Altion Maxine Walker v. State Book Reviews

Altion Maxine Walker v. State by Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama Book Summary

On Return to Remand PATTERSON, PRESIDING JUDGE The appellant, Altion Maxine Walker, was convicted after a jury trial of the
capital offense of murder for hire, in violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(7), Code of Alabama 1975, and was sentenced to
death. On appeal, in light of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Powers v. Ohio, 499 U.S. , 111 S.Ct. 1364 (1991),
this court remanded the case to the trial court to conduct a hearing pursuant to Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986). See
Walker v. State, 586 So.2d 49 (Ala.Cr.App. 1991). At that hearing, District Attorney Robert Rumsey provided reasons for striking
11 of 15 black veniremembers. Four blacks served on the jury. The prosecutor's original notes regarding veniremembers were available and consist of (1) a list of the veniremembers' names,
with Rumsey's own comments taken during voir dire examination of each panel; (2) the strike sheet that reflects his own comments
about information gleaned during the initial identification process; and (3) the "master list" that contains each veniremember's
name, address, sex, race, and date of birth along with comments written several weeks before jury selection by Investigator
Dennis Surrett, who had compiled this information by talking with people "throughout the county," including various specified
law enforcement officials. Copies of these notes were subsequently offered into evidence by the appellant (defense exhibits
nos. 1-3). These three exhibits will subsequently be referred to as "Rumsey's contemporaneous notes." However, Rumsey admitted
during his testimony that he had reconstructed his explanations by reviewing the contemporaneous notes of his assistant district
attorneys (defense exhibits nos. 4-7) and by asking law enforcement officers who had allegedly provided information about
the veniremembers at the time of trial -- investigators Alvin Kidd, Frank Strickland, and Frank Wallis -- what they had told
him about veniremembers at the time of trial. The prosecutor explained that, although he did not use or look at his assistant
district attorneys' notes while he was striking the jury, he did confer with the attorneys. He further explained that the
named officers were in and out of the courtroom during the jury striking and that they provided information in addition to
that previously compiled in regard to the veniremembers. As will be apparent from the Discussion to follow, Rumsey's contemporaneous
notes rarely reflect the specific reason he gave during the Batson hearing for striking a veniremember.

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