Coulter v. State

611 So. 2d 1129, 1992 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1042, 1992 WL 201000
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedAugust 21, 1992
DocketCR-91-675
StatusPublished

This text of 611 So. 2d 1129 (Coulter 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
Coulter v. State, 611 So. 2d 1129, 1992 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1042, 1992 WL 201000 (Ala. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

McMILLAN, Judge.

The petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, pursuant to a request for temporary custody made by the officials of Putnam County, Georgia, according to the Uniform Mandatory Disposition of Detain-ers Act (“Interstate Agreement on Detain-ers”). The appellant is presently in the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections, pursuant to his conviction of capital murder for a robbery murder. He was sentenced to death. In sentencing the appellant to death, the trial court considered the aggravating circumstance of two previous felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the person. § 13-11-6(2), Code of Alabama 1975 (re[1130]*1130pealed 1980). Coulter v. State, 438 So.2d 336, 346-48 (Ala.Cr.App.1982), affirmed, 438 So.2d 352 (Ala.1983). These two prior convictions occurred in Georgia; however, in 1991, the Georgia courts set aside the convictions, thus nullifying the prior convictions that had been used to support this aggravating circumstance. Therefore, the •appellant filed a habeas corpus proceeding in federal court, based on a motion pursuant to Rule 60(b), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which he alleges entitles him to have his Alabama death sentence set aside. Johnson v. Mississippi, 486 U.S. 578, 108 S.Ct. 1981, 100 L.Ed.2d 575 (1988). In Johnson v. Mississippi, supra, the United States Supreme Court held that the Mississippi Supreme Court violated the petitioner’s Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment by allowing his death sentence to stand despite the fact that it was based partially on a vacated New York conviction.

The State of Georgia has re-indicted the appellant on those charges and seeks to have him transferred to Georgia in order to retry him. Thus, the appellant’s habeas corpus proceeding is the appellant’s attempt to block his transfer to Georgia for retrial.

In his petition for writ of habeas corpus, the appellant stated two grounds: that he was not lawfully charged by the Georgia indictment, alleging specifically that it indicates he was charged on September 16, 1991, instead of September 17, 1991; and that he would not be fairly and impartially tried in Georgia. The State argued, in its answer, that the clerical errors in the indictment cannot be raised in habeas corpus proceedings in the asylum state, and that the petitioner’s claim that he would not receive a fair trial in Georgia was without factual basis and was legally insufficient to support the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. The State also filed affidavits and certified copies of records from Georgia to support its argument.

Thereafter, a hearing was held on the appellant’s petition. The appellant argued that he was entitled to relief because the Georgia indictment was invalid, referring to the date stamped on the indictment, and because he would not receive a fair trial. He also- raised a new claim at the hearing, that he was not a “fugitive from justice” because he did not leave Georgia involuntarily. At the hearing, the State objected to this latter, newly raised allegation, stating that it had not been timely raised. Alternatively, the State argued that the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act does not require that the prisoner be a fugitive from justice in the sense that he must have fled from the jurisdiction. Furthermore, as to the latter arguments, the State submitted that these allegations can be raised only in the state requesting the temporary custody of the prisoner, i.e., Georgia. Following the hearing, the trial court made the following findings:

“1. The petitioner is a person subject to the provisions of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers.
“2. The demand for custody is in the proper form.
“3. There is an outstanding indictment pending against the petitioner in the requesting state.
“4. The petitioner is the same person whose custody has been demanded by the prosecutor.”

The trial court then ordered the petitioner’s transfer to the temporary custody of Georgia until his trial was completed.

The appellant argues that he cannot legally be transferred, because one of the prerequisites to such a transfer is proper proof of a lawful charging by indictment or other specified means, and he argues that Georgia's documentation fails to prove that he was “lawfully charged by indictment.”

As argued by the State, the appellant’s factual situation is to be governed by §§ 15-9-80 through 15-9-88, Code of Alabama 1975, the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act, rather than §§ 15-9-20 through 15-9-65, Code of Alabama 1975, which the appellant relies on in his argument, and which include the extradition statutes. While the two acts deal with the delivery of a person charged with a crime from one state to another state, there are differences in the statutes’ requirements, [1131]*1131as well as the persons to which these acts apply. The Interstate Agreement on De-tainers Act governs the transfer of people charged with crimes in one jurisdiction who are incarcerated in another jurisdiction. § 15-9-81, Code of Alabama 1975. Extradition proceedings govern the transfer of people who have committed a crime and then fled from justice in that state to another state, where they remain free. § 15-9-30, Code of Alabama 1975. A transfer pursuant to a detainer is temporary and is imposed only to permit prosecution on the charges that form the basis of the detainer. § 15-9-81, Article V(d), Code of Alabama 1975. When a person is transferred pursuant to extradition proceedings, however, he is not intended to be returned to the asylum state and, thus, the transfer is not temporary.

The procedures required for transferring a person pursuant to the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act are quite different from those procedures required to extradite an individual. Because a person to be extradited is not already in prison, supporting documents are required by the requesting state for the person, and the asylum state is permitted to investigate the demand in order to determine whether the individual should be surrendered. See §§ 15-9-31 through 15-9-33, Code of Alabama 1975. Certain rights of arrestees sought to be extradited are outlined in § 15-9-38, Code of Alabama 1975. The procedures for transfer under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act depend on whether the disposition of the pending charges is sought by the prisoner or by an appropriate officer in the jurisdiction of the untried indictment or complaint. In the latter situation, a request for transfer is made as follows:

“Article IV.

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Related

Marbles v. Creecy
215 U.S. 63 (Supreme Court, 1909)
Sweeney v. Woodall
344 U.S. 86 (Supreme Court, 1953)
Johnson v. Mississippi
486 U.S. 578 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Magwood v. State
553 So. 2d 635 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1989)
Ex Parte Coulter
438 So. 2d 352 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1983)
Coulter v. State
438 So. 2d 336 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
611 So. 2d 1129, 1992 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1042, 1992 WL 201000, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coulter-v-state-alacrimapp-1992.