Case Title: Ex parte State of Alabama. PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS: CRIMINAL (In re: State of Alabama vs. Milton Blane)

Citation: 

Docket Number: 1060514

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 2007-08-17T00:00:00Z

Document:
REL: 8/17/07
Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance
sheets of Southern Reporter.  Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions,
Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-
0649), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before
the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter.
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
SPECIAL TERM, 2007
____________________
1060514
____________________
Ex parte State of Alabama
PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS
(In re: State of Alabama v. Milton Blane)
(Montgomery Circuit Court, CC-96-2451;
Court of Criminal Appeals, CR-06-0395)
SEE, Justice.
The State of Alabama petitions for a writ of mandamus
directing the Montgomery Circuit Court to vacate its order
expunging the criminal record of Milton Blane.  Because the
1060514
According to the motion, Blane's company is in "the
1
business of supplying equipment such as missiles, aircraft,
and small arms to the United States government."  Blane
contends that because of the nature of his business he is
required to maintain a security clearance.
2
State has demonstrated a clear legal right to the relief it
seeks, we grant the petition and issue the writ.
Facts and Procedural History
Milton Blane pleaded guilty to third-degree theft of
property. He received a suspended sentence of one year's
confinement and was ordered to pay court costs, fees, and
restitution in the amount of $12,233.30.  It is undisputed
that Blane has fulfilled the terms of his sentence.
On September 1, 2006, Blane moved to have his criminal
record expunged, arguing that the record is "misleading" and
that it has had a detrimental effect on his ability to run his
business.   In his motion, Blane summarizes the facts
1
surrounding his conviction as follows:  He had purchased some
jewelry from a pawnshop, but he was unable to pay for the
jewelry at the time of purchase because he was "all out of
checks."  Blane promised to send a check by mail, but he
"forgot to pay for the jewelry."  He argued in his motion to
the circuit court that his actions did not constitute theft of
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3
property because, he argued, he lacked the requisite mental
state necessary to commit the crime.  Instead, he argued, his
actions constituted civil fraud.  Therefore, he argued in his
motion to expunge, "the charge of theft of property is
misleading in that it is more accurately characterized as
fraud, and should be purged from Mr. Blane's record."
The circuit court held a hearing on Blane's motion to
expunge, at which ore tenus evidence was presented.  Blane
testified, explaining that when he pleaded guilty to the
charge of third-degree theft of property, he thought he was
pleading guilty to a minor crime that was the equivalent of a
speeding ticket.  In the past, he says, he had passed
polygraph tests in which he had been asked whether he had
previously been arrested.  However, the United States
Department of Homeland Security discovered his conviction, and
Blane 
is 
now 
being 
excluded 
from 
certain 
classified
discussions that he says are important to his business.  Blane
argues that the record is misleading because, he says, he
committed a civil offense, and the pawnshop owners "used the
criminal courts to collect civil monies."  Stating that the
record "is sort of misleading," the court adjourned the
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4
hearing.  The trial court then issued an order expunging
Blane's record.  The State filed a petition for the writ of
mandamus with the Court of Criminal Appeals, and that court
transferred the petition to this Court.  State v. Blane (No.
CR-06-0395, January 4, 2007), ___ So. 2d ___ (Ala. Crim. App.
2007) (table).  We then ordered answer and briefs to determine
whether the trial court exceeded its discretion in ordering
Blane's record to be expunged.
Standard of Review
"Mandamus is an extraordinary writ and will be
issued '"only when there is: (1) a clear legal right
in the petitioner to the order sought, (2) an
imperative duty upon the respondent to perform,
accompanied by a refusal to do so, (3) the lack of
another adequate remedy, and (4) properly invoked
jurisdiction of the court."'  Ex parte Land, 775 So.
2d 847, 850 (Ala. 2000) (quoting Ex parte Horton,
711 So. 2d 979, 983 (Ala. 1998)).  When we consider
a mandamus petition, the scope of our review is to
determine whether the trial court clearly exceeded
its discretion.  Ex parte Tegner, 682 So. 2d 396
(Ala. 1996)."
State v. Bui, 888 So. 2d 1227, 1229 (Ala. 2004).  "Mandamus is
an extraordinary remedy, but is appropriate in exceptional
circumstances which amount to judicial usurpation of power."
Ex parte Nice, 407 So. 2d 874, 878 (Ala. 1981) (emphasis
omitted).  Moreover, we have recognized that "mandamus can be
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5
used to prevent a gross disruption in the administration of
criminal justice."  Nice, 407 So. 2d at 879 (emphasis
omitted).  In Ex parte Burns, 261 Ala. 217, 222, 73 So. 2d
912, 916 (1954), this Court held that the remedy of the writ
of mandamus was available where a prosecutor sought an order
directing the trial court to expunge from its records a report
of a grand jury criticizing the prosecutor and his official
acts.
Analysis
Blane cites § 41-9-646, Ala. Code 1975, in support of his
argument that his record should be expunged.  That section
provides, in pertinent part: "Should the record in question be
found to be inaccurate, incomplete or misleading, the court
shall order it to be appropriately purged, modified or
supplemented ...."  The State argues that § 41-9-646 does not
