Once upon a time I attended the Baptist church that hosts the cemetery where this picture was taken a few weeks ago. I also attended kindergarten through fourth grade on the same grounds. Many of my relatives are buried there. Their remains are devolving under the ground(s) that I used to play upon. The playground was next to tombstones of the unknown. As I grew and evolved, many of the headstones marked the final departure spot of my elders. Some marked my friends final resting place. A place they once played so close by. The head of my Family's remains remain there -- my Granddad Bell. The head of my Step-Family ("Eddard") just recently departed from there, though His remains remain there and with my blood.
In the midst of my fourth-grade year at Coosa Valley Elementary, my parents "decided" I should go to a "private" school. My family's best friends' Son -- my Best Friend -- Paul, Jr., was going to that school some 30 miles away. (So I went to CVA -- AKA, Coosa Valley Academy.)
Our families were very close. But Paul, Sr. had a dark, underworld; a world we did not know about; at least not the depths of. It was a world I can now reflect upon, and unfortunately understand how cold and dark it was. . .and a world Paul, Jr. must have suffered in while I lived within another type of dimension; still dark, but NOTHING like my best friend. Paul, Jr. suffered a different type of misery than I could ever grasp.
Not more than two years passed, and my parents took me out of CVA. I was back in public school.
Paul, Jr., his wonderful Mother, and the wretched father -- Paul, Sr., were murdered. Paul, Jr. was 10-years-old. To describe the brutality, severity, intensity, in which they suffered and died is another story that I am not prepared to tell in detail. (Maybe another day. Maybe not. However, I have posted official court details below. Read with caution.)
My Dad, Sister, mother, and myself were on vacation in Florida. Paul, Jr. and His Mother were invited to join us. Paul, Sr. denied them the opportunity. Before we learned of my Friend's and Family's demise, we had been notified of their disappearance. We abandoned our vacation early and headed home. Upon hitting Montgomery, AL, my Dad stopped at a gas station. "Son, please get me the newspaper."
My Dad, Sister, mother, and myself were on vacation in Florida. Paul, Jr. and His Mother were invited to join us. Paul, Sr. denied them the opportunity. Before we learned of my Friend's and Family's demise, we had been notified of their disappearance. We abandoned our vacation early and headed home. Upon hitting Montgomery, AL, my Dad stopped at a gas station. "Son, please get me the newspaper."
Birmingham News headliner read:
"Three Found Dead, Apparently the Franklins"
. . . .
(I cannot express in any words the shock and horror and sickness we ALL felt. My Sister was only 8. I was almost 11.) I read the article over and over and over during the last two-hour drive home. My family. . .speechless.
My heart was devastated. "Life" as we knew it changed in so many ways. My Dad and (so-called) mother decided the "private" school had too many connections/memories regarding Paul, Jr. I assume they meant the best. I had no idea how to deal with such tragedy and trusted any change was for the best.
Changing geography, friends, teachers, bus drivers, yearbooks, lunchrooms, playgrounds, lifestyles, and everything else we tried, never changed the hurt I felt. Nothing ever will to this day. (I actually went back and forth to CVA and local public schools at least four times. I'm not sure what or why or where I was running from, 'cause I still haven't found where I was "supposed" to go.) It's not like I could ever find Paul, Jr., nor ever forget Him. I could never leave Him behind. I still haven't.
The murderer was executed several years ago. He was on death row for 22 years.
I had the "opportunity" to witness his death. I drove towards the prison with tears in my eyes. I stopped. I turned around and headed the opposite way.
I headed to an Amnesty International gathering. They were holding a peaceful protest for said murder's execution near the Birmingham Civil Right's Institute. I observed their sincerity. They did not believe in an "eye for an eye." (There was no matter if said-murderer really DID murder my friend and family.)
I monitored their prayers. I even held hands within their circle. They meant no harm; nor did I.
Upon the 6:27 PM mark, the murderer was pronounced dead. I had waited for years for him to face his fate. He was executed by lethal injection. The circle had many tears. I tried not to cry. I was not successful.
Before leaving, I turned and asked the departing crowd to hear my words and look at what I had i my hands. I simply said: "Here is a picture of my best friend, Paul, Jr. The child and Son of the family that was murdered. Please pray and remember Them, as you have prayed and remembered (and I did so as well) the murderer."
I felt no justice. No peace. No. . . NOTHING. I was numb. I walked away as many followed me and asked to tell them more. I couldn't.
I buried my thoughts, feelings. . .anger. I buried my ancestors and friends. I bury more. There are many more to come. It is a place that draws me back to a space in time I will never shake. The crossroad(s), monuments, relics, memories and sentimental scars, tragedy, beauty, essence, reality and existence.
I often visit the cemetery where my blood still soaks into plots meant to one day hold my flesh and all of my still-living family's as well. I still hear the organ, feel it pumping, smell the playing, swinging above the grounds like a little boy -- still living.
"Three Found Dead, Apparently the Franklins"
. . . .
(I cannot express in any words the shock and horror and sickness we ALL felt. My Sister was only 8. I was almost 11.) I read the article over and over and over during the last two-hour drive home. My family. . .speechless.
My heart was devastated. "Life" as we knew it changed in so many ways. My Dad and (so-called) mother decided the "private" school had too many connections/memories regarding Paul, Jr. I assume they meant the best. I had no idea how to deal with such tragedy and trusted any change was for the best.
Changing geography, friends, teachers, bus drivers, yearbooks, lunchrooms, playgrounds, lifestyles, and everything else we tried, never changed the hurt I felt. Nothing ever will to this day. (I actually went back and forth to CVA and local public schools at least four times. I'm not sure what or why or where I was running from, 'cause I still haven't found where I was "supposed" to go.) It's not like I could ever find Paul, Jr., nor ever forget Him. I could never leave Him behind. I still haven't.
The murderer was executed several years ago. He was on death row for 22 years.
I had the "opportunity" to witness his death. I drove towards the prison with tears in my eyes. I stopped. I turned around and headed the opposite way.
I headed to an Amnesty International gathering. They were holding a peaceful protest for said murder's execution near the Birmingham Civil Right's Institute. I observed their sincerity. They did not believe in an "eye for an eye." (There was no matter if said-murderer really DID murder my friend and family.)
I monitored their prayers. I even held hands within their circle. They meant no harm; nor did I.
Upon the 6:27 PM mark, the murderer was pronounced dead. I had waited for years for him to face his fate. He was executed by lethal injection. The circle had many tears. I tried not to cry. I was not successful.
Before leaving, I turned and asked the departing crowd to hear my words and look at what I had i my hands. I simply said: "Here is a picture of my best friend, Paul, Jr. The child and Son of the family that was murdered. Please pray and remember Them, as you have prayed and remembered (and I did so as well) the murderer."
I felt no justice. No peace. No. . . NOTHING. I was numb. I walked away as many followed me and asked to tell them more. I couldn't.
I buried my thoughts, feelings. . .anger. I buried my ancestors and friends. I bury more. There are many more to come. It is a place that draws me back to a space in time I will never shake. The crossroad(s), monuments, relics, memories and sentimental scars, tragedy, beauty, essence, reality and existence.
I often visit the cemetery where my blood still soaks into plots meant to one day hold my flesh and all of my still-living family's as well. I still hear the organ, feel it pumping, smell the playing, swinging above the grounds like a little boy -- still living.
There is much more to this tragic story of my past that I still carry with me. I will share further when the time comes.
-------------------------------
Official Court Details
Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554 (Ala.Cr.App. 1986) (Direct Appeal).
Defendant was convicted in the Circuit Court, Talladega County, Jerry L. Fielding, J., of various charges relating to murder of family, and he appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals, Taylor, J., held that: (1) defendant was not entitled to change of venue; (2) veniremen did not have to be stricken for cause; (3) defendant was not prejudiced by prosecutor's remark during jury selection; (4) defendant's arrest was proper and evidence seized pursuant to that arrest was not "fruit of poisonous tree;" (5) bodies of victims would have been discovered through independent source; (6) defendant had waived right to counsel and confession was admissible; (7) trial court was required to give instruction as to defendant's right not to testify; and (8) death penalty was properly imposed. Affirmed. Judgment affirmed, Ala. 510 So.2d 574.
