Cannon v. State

470 So. 2d 1351, 1985 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4952
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMarch 26, 1985
Docket6 Div. 360
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 470 So. 2d 1351 (Cannon v. State) 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
Cannon v. State, 470 So. 2d 1351, 1985 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4952 (Ala. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

LEIGH M. CLARK, Retired Circuit Judge.

This appellant has assuredly had his “day in court,” the appellant having been indicted November 9, 1979, for murder in the first degree, found guilty thereof by a jury in May 1980, which fixed his punishment at imprisonment for life. He was duly adjudged guilty by the court and sentenced to imprisonment for life in accordance with the verdict of the jury.

A large part of the procedural history of the case is correctly stated in Cannon v. Berry, 727 F.2d 1020 (11th Cir., 1984), in the second and third paragraphs of the opinion therein as follows:

“In May of 1980, a Jefferson County, Alabama, jury convicted Cannon of first degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison. Cannon appealed and retained an attorney.1 Although Cannon’s retained attorney had not filed a brief,2 the appellate court nevertheless reviewed the trial record for errors3 and on October 28, 1980, affirmed Cannon’s conviction without an opinion. Thus, the appeal was decided without the benefit of briefing or oral argument from counsel. The appellate court denied Cannon’s January 20, 1981, petition for rehearing, on the ground that a party has no right to apply for a rehearing unless a brief was filed on the direct appeal.4 Cannon next sought a writ of error coram nobis from the Jefferson County Circuit Court. The circuit court denied the writ and the criminal appeals court affirmed. Cannon v. State, 416 So.2d 1097 (Ala.Cr.App. 1982).
“Cannon then petitioned the District Court for the Northern District of Alabama for habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 alleging a number of constitutional errors in the various state proceedings. The magistrate, without considering Cannon’s other claims, recommended that the court grant the writ because Cannon’s appellate counsel rendered ineffective assistance by his failure to file a brief on the direct appeal from the state court conviction. The district court agreed with his recommendation and filed the above-mentioned order, under which the State must afford Cannon either a new trial or an additional direct appeal.”

The opinion in the cited case of Cannon v. Berry concluded with an affirmance of the judgment of the District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

We now insert the contents of footnotes 1, 2, 3, and 4 as indicated above in the quotation from the first two paragraphs of the opinion in Cannon v. Berry, supra:

[1353]*1353“1. Cannon filed notice of appeal orally during the sentencing hearing. Shortly thereafter, he retained a new attorney, Mr. Sheffield, to represent him on the appeal. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals was aware that Cannon had retained an attorney to conduct the appeal. The court had appointed Sheffield to represent Cannon, but rescinded the appointment when it learned that Cannon retained Sheffield independently.
“2. Under the longstanding policy of Alabama, Cannon did not need to submit a brief to perfect his appeal. See Hymes v. State, 209 Ala. 91, 95 So. 383 (1923). It appears from the record that Sheffield did file a belated brief on the day the court of criminal appeals issued its decision. The State concedes that the court did not consider the brief in deciding the appeal.
“3. Code of Alabama, § 12-22-240 provides:
“In all cases appealable to the court of criminal appeals the court must consider all questions apparent on the record or reserved in the circuit court and must enter such judgment as the law demands.
“4. The court dismissed the request for rehearing citing only the authority of Ala.R.App.P. 40 (‘No party can, as a matter of right, apply for rehearing unless brief was filed with the clerk [on the direct appeal]’). The State does not argue that the untimely brief was considered on rehearing, or that the petition for rehearing was considered on the merits.”

In accordance with what was held in Cannon v. Berry, supra, this Court granted a motion filed on May 14, 1984, by the State of Alabama for reconsideration of the previous direct appeal by Cannon from the judgment of conviction and sentence for murder in the first degree, which had been previously affirmed without an opinion, and appointed an attorney to represent appellant who now represents appellant and has filed a brief in his behalf, which has been followed by a brief on behalf of appellee, to which a reply brief has been filed by appellant’s appointed attorney. Our duty now is to consider and determine the five issues presented by appellant. They are argued in the briefs of both parties. In doing so, we have as a source of study the complete record proper and the court reporter’s transcript of the proceedings, which was filed in this Court in 1980.

Before the issues presented by the brief of counsel for appellant are stated, it is appropriate, we think, to give at this time a resume of the evidence on the trial of the case pertinent to the issues presented.

The appellant arrived at Constantine’s Bar in the Travelodge Motel in Yestavia, Jefferson County, Alabama, at approximately 8:30 or 9:00 P.M. and while there on that occasion was served seven straight tequilas, one vodka and orange juice and two Budweiser beers. Soon after midnight, he took off a red pullover T-shirt, began waiving the shirt around like a cape and yelling, “Toro!”, apparently pretending as if he were a bullfighter and conducting himself in a boisterous manner. According to the testimony of defendant, he was partially disabled physically by reason of an accident that caused him to have a fracture of his leg and another accident that caused him to have only about forty percent use of his left arm; about 1:15 A.M. the deceased, Gary Clyde Warnken arrived at the bar, and an unfriendly verbal encounter promptly occurred between him and the defendant. The defendant’s testimony as to the brawl between him and Mr. Warnken was in part as follows:

“Q. When did you first notice him?
“A. When I heard him screaming at me and I looked up and he was pointing at me.
“Q. What did he say?
“A. You are the man, you son-of-a-bitch, and I don’t like you, you’re the man.
“Q. Screaming and wild-eyed?
“A. Screaming and screaming.
“Q. Had you ever seen him before?
“A. No, sir.
[1354]*1354“A. I asked him what his problem was.
“Q. What did he say?
“A. He just said you are the man, you son-of-a-bitch, and I will kill you, I don’t like the man.
“Q.

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Related

Smitherman v. State
627 So. 2d 1116 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
470 So. 2d 1351, 1985 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cannon-v-state-alacrimapp-1985.