Anglin v. State, CR-95-1362

• Decision Date: 03 July 1996
• Docket Number: CR-95-1362
• Citation: 719 So.2d 855
• Parties: Charles Wayne ANGLIN v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 855

719 So.2d 855

Charles Wayne ANGLIN v. STATE.

CR-95-1362.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

July 3, 1996.

Opinion on Return to

Remand Oct. 17, 1997.

Appeal from Baldwin Circuit Court (CC-94-215.60); James Reid, Judge.

Charles Wayne Anglin, pro se.

Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor, attys. gen., and Gail Hampton, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

TAYLOR, Presiding Judge.

The appellant, Charles Wayne Anglin, appeals the summary denial of his petition for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to Rule 32, Ala.R.Crim.P. The appellant was convicted of robbery in the first degree, a violation of § 13A-8-41, Code of Alabama 1975. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole pursuant to the Habitual Felony Offender Act. The appellant's conviction was affirmed by this court in an unpublished memorandum. Anglin v. State, 668 So.2d 936 (Ala.Cr.App.1995) (table of cases). The appellant now challenges his conviction by petition for post-conviction relief.

The appellant, in his petition, contends that he was denied the effective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. The trial court denied the petition on the grounds that the issues raised in the petition were, or could have been, presented on direct appeal. Rule 32.2(a)(5), Ala.R.Crim.P. The appellant had the same counsel at trial and on appeal; therefore, a Rule 32 petition for post-conviction relief is the correct method to claim ineffective assistance of counsel. Hale v. State, 611 So.2d 1202 (Ala.Cr.App.1992).

The state, on appeal, has requested that this cause be remanded to the Circuit Court for Baldwin County for an evidentiary hearing to address the appellant's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The trial court is directed to hold an evidentiary hearing and to "make specific findings of fact relating to each material issue of fact presented," as required by Rule 32.9(d), Ala.R.Crim.P. This cause is remanded to the Circuit Court for Baldwin County for proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. Due return should be filed in this court no later than 42 days from the date of this opinion.

REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.

All the Judges concur.

On Return to Remand

BROWN, Judge.

The appellant, Charles Wayne Anglin, appealed from the summary denial of his petition for post-conviction relief filed pursuant to Rule 32, Ala.R.Crim.P., in which he attacked his June 1994 conviction for first-degree robbery and the resulting sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

On the preprinted portion of his Rule 32 petition under the heading "Grounds of Petition," the appellant claimed that his sentence exceeded that authorized by law. The appellant also made several allegations of ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. ¹ Specifically, he alleged that his trial counsel was ineffective because, he said, his counsel: 1) failed to establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination in the prosecution's use of its peremptory strikes to remove black persons from the venire; 2) did not challenge the state's failure to produce investigative reports before trial; 3) failed to adequately investigate and discover that the prior convictions used to enhance his sentence were invalid; 4) failed to challenge the trial court's allegedly erroneous jury instructions; and 7) failed to request that the trial court instruct the jury as to lesser included offenses. In addition, the appellant claimed that his counsel did not provide effective assistance on direct appeal because, he said, counsel did not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, and because, he said, counsel did not allege prosecutorial misconduct.

The trial court summarily denied the petition, finding that the allegations were precluded from review because they either were, or could have been, raised on direct appeal. This Court found that because the appellant had the same counsel at trial and on appeal, the Rule 32 petition was the correct method to present claims regarding the effectiveness of counsel. Accordingly, we remanded the cause to the trial court with instructions that the trial court conduct an evidentiary hearing and " 'make specific findings of fact relating to each material issue of fact presented,' as required by Rule 32.9(d), Ala.R.Crim.P." Anglin v. State, 719 So.2d 855, 856 (Ala.Cr.App.1996).

On remand, the trial court appointed counsel to represent the appellant in the Rule 32 proceedings. The court conducted an evidentiary hearing during which the appellant presented evidence on several additional instances of alleged ineffective assistance of counsel, including numerous instances of trial counsel's failure to object to allegedly improper evidence, as well as several instances of counsel's alleged failure to adequately investigate the case against the appellant and to prepare for trial. Following the hearing, the appellant's Rule 32 counsel filed a brief with the trial court in support of the Rule 32 petition. In addition to reasserting the appellant's previous claims, the appellant's counsel also averred that newly discovered evidence existed, which, counsel claimed, entitled the appellant to a new trial. The state filed a response, essentially arguing that the appellant was not entitled to relief on the allegations presented.

On July...