State v. K.L.R.B.

911 So. 2d 1100, 2004 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 132
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJuly 23, 2004
DocketCR-03-1257
StatusPublished

This text of 911 So. 2d 1100 (State v. K.L.R.B.) 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
State v. K.L.R.B., 911 So. 2d 1100, 2004 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 132 (Ala. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The petitioner, Melvin Ray-El,1 filed this petition for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of K.L.R.B., a minor. In July 2002, K.L.R.B. was arrested for murder. His bail was set at $40,000, and he was released from custody. In September 2002, while on bail, K.L.R.B. was arrested for reckless endangerment, giving a false name, driving without a license, and eluding the police. A bail-revocation hearing was held, and Judge Loyd H. Little, Jr., revoked K.L.R.B.’s bail. In October 2003, K.L.R.B. moved to have his bail reinstated. Judge Little denied the motion after a hearing. In all proceedings in the circuit court K.L.R.B. was represented by an attorney. In May 2004, Ray-El filed this original petition for a writ of habeas corpus in this Court on behalf of K.L.R.B.— and states that K.L.R.B. is a minor. The petitioner argues that K.L.R.B. is being [1102]*1102held without the benefit of pretrial bail in violation of the United States Constitution.

The State has filed a motion to dismiss this petition, arguing that Ray-El has no standing to file this habeas corpus petition because, it argues, the petition contains no information, other than his assertion that K.L.R.B. is a minor, concerning why Ray-El filed the petition on K.L.R.B.’s behalf. It cites the United States Supreme Court case of Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 110 S.Ct. 1717, 109 L.Ed.2d 135 (1990), in support of this assertion.

The United States Supreme Court in Whitmore v. Arkansas first had occasion to consider standing to file a federal habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2242. That statute states, in part: “Application for a writ of habeas corpus shall be in writing signed and verified by the person for whose relief it is intended or by someone acting in his behalf.” (Emphasis added.) In Whitmore, a death-row inmate filed a habeas corpus petition on behalf of a fellow inmate. The United States Supreme Court, in recognizing the concept of “next friend,” stated:

