Owen v. State

Donald Lewis Owen was indicted for capital murder in violation of § 13A-5-31(a)(5), Code of Alabama 1975. He was found "guilty as charged in the indictment" and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He raises six issues on appeal. The pertinent facts will be discussed as they arise below.

I

The appellant contends that the State used its peremptory strikes to remove black jurors from the jury panel in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; Batson v. Kentucky,476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69…