authorize the circuit court to expunge the record of Blane's
conviction.  We agree.
By statute, the State of Alabama "make[s] a person's
criminal records available for inspection to him or his
attorney."  § 41-9-643, Ala. Code 1975.  If a person believes
that the information contained in his or her criminal record
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6
is "inaccurate or incomplete," that person has the right to
request that the agency having custody or control of the
record "purge, modify or supplement" the record to make it
accurate or complete.  § 41-9-645, Ala. Code 1975.  If the
person is not satisfied with the agency's decision on the
request, he or she may appeal that decision to the circuit
court "in the same manner as appeals are entered from the
court of probate," with exceptions not relevant here.  § 41-9-
645, Ala. Code 1975.  The circuit court is then to "conduct a
de novo hearing and may order such relief as it finds to be
required by law."  § 41-9-645, Ala. Code 1975.  If the circuit
court finds the criminal record to be "inaccurate, incomplete
or misleading, the court shall order it to be appropriately
purged, modified or supplemented by an explanatory notation."
§ 41-9-646, Ala. Code 1975.
The State argues that the circuit court here exceeded its
discretion in ordering the record of Blane's conviction
expunged because, it argues, the record itself was not
inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading.  At the hearing, the
circuit court 
suggested 
that the 
record of conviction 
appeared
misleading because it suggested that Blane had been involved
1060514
We note that the materials before this Court do not
2
indicate that Blane originally requested of the agency that
maintains the record of his conviction that it correct or
expunge the misleading information in his criminal record.
However, it is the State's burden to put all materials
necessary for an understanding of the issues before the Court.
Rule 21(a)(1)(E), Ala. R. App. P.  We therefore carry that
inquiry no further. 
7
in criminal conduct.  However, it appears undisputed that the
records at issue accurately reflect that Blane pleaded guilty
to the offense of third-degree theft of property, that he was
convicted of that offense, and that he received a suspended
sentence and was ordered to pay costs, fees, and restitution.
Although he now argues that he was not guilty of that crime,
Blane does not argue that his conviction violated any of the
constitutional protections afforded an accused.  Instead, he
contends that he followed what may have been unwise legal
advice and that he did not understand the full ramifications
of pleading guilty to a misdemeanor offense.  These facts do
not render the 
record of conviction 
inaccurate, 
incomplete, 
or
misleading.  Therefore, § 41-9-646, Ala. Code 1975, provides
no authority to "purge, modify or supplement" Blane's
conviction, let alone to expunge it.2
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Moreover, § 41-9-646, Ala. Code 1975, does not provide
the circuit court with authority to expunge a criminal record.
The circuit court ordered the City of Montgomery Police
Department and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation to
"expunge"  all records of Blane's arrest, the charge against
him, and his conviction and further ordered that "such records
shall be sealed and treated as if they never existed or
occurred."  However, the word "expunge" does not appear in §
41-9-646, Ala. Code 1975, nor is there a provision in that
section for treating criminal records as if they had never
existed.  
This Court has construed the word "purge," which appears
in § 41-9-646, "to mean something less than complete
expungement."  Mobile Press Register, Inc. v. Lackey, 938 So.
2d 398, 403 (Ala. 2006).  Thus, if there is erroneous
information in the record, the record may be purged of that
information; if the record misstates the offense, it may be
modified; or, if the record is incomplete, it may be
supplemented.  However, all of this is directed at making the
record accurate, not making it disappear.  The legislature
knows how to draft a statute providing for the expungement of
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9
a criminal record.  In § 12-15-103(g), Ala. Code 1975, a part
of 
the 
Alabama 
Juvenile 
Justice Act, the legislature provided,
in pertinent part: "Upon the entry of a sealing order or a
destruction 
order, 
all 
references 
including 
arrest, 
complaint,
referrals, 
petitions, 
reports 
and 
orders 
shall 
be 
removed 
from
all agency ... files and sealed or destroyed ... and a finding
of delinquency shall be deemed never to have occurred."  As we
have previously noted, "'[i]t is not proper for a court to
read into the statute something which the legislature did not
include although it could have easily done so.'"  City of
Pinson v. Utilities Bd. of Oneonta, [Ms. 1060369, July 20,
2007] ___ So. 2d ___, ___ (Ala. 2007) (quoting Noonan v.
East-West Beltline, Inc., 487 So. 2d 237, 239 (Ala. 1986)).
We will not read the word "expunge" into the statute now
before us.
Blane has been convicted of a crime, and his record of
conviction is not inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading;
therefore, § 41-9-646, Ala. Code 1975, does not authorize the
circuit court to purge, modify, supplement, or expunge that
record.  For this reason, we reject Blane's arguments that the
State failed to overcome the presumption of correctness
1060514
10
attending an ore tenus hearing and that the State failed to
prove that the circuit court exceeded its discretion in
expunging his record.
Conclusion
Because the State has a clear legal right to the remedy
it seeks, we issue the writ of mandamus and direct the circuit
court to vacate its order expunging Blane's criminal record.
PETITION GRANTED; WRIT ISSUED.
Woodall, Smith, Bolin, and Parker, JJ., concur.
Cobb, C.J., recuses herself.