Title: Ex parte Matthew Wayne Tubbs. PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS (In re: Matthew Wayne Tubbs v. State of Alabama)
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 1061139
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: October 5, 2007

Rel: 10/05/2007
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-
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the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter.
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
OCTOBER TERM, 2007-2008
____________________
1061139
____________________
Ex parte Matthew Wayne Tubbs
PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
(In re: Matthew Wayne Tubbs
v.
State of Alabama)
(Jefferson Circuit Court, CC-98-6436;
Court of Criminal Appeals, CR-06-0522)
PARKER, Justice.
Matthew Wayne Tubbs has filed a petition for a writ of
certiorari seeking review of the Court of Criminals Appeals'
affirmance, in an unpublished memorandum, of the Jefferson
1061139
2
Circuit 
Court's 
denial 
of 
his 
motion 
for 
sentence
reconsideration under § 13A-5-9.1, Ala. Code 1975, which
supplements § 13A-5-9, Ala. Code 1975, the Habitual Felony
Offender Act.  We hereby suspend the provisions of Rule 39(g)
and (h), Ala. R. App. P., allowing the petitioner and the
respondent to file a brief and to request oral argument, and
we summarily grant the writ; we reverse and remand.  
On August 31, 1999, Tubbs was convicted of first-degree
robbery.  On September 3, 1999, the circuit court sentenced
him, as a habitual offender, to imprisonment for life without
the possibility of parole.  See § 13A-5-9(c)(3), Ala. Code
1975.  On August 25, 2006, Tubbs filed a motion for
reconsideration of his sentence pursuant to § 13A-5-9.1, Ala.
Code 1975, and Kirby v. State, 899 So. 2d 968 (Ala. 2004)
("the Kirby motion"). The State responded, and the circuit
court then summarily denied the Kirby motion.
Tubbs appealed the denial of the Kirby motion, and the
Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the circuit court's denial
in an unpublished memorandum. Tubbs v. State (No. CR-06-0522,
April 20, 2007), __ So. 2d __ (Ala. Crim. App. 2007)(table).
In its unpublished memorandum, the Court of Criminal Appeals
reasoned that Tubbs's Kirby motion was at least the second
1061139
3
motion for sentence reconsideration that Tubbs had filed and
was therefore due to be denied because the circuit court did
not have jurisdiction to hear such a motion. Tubbs argues that
his first Kirby motion was not fully adjudicated on its merits
and, thus, that he has never had a full and fair review under
the statute. Tubbs alleges that the decision of the Court of
Criminal Appeals conflicts with this Court's decisions in
Kirby and Ex parte Seymour, 946 So. 2d 536 (Ala. 2006).
This petition presents a Kirby resentencing issue like
the one presented in Ex parte Gunn, [Ms. 1051754, Sept. 14,
2007] __ So. 2d __ (Ala. 2007). In Gunn, the Court of Criminal
Appeals, in an unpublished memorandum, had held, as they did
in this case, that under Wells v. State, 941 So. 2d 1008 (Ala.
Crim. App. 2005), the circuit court does not have jurisdiction
to consider a successive Kirby resentencing motion and
affirmed the circuit court's dismissal of Gunn's petition.
Gunn v. State (No. CR-05-1350, August 11, 2006), __ So. 2d __
(Ala. Crim. App. 2006) (table). This Court granted certiorari
review in Gunn and overruled Wells v. State to the extent that
Wells created a limitation on a circuit court's jurisdiction
to consider successive Kirby motions, noting that Wells
1061139
4
conflicts with Kirby and Ex parte Seymour. Ex parte Gunn, __
So. 2d at __.   
The Court of Criminal Appeals relied solely on Wells in
affirming the circuit court's judgment in this case.
Therefore, in light of our decision in Gunn, we reverse the
judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals and remand this case
to that court for proceedings consistent with Gunn.
WRIT GRANTED; REVERSED AND REMANDED.
See, Lyons, Woodall, Stuart, Smith, Bolin, and Murdock,
JJ., concur.
Cobb, C.J., recuses herself.