TAYLOR, Judge.
The defendant, John W. Peoples, Jr., was indicted by the Talladega County Grand Jury on August 3, 1983, in a five-count capital murder indictment. Count one charged murder of two or more persons, namely, Paul G. Franklin, Sr., and Judy C. Franklin, by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct, a violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(10), Code of Alabama 1975 . Count two charged murder of Paul G. Franklin, Sr., during the kidnapping in the first degree of said person, a violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(1), Code of Alabama 1975 . Count three charged murder of Paul G. Franklin, Jr., during the kidnapping in the first degree of said person, a violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(1), Code of Alabama 1975. Count four charged murder during a burglary in the first degree, a violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(4), Code of Alabama 1975. Count five charged murder during a robbery in the first degree, a violation of § 13A-5- 40(a)(2), Code of Alabama 1975.
In July 1983, 34-year-old Paul Franklin, Sr., his wife Judy, and their 10-year-old son Paul, Jr., resided near Pell City in St. Clair County. They lived in a house on a peninsula that extends into Lake Logan Martin. Mr. Franklin owned several personal vehicles between 1980 and 1983, having as many as five at one time, including a red 1968 Chevrolet Corvette. In July 1983, Mr. Franklin had in his employ a tutor for his son, who had been employed for the summer months, and a housekeeper, who came regularly and who had been doing so for three years. Paul Franklin's wife, Judy, scheduled an appointment for 9:00 a.m., July 7, for Paul, Jr., for a session with his tutor. However, the whole family, along with the red Corvette, disappeared from their lake home sometime on the night of Wednesday, July 6, 1983. Mr. Franklin's mother, with whom he had an extremely close relationship, lives in Birmingham, and the two of them would talk by telephone "every" day. They had such a conversation on July 6, at about 6:30 p.m., and again for five minutes at about 8:30 p.m.
The next morning, July 7, 1983, the housekeeper arrived as arranged and found the house was not locked. When the housekeeper entered the house, she found no one home. She found the lights and the color televisions turned on. The family dog was "laying" in the washroom. She began her housekeeping chores, during which the telephone rang; the call was from Mr. Franklin's mother. This was between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. After talking with the mother, the housekeeper returned to her duties. While getting the mop and pail, she discovered that Mr. Franklin's Buick Regal was downstairs in the garage. This was unusual, because inside the garage was where the red Corvette was kept "fastened up all the time"; the Buick was normally parked outside. The housekeeper noted a puddle of oil where the Corvette was supposed to be. This observation was "a little after nine o'clock."
After mopping, the housekeeper proceeded with her cleaning. Under the bed in the marital bedroom, she found Mr. Franklin's pants folded in his usual but peculiar manner; however, they still contained his keys, billfold, and money clip. Then she noticed the bed in the guest bedroom was unmade, which was unusual. She began vacuuming when "a voice" told her, "Rosa, get the hell out of here and now," whereupon she "dropped everything right then and there" and left.
Mr. Franklin's mother arrived at the residence about 2:00 o'clock that afternoon, and found no one home and the doors not locked. Mr. Franklin was supposed to have made arrangements for his mother's car to be serviced at a local garage, but when she telephoned the garage from the residence, she found that her son had not made the appointment. Nevertheless, the servicemen did come get her car and service it. Meanwhile, the mother waited at the residence, hoping her son and family would return. Then she began calling family members--her other son in Georgia and Judy Franklin's mother in Birmingham. She also called the sheriff's office.
Judy Franklin's mother arrived at the residence about 7:00 p.m., and a sheriff's deputy arrived a short time later. The mother noticed her daughter's purse on the kitchen bar. She also saw clothes hanging on a dresser; they were the clothes that her daughter had been wearing the previous day. The deputy made a "short investigation," staying there about an hour and a half getting information and determining if anything was missing. Based on this investigation, the deputy put out a police broadcast that the family was missing, and later that night when he obtained a tag number for the missing Corvette, he had a report of the missing car entered in the National Crime Information Center (N.C.I.C.). Paul Franklin's mother and Judy Franklin's mother were instructed to remain in the house until Sunday afternoon, July 10, 1983. When they left, they gave the authorities a house key.
The authorities blocked the driveway to the house on the night of July 8. That night, Officers Marvin Roye and Ed Traylor of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, and Investigator Owen Harmon, of the St. Clair Sheriff's Department, continued the investigation at the residence. Officer Roye "spent a great deal of time [that night] with the family going over the family history and information--where would they go and where would they have gone and what their activities were and things of this nature." The officers also looked around and through the house, "looking for things like broken out windows, forced entry, and any kind of destructive type thing." They also checked to see if any family luggage was gone. In the basement where the Corvette was usually parked, Officer Traylor noted an oily shoeprint from a shoe or boot that had a "vibram lug type sole." The two mothers "knew basically where things were, but it was a very difficult task to make some determination if there was anything missing."
On Sunday, July 10, 1983, further investigation at the Franklin residence disclosed the name "John Peoples" written in eyebrow pencil on the top of a clothes hamper in the bathroom. The name was covered by a piece of toilet tissue lying over the name and the end of a towel on a towel rack draped over the clothes hamper. Judy Franklin's mother recognized the handwriting as being Judy's. It was determined that the name had been written there after July 2, 1983. Mr. Franklin's mother then informed the officers that John Peoples was someone she knew and that he had worked for her son around the house. She also told them John Peoples had borrowed money from her son in the past and had lately been trying to borrow more money. She also described him as being a "big robust type fellow, a big man."
The next morning, Monday, July 11, 1983, the officers learned that on the previous Friday, a large man named John Peoples had attempted to sell a red Corvette with a "59 tag" to Regal Pontiac Company in Sylacauga. He was described as being about 6'4"" and weighing 240 pounds.
On July 11, 1983, Childersburg Police Chief Ira Finn received a telephone call from a Childersburg druggist concerning a man being at the drug store trying to sell a red Corvette. Chief Finn knew the car was listed "on the N.C.I.C. machine," and when he gave the druggist the tag and registration numbers of the car, the druggist told him that was the car the man at the drug store was trying to sell. Chief Finn notified officers to go to the drug store. Assistant Police Chief Lewis Finn arrived at the drug store at about 1:29 p.m., where he found the appellant and the red Corvette. The officer walked in the drug store and asked Peoples if the car was his, and he replied that it was. Outside, the officer informed the appellant he would have to come to the police station. The appellant was allowed to drive the Corvette to the station while officers followed in a police car.
At the police station, the appellant was taken into Chief Finn's office, and Chief Finn told him the Corvette had been reported stolen from Pell City and that the three family members were missing. The appellant replied, "Well, by god, I didn't steal the car. I've got a bill of sale for it." He then threw a piece of paper on the chief's desk. The chief looked at it without picking it up, and replied, "Well, that ain't too much of a bill of sale. It's not notarized." The appellant responded, "Well, I've got a goddamn tag receipt," and he threw another piece of paper on the desk. He was then told he would have to wait until the arrival of A.B.I. officers, whom Chief Finn had already notified.
Upon receiving the call in Talladega from Chief Finn, St. Clair Deputy Sheriff Owen Harmon and A.B.I. Officer Ed Traylor immediately drove to Childersburg. They arrived at the Childersburg police station around 2:15 p.m., about 20 minutes after the appellant had been brought in. The officers talked to Chief Finn for some 20 to 30 minutes. Chief Finn gave the officers the purported bill of sale. The entire handwritten document reads: "I Paul Franklin trade John Peoples one 1968 Corvette for 50 percent ownership of the C.J. Supper Club. "/s/ Paul G. Franklin /s/ John W. Peoples /s/ Judy Franklin "1946785406573 59A7093 59-5560"
However, the man who actually owned C.J. Supper Club, one Curtis Jackson, came to the police station and told the officers the supper club belonged to him and that the only right, title, or interest the appellant had in the supper club was "operating rights from June the 15th to July the 15th."
