ex parte Williams

• Decision Date: 14 June 2002
• Citation: 838 So.2d 1028
• Parties: Ex parte Lawrence Paultic WILLIAMS. (Re Lawrence Paultic Williams v. State of Alabama.)
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

838 So.2d 1028

Ex parte Lawrence Paultic WILLIAMS.

(Re Lawrence Paultic Williams v. State of Alabama.)

1001054.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

June 14, 2002.

J.D. Quinlivan, Jr., Mobile, for petitioner.

Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and Andy S. Poole, asst. atty. gen., for respondent.

JOHNSTONE, Justice.

We granted Lawrence Paultic Williams's petition for a writ of certiorari to determine whether the Court of Criminal Appeals, in an unpublished memorandum affirming the denial of Williams's Rule 32, Ala.R.Crim.P., petition, violated "the law of the case" established by the opinion that court had already published in previously affirming Williams's conviction on direct appeal, Williams v. State, 736 So.2d 1134 (Ala.Crim.App.1998), cert. denied, 736 So.2d 1134 (Ala.1999). We conclude that the crucial statement of law in the published opinion on direct appeal is not a holding but is, rather, obiter dictum and therefore was not and is not the law of the case. We conclude moreover, that the dictum is mistaken. Therefore, we affirm the Court of Criminal Appeals in its denial of Williams's Rule 32 petition, and, to prevent confusion in future cases, we disapprove the mistaken dictum in the opinion on direct appeal.

Williams was convicted of reckless murder as defined by § 13A-6-2(a)(2), Ala. Code 1975, as was his codefendant Mark Antonio Thompkins. That subsection reads:

"(a) A person commits the crime of murder if:

". . . .

"(2) Under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, he recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person other than himself, and thereby causes the death of another person."

The dictum addresses whether the evidence was sufficient to support a finding of the mens rea essential to reckless murder. Several passages from the opinion of the Court of Criminal Appeals on direct appeal state the operative facts:

"This case stemmed from an incident that took place in a cul-de-sac surrounded by an apartment complex. As many as 50 persons were gathered at an outdoor party, including Williams and Thompkins. Williams and Thompkins got into an argument that culminated in an exchange of gunfire between them. During the exchange one innocent bystander, William Glen Richardson, was killed and another bystander was wounded. The state medical examiner determined that Richardson died from multiple gunshot wounds; however, he was unable to ascertain whether Williams's gun or Thompkins's gun had fired the fatal shots."

Williams, 736 So.2d at 1136-37.

"In the present case, the evidence showed that Williams intentionally retrieved a gun from inside his car, loaded it, and fired it at Thompkins. Thompkins intentionally retrieved his gun from his clothing and fired at Williams."

Williams, 736 So.2d at 1144.

"The evidence tended to show that, following a brief confrontation and in the midst of as many as 50 people, Williams and Thompkins drew a 9mm pistol and a.45-caliber pistol, respectively, and engaged in a gun battle. At some point during the shooting, William Glen Richardson, a bystander, was hit three times and killed. Another bystander was wounded. The forensic evidence showed that the bullets that caused Mr. Richardson's wounds entered his body from different directions. One bullet entered the left shoulder where it joins the neck, hit the carotid artery, and then exited through the left side of Richardson's jaw. This bullet was traveling from left to right. Another bullet entered the right side of the abdomen/chest area, lacerated Richardson's liver, intestines, and stomach and then exited through the left side of the abdomen. This bullet was traveling right to left and downward. The third bullet entered the front of Richardson's left leg below the knee and exited through the calf muscle, traveling in a downward direction. The medical examiner stated that all the wounds were of a size consistent with the bullets fired by both weapons; therefore, he could not determine whether one or both weapons inflicted any or all of the wounds. However, with the evidence indicating wound entry points on both sides of Richardson's body, the jury could reasonably infer that Richardson was hit by at least one shot from both Williams's gun and Thompkins's gun. The official cause of death was `multiple gunshot wounds.'"

Williams, 736 So.2d at 1140.

The pertinent holding in the opinion on direct appeal is that the evidence was sufficient to support a finding on the essential element of causation—that Williams's conduct caused the death of the victim. This holding, among others, is the basis for the judgment by the Court of Criminal Appeals affirming Williams's conviction for reckless murder.

The opinion expressly recognizes that the issue of whether the evidence was sufficient to support a finding of the mens rea essential to reckless murder, was not before the Court of Criminal Appeals in the direct appeal. Nonetheless, the opinion states:

"While engaging in a gunfight in a residential area with dozens of people present undoubtedly constitutes reckless conduct, under the facts of this case, that conduct does not conform to the statutory definition of reckless murder contained in § 13A-6-2(a)(2), Code of Alabama 1975. The evidence clearly showed that Williams and Thompkins were specifically shooting at each other and that they were not just shooting into the crowd.

". . . .

"The appellants were clearly attempting to shoot each other. Based on the caselaw cited above, the evidence in the present case simply does not support a conviction for reckless murder as to either Williams or Thompkins.

". . . .

"Because both Williams and Thompkins were precluded from relief in the instant appeal regarding their reckless murder convictions, the proper vehicle to address this issue is through a post-conviction petition pursuant to Rule 32, Ala.R.Crim.P."

Williams, 736 So.2d at 1141-42. (Emphasis added.) While we, the Supreme Court, denied the respective petitions for a writ of certiorari filed not only by Williams but also by the State, our denials did not constitute any endorsement of any feature of the opinion by the Court of Criminal Appeals. See Ex parte Siebert, 778 So.2d 857, 857 (Ala.2000) (Johnstone, J., concurring specially); Ex parte Terry, 540 So.2d 785 (Ala.1989); Banks v. State, 358 So.2d 480 (Ala.1978); and Hurst v. State, 293 Ala. 548, 307 So.2d 73 (1975).

After Williams's conviction was affirmed on direct appeal, he pursued the suggestion in that opinion and filed a Rule 32 petition, the matter now before us, asserting that the evidence was insufficient to support a finding of the mens rea essential to reckless murder and that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise this aspect of insufficiency of the evidence on direct appeal. The trial court held that the statements by the Court of Criminal Appeals cited by Williams were not the law of the case but were only dictum which conflicted with the holding of Ex parte Simmons, 649 So.2d 1282, 1285-86 (Ala. 1994). Therefore, the trial court held that the evidence was not insufficient to support a finding of the requisite mens rea and that Williams's appellate counsel was not ineffective for refraining from challenging this aspect of the sufficiency of the evidence on...