FILED U.S. COURT OF AP P E A LS E LE V EN T HC IRC U IT OCT 26, 2007 THOMAS K. KAH

N CLERK [ DO NO T P UB L I S H]
I N THE UN I TE D STATE S C OU RT OF APPE ALS F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C IR C U IT

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- T MP C A R L A N G E L O G R E E N , P e titio n e r - A p p e lla n t,
v ersu s J A M E S H A Y E S , ATTORNEY GENERAL OF T HE ST ATE OF ALABAM A, THE R e s p o n d e n ts - A p p e lle e s .

________________________ A pp ea l fr om the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rt f o rth e N o r th e rn D i s tr i c to f A l a b a ma

_________________________ ( O c t ob e r 26, 2007) B efo re T JO F L A T , D U B IN A an d C A RN E S , C i rcu i tJu d g es. P E R C U R I A M: O n A pri l 12 , 20 06 , i n the C i rc ui tC ou rtof E t ow ah C ou nty, A l abam a, a j urySee Ala. Code § 13A-6-91 ( 1975). 1 2 c onvi c t e d pe t i t i one rof

a ggr a va t e d s t a l ki ng a nd the c our ts e nt e nc e d hi m t o pr i s on 1 f ora t e r m of

t e n y e a r s . H e t i m e l y appe a l e d hi s c onvi c t i on t o the A l a ba m a C our tof C ri m i nal A pp ea l s, and w hi l e hi s app ea l w as pend i ng , he pet i t i on ed the U ni t ed S t at es D i stri ctC ou rtfor the N orthern D i stri ctof A l abam a f or a w ri tof habeas
c orpus . H i s pe t i t i on s t a t e d tha t , pr i ort o s t a ndi ng tr i a l f ora ggr a va t e d s t a l ki ng, he ha d be e n c onvi c t e d i n “ m i s de m e a norc a s e s ” i n the “ G a ds de n C i ty C our t ” of

“ d o me s t i c v i o l e n c e ” a n d th a tth o s e mi s d e me a n o rc a s e s i n v o l v e d th e “ s a me
e vi de nc e ” a nd “ s a m e w i tne s s e s ” the S t a t e us e d t o obt a i n hi s c onvi c t i on f or
a g g r a v a te d s ta lk in g . B e c a u s e th e S ta te h a d a lr e a d y u s e d s u c h e v id e n c e to o b ta in th e m is d e m e a n o rc o n v ic tio n s , h e c o n te n d e d , th e S ta te w a s b a rr e d b y th e D o u b le J e opa r dy C l a us e ( a s appl i e d t o the S t a t e s unde rthe F our t e e nth A m e ndm e nt ) f r om p r o s e c u tin g h im o n th e a g g r a v a te d s ta lk in g c h a r g e . T he di stri ctcourtcorr ec t l y not ed thatpet i t i on er ’ s habea s pet i t i on w as pr e m a tur e a nd the r e f

or e di s m i s s e d i tw i thoutpr e j udi c e . A tthe s a m e t i m e , the courtgrant ed pet i t i on era c ert i fi ca t e of app ea l abi l i ty ( C O A ) on t he i ss ue of w hether p e titio n e r ’s d o u b le je o p a r d y c la im w a s e x h a u s te d
. W e a f f i r m the di s tr i c tc our t ’ s j udgm e ntdi s m i s s i ng the pe t i t i on w i thout prej ud i ce . A tthe t i m e the di stri ctcourtent er ed i t s order , pet i t i on er ’ s app ea l w as3

s t i l l pe ndi ng; thus , the di s tr i c tc our tc oul d notha ve know n the di s pos i t i on the A lab a m a C o u r t o f

C r im in a l A p p e a ls m a y h a v e m a d e o f p e titio n e r ’s d o u b le j e opa r dy c l a i m . A c c or di ngl y , the C O A s houl d notha ve be e n e nt e r e d. T h e d i stri ctco u rt ’ s d i sm i ssal o f th e i n st an tp et i t i o n w i th o u tp rej u d i ce i s AF F I R ME D.