The appellant was given a Miranda warning at about 2:45 p.m.; at that point, he had been at the police station about an hour and 15 minutes. He told the officers he understood his rights. While the officers were questioning the appellant, attorney Ray Robbins telephoned. Officer Traylor first talked with the attorney, and the attorney told the officer that the appellant's father had contacted him and "he just called to see what was going on with" the appellant. The appellant then talked to the attorney, and told him that he "didn't need him or an attorney at that time, that [the officers] were talking to him about the car that he had purchased from Paul Franklin, and that if he decided he needed him later he would call him back." After talking with the attorney, the appellant gave the officers a statement in which, apparently, he admitted he and an individual named Timothy Gooden had in fact gone to the Franklin residence on the night of July 6, 1983, in his Toyota pickup truck, but that they left the Franklins at home alive and well about 12:00 or 12:30 that night. Then the officers asked him if he would give them permission to search "his Toyota pickup he was riding in when he went over to Paul Franklin's residence." The officers also asked him for permission to search both his residence in Talladega and the Corvette. He said "that would be fine."
A permission to search form was then read to the appellant, which informed him he had the right to refuse to allow the searches. At approximately 4:30 p.m. on July 11, 1983, he signed the permission to search form. He then left the Childersburg police station with the officers, taking them to his father's residence, where the officers searched his Toyota pickup truck. Nothing was taken from the truck. Next, they went to his apartment in Talladega, where he unlocked the door for the officers. Upon searching the apartment, in a dirty clothes box, the officers found a shirt and a pair of pants that appeared to have bloodstains on them. When the officers found the clothes, the appellant "just slid down the wall and was kind of sitting on his heels." When confronted with the apparent bloodstains, he said they were from barbecue sauce "that he got on there on the 4th of July when he was barbecuing down at the club." However, "at this point, John got very nervous and upset. He started sweating just around the lower part of his chin, sweat was just a-dripping off."
-------------------------------
Official Court Details
Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554 (Ala.Cr.App. 1986) (Direct Appeal).
Defendant was convicted in the Circuit Court, Talladega County, Jerry L. Fielding, J., of various charges relating to murder of family, and he appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals, Taylor, J., held that: (1) defendant was not entitled to change of venue; (2) veniremen did not have to be stricken for cause; (3) defendant was not prejudiced by prosecutor's remark during jury selection; (4) defendant's arrest was proper and evidence seized pursuant to that arrest was not "fruit of poisonous tree;" (5) bodies of victims would have been discovered through independent source; (6) defendant had waived right to counsel and confession was admissible; (7) trial court was required to give instruction as to defendant's right not to testify; and (8) death penalty was properly imposed. Affirmed. Judgment affirmed, Ala. 510 So.2d 574.
TAYLOR, Judge.
The defendant, John W. Peoples, Jr., was indicted by the Talladega County Grand Jury on August 3, 1983, in a five-count capital murder indictment. Count one charged murder of two or more persons, namely, Paul G. Franklin, Sr., and Judy C. Franklin, by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct, a violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(10), Code of Alabama 1975 . Count two charged murder of Paul G. Franklin, Sr., during the kidnapping in the first degree of said person, a violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(1), Code of Alabama 1975 . Count three charged murder of Paul G. Franklin, Jr., during the kidnapping in the first degree of said person, a violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(1), Code of Alabama 1975. Count four charged murder during a burglary in the first degree, a violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(4), Code of Alabama 1975. Count five charged murder during a robbery in the first degree, a violation of § 13A-5- 40(a)(2), Code of Alabama 1975.
In July 1983, 34-year-old Paul Franklin, Sr., his wife Judy, and their 10-year-old son Paul, Jr., resided near Pell City in St. Clair County. They lived in a house on a peninsula that extends into Lake Logan Martin. Mr. Franklin owned several personal vehicles between 1980 and 1983, having as many as five at one time, including a red 1968 Chevrolet Corvette. In July 1983, Mr. Franklin had in his employ a tutor for his son, who had been employed for the summer months, and a housekeeper, who came regularly and who had been doing so for three years. Paul Franklin's wife, Judy, scheduled an appointment for 9:00 a.m., July 7, for Paul, Jr., for a session with his tutor. However, the whole family, along with the red Corvette, disappeared from their lake home sometime on the night of Wednesday, July 6, 1983. Mr. Franklin's mother, with whom he had an extremely close relationship, lives in Birmingham, and the two of them would talk by telephone "every" day. They had such a conversation on July 6, at about 6:30 p.m., and again for five minutes at about 8:30 p.m.
The next morning, July 7, 1983, the housekeeper arrived as arranged and found the house was not locked. When the housekeeper entered the house, she found no one home. She found the lights and the color televisions turned on. The family dog was "laying" in the washroom. She began her housekeeping chores, during which the telephone rang; the call was from Mr. Franklin's mother. This was between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. After talking with the mother, the housekeeper returned to her duties. While getting the mop and pail, she discovered that Mr. Franklin's Buick Regal was downstairs in the garage. This was unusual, because inside the garage was where the red Corvette was kept "fastened up all the time"; the Buick was normally parked outside. The housekeeper noted a puddle of oil where the Corvette was supposed to be. This observation was "a little after nine o'clock."
After mopping, the housekeeper proceeded with her cleaning. Under the bed in the marital bedroom, she found Mr. Franklin's pants folded in his usual but peculiar manner; however, they still contained his keys, billfold, and money clip. Then she noticed the bed in the guest bedroom was unmade, which was unusual. She began vacuuming when "a voice" told her, "Rosa, get the hell out of here and now," whereupon she "dropped everything right then and there" and left.
Mr. Franklin's mother arrived at the residence about 2:00 o'clock that afternoon, and found no one home and the doors not locked. Mr. Franklin was supposed to have made arrangements for his mother's car to be serviced at a local garage, but when she telephoned the garage from the residence, she found that her son had not made the appointment. Nevertheless, the servicemen did come get her car and service it. Meanwhile, the mother waited at the residence, hoping her son and family would return. Then she began calling family members--her other son in Georgia and Judy Franklin's mother in Birmingham. She also called the sheriff's office.
Judy Franklin's mother arrived at the residence about 7:00 p.m., and a sheriff's deputy arrived a short time later. The mother noticed her daughter's purse on the kitchen bar. She also saw clothes hanging on a dresser; they were the clothes that her daughter had been wearing the previous day. The deputy made a "short investigation," staying there about an hour and a half getting information and determining if anything was missing. Based on this investigation, the deputy put out a police broadcast that the family was missing, and later that night when he obtained a tag number for the missing Corvette, he had a report of the missing car entered in the National Crime Information Center (N.C.I.C.). Paul Franklin's mother and Judy Franklin's mother were instructed to remain in the house until Sunday afternoon, July 10, 1983. When they left, they gave the authorities a house key.
The authorities blocked the driveway to the house on the night of July 8. That night, Officers Marvin Roye and Ed Traylor of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, and Investigator Owen Harmon, of the St. Clair Sheriff's Department, continued the investigation at the residence. Officer Roye "spent a great deal of time [that night] with the family going over the family history and information--where would they go and where would they have gone and what their activities were and things of this nature." The officers also looked around and through the house, "looking for things like broken out windows, forced entry, and any kind of destructive type thing." They also checked to see if any family luggage was gone. In the basement where the Corvette was usually parked, Officer Traylor noted an oily shoeprint from a shoe or boot that had a "vibram lug type sole." The two mothers "knew basically where things were, but it was a very difficult task to make some determination if there was anything missing."
On Sunday, July 10, 1983, further investigation at the Franklin residence disclosed the name "John Peoples" written in eyebrow pencil on the top of a clothes hamper in the bathroom. The name was covered by a piece of toilet tissue lying over the name and the end of a towel on a towel rack draped over the clothes hamper. Judy Franklin's mother recognized the handwriting as being Judy's. It was determined that the name had been written there after July 2, 1983. Mr. Franklin's mother then informed the officers that John Peoples was someone she knew and that he had worked for her son around the house. She also told them John Peoples had borrowed money from her son in the past and had lately been trying to borrow more money. She also described him as being a "big robust type fellow, a big man."
The next morning, Monday, July 11, 1983, the officers learned that on the previous Friday, a large man named John Peoples had attempted to sell a red Corvette with a "59 tag" to Regal Pontiac Company in Sylacauga. He was described as being about 6'4"" and weighing 240 pounds.
