Appeals court upholds rape conviction

By Alison James

alison.james@fct.wpengine.com

The conviction was upheld for a Franklin County man convicted of forcibly raping a woman at her home in February 2013, officials said.

Aug. 14 was the day the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals issued their decision denying the appeal for Richard Edward Agee Jr., 29, who in September 2014 was found guilty of first-degree rape.

“Any time a case is appealed, you worry; errors can be committed, and sometimes you don’t even realize they were committed,” district attorney Joey Rushing said. “However, I felt like justice was done and the things they were complaining about were not enough to get it overturned. I felt confident the court would affirm the decision.”

In the opinion, written by Judge Liles C. Burke for presiding Judge Mary Becker Windom, Agee’s arguments are addressed: one, that “the trial court erred by allowing the State to present evidence of prior acts of violence between himself and the victim” and two, “the trial court erred by denying his motion for a mistrial made during the State’s closing argument. Specifically, Agee argues that the prosecutor bolstered the victim’s testimony when he stated her testimony was genuine.”

To the first point, the appeals judge affirmed that evidence of prior acts of violence may be offered “as proof of motive, opportunity, intent … provided that upon request by the accused, the prosecution in a criminal case shall provide reasonable notice in advance of trial” that it intends to do so. As Rushing both presented the evidence for that cause and under those stipulations, the appeals judge found that “the trial court did not abuse its discretion by allowing Mann to testify about Agee’s prior acts of violence towards her.”

To the second point, of the State bolstering the victim’s testimony, the appeals opinion reads, “A review of the record reveals that the prosecutor’s comment was an isolated one made during the State’s rebuttal … (i)solated remarks, even in the arguments made in the sentencing phase of capital murder trials, are to be viewed with leniency.” Also noted, the trial court informed the jury that they were to ignore the State’s assurances of the victim’s truthfulness.

Agee, who at the time of this crime was on probation following conviction of child abuse in February 2012, had that probation revoked and must finish serving that 15 year sentence prior to beginning his current life sentence.