Peoples v. State, 1 Div. 697
Decision Date | 23 August 1988 |
Docket Number | 1 Div. 697 |
Citation | 531 So.2d 323 |
Parties | Siegfred J. PEOPLES v. STATE. |
Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
W. Gregory Hughes, Mobile, for appellant.
Don Siegelman, Atty. Gen., and Sandra Lewis, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
In 1985, Siegfred Jerome Peoples, the petitioner, pleaded guilty to, and was convicted of, first and second degree burglary and second degree escape. No direct appeal was taken. In November of 1987, the petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief under Rule 20, Temp.A.R.Cr.P., seeking to set aside those convictions. This appeal is from the denial of that petition.
After the petition had been filed, the circuit court issued the following order to show cause:
Counsel was appointed to represent the petitioner and in February of 1988, an evidentiary hearing was held on the issue of whether or not the petitioner should be held in contempt. During the course of that hearing, the circuit judge stated, The circuit judge found that the petitioner had "trifled with this court for years" and told the petitioner that if he filed "one more piece of paper with this court about this case" he would be held in contempt and fined $100. The judge stated:
After the contempt hearing, the judge declined to hold the petitioner in contempt and issued the following order:
The circuit judge acted well within the bounds of his discretion in denying the present petition without an evidentiary hearing.
Rule 20.2(b), Temp.A.R.Cr.P., provides:
The petitioner has made no showing that good cause exists why the grounds of his last petition were not known or could not have been ascertained through reasonable diligence and presented in his first petition. See Waldon v. State, 284 Ala. 608, 609, 227 So.2d 122 (1969); Vintson v. State, 494 So.2d 869 (Ala.Cr.App.1986); Alexander v. State, 462 So.2d 955 (Ala.Cr.App.1984). See also Kuhlmann v. Wilson, 477 U.S. 436, 106 S.Ct. 2616, 2622, n. 6, 91 L.Ed.2d 364 (1986).
Rule 20.2(b) addresses the separate and distinct problems of "successive" and "abusive" petitions. Wilson, 106 S.Ct. at 2622, n. 6. "[A]buse may be raised sua sponte by the ... court." Jones v. Estelle, 722 F.2d 159, 164 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied,Jones v. McKaskle, 466 U.S. 976, 104 S.Ct. 2356, 80 L.Ed.2d 829 (1984).
Here, the circuit judge properly denied the petition on authority of Rule 20.2(b).
The petitioner contends that the circuit court erred in issuing its order prohibiting him from filing any further motions or pleadings with regard to any of his three convictions. We have searched the record and do not find where this issue was presented to the circuit court. Objections cannot be raised for the first time on appeal. "To be reviewable, error must be preserved by properly invoking adverse rulings by the trial court." Ex parte State, 527 So.2d 154 (1988).
The order of the circuit court enjoining the petitioner from filing any motion or pleading with regard to any of his three cases is overbroad. See generally, L. Yackle, Postconviction Remedies § 155 (1981), Cumulative Supplement (February 1988).
"It is now established beyond doubt that prisoners have a constitutional right of access to the courts." Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 821, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 1494, 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977). Though this right is not absolute or unconditional, restrictions may not deprive inmates of "adequate, effective, and meaningful" access to the courts. Bounds, 430 U.S. at 822, 97 S.Ct. at 1495. "[L]itigiousness alone will not support an injunction against a plaintiff, ... and ... the use of such measures against a pro se plaintiff should be approached with caution." Pavilonis v. King, 626 F.2d 1075, 1079 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 829, 101 S.Ct. 96, 66 L.Ed.2d 34 (1980). "Access to the courts is a fundamental tenet of our judicial system; legitimate claims should receive a full and fair hearing no matter how litigious the plaintiff may be." In re Oliver, 682 F.2d 443, 446 (3rd Cir.1982).
However, "a court is [not] powerless to protect itself and its process from abuse by unscrupulous prison inmates." Matter of Green, 586 F.2d 1247, 1251 (8th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 922, 99 S.Ct. 1249, 59 L.Ed.2d 475 (1979). Courts have an "inherent power ... to regulate the activities of abusive litigants by imposing carefully tailored restrictions under the appropriate circumstances." Cotner v. Hopkins, 795 F.2d 900, 902 (10th Cir.1986). While those conditions may be "onerous," they "cannot be so burdensome, however, as to deny a litigant meaningful access to the courts." Cotner, 795 F.2d at 902.
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