Smith v. State12/22/2000
The Houston County grand jury indicted the appellant, Jerry Jerome Smith, on February 20, 1997, for the capital offense of " urder wherein two or more persons are murdered by the defendant by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct," Alabama Code 1975, § 13A- 5-40(a)(10). At arraignment, he entered pleas of not guilty and of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. He withdrew this latter plea before his case was submitted to the jury. When withdrawing the plea, his counsel stated, "Nobody's saying he's insane. We're just saying he's retarded." (R. 1229.) The appellant was found guilty by a jury on February 24, 1998, of the capital offense charged in the indictment. A sentencing hearing was held before the jury in accordance with §§ 13A-5-45 and -46, and the jury recommended, by a vote of 11 to 1, that the appellant be sentenced to death. The trial court held another sentencing hearing as required by §§ 13A-5-47 through -52, and, after considering all the evidence, after weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and after considering the presentence report and the jury's recommendation, sentenced the appellant to death.
The prosecution's evidence showed that the appellant, a drug dealer, went to the residence of Willie Flournoy in Dothan, around 8:30 p.m., on October 19, 1996, to collect $1,500 Flournoy owed him for crack cocaine Flournoy had purchased. Flournoy told the appellant that he did not have the money at that time, but that he would have it later that night. After smoking crack cocaine with Flournoy, the appellant left. Later that night, the appellant, accompanied by his girlfriend, Lekina Smith, returned to Flournoy's residence. He carried a sawed-off .22- caliber rifle concealed under his shirt. The appellant again asked Flournoy for the money, and Flournoy said he did not have it. The appellant told his girlfriend, Lekina, to get out of the way, and then he pointed his rifle at Flournoy and said, "Flint [Flournoy], I have something for you." He shot Flournoy, who was unarmed, in the chest as Flournoy begged him not to shoot. Flournoy attempted to escape, but fell in the yard of his residence and later died from a bullet wound in his chest. After shooting Flournoy, the appellant turned on the other occupants of the home, none of whom was armed. He shot Theresa Helms six times as she tried to flee; she died at the scene from several gunshot wounds to her chest. He shot David Bennett as Bennett sat in a chair in one of the bedrooms of the residence; Bennett died at the scene from a gunshot wound to his head. The appellant attempted to shoot Derrick Gross, but his rifle jammed. As Gross and the appellant wrestled over the gun, the appellant tried to get a knife from his girlfriend so he could stab Gross. Gross escaped. After the shootings, the appellant, accompanied by his girlfriend, fled the scene; he made arrangements for an acquaintance to hide the rifle, changed clothing, and attempted to hide from the police. He was apprehended by the police at approximately 2:00 a.m. the following morning, when he was discovered hiding in his father's house. After being advised of his rights, he confessed to the shootings. The prosecution's evidence also tended to show that the appellant had bragged to other inmates in the county jail that he would beat the capital charge because of his mental condition. It further indicated that the appellant had made statements that the shootings were the result of a drug deal and that he intended to shoot all persons in the residence in order to eliminate all witnesses to the shootings.
At trial, the appellant admitted shooting and killing the three victims, but he contended that he did not intend to kill them. He claimed th
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 Alabama DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|