Case Title: Ex parte Benjamin Howlet.

Citation: 

Docket Number: 1150062

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 2015-12-04T00:00:00Z

Document:
Rel:12/04/2015
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
OCTOBER TERM, 2015-2016
____________________
1150062
____________________
Ex parte Benjamin Howlet
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
(In re: Benjamin Howlet
v.
State of Alabama)
(Colbert Circuit Court, CC-97-313.62;
Court of Criminal Appeals, CR-14-0953)
BOLIN, Justice.
WRIT DENIED.  NO OPINION.
1150062
Stuart, Parker, Murdock, Shaw, Main, Wise, and Bryan,
JJ., concur.
Moore, C.J., dissents.
2
1150062
MOORE, Chief Justice (dissenting).
I respectfully dissent from this Court's denial of
Benjamin Howlet's petition for a writ of certiorari. The
circuit court summarily dismissed Howlet's petition for
postconviction relief filed pursuant to Rule 32, Ala. R. Crim.
P. Howlet appealed, and the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed
the circuit court's dismissal. See Howlet v. State (No. CR-14-
0953, September 18, 2015), ___ So. 3d ___ (Ala. Crim. App.
2015) (table). This petition for certiorari review followed.
Howlet was convicted of two counts of capital murder. See
§§ 
13A-5-40(a)(17) 
and 
13A-5-40(a)(18), 
Ala. 
Code 
1975. 
Howlet
and his attorney signed and filed a form waiving Howlet's
right to be present at arraignment. In the present case, the
Court of Criminal Appeals in its unpublished memorandum cites
Ex parte Howlet, 801 So. 2d 30 (Ala. 2000), which indicates
that Howlet was convicted on April 22, 1998.  
In Lancaster v. State, 638 So. 2d 1375, 1376 (Ala. 1994),
this Court cited Rule 9.1, Ala. R. Crim. P., and concluded
that in a capital-murder case, from arraignment 
to 
sentencing,
a defendant cannot waive his or her right to be present.
Effective December 1, 1997, Rule 9.1(b), Ala. R. Crim. P., was
3
3
1150062
amended to allow a capital-murder defendant to waive his or
her right to be present at all proceedings except sentencing. 
I am concerned that Howlet's waiver of his right to be
present at arraignment may have occurred before the amendment
of Rule 9.1 and that he was not afforded due process. To
assume otherwise without a factual determination is highly
improper in a capital case. I would issue the writ to
determine whether Howlet waived his right to be present at
arraignment before or after Rule 9.1 was amended to allow for
such a waiver.
4
4