Alford v. State

Craig Alford, Donnie Hartman, and Johnnie Hartman were tried jointly and convicted of several counts of aggravated assault and armed robbery. The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in dismissing one of the jurors and replacing him with an alternate juror. Appellants claim that their due process rights and their right to a fair, representative, and impartial jury were violated by the dismissal and substitution. Because we conclude the trial court made an informed finding that the juror was incapacitated, we affirm.

The evidence at trial, taken in the light most favorable to the verdict, was as follows. On the night in question, several men were at Lawrence Fuller’s house playing cards. Fuller said that he saw three men come in wearing ski masks, one of whom was carrying a gun. The men told Fuller and his friends to put their money on the table. After laying his money down, Fuller ran out of the house and his friends followed. As they ran across the patio, Fuller heard two gun shots being fired.