Case Title: Mitchell v. Alabama

Citation: 

Docket Number: 1100363

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 2011-11-18T00:00:00Z

Document:
REL 11/18/2011 
Notice: T h i s 
o p i n i o n i s s u b j e c t t o f o r m a l 
r e v i s i o n b e f o r e 
p u b l i c a t i o n i n 
t h e 
advance 
s h e e t s o f 
Southern Reporter. 
R e a d e r s a r e 
r e q u e s t e d t o 
n o t i f y t h e 
Reporter of 
Decisions, 
Alabama 
A p p e l l a t e 
C o u r t s , 300 D e x t e r Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 
((334) 
2 2 9 - 0 6 4 9 ) , o f 
any t y p o g r a p h i c a l o r o t h e r e r r o r s , i n 
o r d e r 
t h a t c o r r e c t i o n s may be made 
b e f o r e t h e 
o p i n i o n i s 
p r i n t e d i n 
Southern Reporter. 
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA 
OCTOBER TERM, 2011-2012 
1100363 
Ex p a r t e Brandon Deon M i t c h e l l 
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI 
TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS 
( I n r e : Brandon Deon M i t c h e l l 
v. 
S t a t e o f Alabama) 
( J e f f e r s o n C i r c u i t Court, CC-06-1059; 
Court o f C r i m i n a l Appeals, CR-06-0827) 
PER CURIAM. 
B r a n d o n Deon 
M i t c h e l l was c o n v i c t e d o f f o u r 
c o u n t s o f 
c a p i t a l m u r d e r f o r 
t h e 
i n t e n t i o n a l 
k i l l i n g o f 
K i m 
O l n e y , J o h n 
1100363 
A y l e s w o r t h , and D o r o t h y S m i t h d u r i n g t h e c o u r s e o f a r o b b e r y 
a t 
a h o t e l , § 1 3 A - 5 - 4 0 ( a ) ( 2 ) , A l a . Code 1975, 
and f o r 
k i l l i n g 
two o r more p e r s o n s p u r s u a n t t o one a c t o r c o u r s e o f 
c o n d u c t , 
§ 1 3 A - 5 - 4 0 ( a ) ( 1 0 ) , 
A l a . Code 1975. 
The 
j u r y 
t h a t c o n v i c t e d 
M i t c h e l l recommended t h a t he be 
s e n t e n c e d t o 
l i f e 
i n p r i s o n 
w i t h o u t t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f p a r o l e on e a c h c o n v i c t i o n . 
A f t e r 
o r d e r i n g 
and 
r e c e i v i n g 
a p r e s e n t e n c e 
r e p o r t and 
h o l d i n g a 
s e n t e n c i n g 
h e a r i n g , 
t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t 
o v e r r o d e 
t h e 
j u r y ' s 
r e c o m m e n d a t i o n and s e n t e n c e d M i t c h e l l t o d e a t h . 
M i t c h e l l ' s c o n v i c t i o n s and s e n t e n c e s were a f f i r m e d by t h e 
C o u r t 
o f C r i m i n a l A p p e a l s . 
M i t c h e l l 
v. 
S t a t e , 
[Ms. 
CR-06-
0827, A u g u s t 27, 2010] 
So. 3d 
( A l a . C r i m . App. 
2 0 1 0 ) . 
M i t c h e l l t h e n p e t i t i o n e d 
t h i s C o u r t f o r a w r i t o f 
c e r t i o r a r i 
t o 
r e v i e w 
t h e 
d e c i s i o n 
o f 
t h e 
C o u r t 
o f 
C r i m i n a l 
A p p e a l s , 
a s s e r t i n g 17 s e p a r a t e g r o u n d s f o r r e v i e w p u r s u a n t t o R u l e 
39, 
A l a . 
R. App. 
P. 
