C. outside Scott's presence for hardship reasons under 121663, Ala.Code 1975. continuously said that the fact that her brother is a witness in this trial that that would not affect her ability to be fair, it's our position and caselaw supports our position that the jurors themselves are sometimes ill-postured to make a determination as to whether or not they can be fair. 323 .) at 2534. Scott specifically challenges the second paragraph emphasized in the circuit court's sentencing order. Paramedic James Yarborough testified that about 20 minutes after he arrived Scott was in the ambulance and Scott's parents and her mother-in-law arrived at the scene. He works in Charleston, SC and 2 other locations and specializes in Neurology and Psychiatry. In the opinion of this Court, this evidence was sufficient to connect the appellant to the two prior fires.. The Alabama Supreme Court addressed this issue in Ex parte Belisle, 11 So.3d 323 (Ala.2008), and held: The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Kentucky's method of execution, Baze [v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35, 62,] 128 S.Ct. (R. I think she said she could follow the law. has held up the conviction and death sentence of a Franklin County woman for killing her 6-year-old son Christie Michelle Scott was arrested in August 2008 for setting the house on fire to get the insurance money. 258.) 328788.). 183, 186, 306 So.2d 51, 54 (1974). Specifically, Scott challenges the third paragraph emphasized in the circuit court's sentencing order. And as soon as she left, within a short time period, the house burned again. 1583.). In Carruth, the Alabama Supreme Court considered the validity of the circuit court's grant of Pittway's summary-judgment motion after the court failed to state whether it considered Munger's testimony. Scott next argues that the court erred in discounting evidence because the witnesses and jury were emotional. See Annot., Admissibility, in Prosecution for Criminal Burning of Property, or for Maintaining Fire Hazard, of Evidence of Other Fires, 87 A.L.R.2d 891 (1963). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Scott said that she did not like one of the fire marshals because he had worked her other house fire. [Defense counsel]: Judge, she's one of the teachers that commented yesterday that all teachers should be excluded from the jury because of their close work with children and the fact that a child is involved in this case. Nelson v. State, 440 So.2d 1130, 1132 (Ala.Crim.App.1983). denied, 387 So.2d 283 (Ala.1980). Oh, no, not my babies. See also, Eslava v. State, 473 So.2d 1143, 1146 (Ala.Cr.App.1985). In rebuttal, the State presented the testimony of Jim Hananah with the State Fire Marshal's Office. Scott relies on the Alabama Supreme Court's decision in Ex parte Gingo to support her argument. (3) Prejudice to Scott. Briggs argued on appeal that the prior fires were not admissible because he was never charged with those fires, that he was not seen starting those fires, and that the evidence was admitted only to show his propensity to commit the charged arson. See also Ex parte Colby, 41 So.3d 1 (Ala.2009) (finding reversible error in court's failure to remove three prospective jurors for cause). Section 122113, Ala.Code 1975, specifically allows for the admission of outlet number 3 even though there was a weak link in the chain of custody. The burden of showing actual prejudice or community saturation with prejudicial publicity lies with the appellant. The greater the amount of insurance, the greater [the defendant's] motive for killing [the victim]. State v. Clay, 115 Wis.2d 697, 341 N.W.2d 417 (1983). They focused only on the overall balancing question. They have also lived in Bronxville, NY. He began to cry at this point. Trial courts are presumed to know and to follow existing law. Harris v. State, 2 So.3d 880, 925 (Ala.Crim.App.2007). (R. 476 U.S. at 173, 106 S.Ct. Committing an intentional murder for pecuniary gain is an aggravating circumstance defined in 13A549(6), Ala.Code 1975. [Prosecutor]: What is inferredwhat did you infer from her actions as far as long dead periods or long periods of silence in answering questions? I took a deep breath, stood up, and opened the window. Keyla McKinney, a hair stylist at Hello Gorgeous, testified that she had seen Scott upset with Mason, that she had seen Scott grab Mason, and that she had seen Scott spank Mason. Yep, I would have to give them the death [penalty] for killing a child. The Court will now discuss the jury's recommendation as a mitigating factor. She said that she returned with her neighbor and tried to get back into the house: I pushed the code in, it wouldn'tand my hands were jerking, and I thought it may be me that my hands were jerking so bad that I was hitting the wrong buttons. This fire was ruled an accident. Firefighters testified that after extinguishing the fire they searched the house several times before they were able to identify Mason's badly charred body. (1) Culpability of the State. There will seldom be much evidence bearing on that issue, and the best evidence often will be the demeanor of the attorney who exercises the challenge. The record shows that Scott moved to dismiss the charges at various times throughout the course of the trial. Contrary to Vanpelt's assertions, there is no constitutional or statutory prohibition against double counting certain circumstances as both an element of the offense and an aggravating circumstance. All rights reserved. The Alabama Supreme Court in Ex parte Belisle held that Alabama's method of imposing death by lethal injection, a three-drug protocol, did not violate the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 278.) 333, 102 L.Ed.2d 281 (1988), the police failed to refrigerate a sodomy victim's semen-stained clothing. 