On July 11, 1983, Childersburg Police Chief Ira Finn received a telephone call from a Childersburg druggist concerning a man being at the drug store trying to sell a red Corvette. Chief Finn knew the car was listed "on the N.C.I.C. machine," and when he gave the druggist the tag and registration numbers of the car, the druggist told him that was the car the man at the drug store was trying to sell. Chief Finn notified officers to go to the drug store. Assistant Police Chief Lewis Finn arrived at the drug store at about 1:29 p.m., where he found the appellant and the red Corvette. The officer walked in the drug store and asked Peoples if the car was his, and he replied that it was. Outside, the officer informed the appellant he would have to come to the police station. The appellant was allowed to drive the Corvette to the station while officers followed in a police car.
At the police station, the appellant was taken into Chief Finn's office, and Chief Finn told him the Corvette had been reported stolen from Pell City and that the three family members were missing. The appellant replied, "Well, by god, I didn't steal the car. I've got a bill of sale for it." He then threw a piece of paper on the chief's desk. The chief looked at it without picking it up, and replied, "Well, that ain't too much of a bill of sale. It's not notarized." The appellant responded, "Well, I've got a goddamn tag receipt," and he threw another piece of paper on the desk. He was then told he would have to wait until the arrival of A.B.I. officers, whom Chief Finn had already notified.
Upon receiving the call in Talladega from Chief Finn, St. Clair Deputy Sheriff Owen Harmon and A.B.I. Officer Ed Traylor immediately drove to Childersburg. They arrived at the Childersburg police station around 2:15 p.m., about 20 minutes after the appellant had been brought in. The officers talked to Chief Finn for some 20 to 30 minutes. Chief Finn gave the officers the purported bill of sale. The entire handwritten document reads: "I Paul Franklin trade John Peoples one 1968 Corvette for 50 percent ownership of the C.J. Supper Club. "/s/ Paul G. Franklin /s/ John W. Peoples /s/ Judy Franklin "1946785406573 59A7093 59-5560"
However, the man who actually owned C.J. Supper Club, one Curtis Jackson, came to the police station and told the officers the supper club belonged to him and that the only right, title, or interest the appellant had in the supper club was "operating rights from June the 15th to July the 15th."
The appellant was given a Miranda warning at about 2:45 p.m.; at that point, he had been at the police station about an hour and 15 minutes. He told the officers he understood his rights. While the officers were questioning the appellant, attorney Ray Robbins telephoned. Officer Traylor first talked with the attorney, and the attorney told the officer that the appellant's father had contacted him and "he just called to see what was going on with" the appellant. The appellant then talked to the attorney, and told him that he "didn't need him or an attorney at that time, that [the officers] were talking to him about the car that he had purchased from Paul Franklin, and that if he decided he needed him later he would call him back." After talking with the attorney, the appellant gave the officers a statement in which, apparently, he admitted he and an individual named Timothy Gooden had in fact gone to the Franklin residence on the night of July 6, 1983, in his Toyota pickup truck, but that they left the Franklins at home alive and well about 12:00 or 12:30 that night. Then the officers asked him if he would give them permission to search "his Toyota pickup he was riding in when he went over to Paul Franklin's residence." The officers also asked him for permission to search both his residence in Talladega and the Corvette. He said "that would be fine."
A permission to search form was then read to the appellant, which informed him he had the right to refuse to allow the searches. At approximately 4:30 p.m. on July 11, 1983, he signed the permission to search form. He then left the Childersburg police station with the officers, taking them to his father's residence, where the officers searched his Toyota pickup truck. Nothing was taken from the truck. Next, they went to his apartment in Talladega, where he unlocked the door for the officers. Upon searching the apartment, in a dirty clothes box, the officers found a shirt and a pair of pants that appeared to have bloodstains on them. When the officers found the clothes, the appellant "just slid down the wall and was kind of sitting on his heels." When confronted with the apparent bloodstains, he said they were from barbecue sauce "that he got on there on the 4th of July when he was barbecuing down at the club." However, "at this point, John got very nervous and upset. He started sweating just around the lower part of his chin, sweat was just a-dripping off."
Upon arrival at the St. Clair County Jail in Pell City at 9:00 p.m., on July 11, the appellant was again given a Miranda warning. He also was read a waiver-of-rights form, which he read and signed. He was then interviewed until about 1:30 a.m., at which time the decision was made by the assistant district attorney of St. Clair County to formally place him under arrest for theft by deception of the Corvette. He was wearing "what appeared to be pigskin type boots with a vibram lug type sole," similar to the shoeprint found in the Franklin home. Therefore, before he was locked up for the night, the officers asked him for the boots he was wearing; he took them off and gave them to the officers. The next morning, July 12, Officer Owen Harmon appeared before a magistrate and swore out a theft warrant, which was later read to the appellant. Bond was set at $25,000. Sometime after the warrant had been read to the appellant on the morning of July 12, he sent a note to the officers requesting that they come and talk to him, that it was "important." Officer Marvin Roy responded and again read him the Miranda warning. The appellant then made a statement to the effect "he could clear this thing up about 90 percent" and that he "could furnish ... two names." However, he said he wanted to wait until his lawyer arrived before he furnished the information. The attorney, again Ray Robbins, arrived about noon, and, after talking with the appellant, told the officers that his client "didn't have anything that would help [them]." Routine mugshots and fingerprints were made that afternoon.
The attorney returned the next day, July 13, about noon, to participate in an interview of the appellant's wife. After that interview, a discussion ensued between the attorney and Assistant District Attorney Dennis Abbott. This discussion lasted somewhat less than an hour and was prompted by an earlier request by the appellant that he be allowed to take a polygraph test. Up until this point, his statements were that he had purchased the Corvette from Paul Franklin and had left the Franklins alive and well at about midnight the night of July 6, and that he was not involved in their disappearance.
According to Mr. Abbott, in this discussion the appellant's attorney told him (Abbott) that the appellant "had already told us all that he knew and there might be one or two little things that we didn't already know, but it wouldn't help us any in our investigation." Mr. Abbott then asked the attorney if he would recommend that his client take a polygraph test, which the appellant had previously requested. Based on the appellant's prior statements, Mr. Abbott's offer was that if a polygraph test confirmed that he was being truthful, the appellant could post bond, a preliminary hearing would be set, and, if there were no further incriminatory developments, he would "probably walk" after the preliminary hearing because there would not be sufficient evidence to bind him over to the grand jury. The appellant's attorney then stated that he would recommend that his client take the polygraph test, because he believed his client was telling the truth. This ended that discussion.
At about 5:00 p.m. on July 13, about 30 minutes to an hour after leaving Mr. Abbott, the appellant and his attorney were brought from the county jail to the sheriff's office. The lawyer told Officer Marvin Roy that the appellant had some information to add to his prior statement. Then, in the presence of his attorney and Officers Harmon and Traylor, the appellant stated that the Franklin family was dead. Officer Traylor then asked the appellant if he would take them to the bodies. Mr. Abbott was called to come to the sheriff's office, and when he arrived, Peoples's attorney said, "John Peoples is going to tell ya'll some more. All of them are dead." The appellant then took the police to the bodies of the Franklin family in Talladega County, in a wooded area just off County Road 377.
The officers found lying near the bodies unexpended rounds of .22 caliber rat shot. They also found a gun sight elevator. Mud-grip tire tracks were found leading off the paved road, and a "mashed" path of grass indicated that the body of Paul Franklin, Sr., had been dragged through the grass. Also, the bottoms of the yellow pajamas he was wearing were pulled down around his ankles, consistent with his body having been dragged. Both Judy Franklin and Paul Franklin, Jr., had been blindfolded. The bodies were all in the same stage of advanced decomposition.
The skull of Judy Franklin had been fractured: "There was a large fragmented skull fracture 4 1/2 by 4 inches in diameter. There were ten separate pieces of skull in this area." She had been also shot: "The upper arm near the armpit on the right showed a perforated wound going from this arm through the arm and a few perforations were present in front of her armpit in this area. Went through the robe and skin and soft tissue in this area and minute, very small pellets were recovered from the wound." In the opinion of the pathologist, Judy Franklin died from blunt force trauma due to a blow to the head.