T h i s C o u r t g r a n t e d t h e p e t i t i o n 
on May 
25, 
2 0 1 1 , and i s s u e d t h e w r i t t o e x a m i n e t h e s o l e q u e s t i o n w h e t h e r 
t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t had 
c o m p l i e d w i t h A l a . Code 1975, 
§ 13A-5-
4 7 ( d ) 
and 
(e) as t h o s e Code s e c t i o n s were c o n s t r u e d by 
t h i s 
C o u r t i n Ex p a r t e T a y l o r , 808 
So. 2d 1215 
( A l a . 2 0 0 1 ) . 
Upon 
2 
1100363 
r e c e i v i n g 
t h e 
r e c o r d , 
we 
d e t e r m i n e d 
t h a t 
t h e 
w r i t 
was 
i m p r o v i d e n t l y 
i s s u e d , and 
we 
now 
q u a s h t h e 
w r i t . 
S u b s e c t i o n 
(d) o f § 13A-5-47 r e q u i r e s t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t 
i n 
a c a p i t a l c a s e t o " e n t e r 
s p e c i f i c w r i t t e n f i n d i n g s 
c o n c e r n i n g 
t h e 
e x i s t e n c e 
o r 
n o n e x i s t e n c e 
o f " 
t h e 
s t a t u t o r y 
and 
n o n s t a t u t o r y 
m i t i g a t i n g 
c i r c u m s t a n c e s 
and 
t h e 
a g g r a v a t i n g 
c i r c u m s t a n c e s 
c o n t r i b u t i n g t o t h e 
t r i a l c o u r t ' s 
d e t e r m i n a t i o n 
o f 
t h e 
s e n t e n c e . 
S u b s e c t i o n 
(e) 
p r o v i d e s 
t h a t , 
u n l e s s 
an 
a d v i s o r y j u r y v e r d i c t has b e e n w a i v e d i n t h e s e n t e n c i n g p h a s e , 
" t h e 
t r i a l c o u r t s h a l l c o n s i d e r t h e r e c o m m e n d a t i o n o f t h e j u r y 
c o n t a i n e d 
i n 
i t s a d v i s o r y 
v e r d i c t . " 
The 
C o u r t 
i n 
T a y l o r , 
c o n s t r u i n g 
t h o s e 
s u b s e c t i o n s 
t o g e t h e r , 
h e l d 
t h a t 
t h e 
t r i a l 
j u d g e was 
r e q u i r e d t o " s t a t e s p e c i f i c r e a s o n s f o r g i v i n g 
t h e 
j u r y ' s r e c o m m e n d a t i o n t h e c o n s i d e r a t i o n he gave 
i t . " 
808 
So. 
2d a t 
1219. 
The 
o p i n i o n 
o f 
t h e 
C o u r t 
o f 
C r i m i n a l 
A p p e a l s , 
i n 
a d d r e s s i n g M i t c h e l l ' s a r g u m e n t t h a t t h e 
t r a i l 
c o u r t 
f a i l e d 
t o 
c o n s i d e r 
c e r t a i n 
n o n s t a t u t o r y 
m i t i g a t i n g 
c i r c u m s t a n c e s 
i n 
o v e r r i d i n g t h e j u r y ' s a d v i s o r y v e r d i c t and 
s e n t e n c i n g 
h i m 
t o 
d e a t h , 
d i s c u s s e d 
r e l e v a n t c a s e l a w and 
q u o t e d f r o m t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t ' s w r i t t e n f i n d i n g s . 
___ 
So. 
3d a t ___ . The 
d e c i s i o n o f 
3 
1100363 
t h e 
C o u r t 
o f 
C r i m i n a l 
A p p e a l s , 
h o w e v e r , 
q u o t e d 
o n l y 
i n t r o d u c t o r y 
s e c t i o n s 
o f t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t ' s 
o r d e r , 
w h i c h 
i d e n t i f i e d t h e e v i d e n c e a n d t h e r e p o r t t h e t r i a l 
c o u r t h a d 
r e c e i v e d a n d r e v i e w e d . 
The C o u r t o f C r i m i n a l A p p e a l s 
t h e n 
c o n c l u d e d 
i n b r o a d l a n g u a g e t h a t " t h e c i r c u i t 
c o u r t 
c l e a r l y 
c o n s i d e r e d a l l 
m i t i g a t i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e s 
p r e s e n t e d t o i t . " ___ 
So. 3d a t ___ 
. 
