Smiley v. State
| Decision Date | 07 May 2010 |
| Docket Number | 1081502. |
| Citation | 52 So.3d 565 |
| Parties | Ex parte State of Alabama. (In re Troy Andrew SMILEY v. STATE of Alabama). |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Troy King, atty. gen., and Jean-Paul M. Chappell, asst. atty. gen., for petitioner.
Submitted on petitioner's brief only.
The State of Alabama, pursuant to Rule 39, Ala. R.App. P., petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari to review whether the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in reversing the trial court's judgment revoking Troy Andrew Smiley's probation. Wehold that it did, and we reverse and remand.
On June 13, 2008, Smiley pleaded guilty in the Lee Circuit Court to the unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment; however, the trial court suspended the sentence and placed Smiley on supervised probation for one year. Almost three months before his sentencing on the unlawful-possession conviction, Smiley was involved in the murder of Jeffery Blake Stone. The following facts detailing Smiley's involvement in the murder are outlined chronologically in a statement he made to an investigator at the Etowah County Sheriff's Office: 1 On March 24, 2008, Smiley's friend and neighbor, Nathan Lee, used Smiley's 9mm Ruger brand handgun to kill Stone. Smiley's participation in the murder began approximately two weeks before the murder when Lee discussed with Smiley his desire to kill Stone. After Lee shot Stone on March 24, 2008, he and Smiley disposed of the body that same day by burying it beside a logging road. A few months later, Smiley contacted Lee and told him that he needed the gun back because the girl he had purchased it from told him that if she did not get the gun back, a drug dealer was going to kill her. Lee and Smiley at some point thereafter retrieved the gun, which Lee had buried. "About a month later," Smiley stopped by the site where they had buried Stone and discovered that Stone's legs were sticking out of the ground. Smiley contacted Lee and they subsequently dug up the body. Smiley and Lee placed the body in Smiley's truck and went back to Smiley's house. Lee then transferred the body in his truck and eventually placed it in a freezer at his house. On July 1, 2008, Smiley confessed to the events surrounding the murder of Stone.
On July 24, 2008, the trial court issued a "probation tolling order" and issued a warrant for Smiley's arrest based on Smiley's alleged commission of a new offense—murder. On September 4, 2008, the trial court conducted a probation-revocation hearing. Jeff Hopper, a criminal investigator with the Etowah County Sheriff's Office, testified at the hearing regarding his interviews with Smiley. Smiley's statement to Hopper detailing the events surrounding the murder was also read into evidence at the hearing. On September 18, 2008, the trial court entered the following order revoking Smiley's probation:
(Emphasis added.)
Smiley appealed his probation revocation to the Court of Criminal Appeals, which reversed the trial court's order revoking Smiley's probation. Smiley v. State, 52 So.3d 563 (Ala.Crim.App.2009). The Court of Criminal Appeals, relying on Rutledge v. State, 512 So.2d 824 (Ala.Crim.App.1987), concluded that "[b]ecause the [trial] court relied on alleged misconduct by Smiley that occurred almost threemonths before the court sentenced him and placed him on probation, the [trial] court's order revoking Smiley's probation is due to be reversed." In Rutledge, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that charges based on conduct occurring before sentence is imposed and probation ordered cannot form the basis for revoking a defendant's probation on the ground that the defendant has committed a new offense. In its petition to this Court for the writ of certiorari, the State contends, in part, that the Court of Criminal Appeals' decision conflicts with Ex parte Cater, 772 So.2d 1117 (Ala.2000), Ex parte Yelverton, 929 So.2d 438 (Ala.2005), and Friedman v. Friedman, 971 So.2d 23 (Ala.2007), because, it says, the Court of Criminal Appeals improperly reweighed the evidence and did not give effect to the presumption of correctness afforded a trial court's judgment in cases in which evidence is presented ore tenus.
The trial court in this case entered its judgment after hearing testimony from Investigator Hopper regarding his interviews with Smiley and after hearing the details contained in Smiley's statement to Hopper, which was read into evidence. Hence, the ore tenus rule applies to the trial court's findings of fact.
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