The skull of Paul Franklin, Jr., was also crushed. There was a "large fragmented skull fracture in the back of the left side of the head ... virtually the entire left side of the head ... [an] area 6 1/2 by 4." The skull fracture was very similar to the skull fracture of Judy Franklin, and there were approximately 15 fragments in the fractured area. The impact side of the child's skull was a patterned injury. In the pathologist's opinion, the injury to the child's head was consistent with having been inflicted by the rifle the appellant had shown the two deputies. The pathologist was of the opinion the child died from blunt trauma to the skull. Based on a hypothetical question involving the circumstances of the disappearance of the Franklin family and the family being found in the woods with two members dead from blunt force injuries to the head, the pathologist was of the opinion that the manner of death of Paul Franklin, Sr., "was not accident or natural or suicide."
On the night of July 14, Talladega County District Attorney Robert Rumsey went to St. Clair County and talked with Mr. Abbott, an assistant district attorney for St. Clair County, and with investigating officers, in an effort to determine in which county venue would be proper. During this discussion, Mr. Rumsey first learned that a polygraph test had been tentatively scheduled for July 15 in Gadsden.
On July 15, 1983, the appellant's attorney brought a document to the St. Clair district attorney's office and asked Mr. Abbott to sign it. Abbott refused to sign the document because it did not accurately reflect their July 13th discussion regarding the polygraph test. Specifically, Abbott said the document was inaccurate because 1) it referred to a discussion of the appellant's taking the authorities "to the bodies and that was never discussed," and 2) it referred to the lawyers' talking about the appellant's making a further statement; however, Mr. Abbott never asked the appellant's attorney to request that the appellant say anything else. Then the appellant's attorney began talking about "going to the polygraph and going ahead and taking it and what was going to happen if he took it and so forth." At this point, although the officers had been taken to the bodies, the appellant had not admitted any involvement in the disappearance or murders of the Franklin family. Mr. Abbott then told Peoples's attorney, "Ray, take him up there and let him take it, and if he passes it, then we'll talk."
Mr. Rumsey arrived in Gadsden at about 2:30 on July 15. He had a 30- to 40- minute discussion with the appellant's attorney concerning the details of giving the appellant a polygraph examination. Toward the end of this discussion, the attorney showed Mr. Rumsey the document purporting to reflect an agreement with Mr. Abbott about the polygraph examination. The appellant's attorney represented to Mr. Rumsey that an agreement such as that reflected in the document had been reached. This was the first Mr. Rumsey had heard about any "agreement." At this point, he told the attorney that any polygraph examination was off until he could enlighten himself about the "agreement" just shown to him.
Mr. Rumsey then telephoned Mr. Abbott, who told him no such agreement had been made; and when defendant's attorney talked to Mr. Abbott on the phone, he said, "You're right, Dennis, this does not correctly state our agreement." When the telephone conversation was over, Mr. Rumsey asked Peoples's attorney if the document correctly stated an agreement with Mr. Abbott, and the answer was, "No." Mr. Rumsey wanted to postpone the polygraph test until he could meet with all persons involved who knew anything about the so-called agreement, but defense counsel began urging that the polygraph test be given that day. Mr. Rumsey relented, and the polygraph test was given that afternoon. At 5:18 p.m., Officer Jimmy Flanagan, a polygraph examiner with the Gadsden Police Department, advised the appellant of his Miranda rights in the presence of the latter's attorney. The appellant signed a waiver-of-rights form, and it was witnessed by his lawyer. The questions to be asked during the polygraph test had been reviewed and approved by Peoples's attorney and by another polygraph examiner retained by the defense. Officer Flanagan had only four questions (termed "relevant questions") he planned to ask regarding the deaths of the Franklin family, all of which called for "yes" or "no" answers. Those questions were: 1) Did you take the Franklin family from their house that night? 2) Did you hit Judy Franklin in the head last week? 3) Were you physically present when Judy Franklin was hit? 4) Do you know for sure who hit Judy Franklin? When the examiner asked those four questions, the appellant refused to answer any of them. The examiner then terminated the test.
After refusing to take the polygraph test on July 15, the appellant was returned to the St. Clair County Jail. At about 8:30 p.m. on July 19, 1983, he sent the following note to the sheriff of St. Clair County: "To whom it may concern I John Peoples are asking to see the sheriff of St. Clair County on the date of July 19, 1983 it is important and he is the only one I will talk to. Thank you "/s/ John W. Peoples Jr. "In reference to case that your working on."
When St. Clair County Sheriff Lewis Brown went to the jail, the appellant indicated he also wanted to talk to Talladega County Sheriff Jerry Studdard. Sheriff Studdard was summoned to the jail. First, Sheriff Brown told the appellant to call his lawyer and got the number for him. This was between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. The appellant then placed the call, but was unable to contact his attorney and told the two sheriffs his attorney was not at home. Sheriff Brown then told him to call another attorney, and so he said he wanted to call attorney George Sims. Sheriff Brown then called information and got George Sims' home telephone number. When the appellant was given the number, he said, "Well, that's all right, I don't need a lawyer. I'll just talk to y'all."
At this point, Sheriff Brown began advising the appellant of his Miranda rights. The appellant interrupted, saying, "[Y]ou don't have to read those rights, I've probably had those rights read to me over a thousand times." Nevertheless, Sheriff Brown read the entire warning, then asked again if he wanted to call a lawyer. The appellant answered, "No, I don't want to call a lawyer, I just want to talk to ya'll. I don't want you taping anything or I don't want ya'll writing down any kind of statement, I just want to talk to ya'll." He was asked if he understood his rights, to which he said, "Yes." He was then asked, "Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now?" He replied, "Yes, I do."
The sheriffs then talked to the appellant and asked him to write a statement. He then wrote out a statement and signed it on a form that contains both a Miranda warning and a waiver of rights. The statement reads: "The case I am in I did do it. Concerning the Franklin family I did do it." After he had written the statement and signed it and it had been witnessed by the sheriffs, he said, "Man, I am glad I told somebody that. It's really a load off my shoulders. I am really glad I told you." The statement was admitted into evidence at trial.
On July 22, 1983, the appellant was removed from St. Clair County and transported to the Talladega County Jail. During the Talladega jail booking procedure, the appellant said to Deputy Terry Brewer, "Terry if you'll get [Deputy] Ricky [Daniels], I'll show ya'll where the gun is." Deputy Brewer got Deputy Daniels, and they took the appellant across the street to an investigator's office, where they met with Sheriff Studdard. He was again given a Miranda warning, and he said he understood his rights and signed the waiver-of-rights form. He also wrote on the form: "I already have a lawyer, but I do not wish to talk to him or have him present with me at this time." He then took the officers "out in the Brecon area" and showed them a gun wrapped in a towel and concealed in some bushes. The gun was bent and broken.
Timothy Gooden, the appellant's third cousin and co-defendant, was interviewed by Dennis Abbott, the assistant district attorney for St. Clair County, on the night of July 11, 1983. (Earlier that day, the appellant had been arrested, and had told the officers that he and Gooden had been at the Franklins' residence.) On July 15, Gooden directed officers to the location where the bodies of the Franklin family had been found two days earlier under the guidance of the appellant. He knew the proper location because he had accompanied the appellant the night of the murder. At trial he was called by the State, and testified that when he came home from work on Wednesday, July 6, his wife gave him a message from the appellant, so he went to the appellant's house. There Gooden asked the appellant if he was "going to get the car that day." The appellant said, "yes," and he told Gooden he would pick him up "around dark."
About 8:00 or 8:30 p.m., the appellant picked up Gooden in the appellant's Toyota pickup truck which has large mud-grip tires. The two then drove to the Franklin residence. At the Franklin residence, the appellant got out, and Gooden left in the truck and went to a nearby store and bought cigarettes. Gooden then drove back to the Franklin residence and knocked on the door, which was answered by the appellant. Gooden went in and had a seat. The appellant sat at a table with Mr. and Mrs. Franklin "with a bunch of papers on the table with a notebook pad." The appellant got up, asked Gooden to sit there with the Franklins, and he "went to the back of the house." Then he returned accompanied by "the little boy." He asked Mr. Franklin "about selling the car," and Mr. Franklin told him he was going to keep "the car" for the little boy for when he grew up. At this, the appellant "got kind of pissed off about it," and again asked Mr. Franklin to sell him the car. Again, Mr. Franklin declined. He then "went to the back room and when he come back, he had some sheets or towels and a rifle in his hand."
