Alabama Justices Overturn Greene County Sexual Assault Case
The June 2023 conviction of 45-year-old William Chad Randolph for raping his 16-year-old niece has been overturned by the Alabama Supreme Court. The case has been sent back to Greene County Circuit Court for further adjudication.
The conviction hinged of the prosecutions relying primarily on the niece’s testimony and that of other witnesses to whom she had spoken after the event. A key witness for the State was a supervisor from the Walker County Department of Human Resources (DHR), who investigated the allegations but only interviewed the alleged victim and not the defendant. No physical evidence was presented.
During testimony, the DHR supervisor told the court there was sufficient evidence to support the victims claims, but none was presented. The defense objected to the testimony, stating the witness could not reach such an opinion without interviewing both sides in the case. The case judge overruled the objection.
In the ruling on the defense appeal of the conviction, The Supreme Court of Alabama reviewed whether the Court of Criminal Appeals had erred in allowing lay-witness testimony that embraced the ultimate issue of guilt. In their ruling the justices found, "...that the trial court erred by admitting the DHR supervisor's lay opinion on the ultimate issue, that this error was preserved by objection, and that it was not harmless given the centrality of witness credibility and lack of physical evidence. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals and remanded the case for further proceedings."
On a 5-1-1 vote, the high court reversed the Court of Criminal Appeals' decision and remanded the case for proceedings consistent with their opinion. Greene County Circuit Court has not set a date for those proceedings.
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