Case Title: Ex parte Waymon George Peterson. PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS (In re: Waymon George Peterson v. City of Dothan)

Citation: 

Docket Number: 1081602

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 2009-12-18T00:00:00Z

Document:
REL: 
12/18/2009 
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) 229¬
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, 2009-2010 
1081602 
Ex p a r t e Waymon George Peterson 
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI 
TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS 
( I n r e : 
Waymon George Peterson 
v. 
C i t y o f 
Dothan) 
(Houston C i r c u i t Court, CC-05-1623.60; 
Court o f C r i m i n a l Appeals, CR-08-1403) 
STUART, 
J u s t i c e . 
1081602 
I n 
J a n u a r y 2008, Waymon G e o r g e P e t e r s o n 
f i l e d a R u l e 32, 
A l a . 
R. 
C r i m . 
P., 
p e t i t i o n , 
c h a l l e n g i n g h i s c o n v i c t i o n f o r 
a s s a u l t i n g 
a 
p u b l i c - s a f e t y 
o f f i c i a l 
and 
t h e 
r e s u l t i n g 
s e n t e n c e . 
On 
J u n e 
23, 
2008, 
t h e 
c i r c u i t 
c o u r t 
d e n i e d 
P e t e r s o n ' s R u l e 32 p e t i t i o n . On J u l y 2, 2008, P e t e r s o n 
f i l e d 
a n o t i c e o f a p p e a l t o 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 . 
On 
J u l y 
7, 
2008, 
t h e 
c i r c u i t 
c o u r t 
w i t h d r e w 
i t s o r d e r 
d e n y i n g 
P e t e r s o n ' s 
R u l e 
32 
p e t i t i o n 
and 
e n t e r e d 
an 
o r d e r 
g r a n t i n g 
P e t e r s o n ' s 
R u l e 
32 
p e t i t i o n 
and o r d e r i n g a new 
t r i a l . 
On 
S e p t e m b e r 16, 2008, 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 
d i s m i s s e d 
P e t e r s o n ' s a p p e a l as moot. 
P e t e r s o n v . S t a t e (No. CR-07-1940, 
S e p t e m b e r 
16, 
2 0 0 8 ) , 
___ 
So. 
3d 
___ 
( A l a . C r i m . 
App. 
2 0 0 8 ) ( t a b l e ) . 
The m a t e r i a l s b e f o r e us i n d i c a t e t h a t P e t e r s o n , h o w e v e r , 
d i d 
n o t r e c e i v e a new 
t r i a l . 
I n s t e a d , t h e c i r c u i t c o u r t , i n 
l i g h t o f a m o t i o n t o r e c o n s i d e r t h e J u l y 7, 2008, o r d e r 
f i l e d 
by 
t h e 
C i t y 
o f D o t h a n 
on 
S e p t e m b e r 
9, 
2008, 
o r d e r e d 
an 
e v i d e n t i a r y h e a r i n g on t h e g r o u n d s a s s e r t e d i n P e t e r s o n ' s R u l e 
32 p e t i t i o n . On J a n u a r y 20, 2009, a h e a r i n g on P e t e r s o n ' s R u l e 
32 
p e t i t i o n was 
c o n d u c t e d . 
On 
A p r i l 
2 1 , 2009, t h e 
c i r c u i t 
c o u r t d e n i e d t h e 
p e t i t i o n . 
2 
1081602 
On May 
20, 2009, P e t e r s o n a p p e a l e d t h e c i r c u i t c o u r t ' s 
A p r i l 2 1 , 2009, o r d e r d e n y i n g h i s R u l e 32 p e t i t i o n . 
On J u n e 
16, 
2009, 
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 s s u e d 
an 
o r d e r , 
s t a t i n g : 
"The [ c i r c u i t c o u r t ] c l e r k ' s t r a n s m i t t a l o f t h e 
a b o v e - r e f e r e n c e d a p p e a l i n d i c a t e s t h a t [ P e t e r s o n ] 
i s 
a p p e a l i n g t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t ' s d e n i a l o f h i s R u l e 
32 
p e t i t i o n . 
I t a p p e a r s t h a t a p r e v i o u s j u d g m e n t 
on 
t h i s 
p e t i t i o n 
was 
a p p e a l e d t o t h i s 
C o u r t i n [ c a s e 
n o . ] CR-07-1940. 
The 
a p p e a l 
i n CR-07-1940 
was 
d i s m i s s e d as moot on S e p t e m b e r [ 1 6 ] , 2008, b e c a u s e 
t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t h a d g r a n t e d t h e r e l i e f r e q u e s t e d i n 
[ P e t e r s o n ' s ] 
R u l e 
32 
p e t i t i o n . 
A c c o r d i n g 
t o 
i n f o r m a t i o n 
f r o m t h e c i r c u i t c o u r t c l e r k ' s 
o f f i c e , 
[ P e t e r s o n ] has n o t 
f i l e d 
a n o t h e r R u l e 32 
p e t i t i o n . 
The 
R u l e 
32 
p e t i t i o n 
t h a t was 
t h e s u b j e c t o f t h e 
a p p e a l i n CR-07-1940 was 
s i m p l y p l a c e d b a c k on t h e 
d o c k e t 