Then the appellant gagged and blindfolded Mrs. Franklin and the boy, and while Gooden watched them, the appellant took Mr. Franklin downstairs. When Gooden heard a commotion downstairs, he started down the stairs with Mrs. Franklin and the boy. At this point, Mrs. Franklin "nudged" Gooden in the side, and when he took her gag off and asked, "What's wrong," she said she wanted to go to the bathroom. Gooden let her go to the upstairs bathroom while he stood at the end of the hall, and when she came out, he took her and the boy back downstairs after replacing her gag and blindfold.
Downstairs, Mr. Franklin was lying on the floor by the pool table in the big family playroom. The appellant then told Gooden to go get the truck and bring it "to the basement door where the Corvette was sitting." While Gooden got the truck, the appellant "got some blankets and stuff and throwed a blanket over the man." The hands of Mrs. Franklin and the boy were then tied, and they were locked in the truck. Gooden and the appellant then "pushed the car out and jumped the car off," and the appellant "put the man in the car with the blanket over him and [appellant and Gooden] left."
According to Gooden, they then "came back to I-20, came back up to 77, come down 77 to Jackson's Trace" and "pulled off in a wooded area." The appellant then dragged Mr. Franklin from the car, dragging him backwards in a "bear hug," and then he came back out of the woods. "John walked up and he got the woman and little boy out of the truck. She started asking John, said, what are you doing. He said it didn't matter, like that. They went down in the woods and the woman was crying and begging John, saying please don't...." Gooden also testified that he heard a gunshot and the woman still screaming, and "a few minutes later, everything got quiet."
When the appellant re-emerged from the woods, he told Gooden "to meet him over there where he used to run a store on 77." The appellant then put the gun and blanket back in the Corvette and left. Gooden complied and later met the appellant at the specified location. The two then returned to the Franklin residence, where the appellant went in and stayed for about 10 or 15 minutes before coming out carrying a telephone and two drinking glasses. The two then returned to the pickup truck. Gooden drove the pickup truck home, and appellant and his wife went to Gooden's home about 2:00 a.m. to get the truck. Appellant showed Gooden some money, which Gooden counted--in excess of $1,100-- and then gave back to appellant. Gooden did not get any of the money, and when Gooden gave appellant the truck keys, the appellant said, "I'll fix you up later." Gooden "didn't see him no more after that."
. . .
We have searched the record as required by Rule 45A, A.R.A.P., and have found no error which adversely affected the rights of the appellant. The sentence of death was proper in this case. Therefore, the judgment of the trial court is due to be, and it is hereby, affirmed.
FINDINGS OF FACT IN REGARD TO THE PUNISHMENT PHASE OF THE TRIAL
The attorney returned the next day, July 13, about noon, to participate in an interview of the appellant's wife. After that interview, a discussion ensued between the attorney and Assistant District Attorney Dennis Abbott. This discussion lasted somewhat less than an hour and was prompted by an earlier request by the appellant that he be allowed to take a polygraph test. Up until this point, his statements were that he had purchased the Corvette from Paul Franklin and had left the Franklins alive and well at about midnight the night of July 6, and that he was not involved in their disappearance.
According to Mr. Abbott, in this discussion the appellant's attorney told him (Abbott) that the appellant "had already told us all that he knew and there might be one or two little things that we didn't already know, but it wouldn't help us any in our investigation." Mr. Abbott then asked the attorney if he would recommend that his client take a polygraph test, which the appellant had previously requested. Based on the appellant's prior statements, Mr. Abbott's offer was that if a polygraph test confirmed that he was being truthful, the appellant could post bond, a preliminary hearing would be set, and, if there were no further incriminatory developments, he would "probably walk" after the preliminary hearing because there would not be sufficient evidence to bind him over to the grand jury. The appellant's attorney then stated that he would recommend that his client take the polygraph test, because he believed his client was telling the truth. This ended that discussion.
At about 5:00 p.m. on July 13, about 30 minutes to an hour after leaving Mr. Abbott, the appellant and his attorney were brought from the county jail to the sheriff's office. The lawyer told Officer Marvin Roy that the appellant had some information to add to his prior statement. Then, in the presence of his attorney and Officers Harmon and Traylor, the appellant stated that the Franklin family was dead. Officer Traylor then asked the appellant if he would take them to the bodies. Mr. Abbott was called to come to the sheriff's office, and when he arrived, Peoples's attorney said, "John Peoples is going to tell ya'll some more. All of them are dead." The appellant then took the police to the bodies of the Franklin family in Talladega County, in a wooded area just off County Road 377.
The officers found lying near the bodies unexpended rounds of .22 caliber rat shot. They also found a gun sight elevator. Mud-grip tire tracks were found leading off the paved road, and a "mashed" path of grass indicated that the body of Paul Franklin, Sr., had been dragged through the grass. Also, the bottoms of the yellow pajamas he was wearing were pulled down around his ankles, consistent with his body having been dragged. Both Judy Franklin and Paul Franklin, Jr., had been blindfolded. The bodies were all in the same stage of advanced decomposition.
The skull of Judy Franklin had been fractured: "There was a large fragmented skull fracture 4 1/2 by 4 inches in diameter. There were ten separate pieces of skull in this area." She had been also shot: "The upper arm near the armpit on the right showed a perforated wound going from this arm through the arm and a few perforations were present in front of her armpit in this area. Went through the robe and skin and soft tissue in this area and minute, very small pellets were recovered from the wound." In the opinion of the pathologist, Judy Franklin died from blunt force trauma due to a blow to the head.
The skull of Paul Franklin, Jr., was also crushed. There was a "large fragmented skull fracture in the back of the left side of the head ... virtually the entire left side of the head ... [an] area 6 1/2 by 4." The skull fracture was very similar to the skull fracture of Judy Franklin, and there were approximately 15 fragments in the fractured area. The impact side of the child's skull was a patterned injury. In the pathologist's opinion, the injury to the child's head was consistent with having been inflicted by the rifle the appellant had shown the two deputies. The pathologist was of the opinion the child died from blunt trauma to the skull. Based on a hypothetical question involving the circumstances of the disappearance of the Franklin family and the family being found in the woods with two members dead from blunt force injuries to the head, the pathologist was of the opinion that the manner of death of Paul Franklin, Sr., "was not accident or natural or suicide."
On the night of July 14, Talladega County District Attorney Robert Rumsey went to St. Clair County and talked with Mr. Abbott, an assistant district attorney for St. Clair County, and with investigating officers, in an effort to determine in which county venue would be proper. During this discussion, Mr. Rumsey first learned that a polygraph test had been tentatively scheduled for July 15 in Gadsden.
On July 15, 1983, the appellant's attorney brought a document to the St. Clair district attorney's office and asked Mr. Abbott to sign it. Abbott refused to sign the document because it did not accurately reflect their July 13th discussion regarding the polygraph test. Specifically, Abbott said the document was inaccurate because 1) it referred to a discussion of the appellant's taking the authorities "to the bodies and that was never discussed," and 2) it referred to the lawyers' talking about the appellant's making a further statement; however, Mr. Abbott never asked the appellant's attorney to request that the appellant say anything else. Then the appellant's attorney began talking about "going to the polygraph and going ahead and taking it and what was going to happen if he took it and so forth." At this point, although the officers had been taken to the bodies, the appellant had not admitted any involvement in the disappearance or murders of the Franklin family. Mr. Abbott then told Peoples's attorney, "Ray, take him up there and let him take it, and if he passes it, then we'll talk."
