Lewis v. State
Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
474 So. 2d 766 (1985)
- Written by Craig Conway, LLM
Facts
Alvin Ronald Lewis (defendant) and 15-year-old Damon Sanders played “Russian Roulette” with a revolver, whereby one bullet is placed in the gun’s chamber, the cylinder is spun, and the person places the gun to his head and pulls the trigger. At the time Lewis and Sanders “played” the game it was unclear whether there was a bullet in the gun. Lewis thereafter put the gun away and left. Later, Sanders was seen alone holding the gun and spinning the chamber. A few minutes later, a gunshot was heard. Sanders shot himself in the head. Lewis was indicted for murder in violation of Alabama law. At the close of the State’s case, the trial court granted Lewis’s motion for a judgment of acquittal on charges of murder and manslaughter. The case was then submitted to the jury on the charge of criminally negligent homicide. The jury found Lewis guilty on that charge, and he appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Tyson, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 812,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
