Ex parte State ex rel. Coburn

Decision Date21 April 1925
Docket Number3 Div. 505
PartiesEx parte STATE ex rel. COBURN.
CourtAlabama Court of Appeals

Rehearing Denied May 12, 1925

Original petition by the State of Alabama, on the relation of Edgar C. Coburn, for mandamus to Hon. George F. Smoot, as Judge of the Circuit Court of Autauga County. Writ denied.

L.F. Gerald, of Clanton, and Mullins & Jenkins, of Birmingham, for petitioner.

Harwell G. Davis, Atty. Gen., for respondent.

SAMFORD, J.

The right of appeal is purely statutory, depending entirely upon the wording and construction of statutes, which should be liberally construed in favor of a party seeking redress by appeal. This right of appeal in criminal cases has been provided for in sections 3237 and 3241 of the Code of 1923, which must be considered "in pari materia." In section 3237 the time of taking an appeal is fixed either at the time of sentence, or if not then, within 6 months thereafter. Under subhead (a) of said section provision is made for a suspension of judgment. Under subhead (b) no such provision is made. The taking of an appeal does not ipso facto suspend the judgment, but requires an order of the court upon the election of the defendant "to be taken at the time of judgment rendered." White v. State, 134 Ala. 197, 32 So. 320.

The time for the election by the defendant to have the execution of sentence suspended is at the time of sentence and not afterward, and, not having so elected, his right of appeal is extended for a period of 6 months under subhead (b), subject to his rights under section 3672 of the Code of 1923. To give to the statutes the construction insisted upon by petitioner would result in interminable confusion in all those cases where appeals are taken subsequent to the date of sentence.

The writ of mandamus is denied.

Writ denied.

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7 cases
  • State v. Utley (Ex parte State)
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
    • April 27, 2012
    ...sentence and not afterward....’ ” Ex parte Downer, 44 Ala.App. 77, 77, 203 So.2d 132, 132 (1967), quoting Ex parte State ex rel. Coburn, 20 Ala.App. 595, 104 So. 346 (1925). Here, the documents filed with the State's mandamus petition show that Utley commenced serving his sentence on July 5......
  • Albert v. State, 1 Div. 45
    • United States
    • Alabama Supreme Court
    • December 20, 1962
    ...157, 96 So.2d 319; Campbell v. State, 182 Ala. 18, 62 So. 57; Sherman v. State, 15 Ala.App. 175, 72 So. 755; Ex parte State ex rel. Coburn, 20 Ala.App. 595, 104 So. 346; and other cases cited in Ala.Dig. Criminal Law, k1069, and k1106) and the computation of the time allowed for filing the ......
  • Patterson v. State
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • April 19, 1966
    ...by the defendant to have the execution of sentence suspended is at the time of sentence and not afterward, * * *'. Ex parte State ex rel. Coburn, 20 Ala.App. 595, 104 So. 346. See Ex parte Loyd, 275 Ala. 416, 155 So.2d 519 (hn. 4) for an example of what is required by way of entry to consti......
  • Ex parte Gray, 1 Div. 274
    • United States
    • Alabama Court of Appeals
    • October 3, 1967
    ...for suspension of judgment at the election of appellant if the appeal is taken at the time of judgment. In ex parte State ex rel. Coburn, 20 Ala.App. 595, 104 So. 346, the court said: 'The time for the election by the defendant to have the execution of sentence suspended is at the time of s......
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