B o t h t h e C o u r t o f C r i m i n a l A p p e a l s ' 
o p i n i o n 
and 
M i t c h e l l ' s 
p e t i t i o n t o t h i s 
C o u r t 
a p p e a r e d t o s u g g e s t 
e i t h e r 
t h a t 
t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t 
h a d 
r e a d 
i t s 
s p e c i f i c 
d e t e r m i n a t i o n s 
w i t h r e g a r d t o 
t h e 
m i t i g a t i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e s a n d 
t h e a g g r a v a t i n g 
c i r c u m s t a n c e s 
i n open c o u r t b u t h a d f a i l e d t o 
e n t e r i t s 
f i n d i n g s as t o t h o s e 
c i r c u m s t a n c e s 
i n t o t h e r e c o r d 
o r t h a t t h e t r i a l 
c o u r t h a d n o t made t h e n e c e s s a r y 
s p e c i f i c 
f i n d i n g s . 
T h i s C o u r t g r a n t e d 
c e r t i o r a r i 
r e v i e w t o d e t e r m i n e 
w h e t h e r 
t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t 
h a d , o r h a d n o t , p r o p e r l y 
made 
s p e c i f i c 
f i n d i n g s 
as t o t h e a g g r a v a t i n g 
a n d m i t i g a t i n g 
c i r c u m s t a n c e s 
a n d w h e t h e r i t 
h a d e n t e r e d 
t h o s e 
f i n d i n g s 
i n t o 
t h e 
r e c o r d . 
The r e c o r d p r o v i d e d b y t h e C o u r t o f C r i m i n a l A p p e a l s upon 
o u r 
i s s u a n c e o f t h e w r i t shows t h a t t h e t r i a l 
c o u r t 
p r o p e r l y 
e n t e r e d 
w r i t t e n f i n d i n g s as t o t h e e x i s t e n c e o r 
n o n e x i s t e n c e 
4 
1100363 
o f 
t h e s t a t u t o r y 
m i t i g a t i n g 
c i r c u m s t a n c e s a n d t h e s t a t u t o r y 
a g g r a v a t i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e s ; t h a t i t e n t e r e d w r i t t e n f i n d i n g s as 
t o 
t h e e x i s t e n c e o r n o n e x i s t e n c e 
a n d t h e w e i g h t 
o f t h e 
n o n s t a t u t o r y 
m i t i g a t i n g 
c i r c u m s t a n c e s 
p r e s e n t e d 
b y t h e 
d e f e n s e ; a n d t h a t i t 
d i s c u s s e d t h e j u r y ' s r e c o m m e n d a t i o n o f 
l i f e i m p r i s o n m e n t 
w i t h t h e 
p o s s i b i l i t y o f p a r o l e a n d s p e c i f i e d 
why i t 
d i d 
n o t f o l l o w t h a t r e c o m m e n d a t i o n . The t r i a l 
c o u r t 
c o m p l i e d 
f u l l y w i t h A l a . Code 1 9 7 5 , 
§ 1 3 A - 5 - 4 7 ( d ) a n d ( e ) , as 
c o n s t r u e d by t h i s C o u r t i n T a y l o r . The p e t i t i o n was t h e r e f o r e 
i m p r o v i d e n t l y g r a n t e d a n d t h e w r i t i s s u e d on May 25, 2 0 1 1 , i s 
due t o be q u a s h e d . 
WRIT QUASHED. 
M a l o n e , C . J . , a n d W o o d a l l , 
S t u a r t , 
B o l i n , 
P a r k e r , a n d 
M u r d o c k , J J . , c o n c u r . 
Shaw, M a i n , a n d W i s e , J J . , r e c u s e 
t h e m s e l v e s . * 
* J u s t i c e 
Shaw, 
J u s t i c e 
M a i n , 
a n d J u s t i c e 
W i s e 
were 
members o f t h e C o u r t o f C r i m i n a l 
A p p e a l s 
when 
t h a t 
c o u r t 
c o n s i d e r e d 
t h i s 
c a s e . 
5