Smith v. State
| Decision Date | 24 February 1984 |
| Citation | 447 So.2d 1334 |
| Parties | Ex parte State of Alabama. (Re William Lincoln SMITH v. STATE of Alabama). Ex parte State of Alabama. (Re Ex parte David WAKEFIELD). (Re STATE of Alabama v. David WAKEFIELD). 82-999, 82-776. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and Joseph G.L. Marston, III, Asst. Atty. Gen., and J. Anthony McLain and James F. Hampton, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., for petitioner.
Jerry K. Selman of Selman, Beaird & Selman, Jasper, for respondent William Lincoln Smith.
Arthur Parker, Birmingham, for respondent David Wakefield.
William Lincoln Smith was convicted of manslaughter in which a firearm was used, a class "C" felony, in the Circuit Court of Walker County on May 18, 1982. He was sentenced to 45 years of imprisonment pursuant to Code 1975, § 13A-5-6(a):
Smith appealed his conviction and sentence to the Court of Criminal Appeals and that court affirmed his conviction but reversed his sentence on the grounds that the trial court had misconstrued the provisions of § 13A-5-6(a)(5). We agree with the opinion of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Under § 13A-5-6(a)(3) the term of imprisonment may be set at not more than 10 years. Under section (5) if a deadly weapon
is used the sentence must be for at least 10 years. Section (5) must be construed to mean that the 10-year-term is both the minimum and maximum sentence which can be imposed for a Class C felony. We have very carefully considered the forceful argument made by the state that a sentencing statute which sets a minimum sentence but specifically sets no maximum, implicitly sets a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, but we are persuaded that the reasoning by the Court of Criminal Appeals is correct and that the judgment of that court is due to be affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
David Wakefield was indicted for capital murder, but was convicted of manslaughter, a Class "C" felony. The trial court sentenced Wakefield to 45 years of imprisonment pursuant to the provisions of Code 1975, § 13A-5-6(a)(5).
Wakefield appealed his conviction and sentence, see 447 So.2d 1325, and subsequently brought a petition for mandamus against the trial judge in which he demanded that the trial judge be compelled to set aside the 45-year sentence and instead sentence him under the provisions of Code 1975, § 13A-5-6(a)(3).
The Court of Criminal Appeals issued the writ of mandamus in which the court ordered the trial judge to sentence the defendant to 10 years of imprisonment.
The legal issue involved in this case is identical to the legal issue involved in the case of Ex parte State of Alabama, In re William Lincoln Smith, (82-999), which was consolidated with it here in this Court. The judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals is due to be affirmed on the same grounds we stated in affirming the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals in the Smith case.
The state, in a reply brief, argues that mandamus relief was inappropriate in this case because...
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