Morris v. Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles

176 So. 3d 872, 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 15, 2015 WL 1122483
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMarch 13, 2015
DocketCR-14-0106
StatusPublished

This text of 176 So. 3d 872 (Morris v. Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles) 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
Morris v. Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles, 176 So. 3d 872, 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 15, 2015 WL 1122483 (Ala. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

WINDOM, Presiding Judge.

Inmate Jessie J. Morris appeals from the circuit court’s denial of his petition for a writ of certiorari in which he challenged the revocation of his parole by the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles (“the Board”).

Morris was originálly convicted of two counts of second-degree robbery, see § 13A-8-42, Ala.Code 1975, and one count of first-degree assault, see § 13A-6-20, Ala.Code 1975, and was sentenced to life in prison for each conviction. Morris was paroled on February 9, 2009.

While on parole, Morris was arrested in Birmingham and charged with committing a new offense — second-degree robbery, see § 13A-8-42, Ala.Code 1975. On August 27, 2013, Morris’s parole officer filed a parole-violation report alleging that Morris had committed the new offense of second-degree robbery and recommended that Morris’s parole be revoked. A parole-revocation hearing, at which Morris was represented by counsel, was held on October 8, 2013. During the revocation hearing, the State offered the testimony of Detective Kenneth Prevo of the Birmingham Police Department. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board revoked Morris’s parole.

On February 13, 2014, Morris filed a petition for writ of certiorari challenging the Board’s revocation of his parole. Specifically, Morris alleged that the State’s only witness admitted that he had no personal knowledge of the events that formed the basis of Morris’s second-degree-robbery charge; therefore, the Board’s decision to revoke his parole was based solely on hearsay evidence. On May 30, 2014, the Board filed a motion for summary judgment, and on June 20, 2014, the circuit court issued an- order dismissing Morris’s petition. On July 18, 2014, Morris filed a motion to set aside or vacate the circuit court’s order-on the ground that the Board had confused, his prison file with another inmate’s file who was also named “Jessie Morris.” The matter was set for a hearing on August 11, 2014, Thereafter, the Board filed a response to Morris’s motion in which it admitted that it had mistakenly used the wrong file and would file a new motion for summary judgment using the correct information. Following a hearing on September 10, 2014, the circuit court issued an order dismissing Morris’s petition. On October 8, 2014, Morris filed his written notice of appeal.

In Ellard v. State, 474 So.2d 743 (Ala.Crim.App.1984), this Court set out the standard of review applicable to a certiora-ri petition seeking review of a decision of the Board:

“On petition for writ of certiorari the circuit court is, as is the appellate court, limited in its review of quasi-judicial acts of administrative officers and boards. The limited function of that review is to detertnine whether the act [874]*874in question was supported by any substantial evidence, or whether findings and conclusions are contrary to uncon-tradicted evidence, or whether there was an improper application of the findings viewed in a legal sense. Sanders v. Broadwater, 402 So.2d 1035 (Ala.Civ. App.1981). Judicial review of administrative acts and decisions is limited in scope, and ordinarily the courts will only pass on the question of whether the administrative agency has acted within its constitutional or statutory powers, whether its order or determination is supported by substantial evidence, and whether its action is reasonable and not arbitrary. Little Caesar’s, Inc. v. Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Bd., 386 So.2d 224 (Ala.Civ.App.1979).”

474 So.2d at 750. See also Samuels v. Alabama Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 687 So.2d 1287 (Ala.Crim.App.1996).

On appeal, Morris reasserts his argument that the evidence was insufficient to support the revocation of his parole. Specifically, Morris contends that the Board’s decision to revoke his parole was based solely on hearsay. This Court agrees.

“The minimum due process requirements that must be met in revoking probation or parole are (1) written notice of the claimed violations of probation or parole, (2) disclosure to the probationer or parolee of the evidence against him or her, (3) an opportunity to be heard in person and to present witnesses and documentary evidence, (4) the right to confront and to cross-examine adverse witnesses, unless the hearing officer specifically finds good cause for not allowing confrontation, (5) a neutral and detached hearing body, and (6) a written statement by the factfinders as to the evidence relied on and the reasons for revoking probation and parole. Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972); Gagnon v. Scarpelli 411 U.S. 778, 93 S.Ct. 1756, 36 L.Ed.2d 656 (1973); Armstrong v. State, 294 Ala. 100, 312 So.2d 620 (1975); Udoakang v. State, 678 So.2d 306 (Ala. Cr.App.1996); Grimes v. State, 579 So.2d 693 (Ala.Cr.App.1991).”

Johnson v. State, 729 So.2d 897, 898-99 (Ala.Crim.App.1997).

Further, this Court has held that although hearsay may be admitted in parole-revocation hearings, it cannot serve as the sole basis for revocation. See Hollis v. State, 598 So.2d 38, 39 (Ala.Crim.App. 1992). Specifically, in C.L.G. v. State, 50 So.3d 1123 (Ala.Crim.App.2009), this Court stated:

“‘“The use of such hearsay evidence as the sole means of proving the violation of the p[arole] condition denied appellant the right to confront and cross-examine the person who originated the factual information which formed the basis for the revocation. For this reason, appellant was denied minimal due process of law, and the evidence was insufficient to prove the alleged violation of p[arole].”
“‘[Mallette v. State,] 572 So.2d [1316,] 1317 [ (Ala.Crim.App.1990) ]. See also Ex parte Belcher, 556 So.2d 366 (Ala. 1989) (State’s evidence held insufficient in probation revocation hearing where evidence consisted of probation officer’s testimony that, while on probation, the appellant was charged with a federal offense, i.e., conspiring to possess, with intent to distribute, approximately 1000 pounds of marijuana, and certified copies of the federal charge).
“ ‘ “[T]he law is clear that the formality and evidentiary standards of a criminal trial are not required in parole revocation hearings. [875]*875Thompson v. State, 356 So.2d 757 (Ala. Crim.App.1978), Armstrong v. State, 294 Ala. 100, 812 So.2d 620 (Ala.1975). Hearsay evidence may be admitted in the discretion of the court, though the State acknowledges that hearsay evidence cannot be the sole support of revoking [parole]. Mitchell v. State, 462 So.2d 740 (Ala.Crim.App.1984).
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“ ‘ “Although pferole] is a .‘privilege’ and not a right, Wray v. State, 472 So.2d 1119 (Ala.1985), certain standards of due process of law must be met to justify revocation. Those standards are set out in Armstrong v. State, supra.
“1 “... While we recognize that all the formal requirements of a criminal trial are not mandated, and that the burden of proof is different, Thompson v. State,

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176 So. 3d 872, 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 15, 2015 WL 1122483, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morris-v-alabama-board-of-pardons-paroles-alacrimapp-2015.