Whitson v. State
| Decision Date | 27 February 2004 |
| Citation | 891 So.2d 421 |
| Parties | Sandy Lewis WHITSON v. STATE of Alabama. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Sandy Lewis Whitson, pro se.
William H. Pryor, Jr., atty. gen., and Stephanie N. Morman, asst. atty. gen., for appellee. SHAW, Judge.
Sandy Lewis Whitson appeals the circuit court's summary denial of his Rule 32, Ala.R.Crim.P., petition for postconviction relief, in which he attacked his June 2001 guilty-plea conviction for burglary in the third degree and his resulting sentence, as a habitual felony offender, of 30 years' imprisonment. This Court affirmed Whitson's conviction and sentence on direct appeal in an unpublished memorandum issued on August 16, 2002. See Whitson v. State (No. CR-01-1095, August 16, 2002), 868 So.2d 484 (Ala.Crim.App.2002)(table). The Alabama Supreme Court denied certiorari review, and this Court issued a certificate of judgment on January 31, 2003.
Whitson filed the present petition on July 10, 2003, along with an affidavit of substantial hardship. In his petition, Whitson claims (1) that his guilty plea was unlawfully induced or not made voluntarily with an understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea, and (2) that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to render the judgment or to impose the sentence. Apparently, the State filed a response to Whitson's Rule 32 petition and the circuit court issued an order summarily denying the petition; however, those documents are not contained in the record on appeal.
Both in his motion for the circuit court to reconsider its determination and on appeal Whitson contends that the circuit court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to rule on his Rule 32 petition because, he says, the record does not show that the circuit court ever ruled on his affidavit of substantial hardship. In Goldsmith v. State, 709 So.2d 1352 (Ala.Crim.App.1997), this Court held that absent the payment of a filing fee or the grant of a request to proceed in forma pauperis, the circuit court does not obtain jurisdiction over the postconviction petition.
We have reviewed the record on appeal, and we are unable to ascertain from the record whether the circuit court had jurisdiction to rule on Whitson's petition. Thus, we find it necessary, as we did in Broadway v. State, 881 So.2d 1068 (Ala.Crim.App.2003), and Jackson v. State, 854 So.2d 157 (Ala.Crim.App.2002), to remand this case for the circuit court to make specific, written findings as to whether the circuit court actually granted Whitson's request to proceed in forma...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Dennis v. State
...of doing so because doing so puts the circuit court in a position where it has jurisdiction over the petition, see Whitson v. State, 891 So. 2d 421, 422 (Ala. Crim. App. 2004) (recognizing that circuit courts do not obtain jurisdiction over a Rule 32 petition until the payment of a filing f......
-
Dennis v. State
...of doing so because doing so puts the circuit court in a position where it has jurisdiction over the petition, see Whitson v. State, 891 So. 2d 421, 422 (Ala. Crim. App. 2004) (recognizing that circuit courts do not obtain jurisdiction over a Rule 32 petition until the payment of a filing f......
-
State v. Hurst
...on Hurst's petition, it granted a request to proceed in forma pauperis or Hurst paid the required filing fee. See Whitson v. State , 891 So. 2d 421, 422 (Ala.Crim.App.2004) ('[A]bsent the payment of a filing fee or the grant of a request to proceed in forma pauperis, [a] circuit court does ......
-
Hyde v. State
...has been granted. See Maxwell v. State, [Ms. CR-02-1662, February 27, 2004] ___ So.2d ___ (Ala.Crim.App.2004); Whitson v. State, 891 So.2d 421 (Ala.Crim.App.2004); Baker v. State, 805 So.2d 241, 244 (Ala.Crim.App.2004); Campbell v. State, 883 So.2d 1271 (Ala.Crim.App.2003); Jackson v. State......