2562.) The trial court erred in denying GM's challenges for cause as to the five veniremembers related to attorneys in this case.. Join Facebook to connect with Christie Michelle and others you may know. Compare Brent G. Filbert, Failure of Police To Preserve Potentially Exculpatory Evidence as Violating Criminal Defendant's Rights Under State Constitution, 40 A.L.R.5th 113 (1996). See 13A546(f), Ala.Code 1975.4 Specifically, Scott argues that the compelling mitigation evidence that was presented from over 20 friends and family members warranted a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and that the court's override of the jury's recommendation violates the Alabama Supreme Court's decisions in Ex parte Taylor, 808 So.2d 1215 (Ala.2001), and Ex parte Carroll, 852 So.2d 833 (Ala.2002). It states that unless a criminal defendant can show bad faith on the part of the police, failure to preserve potentially useful evidence does not constitute a denial of due process of law. In my opinion, there may well be cases in which the defendant is unable to prove that the State acted in bad faith but in which the loss or destruction of evidence is nonetheless so critical to the defense as to make a criminal trial fundamentally unfair. As with the state of mind of a juror, evaluation of the prosecutor's state of mind based on demeanor and credibility lie peculiarly within a trial judge's province. Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 428, 105 S.Ct. WebChristie Michelle Scottwas 30 when she murdered her 6-year-old son and committed arson in Russellville, Alabama, on August 16, 2008. The Company, comprised of two ophthalmologists and five optometrists, practices out of two clinical, two optical locations, and one surgery center. (R. And of course, that would be a big concern since the Russellville Police Department is front and center in this case. [Defense counsel]: But the question would beand I understand you said it may be emotional, but can you follow the instructions, follow the law or would it be impossible to do that because of your emotions? Feb 04, 2022. I would ask you not to talk to anyone at home about the case tonight .. Cpt. I just want y'all to know that I do know this man and his family. As the Alabama Supreme Court stated in Bethea v. Springhill Memorial Hospital, 833 So.2d 1 (Ala.2002): The application of a harmless-error analysis to a trial court's refusal to strike a juror for cause is not new to this Court; in fact, such an analysis was adopted as early as 1909: The appellant was convicted of the crime of murder in the second degree. Pretty set in it. Section 13A547(e), Ala.Code 1975, grants the sentencing judge exclusive authority to fix the sentence for a capital-murder conviction. It was his opinion that the fire was not electrical in origin. 2181.) More than 70 witnesses testified for that, and the death case in chief Prejudicial is used in this phrase to limit the introduction of probative evidence of prior misconduct only when it is unduly and unfairly prejudicial.' Both the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Environmental Protection Agency had collected and analyzed test samples of the waste material. The circuit court found one statutory mitigating circumstancethat Scott had no significant history of prior criminal activity. And for what (inaudible) I've heard so much. Phone | Current Address | Public Records | Criminal Records. because of a family emergency. 2273, 101 L.Ed.2d 80 (1988) ], [United States v.] MartinezSalazar, [528 U.S. 304 (2000),] Bethea [v. Springhill Memorial Hospital, 833 So.2d 1 (Ala.2002),] and Turner [v. State, 160 Ala. 55, 49 So. During closing argument, the prosecutor, as well as defense counsel, has a right to present his impressions from the evidence, if reasonable, and may argue every legitimate inference. Reeves v. State, 807 So.2d 18, 45 (Ala.Crim.App.2000). The Court finds that these fires can be used in regard to show plan, motive, and identity. ), cert. See also Baxter v. State, 176 Ga.App. Rhodes for cause, because of his having been on the jury which had tried another person jointly indicted with the defendant, yet it was error without injury, as the record shows that the defendant challenged said juror peremptorily, and that, when the jury was formed the defendant had not exhausted his right to peremptory challenges.. Following Youngblood, this court decided State v. Gingo, 605 So.2d 1233 (Ala.Cr.App.1991). [T]his court has before it sufficient basis for reviewing the appellant's death sentence. Stewart v. State, 730 So.2d 1203, 1219 (Ala.Crim.App.1996). Evidence of recent abuse to the deceased child by the defendant is admissible to show intent, motive or scienter. Scott gave the following account of the events of August 16: I went back to watch TV. Accordingly, Scott's argument is without merit. Christopher Aaron Nichols, an officer with the Russellville Police Department, testified that Scott's family was very, very emotional and that when her father approached her he screamed, What did you do to my grandbaby? (R. In Ex parte D.L.H., 806 So.2d 1190 (Ala.2001), the Alabama Supreme Court stated: When one party opens the door to otherwise inadmissible evidence, the doctrine of curative admissibility provides the opposing party with the right to rebut such evidence with other illegal evidence. McElroy's Alabama Evidence, 14.01, p. 49 (5th ed.1996). In Huddleston v. United States, 485 U.S. 681, 687, 108 S.Ct. However, such evidence is admissible for other material purposes, including proof of identity. The circuit court indicated that it was going to deny the motion and allow the defense expert to examine the outlet before he testified. at 1242. 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