Brooks v. City of Birmingham

389 So. 2d 578, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1404
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedOctober 7, 1980
Docket6 Div. 278
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 389 So. 2d 578 (Brooks v. City of Birmingham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brooks v. City of Birmingham, 389 So. 2d 578, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1404 (Ala. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

LEIGH M. CLARK, Retired Circuit Judge.

On an appeal from a conviction in the Municipal Court of the City of Birmingham, a jury found each of the appellants guilty on a complaint based on Section 54-1 General Code of the City of Birmingham, 1964, as last amended, which provides:

“It shall be unlawful for any person to go upon or remain upon the lands, buildings or premises of another or any part, portion or area thereof after having been forbidden to do so, or warned not to do so, either orally or in writing, by the owner, lessee, custodian or other person in possession thereof, his agent or representative, or after having been forbidden to do so or warned not to do so by a sign posted on such land, building, premises or part, portion or area thereof at a place where such sign may be reasonably seen; provided that this section does not apply to police officers in the discharge of their duties.”

The two cases were consolidated for trial with the consent of defendants. The jury fixed the punishment of each at a fine of $100.00, and the court rendered judgment accordingly.

A major insistence of appellants is that the ordinance upon which each was tried is “inconsistent” with Code of Alabama 1975, § 13-2-100. If true, the ordinance is invalid. Constitution of Alabama 1901, Article IV, Sec. 89; Code of Alabama 1975, § 11-45-1.

Code of Alabama 1975, § 13-2-100 provides:

“Any person who, without legal cause or good excuse, enters into the dwelling house or on the premises of another, after having been warned within six months preceding not to do so; or any person, who, having entered into the dwelling house or on the premises of another without having been warned within six months not to do so, and fails or refuses, without legal cause or good excuse, to leave immediately on being ordered or requested to do so by the person in possession, his agent or representative, shall, on conviction, be fined not less than $25.00 nor more than $100.00 and may also be imprisoned in the county jail or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not more than three months.”

The asserted inconsistency between the ordinance of the City and the law of the State [580]*580is based upon the omission from the ordinance of the substance of the provision in said law that limits the offense proscribed to conduct occurring within six months after an accused had been given the prescribed warning. Appellants rely upon Atkins v. City of Tarrant City, Ala.Cr.App., 369 So.2d 322 (1979) and other cases cited therein. We think a correct determination of the particular issue is to be found in the conclusions reached by Judge DeCarlo in Atkins, wherein he soundly sets forth differences between municipal ordinances and general laws of a state that constitute inconsistency and those that do not constitute inconsistency.

“Whether an ordinance is inconsistent with the general law of the State is to be determined by whether the local law prohibits anything which the State law permits. Ligon v. City of Gadsden, [21 Ala.App. 312, 107 So. 733] supra. See also Kim v. Town of Orangetown, 66 Misc.2d 364, 321 N.Y.S.2d 724". Atkins, supra, at 369 So.2d 325.

Code of Alabama 1975, § 13-2-100 does not permit one to trespass upon the property of another, even though he may never have been warned not to do so. In the area of private property, there are private rights. The appropriate state can and should protect those rights, but it is without power to permit a violation thereof. The possessor of real property has the legal right to freedom from an invasion of the real property by anyone without the possessor’s permission express or implied. In Atkins, the alleged offense was not on private property, but on a “public street or highway.” Private rights of no one other than those of Atkins were involved.

In Atkins, supra, at 369 So.2d 326, it is stated:

“We recognize that a municipal ordinance which enlarges upon the provisions of a State statute by requiring more restrictions than the State law is not unconstitutional as long as the State statute is not exclusive. State ex rel. Woodruff v. Centanne, 265 Ala. 35, 89 So.2d 570. However, the ordinance here in question does not enlarge upon any existing State statutes; no such statute exists on the State level. ... ”

Therein lies a distinguishing difference between Atkins and the instant case. The ordinance now under consideration does enlarge upon the provisions of the statute on the subject, does require more restriction than the statute, which, however, according to Atkins, is not thereby rendered invalid “as long as the'State statute is not exclusive.” In the light of the difference between the nature of, and the rights affected by, the ordinance and comparable statute, as shown by the circumstances in Atkins, and the nature of, and the rights affected by, the ordinance and comparable statute in the instant case, the statute here involved is not, and does not purport to be, exclusive, as shown by the authority relied upon and cited in Atkins, State v. Centanne, in which it is stated at 265 Ala. 37 and 89 So.2d 571:

“It is well settled that the fact that an ordinance enlarges upon the provisions of a statute by requiring more restrictions than contained in the statute creates no ‘conflict,’ unless the statute limits the requirements for all cases to its own prescriptions. Smith v. Town of Notasulga, 257 Ala. 382(2), 59 So.2d 674; City of Birmingham v. West, 236 Ala. 434, 183 So. 421; Mitchell v. City of Birmingham, 222 Ala. 389, 133 So. 13.
“The provisions of the ordinance here in question, to which we have referred, do no more than add restrictions to the statutory provisions in that respect. The statute does not prescribe restrictions to be exclusive of all others. Therefore, the first contention of appellant cannot be sustained.”

The ordinance under which the defendants were charged and tried is not inconsistent with general statutory law of Alabama.

Appellants seem to contend also that the • ordinance violates “the equal protection and due process clauses of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Alabama.” They do not present any argument or submit any authorities in support of such contention, and we conclude that it is not well taken.

[581]*581Another issue raised by appellants is stated in their brief as follows:

“Without evidence of authority in the Board of Directors of the Mall Merchants Association to bind its members, did Marcie Phillips have the agency authority to give a valid warning against trespass on behalf of Parisians, Inc.”

Marcie (Marcy) Phillips was the person who, according to the undisputed evidence, warned the defendants not to go upon the premises. According to her testimony, she was employed by Alabama Farm Bureau Insurance Company and the Eastwood Mall Merchants Association. Alabama Farm Bureau Insurance Company was the owner of Eastwood Mall, a large suburban shopping center in Birmingham. The merchants, who constitute most if not all the tenants thereof, belong to the Eastwood Mall Merchants Association. Parisian, Inc., a corporation, was one of said merchants. The defendants had entered the store of Parisian, Inc.

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Bluebook (online)
389 So. 2d 578, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1404, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brooks-v-city-of-birmingham-alacrimapp-1980.