In re Ray-El
Decision Date | 23 July 2004 |
Docket Number | No. CR-03-1257.,CR-03-1257. |
Citation | 911 So.2d 1100 |
Parties | Ex parte Melvin RAY-EL, as next friend of, K.L.R.B., a minor. (In re State of Alabama v. K.L.R.B.). |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Melvin Ray-El, pro se.
Timothy W. Morgan, district atty., and Robert L. Broussard, asst. district atty., for respondent.
The petitioner, Melvin Ray-El,1 filed this petition for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of K.L.R.B., a minor. In July 2002, K.L.R.B. was arrested for murder. His bail was set at $40,000, and he was released from custody. In September 2002, while on bail, K.L.R.B. was arrested for reckless endangerment, giving a false name, driving without a license, and eluding the police. A bail-revocation hearing was held, and Judge Lloyd H. Little, Jr., revoked K.L.R.B.'s bail. In October 2003, K.L.R.B. moved to have his bail reinstated. Judge Little denied the motion after a hearing. In all proceedings in the circuit court K.L.R.B. was represented by an attorney. In May 2004, Ray-El filed this original petition for a writ of habeas corpus in this Court on behalf of K.L.R.B. — and states that K.L.R.B. is a minor. The petitioner argues that K.L.R.B. is being held without the benefit of pretrial bail in violation of the United States Constitution.
The State has filed a motion to dismiss this petition, arguing that Ray-El has no standing to file this habeas corpus petition because, it argues, the petition contains no information, other than his assertion that K.L.R.B. is a minor, concerning why Ray-El filed the petition on K.L.R.B.'s behalf. It cites the United States Supreme Court case of Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 110 S.Ct. 1717, 109 L.Ed.2d 135 (1990), in support of this assertion.
The United States Supreme Court in Whitmore v. Arkansas first had occasion to consider standing to file a federal habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2242. That statute states, in part: "Application for a writ of habeas corpus shall be in writing signed and verified by the person for whose relief it is intended or by someone acting in his behalf." (Emphasis added.) In Whitmore, a death-row inmate filed a habeas corpus petition on behalf of a fellow inmate. The United States Supreme Court, in recognizing the concept of "next friend," stated:
495 U.S. at 162-66, 110 S.Ct. 1717 (footnotes omitted). See In re Steinbrecher ex rel. Meeks, 599 F.Supp. 87, 88 (W.D.Tex.1984) ( ); Wilson v. Dixon, 256 F.2d 536, 538 (9th Cir.1958) (); Evans v. Bennett, 467 F.Supp. 1108, 1110 (S.D.Ala.1979) ( ).
Alabama's habeas corpus statute, § 15-21-4, Ala.Code 1975, reads, in part: "Application for a writ of habeas corpus must be made by petition, signed either by the party himself for whose benefit it is intended or by some other person on his behalf ...." (Emphasis added.) This wording is virtually identical to the wording in 28 U.S.C. § 2242.
Although Alabama courts have not had occasion to apply this concept to Alabama's habeas corpus statute, we believe that there is precedent for adopting the next-friend limitation to the filing of habeas corpus petitions. In Huxford v. Brown, 7 Ala.App. 447, 449, 62 So. 271, 272 (1913), the court stated:
(Emphasis added.)
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in Weber v. Garza, 570 F.2d 511 (5th Cir.1978), detailed the requirements for satisfying ...
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