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BUSH v. STATE12/1/1995
us delicti, which under the circumstances here is proper, the evidence was clearly sufficient for the court and jury to find the existence of the corpus delicti. The appellant stated in his confessions that he entered the Majik Market and shot Dominguez and Holmes in an attempt to get money; that when he was unable to get into the cash register after shooting Dominguez, he took the zodiac sign tags from their location on the wall behind the counter near the cash register; that because he and his accomplice were unsuccessful in getting money from the Majik Market, they attempted to get money a short time later in the Seven-Eleven store nearby; that he purchased a package of Kool cigarettes at the Seven-Eleven store, and when Adams opened the cash register to receive payment, he pointed the pistol at Adams and told him it was a "stick up"; and that he forced Adams to an office in the rear, shot him, and took $20 to $30 from the cash register and some checks and a money bag from the store. The appellant admitted to Patricia Pringle, the wife of the accomplice, that he shot the persons in the convenience stores and said that he did it because he "couldn't have anybody looking." The pistol used in the commission of both offenses was traced to the appellant and was recovered. Through his accomplice, Edward
Pringle, the appellant was linked to the getaway car described by Holmes.
After considering the confessions of the appellant, which we have found to be voluntary, along with the facts and circumstances surrounding the offenses, we find that the state proved the corpus delicti of robbery or an attempted robbery. As we stated earlier, the appellant's intent to commit a theft can be inferred from the facts and circumstances surrounding the commission of the acts. He obviously entered the premises with the intent to steal money and anything else that struck his fancy. The evidence of the location of the zodiac sign tags supported by the appellant's confessions coupled with all the other facts and circumstances established the corpus delicti as to Counts I and II of the indictment. Even if no valuables had been taken, it would not necessarily mean that there had been no attempted robbery or indeed no robbery. The lack of direct evidence of a taking of property does not undermine the conviction for murder committed during a robbery, because the robbery statutes proscribe attempts as well as completed thefts. Johnson v. State, 473 So.2d 607 (Ala. Cr. App. 1985). The facts and circumstances clarified by the appellant's confessions also establish the corpus delicti of an attempted robbery as to Counts III and IV. Further, the evidence presented by the state was sufficient from which the jury could find the appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt under either or under all of the counts of the indictment of robbery of the Majik Market. We finally note that it can reasonably be inferred from the evidence in this case that the robbery or an attempted robbery and the murder formed a continuous chain of events. The trial court's order overruling the motion for a judgment of acquittal was correct. The case was properly submitted to the jury.
In a footnote to his brief in his discussion of this issue, the appellant contends that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that it could not convict him absent sufficient evidence to corroborate his confession with respect to each element of the charged offense. This issue was not raised in the trial court. No charge pertaining to the corroboration of the confessions was requested, and no objection was raised to the court's jury charge on this ground. Thus, we review this contention under the plain error rule.
" t is the province of the
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