Kuenzel v. State

204 So. 3d 910, 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 56
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJuly 10, 2015
DocketCR-13-0899
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 204 So. 3d 910 (Kuenzel 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
Kuenzel v. State, 204 So. 3d 910, 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 56 (Ala. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

KELLUM, Judge.

William Ernest Kuenzel appeals the circuit court’s summary dismissal of his second petition for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Rule 32, Ala. R.Crim. P.

In 1988, Kuenzel was convicted of murder made capital because it was committed during the course of a robbery, see § 13A-5—40(a)(2), Ala.Code 1975. The jury unanimously recommended that Kuenzel be sentenced to death, and the trial court followed the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Kuenzel to death for his capital-murder conviction. This Court affirmed Kuenzel’s conviction and death sentence on appeal, Kuenzel v. State, 577 So.2d 474 (Ala.Crim.App.1990), and the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed this Court’s judgment, Ex parte Kuenzel, 577 So.2d 531 (Ala.1991). This Court issued a certificate of judgment on March 28, 1991. The United States Supreme Court denied cer-tiorari review on October 7, 1991. Kuenzel v. Alabama, 502 U.S. 886, 112 S.Ct. 242, 116 L.Ed.2d 197 (1991).

On October 4, 1993, Kuenzel filed his first Rule 32 petition for postconviction relief challenging his conviction and death sentence. The circuit court summarily dismissed the petition on the ground that it had been filed after the limitations period in Rule 32.2(c), Ala. R.Crim. P., had expired.1 This Court affirmed the circuit court’s judgment on appeal in an unpublished memorandum issued on January 28, 2000, Kuenzel v. State (No. CR-98-1216), 805 So.2d 783 (Ala.Crim.App.2000) (table), and the Alabama Supreme Court denied certiorari review, Ex parte Kuenzel (No. 1991081), 806 So.2d 414 (Ala.2000) (table).

On February 7, 2000, Kuenzel filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, requesting relief from his conviction and death sentence. In 2002, that court found Kuenzel’s habeas petition to be time-barred by the limitations period in 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d). On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated the district court’s judgment. Kuenzel v. Campbell, 85 Fed. App’x 726 (2003) (table). On [913]*913remand from the Eleventh Circuit, the district court again found Kuenzel’s habeas petition to be time-barred. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit vacated the district court’s judgment a second time. Kuenzel v. Allen, 488 F.3d 1341 (11th Cir.2007). On second remand, the district court found, for the third time, that Kuenzel’s habeas petition was time-barred; the .court also concluded that Kuenzel’s assertion of actual innocence did not excuse his procedural default because Kuenzel had failed to make a credible showing of actual innocence founded on new and reliable evidence that had not been presented at trial. Kuenzel v. Allen,. 880 F.Supp.2d 1162 (N.D.Ala.2009). The district court subsequently denied Kuenzel’s postjudgment motion filed pursuant to Rule 60(b), Fed. R.Civ.P., to set aside the district court’s dismissal of his habeas petition. Kuenzel v. Allen, 880 F.Supp.2d 1205 (N.D.Ala.2011). On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Kuenzel’s habeas petition and its denial of Kuenzel’s postjudgment Rule 60(b), Fed. R.Civ,P., motion. Kuenzel v. Commissioner, Alabama Dep’t Of Corr., 690 F.3d 1311 (11th Cir.2012).

On September 23, 2013, Kuenzel filed his second Rule 32 petition for postconviction relief, which is the subject of this appeal. In his petition, Kuenzel alleged: (1) that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to render the judgment or to impose the sentence because, he said, his conviction was based on the uncorroborated testimony of his accomplice, in violation of § 12-21-222, Ala.Code 1975; and (2) that newly discovered material facts would show that he is actually innocent of the crime. Kuenzel attached to his petition several exhibits in support of his claims. On or about December 27, 2013, the State filed a response and motion for summary dismissal of Kuenzel’s petition, arguing, in relevant part, that both of Kuenzel’s claims were time-barred by Rule 32.2(c), Ala. R.Crim. P. On February 11, 2014, the circuit court issued an order summarily dismissing Kuenzel’s petition. In its order, the circuit court found, in relevant part, that both of Kuenzel’s claims were time-barred by Rule 32.2(c).2 On March 12, 2014, Kuenzel filed a postjudgment motion to alter, amend, or vacate the circuit court’s judgment. That motion was effectively denied on March 13, 2014, 30 days after the circuit court’s order summarily dismissing Kuenzel’s petition. See Loggins v. State, 910 So.2d 146, 148-49 (Ala.Crim.App.2005) (a circuit court retains jurisdiction to modify a judgment in Rule 32 proceedings for only 30 days after the judgment is entered; even a timely filed postjudgment motion does not extend the circuit court’s jurisdiction).

On appeal, Kuenzel reasserts the two claims asserted in his petition and argues that the circuit court erred in summarily dismissing those claims without affording him an evidentiary hearing. We disagree.

“[Wjhen'the facts are undisputed and an appellate court is presented with pure questions of law, that court’s review in a Rule 32 proceeding is de novo.’’ Ex parte White, 792 So.2d 1097, 1098 (Ala.2001). “However, where there are disputed facts in a postconviction proceeding and the circuit court resolves those disputed facts, ‘[t]he standard of review on appeal ... is whether the trial judge abused his discretion when he denied the petition.’” Boyd v. State, 913 So.2d 1113, 1122 (Ala.Crim.App.2003) (quoting Elliott v. State, 601 So.2d 1118, 1119 (Ala.Crim.App.1992)). “On direct appeal we reviewed the record for plain error; however, the plain-error [914]*914standard of review does not apply to a Rule 32 proceeding attacking a death sentence.” Ferguson v. State, 13 So.3d 418, 424 (Ala.Crim.App.2008). Additionally, “[i]t is well settled- that ‘the procedural bars of Rule 32 apply with equal force to all cases, including those in which the death penalty has been imposed.’ ” Nicks v. State, 783 So.2d 895, 901 (Ala.Crim.App.1999) (quoting State v. Tarver, 629 So.2d 14,19 (Ala.Crim.App.1993)).

A Rule 32 petitioner is entitled to an evidentiary hearing on a claim in a postconviction petition only if the claim is “meritorious on its face.” Ex parte Boatmight, 471 So.2d 1257, 1258 (Ala.1985). A postconviction claim is “meritorious on its face” only if the claim (1) is sufficiently pleaded in accordance with Rule 32.3 and Rule 32.6(b); (2) is not precluded by one of the provisions in Rule 32.2; and (3) contains factual allegations that, if true, would entitle the petitioner to relief. A Rule 32 petitioner is not entitled to an evidentiary hearing on claims that are precluded by one or more of the provisions in Rule 32.2. See Sumlin v. State, 710 So.2d 941, 943 (Ala.Crim.App.1998) (“[B]ecause the issues he raised were procedurally barred, the appellant was not entitled to an evidentia-ry hearing on his petition.”).

For the reasons explained below, we conclude that both of the claims in Kuen-zel’s petition are time-barred by Rule 32.2(e) and that, therefore, Kuenzel was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing on those claims.

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