675 So. 2d 502 | Ala. Crim. App. | 1995
The appellant, Ewing J. Mayberry II, was convicted of theft of property in the second degree, a violation of §
The appellant first contends on appeal that the trial court erred by telling the jury venire during voir dire that the appellant had been tried on the same charge previously. The appellant's first trial ended in a mistrial. The trial court was trying to ascertain whether any of the veniremembers had been involved in the first trial. The appellant argues that the venire was unduly prejudiced against him by this information.
The appellant also contends that the trial court erred by reading to the venire a list of the victims to determine whether any of the veniremembers were related to the victims by blood or marriage. The appellant was charged with taking money from the funeral home where he was employed, and he contends that the only victim was the funeral home itself and not any particular customer. Therefore, he argues that the venire was given irrelevant and prejudicial information.
However, neither of these arguments was preserved for our review. The appellant did not object to either issue until after the jury had been selected and sworn. "Failure to lodge a timely objection to an improper question asked on voir dire waives the point as error on appeal. C. Gamble, McElroy'sAlabama Evidence, § 426.01(3) (3d ed. 1977)." BurlingtonNorthern R. Co. v. Whitt,
The appellant next contends that the trial court's instructions on reasonable doubt violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the United States Supreme Court's holding in Cage v. Louisiana,
However, in Victor v. Nebraska,
"This court has stated on many occasions, when reviewing a charge to the jury, that we must evaluate the charge as a whole, to see if the contested part, when viewed with the *504
remainder of the instructions, results in prejudice to the appellant." Coffey v. State,
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment in this case is due to be, and it is hereby, affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
All the Judges concur.