Ex Parte Quick

23 So. 3d 67, 2009 Ala. LEXIS 28, 2009 WL 153931
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedJanuary 23, 2009
Docket1071644
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 23 So. 3d 67 (Ex Parte Quick) 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 Quick, 23 So. 3d 67, 2009 Ala. LEXIS 28, 2009 WL 153931 (Ala. 2009).

Opinions

WOODALL, Justice.

We granted certiorari review to consider a material question of first impression for this Court, namely, how § 15-18-5, Ala. Code 1975, must be applied under the facts of this case. See Rule 39(a)(1)(C), Ala. R.App. P. Wesley Randall Quick filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the St. Clair Circuit Court, alleging that the Department of Corrections had miscalculated the amount of jail time to be credited against his sentences for two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of third-degree burglary. After an evidentia-ry hearing, the trial court granted Quick’s petition, and the State appealed.

The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment. State v. Quick, 23 So.3d 63 (Ala.Crim.App.2008). In its opinion, that court summarized the undisputed facts:

“At the hearing, the parties stipulated that Quick had been continuously confined from the time of his arrest on November 5, 1995, until his sentencing for the burglary convictions on October 24, 2003. The record indicates that on November 5, 1995, Quick was arrested for one count of first-degree burglary (case no. CC-96-1746) and for one count of capital murder, and that on January 11, 1996, Quick was arrested for one count of first-degree burglary (case no. CC-96-3803) and one count of third-degree burglary (case no. CC-96-3804). The parties agreed that Quick never posted bond on the burglary charges, and the circuit court noted that an attempt to post bond would have been futile because Quick would not have been released with the capital charge pending.
“The record indicates that Quick’s first trial on the capital charge ended in a mistrial because of juror misconduct. [69]*69Quick was again brought to trial for the capital offense; he was convicted of capital murder on September 30, 1997, and on March 6, 1998, the trial court sentenced Quick to death. On direct appeal from that conviction and sentence, this Court, finding that Quick had shown a particularized need for the transcript of his first trial and the absence of suitable alternatives, held that he was entitled to a free transcript of the prior trial, and we reversed Quick’s conviction and death sentence and remanded the cause for a new trial. Quick v. State, 825 So.2d 246 (Ala.Crim.App.2001). Quick was tried a third time on the capital charge, and on April 21, 2003, he was acquitted.
“The record further reflects that following his acquittal of the charge of capital murder the trial court set no bond on the three burglary charges. On October 24, 2003, Quick pleaded guilty to the three burglary charges and was sentenced to 33 years’ imprisonment for each first-degree-burglary conviction (cases no. CC-96-1746 and CC-96-3803) and to 10 years’ imprisonment for the third-degree-burglary conviction (case no. CC-96-3804); the sentences were to run consecutively. The record reflects, and Quick concedes, that he received jail credit for the time he spent incarcerated after he was acquitted of capital murder but before he was sentenced for the burglary charges. Kathy Holt, director of central records division for the DOC [Department of Corrections], testified at the evidentiary hearing that the calculation of Quick’s release date was correct and that she had spoken with the sentencing judge, who had confirmed that the jail credit Quick had received for the burglary charges was accurate.
“After the evidentiary hearing in this matter, the circuit court instructed the parties to submit briefs supporting their respective positions. Quick argued in his trial brief, as he did in his petition, and as he argues in his brief on appeal, that because he was eventually acquitted of the capital-murder charge, he should receive additional jail credit against his burglary sentences for the entire time he spent incarcerated from his arrest on November 5, 1995, until his acquittal of capital murder on April 21, 2003. The DOC argued in its trial brief, as it had argued to the trial court at the hearing, and as it argues in its brief on appeal, that Quick is not entitled to any jail credit for the time he spent incarcerated from November 5, 1995, to his acquittal on the capital-murder charge because, it said, the incarceration was due to the capital-murder charge, not the burglary charges, and that the sentencing judge had made the correct determination as to the proper jail credit. After receiving those briefs, the circuit court issued an order granting Quick’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus.”

Quick, 23 So.3d at 64-66.

The Court of Criminal Appeals held that Quick was not entitled to receive any jail credit against his sentences for the burglary convictions for the time he spent incarcerated from his arrest on November 5, 1995, until his acquittal on the capital-murder charge on April 21, 2003, reasoning, as follows:

“Section 15-18-5, Ala.Code 1975, provides:
“ ‘Upon conviction and imprisonment for any felony or misdemeanor, the sentencing court shall order that the convicted person be credited with all of his actual time spent incarcerated pending trial for such offense. The actual time spent incarcerated pending trial shall be certified by the circuit clerk or district clerk on forms to [70]*70be prescribed by the Board of Corrections.’
“ ‘[Section 15-18-5, Ala.Code 1975,] does not suggest that the offender should receive credit for the same jail time more than once.’ Prichard v. State, 441 So.2d 1052, 1053 (Ala.Crim.App.1983). Further, it is well established that ‘[a] defendant is not entitled to accumulate credit for time served while he is serving time on another conviction.’ Young-blood v. State, 437 So.2d 629, 630 (Ala.Crim.App.1983). Rather, the inmate should receive credit only where the conviction resulting in the sentence is the cause of the inmate’s pretrial confinement. See id.
“Based on the record before this Court, including the stipulated facts and the specific arguments presented below and on appeal, it is apparent that although coinciding with the burglary convictions he now seeks credit against, the cause of Quick’s pretrial confinement was the capital-murder charge. At best, Quick’s incarceration beginning on November 5, 1995, was based in part on his arrest on that date for the first-degree-burglary charge in case no. CC-96-1746, but he has presented no set of facts indicating that that charge resulted in his remaining in jail. Rather, as the State argues, Quick was held without bond on the capital-murder charge, and he could not have gained his release at anytime before his acquittal on the capital-murder charge. Thus, although the time line of events in this case differs from that in Youngblood, supra, the underlying principle is the same — the cause of Quick’s pretrial confinement was the capital-murder charge, not the burglary charges. In addition, nothing in our research supports Quick’s bare assertions that because he was acquitted of the capital-murder charge, that acquittal somehow transformed the cause of his confinement during the period in question from the capital-murder proceedings to the pending burglary proceedings. Therefore, Quick was not entitled to the relief requested in his petition, and the circuit court erred in granting Quick’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus and ordering that Quick be credited with the jail time he requested in his petition.”

Quick, 23 So.3d at 66.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Johnson v. State
89 So. 3d 205 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2011)
Steven Lyle Lay v. State of Alabama.
82 So. 3d 9 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2011)
Ex Parte Hughes
51 So. 3d 1016 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2010)
Lee Lumber Co. v. Hughes
51 So. 3d 1016 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2010)
Tariq-Madyun v. State
59 So. 3d 744 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2010)
Ex Parte Quick
23 So. 3d 67 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
23 So. 3d 67, 2009 Ala. LEXIS 28, 2009 WL 153931, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-quick-ala-2009.