“Most frequently, ‘next friends’ appear in court on behalf of detained prisoners who are unable, usually because of mental incompetence or inaccessibility, to seek relief themselves. E.g., United States ex rel. Toth v. Quarles, 350 U.S. 11, 13, n. 3 (1955) (prisoner’s sister brought habeas corpus proceeding while he was being held in Korea). As early as the 17th century, the English Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 authorized complaints to be filed by ‘any one on ... behalf of detained persons, see 31 Car. II, eh. 2, and in 1704 the House of Lords resolved ‘[t]hat every Englishman, who is imprisoned by any authority whatsoever, has an undoubted right, by his agents, or friends, to apply for, and obtain a Writ of Habeas Corpus, in order to procure his liberty by due course of law.’ See Ashby v. White, 14 How.St.Tr. 695, 814 (Q.B.1704). Some early decisions in this country interpreted ambiguous provisions of the federal habeas corpus statute to allow ‘next friend’ standing in connection with petitions for writs of habeas corpus, see, e.g., Collins v. Traeger, 27 F.2d 842, 843 (C.A.9 1928); United States ex rel. Funaro v. Watchom, 164 F. 152, 153 (S.D.N.Y.1908), and Congress eventually codified the doctrine explicitly in 1948. See 28 U.S.C. § 2242 (1982 ed.) (‘Application for a writ of habeas corpus shall be in writing signed and verified by the person for whose relief it is intended or by someone acting in his behalf’) (emphasis added).
“A ‘next friend’ does not himself become a party to the habeas corpus action in which he participates, but simply pursues the cause on behalf of the detained person, who remains the real party in interest. Morgan v. Potter, 157 U.S. 195, 198 (1895); Nash ex rel. Hashimoto v. MacArthur, 87 U.S.App.D.C. 268, 269-270, 184 F.2d 606, 607-608 (1950), cert. denied, 342 U.S. 838 (1951). Most important for present purposes, ‘next friend’ standing is by no means granted automatically to whomever seeks to pursue an action on behalf of another. Decisions applying the habeas corpus statute have adhered to at least two firmly rooted prerequisites for ‘next friend’ standing. First, a ‘next friend’ must provide an adequate explanation — such as inaccessibility, mental incompetence, or other disability — why the real party in interest cannot appear on his own behalf to prosecute the action. Wilson v. Lane, 870 F.2d 1250, 1253 (C.A.7 1989), cert. pending, No. 89-81; Smith ex rel. Missouri Public Defender [1103]*1103Comm’n v. Armontrout, 812 F.2d 1050, 1053 (CA8), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1033 (1987); Weber v. Garza, 570 F.2d 511, 513-514 (C.A.5 1978). Second, the ‘next friend’ must be truly dedicated to the best interests of the person on whose behalf he seeks to litigate, see, e.g., Morris v. United States, 399 F.Supp. 720, 722 (E.D.Va.1975), and it has been further suggested that a ‘next friend’ must have some significant relationship with the real party in interest. Davis v. Austin, 492 F.Supp. 273, 275-276 (N.D.Ga.1980) (minister and first cousin of prisoner denied ‘next friend’ standing). The burden is on the ‘next friend’ clearly to establish the propriety of his status and thereby justify the jurisdiction of the court. Smith, supra, at 1053; Groseclose ex rel. Harries v. Dutton, 594 F.Supp. 949, 952 (M.D.Tenn.1984).
“These limitations on the ‘next friend’ doctrine are driven by the recognition that ‘[i]t was not intended that the writ of habeas corpus should be availed of, as matter of course, by intruders or uninvited meddlers, styling themselves next friends.’ United States ex rel. Bryant v. Houston, 273 F. 915, 916 (C.A.2 1921); see also Rosenberg v. United States, 346 U.S. 273, 291-292 (1953) (Jackson, J., concurring with five other Justices) (discountenancing practice of granting ‘next friend’ standing to one who was a stranger to the detained persons and their case and whose intervention was unauthorized by the prisoners’ counsel). Indeed, if there were no restriction on ‘next friend’ standing in federal courts, the litigant asserting only a generalized interest in constitutional governance could circumvent the jurisdictional limits of Art. Ill simply by assuming the mantle of ‘next friend.’
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“At the beginning of this century, the Court confronted a situation similar to this in which a concerned citizen sought to bring an ordinary civil action to secure relief for a condemned man.

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Related

Morgan v. Potter
157 U.S. 195 (Supreme Court, 1895)
Gusman v. Marrero
180 U.S. 81 (Supreme Court, 1901)
Rosenberg v. United States
346 U.S. 273 (Supreme Court, 1953)
United States Ex Rel. Toth v. Quarles
350 U.S. 11 (Supreme Court, 1955)
Whitmore Ex Rel. Simmons v. Arkansas
495 U.S. 149 (Supreme Court, 1990)
Evans v. Bennett
467 F. Supp. 1108 (S.D. Alabama, 1979)
Morris v. United States
399 F. Supp. 720 (E.D. Virginia, 1975)
Collins v. Traeger
27 F.2d 842 (Ninth Circuit, 1928)
In Re Steinbrecher on Behalf of Meeks
599 F. Supp. 87 (W.D. Texas, 1984)
Groseclose Ex Rel. Harries v. Dutton
594 F. Supp. 949 (M.D. Tennessee, 1984)
Davis v. Austin
492 F. Supp. 273 (N.D. Georgia, 1980)
Huxford v. Brown
62 So. 271 (Alabama Court of Appeals, 1913)
Cuyahoga County Bar Ass'n v. Spurlock
770 N.E.2d 568 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2002)
State v. Bartlett
848 So. 2d 1024 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2002)
United States ex rel. Funaro v. Watchorn
164 F. 152 (U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York, 1908)
United States ex rel. Bryant v. Houston
273 F. 915 (Second Circuit, 1921)

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Bluebook (online)
911 So. 2d 1100, 2004 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-klrb-alacrimapp-2004.