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BUSH v. STATE12/1/1995
is cross-examination of the witness, we note that the jury in the instant case had that information for its consideration in weighing the credibility of Mrs. Pringle as well as that of Holmes. In reference to the remaining contentions that trial counsel was ineffective because he failed to object to testimony from the witness that she spoke with the appellant after her husband had told her about the crimes and because he asked a question concerning a second gun involving an unrelated incidence, we find no merit. We find no ineffectiveness of counsel in his cross-examination of the witness nor in his representation of the appellant. We attach no significance to the appellant's statement in brief that "recent revelations of other key information could have been used to destroy Patricia Pringle's testimony," because these "revelations" are not revealed either in his brief to this court or in the record of the trial.
XXII.
The appellant contends that the evidence was not sufficient to convict him of murder committed in the course of a robbery or an attempt thereof because, he argues, "it was undisputed that any theft of property from the Majik Market occurred as a mere afterthought following the killing." He argues that the theft of the zodiac sign tags was an afterthought and that it occurred after the shootings and when he was fleeing the scene. As discussed in Part XVII above, the fact that the victim was dead at the time the property was taken does not prevent a finding of robbery if the the murder and the taking were part of a continuous chain of events. Hallford v. State, 548 So.2d 526, 534-35 (Ala. Cr. App. 1988), aff'd, 548 So.2d 547 (Ala.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 945, 110 S.Ct. 354, 107 L.Ed.2d 342 (1989). A robbery committed as a "mere afterthought" and unrelated to the murder would not sustain a conviction for the capital offense of murder committed during the course of a robbery; however, the question of a defendant's intent at the time of the commission of the crime is usually an issue for the jury to resolve. Id.; Crowe v. State, 435 So.2d 1371, 1379 (Ala. Cr. App. 1983). In the instant case, we find that sufficient evidence was presented to require that the question of the appellant's intent in killing Dominguez and in taking the zodiac sign tags be submitted to the jury. There was sufficient evidence from which the jury could reasonably infer that a robbery as charged in the capital indictment was committed. See discussion in Part XVII, below.
XXIII.
The appellant contends that the state failed to establish a proper chain of custody of the bodies of the victims Dominguez and Adams because, he argues, there was no showing of how, when, or from whom Dr. Gilchrist, the pathologist who performed the autopsies on the bodies, received them, thereby resulting in the state's failing to lay a proper predicate for Dr. Gilchrist's testimony. The appellant also contends that the state failed to prove that the bodies autopsied by Dr. Gilchrist were those of Dominguez and Adams. No objections were raised in the trial court concerning the chain of custody or the identity of the bodies, the condition of the bodies, or the manner in which the bodies were handled; hence, we review this issue under the plain error rule.
The appellant is correct is his assertion that there was no evidence presented as to how the bodies of the victims were transported
from the scenes of the crimes to the Montgomery office of the Alabama State Department of Forensic Sciences, where Dr. Gilchrist performed the autopsies.
" 'The purpose for requiring that the chain of custody be shown is to establish to a reasonable probability that there has been no tampering
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