Ellis v. State

705 So. 2d 843, 1996 WL 240371
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedAugust 22, 1997
DocketCR-95-0429
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 705 So. 2d 843 (Ellis 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
Ellis v. State, 705 So. 2d 843, 1996 WL 240371 (Ala. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

705 So.2d 843 (1996)

David Joseph ELLIS
v.
STATE.

CR-95-0429.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

May 10, 1996.
Opinion on Return to Remand September 27, 1996.
Opinion on Rehearing on Second Return to Remand April 18, 1997.
Opinion on Third Return to Remand August 22, 1997.

*844 James McKoon, Jr., Phenix City, for appellant.

Jeff Sessions, atty. gen., and Joseph Marston III, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor, attys. gen., and Joseph G.L. Marston III, asst. atty. gen., for appellee (on rehearing of second return to remand and on third return to remand).

PATTERSON, Judge.

David Joseph Ellis appeals from his conviction for the unlawful distribution of cocaine. Ellis was convicted by a jury, and was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, assessed $100 (to be paid to the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission), and fined $1000. This sentence was suspended upon Ellis's agreement to enroll in rehabilitation program at his own expense. Ellis raises one issue on appeal, and that issue is without merit. The state, however, has raised an issue that requires us to remand this case for resentencing.

Ellis contends that the trial court erred by receiving the cocaine into evidence over his "chain of custody" objection, because he alleges that no evidence showed the safeguarding of the cocaine while it was in agent Heath Taylor's possession. The record, however, refutes this allegation. Taylor testified that he received the cocaine in a sealed evidence envelope, that he did not unseal the envelope, and that he delivered the envelope to the lab in the same condition in which he received it. The prosecution presented evidence showing each element of the cocaine's chain of custody. See Ex parte Holton, 590 So.2d 918 (Ala.1991). The prosecution is not required to paint a chain of custody with the detail of Seurat. Broad brushstrokes of proof will suffice, so long as they fill the simple framework set out in Holton. Speculation descending from the lack of detail in Taylor's testimony is properly addressed to the weight of the evidence—not its admissibility. Id. The trial court properly admitted the cocaine into evidence.

II.

On the state's motion, we must remand this case to the trial court, because it failed to sentence Ellis in accordance with the mandatory provisions of § 13A-12-250, Code of Alabama 1975 (requiring an additional penalty of five years' imprisonment if the sale of drugs occurred within a three mile radius of a school). See Broaden v. State, 645 So.2d 368 (Ala.Cr.App.1994).

Ellis was convicted of the unlawful distribution of cocaine. The sentencing order and the trial court's minute entry of the jury verdict erroneously state that Ellis was convicted of the unlawful possession of cocaine. At the sentencing hearing, the trial court acknowledged this clerical error. See generally Rule 29, Ala.R.Crim.P. ("Clerical mistakes in judgments.... may be corrected by *845 the [trial] court at anytime"). Our review of the verdict, the indictment, and the jury charge shows that Ellis's conviction was in fact for the unlawful distribution of cocaine.

At the sentencing hearing, the trial court stated that Ellis's sentence of 10 years' imprisonment was the minimum sentence allowable, due to the application of the habitual felony offender act. The trial court made no mention of § 13A-12-250, although testimony at trial showed that Ellis sold drugs approximately 350 yards from a school. In view of this testimony, § 13A-12-250 mandates that Ellis's sentence be enhanced by five years' imprisonment, to run consecutively with any other penalties. Nye v. State, 639 So.2d 1383 (Ala.Cr.App.1993). The minimum sentence authorized in this case was 15 years' imprisonment. Therefore, we must remand this case to the trial court with instructions to resentence Ellis in accordance with this opinion.

REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.

McMILLAN, LONG, and COBB, JJ., concur.

TAYLOR, P.J., concurs specially.

TAYLOR, Presiding Judge, concurring specially.

I concur in the majority's holding in Part I of its opinion. The majority holds that any defects in the chain of custody go to the weight, and not the admissibility, of the evidence. This holding is supported by the recently enacted § 12-21-13, Code of Alabama 1975, which provides:

"Physical evidence connected with or collected in the investigation of a crime shall not be excluded from consideration by a jury or court due to a failure to prove the chain of custody of the evidence. Whenever a witness in a criminal trial identifies a physical piece of evidence connected with or collected in the investigation of a crime, the evidence shall be submitted to the jury or court for whatever weight the jury or court may deem proper. The trial court in its charge to the jury shall explain any break in the chain of custody concerning the physical evidence."

On Return to Remand

We remanded this case to the trial court on May 10, 1996, with instructions to resentence David Joseph Ellis so that his sentence would be enhanced by an additional five years' imprisonment for the sale of drugs within a three-mile radius of a school, as mandated by § 13A-12-250, Code of Alabama 1975. The return to our remand filed by the trial court shows that it complied with our instructions and enhanced Ellis's original 10-year sentence to 15 years; however, it then split his sentence, suspending the sentence and placing Ellis on probation for 5 years, after which he was to serve 3 years' in the penitentiary. Such an order violates § 13A-12-250. Section 13A-12-250, commonly known as the "schoolyard statute," requires the five-year enhancement period to be served in the penitentiary and does not allow the five-year period or any part of it to be suspended or served on probation. Pope v. State, 681 So.2d 1098 (Ala.Cr.App.1995); Parrish v. State, 663 So.2d 983 (Ala.Cr.App. 1994). The sentence imposed by the trial court on remand provides for only three years' imprisonment, which violates the schoolyard statute. We find it necessary to again remand this case with instructions that the trial court hold another sentencing hearing at which it is to resentence Ellis in a manner that reflects the proper application of § 13A-12-250.

The trial court shall take all action directed in sufficient time to permit the circuit clerk to make a proper return to this court at the earliest possible time within 28 days of the release of this opinion.

All Judges concur.

On Application for Rehearing Following Issuance of Opinion on Second Return to Remand

JOHN PATTERSON, Retired Appellate Judge.

This court's opinion of January 17, 1997, is withdrawn and the following is substituted therefor.

*846 On July 22, 1994, the appellant, David Joseph Ellis, was indicted by the Russell County grand jury for distribution of a controlled substance (cocaine), a violation of § 13A-12-211, Code of Alabama 1975. On October 4, 1995, he was convicted, after a jury trial, of the offense charged in the indictment and was sentenced on November 28, 1995, as a habitual offender with one prior felony conviction, to 10 years' imprisonment. In sentencing the appellant, the trial court failed to enhance his sentence by five years, pursuant to § 13A-12-250, even though there was undisputed evidence that the sale had occurred within three miles of a school.

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Bluebook (online)
705 So. 2d 843, 1996 WL 240371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ellis-v-state-alacrimapp-1997.