Ex Parte Sorsby

12 So. 3d 139, 2007 Ala. LEXIS 225, 2007 WL 3050675
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedOctober 19, 2007
Docket1050636
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 12 So. 3d 139 (Ex Parte Sorsby) 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 Sorsby, 12 So. 3d 139, 2007 Ala. LEXIS 225, 2007 WL 3050675 (Ala. 2007).

Opinions

BOLIN, Justice.

On March 3, 2005, William Kenneth Sorsby pleaded guilty in the District Court of Jefferson County to driving under the influence, in violation of § 32-5A-191(a)(3), [141]*141Ala.Code 1975.1 At the time he entered his guilty plea, Sorsby did not waive his right to appeal. On March 11, 2005, Sorsby filed a notice of appeal seeking a trial de novo in the Jefferson Circuit Court. On July 14, 2005, the State moved that the appeal be dismissed, arguing that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to consider the appeal because, when Sorsby pleaded guilty, he did not reserve any issue for appeal and he did not file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. On July 25, 2005, the circuit court denied the State’s motion to dismiss. The State then filed a petition for a writ of mandamus asking the Court of Criminal Appeals to direct the circuit judge to grant the State’s motion to dismiss Sorsby’s appeal. The Court of Criminal Appeals granted the State’s petition and issued the writ. State v. Sorsby, 12 So.3d 130 (Ala.Crim.App.2005). Judge Shaw dissented, with an opinion. Sorsby then petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari to review the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

We granted certiorari review to address whether the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure limit the right to appeal a district court’s judgment to the circuit court for a trial de novo following a guilty plea when the defendant did not reserve any issue for appeal and did not file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea.

State’s petition for a writ of mandamus to the Coivrt of Criminal Appeals

The State argued before the Court of Criminal Appeals that Rule 14.4(a)(1), Ala. R.Crim. P. (addressing the reservation of issues when entering a guilty plea), and Rule 26.9(b)(4), Ala. R.Crim. P. (requiring the court to inform the defendant that he must reserve an issue or file a motion to withdraw the guilty plea if he wants to appeal), limit the right to appeal a guilty plea and that Sorsby has no right to appeal his guilty plea because he did not reserve an issue for appeal nor did he file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Sorsby argued that Rule 14.4(a)(1) does not apply to an appeal from a conviction in the district court for a trial de novo in the circuit court. He further argued that the only reason the State may move to dismiss an appeal to the circuit court is when the defendant fails to appear in court. Last, he argued that it was unnecessary for him to file a formal motion to withdraw his guilty plea because his appeal to the circuit court for a trial de novo amounted to a “de facto” withdrawal of his guilty plea.

The Court of Criminal Appeals held that when this Court in 2002, pursuant to its rulemaking authority under Amendment No. 328, § 6.11, Ala. Const.1901 (now § 150, Ala. Const. 1901 (Off.Recomp.)), amended Rule 2.2(e), Ala. R.Crim. P. (setting out the procedure when a case is appealed from the municipal or the district court to the circuit court), Rule 14.4(a)(1), Ala. R.Crim. P., and Rule 26.9(b)(4), Ala. R.Crim. P., it did not include in these amended rules any provision limiting the application of the amendments to a guilty plea entered in the circuit court, where a defendant has no right to an appeal for a trial de novo. In other words, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that, in amending these rules, this Court evidenced an intent to apply the limited right to appeal a guilty plea to all guilty pleas, no matter how minor the charge to which the defendant is pleading and no matter what trial court is accepting the plea. The Court of Criminal Appeals recognized that Rule 30.1, Ala. [142]*142R.Crim. P., addresses appeals to the circuit court for a trial de novo after a conviction in either a municipal court or a district court and that that rule applies to guilty pleas entered in the lower court. However, the Court of Criminal Appeals noted that Rules 2.2, 14.4, and 26.9 were amended after Rule 30.1 was adopted, and that when there is an inconsistency in the rules, courts give precedence to the later adopted rule. Last, the Court of Criminal Appeals held that Sorsby’s motion to appeal his guilty plea was not a de facto motion to withdraw his guilty plea because a motion to withdraw a guilty plea seeks action in the court in which it is filed and a notice of appeal requires no action by that court other than to forward the notice of appeal to the appropriate court. The Court of Criminal Appeals recognized that this issue should be decided by this Court, which adopted the amendments to the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure.

In his dissent, Judge Shaw wrote that the majority of the Court of Criminal Appeals has effectively abrogated a criminal defendant’s statutory right to appeal a district court’s judgment to the circuit court for a de novo jury trial. He wrote that Rule 80.1, Ala. R.Crim. P., and the Committee Comments to that rule indicate that Rule 30.1 is a general statement of the statutory right of appeal granted a criminal defendant convicted in the district court. He contended that the majority opinion of the Court of Criminal Appeals assumes that this Court simply overlooked Rule 30.1 when it amended Rules 2.2(e), 14.4(a)(1), and 26.9(b)(4). He wrote that although this Court has the authority to promulgate rules governing the administration of all courts, this Court is prohibited from promulgating any rule that affects the jurisdiction of the circuit courts. Judge Shaw also wrote that by definition a trial de novo means that the slate is wiped clean and a trial in the circuit court is had without any consideration given to prior proceedings in another court.

Sorsby’s petition to this Court for a writ of certiorari

Sorsby argues that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in concluding that this Court’s amendments to Rule 2.2(e), Rule 14.4(a)(1), and Rule 26.9(b)(4) limit a defendant’s right to appeal from a guilty plea entered in the district court for a trial de novo in the circuit court because, he argues, such a limitation violates the United States Constitution and the Alabama Constitution in that it places an undue burden on an individual attempting to exercise his right to a jury trial. Sorsby argues that the majority opinion of the Court of Criminal Appeals also violates §§ 12-11-30, 12-12-70, 12-12-71, and 12-14-70, Ala.Code 1975, all four of which grant a criminal defendant tried before a district or a municipal court the right to appeal the case to the circuit court for a jury trial. He argues that the Court of Criminal Appeals’ opinion effectively nullifies Rule 30.1, Ala. R.Crim. P., and unduly limits the circuit court’s jurisdiction in cases seeking a de novo appeal to the circuit court from a conviction in a district or a municipal court. Sorsby contends that the plain reading of Rules 2.2(e), 14.4(a), and 26.9(b)(4), Ala. R.Crim. P., indicates that those rules were never intended to apply to appeals seeking a trial de novo under Rule 30.1.

The State argues that the 2002 amendments to Rules 14.4 and 26.9 place reasonable limits on a defendant’s right to appeal a conviction resulting from a knowing and voluntary guilty plea. Under the rules as amended, the State argues, a criminal defendant waives his absolute right to appeal when he enters a guilty plea and may only appeal when certain statutory conditions have been met, i.e., when specific issues [143]*143are reserved for appeal or a motion is filed seeking a withdrawal of the guilty plea.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
12 So. 3d 139, 2007 Ala. LEXIS 225, 2007 WL 3050675, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-sorsby-ala-2007.