Mr. Rumsey arrived in Gadsden at about 2:30 on July 15. He had a 30- to 40- minute discussion with the appellant's attorney concerning the details of giving the appellant a polygraph examination. Toward the end of this discussion, the attorney showed Mr. Rumsey the document purporting to reflect an agreement with Mr. Abbott about the polygraph examination. The appellant's attorney represented to Mr. Rumsey that an agreement such as that reflected in the document had been reached. This was the first Mr. Rumsey had heard about any "agreement." At this point, he told the attorney that any polygraph examination was off until he could enlighten himself about the "agreement" just shown to him.
Mr. Rumsey then telephoned Mr. Abbott, who told him no such agreement had been made; and when defendant's attorney talked to Mr. Abbott on the phone, he said, "You're right, Dennis, this does not correctly state our agreement." When the telephone conversation was over, Mr. Rumsey asked Peoples's attorney if the document correctly stated an agreement with Mr. Abbott, and the answer was, "No." Mr. Rumsey wanted to postpone the polygraph test until he could meet with all persons involved who knew anything about the so-called agreement, but defense counsel began urging that the polygraph test be given that day. Mr. Rumsey relented, and the polygraph test was given that afternoon. At 5:18 p.m., Officer Jimmy Flanagan, a polygraph examiner with the Gadsden Police Department, advised the appellant of his Miranda rights in the presence of the latter's attorney. The appellant signed a waiver-of-rights form, and it was witnessed by his lawyer. The questions to be asked during the polygraph test had been reviewed and approved by Peoples's attorney and by another polygraph examiner retained by the defense. Officer Flanagan had only four questions (termed "relevant questions") he planned to ask regarding the deaths of the Franklin family, all of which called for "yes" or "no" answers. Those questions were: 1) Did you take the Franklin family from their house that night? 2) Did you hit Judy Franklin in the head last week? 3) Were you physically present when Judy Franklin was hit? 4) Do you know for sure who hit Judy Franklin? When the examiner asked those four questions, the appellant refused to answer any of them. The examiner then terminated the test.
After refusing to take the polygraph test on July 15, the appellant was returned to the St. Clair County Jail. At about 8:30 p.m. on July 19, 1983, he sent the following note to the sheriff of St. Clair County: "To whom it may concern I John Peoples are asking to see the sheriff of St. Clair County on the date of July 19, 1983 it is important and he is the only one I will talk to. Thank you "/s/ John W. Peoples Jr. "In reference to case that your working on."
When St. Clair County Sheriff Lewis Brown went to the jail, the appellant indicated he also wanted to talk to Talladega County Sheriff Jerry Studdard. Sheriff Studdard was summoned to the jail. First, Sheriff Brown told the appellant to call his lawyer and got the number for him. This was between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. The appellant then placed the call, but was unable to contact his attorney and told the two sheriffs his attorney was not at home. Sheriff Brown then told him to call another attorney, and so he said he wanted to call attorney George Sims. Sheriff Brown then called information and got George Sims' home telephone number. When the appellant was given the number, he said, "Well, that's all right, I don't need a lawyer. I'll just talk to y'all."
At this point, Sheriff Brown began advising the appellant of his Miranda rights. The appellant interrupted, saying, "[Y]ou don't have to read those rights, I've probably had those rights read to me over a thousand times." Nevertheless, Sheriff Brown read the entire warning, then asked again if he wanted to call a lawyer. The appellant answered, "No, I don't want to call a lawyer, I just want to talk to ya'll. I don't want you taping anything or I don't want ya'll writing down any kind of statement, I just want to talk to ya'll." He was asked if he understood his rights, to which he said, "Yes." He was then asked, "Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now?" He replied, "Yes, I do."
The sheriffs then talked to the appellant and asked him to write a statement. He then wrote out a statement and signed it on a form that contains both a Miranda warning and a waiver of rights. The statement reads: "The case I am in I did do it. Concerning the Franklin family I did do it." After he had written the statement and signed it and it had been witnessed by the sheriffs, he said, "Man, I am glad I told somebody that. It's really a load off my shoulders. I am really glad I told you." The statement was admitted into evidence at trial.
On July 22, 1983, the appellant was removed from St. Clair County and transported to the Talladega County Jail. During the Talladega jail booking procedure, the appellant said to Deputy Terry Brewer, "Terry if you'll get [Deputy] Ricky [Daniels], I'll show ya'll where the gun is." Deputy Brewer got Deputy Daniels, and they took the appellant across the street to an investigator's office, where they met with Sheriff Studdard. He was again given a Miranda warning, and he said he understood his rights and signed the waiver-of-rights form. He also wrote on the form: "I already have a lawyer, but I do not wish to talk to him or have him present with me at this time." He then took the officers "out in the Brecon area" and showed them a gun wrapped in a towel and concealed in some bushes. The gun was bent and broken.
Timothy Gooden, the appellant's third cousin and co-defendant, was interviewed by Dennis Abbott, the assistant district attorney for St. Clair County, on the night of July 11, 1983. (Earlier that day, the appellant had been arrested, and had told the officers that he and Gooden had been at the Franklins' residence.) On July 15, Gooden directed officers to the location where the bodies of the Franklin family had been found two days earlier under the guidance of the appellant. He knew the proper location because he had accompanied the appellant the night of the murder. At trial he was called by the State, and testified that when he came home from work on Wednesday, July 6, his wife gave him a message from the appellant, so he went to the appellant's house. There Gooden asked the appellant if he was "going to get the car that day." The appellant said, "yes," and he told Gooden he would pick him up "around dark."
About 8:00 or 8:30 p.m., the appellant picked up Gooden in the appellant's Toyota pickup truck which has large mud-grip tires. The two then drove to the Franklin residence. At the Franklin residence, the appellant got out, and Gooden left in the truck and went to a nearby store and bought cigarettes. Gooden then drove back to the Franklin residence and knocked on the door, which was answered by the appellant. Gooden went in and had a seat. The appellant sat at a table with Mr. and Mrs. Franklin "with a bunch of papers on the table with a notebook pad." The appellant got up, asked Gooden to sit there with the Franklins, and he "went to the back of the house." Then he returned accompanied by "the little boy." He asked Mr. Franklin "about selling the car," and Mr. Franklin told him he was going to keep "the car" for the little boy for when he grew up. At this, the appellant "got kind of pissed off about it," and again asked Mr. Franklin to sell him the car. Again, Mr. Franklin declined. He then "went to the back room and when he come back, he had some sheets or towels and a rifle in his hand."
Then the appellant gagged and blindfolded Mrs. Franklin and the boy, and while Gooden watched them, the appellant took Mr. Franklin downstairs. When Gooden heard a commotion downstairs, he started down the stairs with Mrs. Franklin and the boy. At this point, Mrs. Franklin "nudged" Gooden in the side, and when he took her gag off and asked, "What's wrong," she said she wanted to go to the bathroom. Gooden let her go to the upstairs bathroom while he stood at the end of the hall, and when she came out, he took her and the boy back downstairs after replacing her gag and blindfold.
Downstairs, Mr. Franklin was lying on the floor by the pool table in the big family playroom. The appellant then told Gooden to go get the truck and bring it "to the basement door where the Corvette was sitting." While Gooden got the truck, the appellant "got some blankets and stuff and throwed a blanket over the man." The hands of Mrs. Franklin and the boy were then tied, and they were locked in the truck. Gooden and the appellant then "pushed the car out and jumped the car off," and the appellant "put the man in the car with the blanket over him and [appellant and Gooden] left."
According to Gooden, they then "came back to I-20, came back up to 77, come down 77 to Jackson's Trace" and "pulled off in a wooded area." The appellant then dragged Mr. Franklin from the car, dragging him backwards in a "bear hug," and then he came back out of the woods. "John walked up and he got the woman and little boy out of the truck. She started asking John, said, what are you doing. He said it didn't matter, like that. They went down in the woods and the woman was crying and begging John, saying please don't...." Gooden also testified that he heard a gunshot and the woman still screaming, and "a few minutes later, everything got quiet."
When the appellant re-emerged from the woods, he told Gooden "to meet him over there where he used to run a store on 77." The appellant then put the gun and blanket back in the Corvette and left. Gooden complied and later met the appellant at the specified location. The two then returned to the Franklin residence, where the appellant went in and stayed for about 10 or 15 minutes before coming out carrying a telephone and two drinking glasses. The two then returned to the pickup truck. Gooden drove the pickup truck home, and appellant and his wife went to Gooden's home about 2:00 a.m. to get the truck. Appellant showed Gooden some money, which Gooden counted--in excess of $1,100-- and then gave back to appellant. Gooden did not get any of the money, and when Gooden gave appellant the truck keys, the appellant said, "I'll fix you up later." Gooden "didn't see him no more after that."
