On August 3, 1983, in a five-count capital murder indictment, John W. Peoples, Jr., was charged with the capital murder of two or more persons. The appellant was found guilty as charged in the indictment and the cause was then appealed to this court, which affirmed same in an opinion reported as Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554 (Ala.Crim.App. 1986). The cause was then taken to the Supreme Court of Alabama which affirmed this court in an opinion reported as Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 574 (Ala. 1987).

April 3, 1987. Rehearing Denied June 19, 1987. Appeal from the Court of Criminal Appeals, 510 So.2d 554. William A. Short, Jr., Bessemer, for petitioner.

' " People v. State, 510 So.2d 554, 568 (Ala.Cr.App. 1986, aff'd, 510 So.2d 574 (Ala, cert. denied, 484 U.S. 933, 108 S.Ct. 307, 98 L.Ed.2d 226 (1987)." Hall v. State, 820 So.2d 113, 133 (Ala.Crim.App. 1999), aff'd, 820 So.2d 152 (Ala. 2001).

D. Peoples appealed his convictions and death sentences to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. That court affirmed, Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554 (Ala.Crim.App. 1986), and the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed as well, Ex parte Peoples, 510 So.2d 574 (Ala. 1987). The United States Supreme Court thereafter denied Peoples certiorari review.

On December 7, 1983, John W. Peoples, Jr. was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the murders of Paul Franklin, Sr., his wife Judy Franklin, and their ten-year-old son, Paul Franklin, Jr. His convictions and death sentences were affirmed on direct appeal. See Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554 (Ala.Crim.App. 1986); Ex Parte Peoples, 510 So.2d 574 (Ala. 1987). After Peoples unsuccessfully sought collateral review in state court, he petitioned the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama for a writ of habeas corpus on September 6, 1994.

Similar crimes are being punished by death throughout this state. Taylor v. State, 666 So. 2d 71 (Ala. Crim. App. 1994), aff'd, 666 So. 2d 73 (Ala. 1995); Holladay v. State, 549 So. 2d 122 (Ala. Crim. App. 1988), aff'd, 549 So. 2d 135 (Ala. 1989); Siebert v. State, 555 So. 2d 772 (Ala. Crim. App. 1989), aff'd, 555 So. 2d 780 (Ala. 1989); Peoples v. State, 510 So. 2d 554 (Ala. Crim. App. 1986), aff'd, 510 So. 2d 574 (Ala. 1987). Thus, we find that the sentence of death was neither disproportionate nor excessive.

Review of the case law in which the Alabama courts have applied the heinous factor to a capital conviction pursuant to Alabama's multiple murder provisions, however, reveals that such cases have involved the application of the heinous factor to at least two murders. See, e.g., Acklin v. State, 790 So.2d 975, 1001 (Ala.Crim.App. 2000), cert. denied, 533 U.S. 936, 121 S.Ct. 2565, 150 L.Ed.2d 729 (2001) (evidence that defendant beat, humiliated and tortured, then shot three victims sufficient to support finding that murders were heinous); Norris v. State, 793 So.2d 847, 861 (Ala.Crim.App. 1999) (evidence insufficient to elevate offense to especially heinous when three victims shot in rapid, uninterrupted succession); Wilson v. State, 777 So.2d 856, 882 (Ala.Crim.App. 1999) (evidence that "defendant was unnecessarily torturous in his commission of the crimes" sufficient to support finding that four murders were heinous); Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554, 573 (Ala.Crim.App. 1986), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 933, 108 S.Ct. 307, 98 L.Ed.2d 266 (1987) (evidence that kidnapping and murder of husband, wife and child by blunt trauma to head sufficient to support finding that three murders were heinous); Wright v. State, 494 So.2d 726, 744 (Ala.Crim.App. 1985), aff'd sub nom. Ex parte Wright, 494 So.2d 745 (Ala.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1101, 107 S.Ct. 1331, 94 L.Ed.2d 183 (1987) (evidence that two victims were shot in head and slowly died in pools of blood sufficient to support trial court's finding that murders were heinous). Accordingly, in the absence of any evidence indicating that the Alabama legislature's intention in enacting its particular capital sentencing scheme was to make only multiple murders in which at least two of the murders were heinous eligible for the imposition of the death penalty, the similarity of that scheme to Connecticut's carries little persuasive force in the effort to interpret our scheme in this regard.

The Court of Criminal Appeals offered the following reasoning for its holding that Woods's statement was properly admitted: First, because, it held, he waived his right to counsel under the Fifth Amendment by signing the Miranda rights form. Second, because the interview occurred prior to Woods's indictment or preliminary hearing, it held, the officers had the right to inquire if he wanted to make a statement. Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554 (Ala.Cr.App. 1986), aff'd, 510 So.2d 574 (Ala. 1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 933, 108 S.Ct. 307, 98 L.Ed.2d 266 (1987). We must now examine the circumstances of the present case to determine whether Woods, in fact, knowingly and voluntarily waived his rights.

The sentence of death in this case is neither excessive nor disproportionate to the penalties imposed in similar cases, considering both the crime and the defendant. See, e.g., Revis v. State, 101 So.3d 247 (Ala.Crim.App.2011), cert. denied (No. 1110584, Aug. 17, 2012), 101 So.3d 247 (Ala.2012); McMillan v. State, 139 So.3d 184 (Ala.Crim.App.2010); Yancey v. State, 65 So.3d 452 (Ala.Crim.App.2009) (opinion on return to remand); Mills v. State, 62 So.3d 553 (Ala.Crim.App.2008); Yeomans v. State, 898 So.2d 878 (Ala.Crim.App.2004); Stallworth v. State, 868 So.2d 1128 (Ala.Crim.App.2001); Reeves v. State, 807 So.2d 18 (Ala.Crim.App.2000); Hardy v. State, 804 So.2d 247 (Ala.Crim.App.1999); West v. State, 793 So.2d 870 (Ala.Crim.App.2000); Gaddy v. State, 698 So.2d 1100 (Ala.Crim.App.1995); Bush v. State, 695 So.2d 70 (Ala.Crim.App.1995); Payne v. State, 683 So.2d 440 (Ala.Crim.App.1995); Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554 (Ala.Crim.App.1986) (all murder committed during the course of a robbery). Finally, this Court previously pretermitted a plain-error review of Stanley's sentencing proceeding, pending the trial court's return to our remand order.

Similar crimes are being punished by death throughout this state. See Lewis v. State, 57 So.3d 807 (Ala.Crim.App.2009); Gissendanner v. State, 949 So.2d 956 (Ala.Crim.App.2006); Lewis v. State, 889 So.2d 623 (Ala.Crim.App.2003); Peoples v. State, 510 So.2d 554 (Ala.Crim.App.1986), aff'd, 510 So.2d 574 (Ala.1987). Therefore, we find that the sentence was neither disproportionate nor excessive.