## Facts

- During a street shoot-out, a three-year-old child riding in a car with his mother was struck in the head by a bullet and killed.
- The child’s mother testified she saw several men in the bed of a pickup truck shooting in her direction and identified Michael Anthony Simmons as one of them.
- The mother testified that a pedestrian (Vernon “Blue” Peterson) appeared to be the target of the gunfire.
- The fatal bullet was not recovered; another bullet recovered from the car was consistent with a 9mm, .38, or .357 projectile.
- Investigators recovered multiple expended 9mm and .38-special cartridge cases; expert testimony indicated at least three different weapons were fired.
- Ballistics evidence could not identify which gun or person fired the fatal shot.
- The State conceded it could not prove Simmons fired the fatal bullet and pursued liability for reckless murder based on complicity: Simmons knowingly participated in and encouraged gunfire in a public street creating a grave risk to others.

## Issues

1. Whether a defendant may be convicted of reckless murder under Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(a)(2) on a complicity (aiding-and-abetting) theory.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support reckless murder when the State could not identify the shooter of the fatal bullet and the gunfire was aimed at a specific person but killed a bystander.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Alabama reversed the Court of Criminal Appeals.
- The court held it was not error to instruct the jury on complicity in connection with a reckless-murder charge.
- The court held the evidence was sufficient for a jury to find Simmons guilty of reckless murder, either as the shooter or as an accomplice to the reckless conduct.
- The court reinstated the trial court’s reckless-murder conviction.

## Legal Principles

- Complicity under Ala. Code § 13A-2-23 may apply to an offense defined by recklessness when the defendant intentionally aids or encourages the criminal conduct and is aware of the substantial risk inherent in that conduct.
- Reckless murder under Ala. Code § 13A-6-2(a)(2) is supported by proof of conduct creating a grave risk of death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life.
- Indiscriminate gunfire during a public street shoot-out can show extreme indifference to human life even if the shooters had an intended target, because the conduct foreseeably endangers bystanders.
- The State need not prove the defendant fired the fatal round if the jury can find the defendant joined and assisted the reckless conduct that caused the death.

## Conclusion

The court held that accomplice liability can support a reckless-murder conviction where the defendant intentionally participates in conduct known to create a grave risk of death, and that participation in a public shoot-out supplied sufficient evidence of extreme indifference to human life despite uncertainty about who fired the fatal shot.


Ex parte Simmons, 649 So. 2d 1282 (Ala. 1994)