and 
d e n i e d 
w i t h o u t 
a h e a r i n g . [ S i c . ] 
T h i s 
C o u r t 
n o t e s 
t h a t 
t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t 
r e t a i n s 
j u r i s d i c t i o n t o a l t e r a j u d g m e n t f o r o n l y 30 
d a y s . 
See 
L o g g i n s 
v. 
S t a t e , 
910 
So. 2d 146 
( A l a . C r i m . 
App. 2 
0 
0 5 ) . 
"Upon c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t h e a b o v e , 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 ORDERS t h a t t h e [ C i t y 
o f D o t h a n ] 
s h a l l have 14 d a y s t o c i t e 
a u t h o r i t y f o r t h e 
t r i a l 
c o u r t t o r e c o n s i d e r and 
a l t e r 
a j u d g m e n t 
t h a t 
was 
p r e v i o u s l y a p p e a l e d t o t h i s C o u r t i n t h e a b s e n c e o f 
a new 
p e t i t i o n b e i n g 
f i l e d o r o t h e r w i s e c l a r i f y t h e 
i n f o r m a t i o n 
h e r e t o f o r e 
p r o v i d e d 
t o 
t h i s 
C o u r t 
r e g a r d i n g t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s s u r r o u n d i n g t h e j u d g m e n t 
t h a t i s t h e s u b j e c t o f t h i s 
a p p e a l . " 
The 
C i t y o f D o t h a n r e s p o n d e d , 
b u t i t o f f e r e d no a u t h o r i t y t o 
s u p p o r t 
a 
c o n c l u s i o n t h a t 
t h e 
c i r c u i t 
c o u r t h a d 
r e t a i n e d 
j u r i s d i c t i o n 
t o 
e n t e r t a i n 
i t s m o t i o n 
f o r 
r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n . 
3 
1081602 
I n s t e a d , 
t h e 
C i t y 
o f 
D o t h a n 
r e q u e s t e d 
t h a t 
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 s u s p e n d t h e R u l e s o f A p p e l l a t e P r o c e d u r e , 
see 
R u l e 
2 ( b ) , 
A l a . 
R. 
App. 
P., 
and 
r e v i e w 
t h e 
c a s e 
on 
t h e 
m e r i t s .
1 
The 
C o u r t o f C r i m i n a l A p p e a l s 
r e f u s e d , and on 
J u l y 
21, 2009, i t d i s m i s s e d P e t e r s o n ' s 
a p p e a l . 
The 
C o u r t 
o f C r i m i n a l A p p e a l s ' 
d i s m i s s a l 
o f 
P e t e r s o n ' s 
a p p e a l o f t h e c i r c u i t c o u r t ' s A p r i l 21, 2009, o r d e r i s p r o p e r . 
The 
c i r c u i t c o u r t d i d n o t have j u r i s d i c t i o n t o e n t e r t h e o r d e r 
d e n y i n g 
P e t e r s o n ' s 
R u l e 
32 
p e t i t i o n . 
I n d e e d , 
u n d e r 
t h e 
u n u s u a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h i s c a s e , a l l 
a c t i o n s o f t h e 
c i r c u i t 
c o u r t w i t h r e g a r d t o l i t i g a t i o n o f P e t e r s o n ' s R u l e 32 
p e t i t i o n 
a f t e r 
t h e c i r c u i t c o u r t g r a n t e d P e t e r s o n ' s R u l e 32 p e t i t i o n 
on 
J u l y 7, 2008, a r e v o i d . 
S t a t e v. J o h n s , 
142 A l a . 61, 
61-62, 
38 
So. 
755, 
755 
( 1 9 0 5 ) ( " [ I ] f a c o u r t h a [ s ] no 
j u r i s d i c t i o n , 
i t s 
a c t i o n i s v o i d . " ) . 
A l t h o u g h t h e d i s m i s s a l o f P e t e r s o n ' s 
a p p e a l may 
seem t o be a w a s t e o f j u d i c i a l r e s o u r c e s , 
n e i t h e r 
t h i s C o u r t n o r 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 has t h e 
a u t h o r i t y 
t o g r a n t t h e 
c i r c u i t c o u r t j u r i s d i c t i o n 
i t d i d n o t h a v e . 
1The 
C i t y 
o f D o t h a n i n i t s b r i e f 
t o t h i s C o u r t 
i m p l i c i t l y 
a c k n o w l e d g e s 
t h a t 
i f 
t h e 
c i r c u i t 
c o u r t 
was 
w i t h o u t 
j u r i s d i c t i o n 
t o e n t e r t a i n i t s m o t i o n 
f o r r e c o n s i d e r a t i o n and 
t o 
c o n d u c t 
t h e 
s u b s e q u e n t p r o c e e d i n g s , 
t h e 
c i r c u i t 
c o u r t ' s 
j u d g m e n t g r a n t i n g P e t e r s o n a new 
t r i a l 
i s v a l i d . 
We 
a g r e e . 
4 
1081602 
B a s e d 
on t h e f o r e g o i n g , 
t h e j u d g m e n t 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 
d i s m i s s i n g P e t e r s o n ' s a p p e a l i s a f f i r m e d . 
AFFIRMED. 
Cobb, C . J . , and L y o n s , 
B o l i n , and M u r d o c k , J J . , c o n c u r . 
5