Ex Parte Jett

5 So. 3d 640, 2007 Ala. LEXIS 135, 2007 WL 2070352
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedJuly 20, 2007
Docket1060281
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 5 So. 3d 640 (Ex Parte Jett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex Parte Jett, 5 So. 3d 640, 2007 Ala. LEXIS 135, 2007 WL 2070352 (Ala. 2007).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

On April 25, 2006, Xavier Jett was sentenced to life in prison following his convictions for attempted murder and for discharging a gun into an occupied dwelling. He filed a motion in open court for a new trial. That motion was denied on May 26. On June 20, Jett filed his notice of appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Court of Criminal Appeals held that Jett’s motion for a new trial had not been effectively filed under Rule 24.1, Ala. R.Crim. P., because it was not filed with the clerk of the circuit court. Based on that holding, the Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that the motion for a new trial did not toll the running of the time for filing a notice of appeal and that Jett’s notice of appeal was filed outside the 42-day period for the filing of an appeal; it therefore dismissed his appeal. Jett v. State, 5 So.3d 637 (Ala.Crim.App.2006). Because we hold that Rule 24.1, Ala. R.Crim. P., does not prohibit Jett from filing his motion with the trial judge in open court, we reverse and remand.

Facts and Procedural History

Xavier Jett was convicted of attempted murder and of discharging a gun into an occupied dwelling. On April 25, 2006, the trial court sentenced him to life in prison. At the sentencing hearing, Jett filed a motion for a new trial with the trial judge. The motion is contained in the clerk’s record, and the handwritten case-action-summary sheet notes that it was denied. The Alabama Judicial Information System online case-action summary includes a notation that the motion for a new trial was filed on April 25, 2006.

When the Court of Criminal Appeals began reviewing Jett’s appeal, it contacted the clerk of the circuit court, who stated that the motion for a new trial had not [642]*642been filed in that office.1 The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that the motion Jett had filed with the trial judge had not been forwarded to the clerk of the circuit court. For this reason, the Court of Criminal Appeals held, the motion for a new trial had not been properly filed pursuant to Rule 24.1(b), Ala. R.Crim. P.,2 and, therefore, it had not tolled the running of the time for filing a notice of appeal. That court held that the notice of appeal was therefore untimely, and it dismissed Jett’s appeal. We granted Jett’s petition for the writ of certiorari to determine whether Jett’s motion for a new trial was effectively filed and whether the Court of Criminal Appeals violated Jett’s due-process rights when it contacted the circuit court clerk’s office without giving him notice and an opportunity to be heard. However, because we hold that Jett’s motion for a new trial was effectively filed, we need not decide the issue whether the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in contacting the circuit clerk without notifying Jett.

Standard of Review

‘“This Court reviews pure questions of law in criminal cases de novo.’ ” Ex parte Morrow, 915 So.2d 539, 541 (Ala.2004) (quoting Ex parte Key, 890 So.2d 1056, 1059 (Ala.2003)).

Analysis

Jett argues that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in concluding that his motion for a new trial, because it was filed in open court rather than in the circuit court clerk’s office, was not effectively filed and therefore did not toll the running of the time within which he could file his notice of appeal. We agree.

In dismissing Jett’s appeal as untimely, the Court of Criminal Appeals relied on Poole v. State, 926 So.2d 375 (Ala.Crim. App.2005), a case interpreting Rule 4(b)(1), Ala. R.App. P. In Poole, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that a written notice of appeal filed with the trial judge but not transmitted to the court clerk is ineffective. 926 So.2d at 379. Rule 4(b)(1) specifically requires that a written notice of appeal be filed with the clerk of the trial court; therefore, the Court of Criminal Appeals concluded in Poole: “[T]he notice of appeal was not filed with the proper official within 42 days of the date of sentencing.” 926 So.2d at 379.3

[643]*643Jett argues that Poole is distinguishable from this case because Rule 4(b)(1) applies to a notice of appeal, not to a motion for a new trial. Rule 4(b)(1) provides that “a notice of appeal by the defendant shall be filed with the clerk of the trial court.” On the other hand, Rule 24.1(b), Ala. R.Crim. P., governing the timeliness of a motion for a new trial, does not require filing “with the clerk of the trial court,” but states instead only that “[a] motion for a new trial must be filed no later than thirty (30) days after sentence is pronounced.” Thus, unlike Rule 4(b)(1), Rule 24.1(b) does not, on its face, require that a motion for a new trial be filed in the clerk’s office.

The State argues that “reference to similar procedural rules” shows that the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure “contemplate that the motion [for a new trial] is to be filed in the circuit clerk’s office.” State’s brief at 5-6. The State notes that the Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure provide that, “[i]n criminal cases, an appeal permitted by law as a matter of right to an appellate court shall be taken by filing a written notice of appeal with the clerk of the trial court....” Rule 3(a)(2), Ala. R.App. P.

The State further points out that the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure define the term “filing with the court” as follows:

“The filing of papers with the court as required by these rules shall be made by filing them with the clerk of the court, except that the judge may permit the papers to be filed with the judge, in which event the judge shall note thereon the filing date and forthwith transmit them to the office of the clerk.”

Rule 5(e), Ala. R. Civ. P.

Finally, the State notes that, in Rule 24.3, Ala. R.Crim. P.,4 the Court eliminated the previous practice that had required a motion for a new trial to be presented to the trial judge. The State contends that “[t]he only logical conclusion to be drawn from [this] change in language is that this Court intended to discontinue the procedural requirement, or practice, of ‘filing’ motions with the trial judge.” State’s brief at 11.

Our construction of Rule 24.1, Ala. R.Crim. P., begins with the plain language of the rule itself. Ex parte Haynes Downard Andra & Jones, LLP, 924 So.2d 687, 692 (Ala.2005) (“ ‘ “We start with the basic premise that words used in court rules must be given their plain meaning.” ’ ” (quoting Southeastern Meats of Pelham, Inc. v. City of Birmingham, 895 So.2d 909, 913 (Ala.2004), quoting in turn Nieto v. State, 842 So.2d 748, 749 (Ala. Crim.App.2002))). In construing Rule 24.1, “we are mindful that rules and statutes relating to the same subject matter must be read in pañ materia, thus allowing for legal harmony where possible.” Ex parte State ex rel. Daw, 786 So.2d 1134, 1136 (Ala.2000). However, we also recognize that this Court adopts a court rule 'with knowledge of other court rules and existing law. See Ex parte Fontaine Trailer Co., 854 So.2d 71, 83 (Ala.2003) (“ ‘It is a familiar principle of statutory interpretation that the Legislature, in enacting new legislation, is presumed to know the existing law.’” (quoting Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama, Inc. v. Nielsen, 714 So.2d 293, 297 (Ala.1998))); Daw,

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Ex Parte Jett
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
5 So. 3d 640, 2007 Ala. LEXIS 135, 2007 WL 2070352, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-jett-ala-2007.