. . .
We have searched the record as required by Rule 45A, A.R.A.P., and have found no error which adversely affected the rights of the appellant. The sentence of death was proper in this case. Therefore, the judgment of the trial court is due to be, and it is hereby, affirmed.
FINDINGS OF FACT IN REGARD TO THE PUNISHMENT PHASE OF THE TRIAL
The State proved beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty that the *573 defendant committed murder during a robbery in the first degree, or an attempt thereof, committed by the defendant, and murder by the defendant during a burglary in the first degree, or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant, and murder by the defendant during a kidnapping in the first degree, or an attempt thereof committed by the defendant and the Court so finds. The State had proven the defendant guilty of 4 provisions of the Capital punishment offenses as set out in Section 13A-5-40, being murder by the defendant during a robbery in the first degree, or an attempt thereof, committed by the defendant, murder by the defendant during a burglary in the first degree, or an attempt thereof, committed by the defendant, murder by the defendant during a kidnapping in the first degree or an attempt thereof, committed by the defendant and murder of two people by the defendant by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct.
The defendant offered little evidence of mitigating circumstances as provided in Sections 13A-5-51 nor 13A-5-52. At the conclusion of the sentence hearing the jury returned a verdict recommending that the defendant be punished by death. The vote was 11 for death and 1 for life without parole.
The Court finds that the conduct of the defendant constituted a brutal, aggravated, merciless, and intentional killing of a man, his wife, and their 10 year old child, and that the recommendation of the jury as to the punishment to be imposed was fully justified by the facts and circumstances of the case and the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances proved by the defendant.
The Court further finds that the sentence of death was not recommended by the jury under influence of passion, prejudice, or any arbitrary factor. The Court finds that the defendant and the victims, Paul Franklin, Sr. and Paul Franklin, Jr., were male caucasians, and the victim Judy Franklin, was a female caucasian. The Court further taking judicial knowledge of the proceedings conducted before it finds that the composition of the jury trying the defendant in this case was as follows: two white males, eight white females, one black male, and one black female. Done this 27th day of January 1984.
Ex parte Peoples, 510 So.2d 574 (Ala. 1987).
Defendant was convicted of capital murder and he appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals, 510 So.2d 554, affirmed. After granting certiorari as a matter of right, the Supreme Court, Steagall, J., held that: (1) police possessed reasonable suspicion justifying investigatory stop, and (2) evidence found at crime scene was properly admitted. Affirmed.
Peoples v. State, 565 So.2d 1177 (Ala.Cr.App. 1990) (PCR).
After defendant's conviction for various offenses relating to murder of family were affirmed on direct appeal, 510 So.2d 554 and 510 So.2d 574, defendant filed motion for postconviction relief. The Circuit Court of Talladega County, Jerry Fielding, J., denied relief, and defendant appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals, Tyson, J., held that: (1) defendant was not denied effective assistance of trial counsel by virtue of counsel's failure to obtain written agreement concerning polygraph examination, and (2) defendant was not entitled to relief based on newly discovered evidence in form of state witness' recantation of his trial testimony. Affirmed.
TYSON, Judge.
John W. Peoples, Jr. appeals from the denial of his petition seeking post-conviction relief under Rule 20, Alabama Temporary Rules of Criminal Procedure. This petition was denied by the trial court after the appointment of counsel and the conducting of a full evidentiary hearing thereon by the trial judge.
On the night of Wednesday, July 6, 1983, Paul G. Franklin, Sr., Judy C. Franklin and Paul G. Franklin, Jr., disappeared from their home. On August 3, 1983, in a five-count capital murder indictment, John W. Peoples, Jr., was charged with the capital murder of two or more persons. The appellant was found guilty as charged in the indictment and the cause was then appealed to this court, which affirmed same in an opinion reported as Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554 (Ala.Crim.App.1986). The cause was then taken to the Supreme Court of Alabama which affirmed this court in an opinion reported as Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 574 (Ala.1987). Peoples's attorneys then filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court which denied that petition on November 2, 1987, Peoples v. Alabama, 484 U.S. 933, 108 S.Ct. 307, 98 L.Ed.2d 266 (1987).
Peoples then filed his petition seeking post-conviction relief in the Circuit Court of Talladega County. A full evidentiary hearing, directly on the merits of the issues presented, was conducted with appointed, experienced counsel to assist him. There were some thirteen issues presented to the trial court which has made express written findings. These findings are herein adopted as Appendix A to this opinion and approved in this opinion.
The defendant offered little evidence of mitigating circumstances as provided in Sections 13A-5-51 nor 13A-5-52. At the conclusion of the sentence hearing the jury returned a verdict recommending that the defendant be punished by death. The vote was 11 for death and 1 for life without parole.
The Court finds that the conduct of the defendant constituted a brutal, aggravated, merciless, and intentional killing of a man, his wife, and their 10 year old child, and that the recommendation of the jury as to the punishment to be imposed was fully justified by the facts and circumstances of the case and the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances proved by the defendant.
The Court further finds that the sentence of death was not recommended by the jury under influence of passion, prejudice, or any arbitrary factor. The Court finds that the defendant and the victims, Paul Franklin, Sr. and Paul Franklin, Jr., were male caucasians, and the victim Judy Franklin, was a female caucasian. The Court further taking judicial knowledge of the proceedings conducted before it finds that the composition of the jury trying the defendant in this case was as follows: two white males, eight white females, one black male, and one black female. Done this 27th day of January 1984.
Ex parte Peoples, 510 So.2d 574 (Ala. 1987).
Defendant was convicted of capital murder and he appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals, 510 So.2d 554, affirmed. After granting certiorari as a matter of right, the Supreme Court, Steagall, J., held that: (1) police possessed reasonable suspicion justifying investigatory stop, and (2) evidence found at crime scene was properly admitted. Affirmed.
Peoples v. State, 565 So.2d 1177 (Ala.Cr.App. 1990) (PCR).
After defendant's conviction for various offenses relating to murder of family were affirmed on direct appeal, 510 So.2d 554 and 510 So.2d 574, defendant filed motion for postconviction relief. The Circuit Court of Talladega County, Jerry Fielding, J., denied relief, and defendant appealed. The Court of Criminal Appeals, Tyson, J., held that: (1) defendant was not denied effective assistance of trial counsel by virtue of counsel's failure to obtain written agreement concerning polygraph examination, and (2) defendant was not entitled to relief based on newly discovered evidence in form of state witness' recantation of his trial testimony. Affirmed.
TYSON, Judge.
John W. Peoples, Jr. appeals from the denial of his petition seeking post-conviction relief under Rule 20, Alabama Temporary Rules of Criminal Procedure. This petition was denied by the trial court after the appointment of counsel and the conducting of a full evidentiary hearing thereon by the trial judge.
On the night of Wednesday, July 6, 1983, Paul G. Franklin, Sr., Judy C. Franklin and Paul G. Franklin, Jr., disappeared from their home. On August 3, 1983, in a five-count capital murder indictment, John W. Peoples, Jr., was charged with the capital murder of two or more persons. The appellant was found guilty as charged in the indictment and the cause was then appealed to this court, which affirmed same in an opinion reported as Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554 (Ala.Crim.App.1986). The cause was then taken to the Supreme Court of Alabama which affirmed this court in an opinion reported as Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 574 (Ala.1987). Peoples's attorneys then filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court which denied that petition on November 2, 1987, Peoples v. Alabama, 484 U.S. 933, 108 S.Ct. 307, 98 L.Ed.2d 266 (1987).
Peoples then filed his petition seeking post-conviction relief in the Circuit Court of Talladega County. A full evidentiary hearing, directly on the merits of the issues presented, was conducted with appointed, experienced counsel to assist him. There were some thirteen issues presented to the trial court which has made express written findings. These findings are herein adopted as Appendix A to this opinion and approved in this opinion.
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