Title: Thompson v. State
Citation: 525 So. 2d 820
Docket Number: N/A
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: September 27, 1985

525 So. 2d 820 (1985)
Ex parte State of Alabama.
(Re Larry O'Neal THOMPSON
v.
STATE of Alabama).
Ex parte Larry O'Neal THOMPSON.
(Re Larry O'Neal Thompson
v.
State of Alabama).
84-304, 84-305.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
September 27, 1985.
Rehearing Denied November 8, 1985.
*822 Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and Helen P. Nelson, Asst. Atty. Gen., for petitioner/ cross-respondent.
George H. Jones, Birmingham, for respondent/cross-petitioner.
Thomas M. Goggans of Goggans &amp; McInnish, Montgomery, for amicus curiae Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Assn.
MADDOX, Justice.
Appellant Larry Thompson was found guilty of robbery in the first degree in violation of Code 1975, § 13A-8-41. He was sentenced under Code 1975, § 13A-5-9, the Habitual Felony Offender Act, to life imprisonment. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction conditionally and remanded the case to the trial court for a hearing on his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel at his trial.
Both Thompson and the State ask us to review that judgment. We consolidated both petitions and heard oral arguments. Thompson's primary claim is that he was improperly sentenced under the Habitual Offender Act. We address only Thompson's claim that he was improperly sentenced, and the State's claim that the cause should not have been remanded to the trial court.
The facts surrounding the robbery are adequately set out in the opinion of the Court of Criminal Appeals, 525 So. 2d 816, and will not be repeated here.
Thompson's petition presents this question: Can convictions of felonies prior to January 1, 1980, the effective date of Alabama's Criminal Code, Title 13A, be considered to enhance the punishment of an offender? Thompson claims they cannot be considered. He says (1) that the interpretation given by the courts of the word "felony" in the Habitual Offender Act is overbroad and contradicts the meaning of the word "felony" intended by the legislature, and (2) that this Court was without authority to define "felony" as broadly as it did in Temporary Rule 6(b)(3)(iv), because the word "felony" was specifically defined by the legislature in the Alabama Criminal Code.
The applicable provisions of Alabama's Criminal Code and the Temporary Rules of Criminal Procedure adopted by this Court to carry out the intent of the legislature read as follows:
Code 1975, § 13A-1-2(4), defines a "felony":
An "offense" is defined in Code 1975, § 13A-1-2(1), as follows:
Code 1975, § 13A-5-9, which authorizes the imposition of additional penalties, provides as follows:
This Court, acting pursuant to the authority granted by the provisions of Code 1975, § 13A-5-10, adopted Temporary Rule 6(b)(3)(iv), Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure, which provides:
Thompson contends that the phrase "by this title" in § 13A-1-2(4) was intended by the legislature to restrict the Habitual Offender Act only to those convicted of felonies under Title 13A. He argues that the courts cannot expand the meaning of "felony" beyond the plain language used by the legislature, and that his sentence was unlawfully enhanced, as a result of proof of two prior felony convictions, one for grand larceny and one for buying, receiving, and concealing stolen property, neither being a violation of Title 13A, Alabama Criminal Code.
The basic question presented is one this Court faced when it adopted Temporary Rule 6, and that question is: What did the legislature intend when it authorized the use of prior convictions to enhance the punishment for an offense committed under the provisions of the Alabama Criminal Code?
In determining this intent we are aided somewhat because the legislature itself has spelled out the general rule which courts should use in construing what it meant. In Code 1975, § 13A-1-6, the legislature set out the general rule of construction to be used. That section provides:
Code 1975, § 13A-1-3, referred to in § 13A-1-6, states the general purposes of the Alabama Criminal Code as follows:
The Commentary to § 13A-1-6 "General Rule of Construction" contains the reasons for that section's inclusion in the Alabama Criminal Code:
Guided by the above, we now proceed to determine what will "effect the objects of [§ 13A-5-9, the habitual offender statute]."
Code 1975, § 13A-5-9, was obviously enacted to allow more severe penalties to be assessed against persistent violators of the felony laws of the state. James v. State, 405 So. 2d 71 (Ala.Cr.App. 1981). The goal of the Habitual Offender Act is to deter repeat offenders and, at some point in the life of one who repeatedly commits criminal offenses serious enough to be punished as felonies, to segregate that person from the rest of society for an extended period of time. Lidge v. State, 419 So. 2d 610 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 419 So. 2d 616 (Ala.1982).
Thompson's two prior convictions occurred before the effective date of the Habitual Offender Act, but it is undisputed that if those offenses had occurred after the effective date of the Habitual Offender Act, his offenses would have constituted felonies under Title 13A, because Thompson was convicted of offenses for which the law authorized a sentence of more than one year.
If the word "conviction of any felony" in § 13A-5-9 does not include convictions of felonies prior to the effective date of the Alabama Criminal Code, then Thompson is right.
*825 The crucial question, therefore, is: What did the legislature mean by the use of the words "convicted of any felony" and "felony" in § 13A-5-9? Did it intend to limit the provisions of the Habitual Offender Act to only those felonies committed after the effective date of the Alabama Criminal Code, and to only those offenses contained in the Alabama Criminal Code? We think not. While a strict construction of § 13A-1-2(4), which defines "felony," would require such a result, we do not believe that construction would "effect the objects of the law." Code 1975, § 13A-1-6. It is obvious that this Court, when it adopted Temporary Rule 6, did not construe the provisions of the law to limit the words "convicted of any felony" to only those felonies committed after January 1, 1980, the effective date of Alabama's Criminal Code, and to only those offenses contained in that Code.
It is clear that sentences for all offenses, both within and outside the new criminal code, must be imposed in accordance with the new criminal code. Code 1975, § 13A-5-1, states:
It is clear from a reading of all the sections of the new criminal code that the legislature intended that all felons be subject to enhanced punishment under the Habitual Felony Offender Act. For example, the fact that drug offenses are not classified does not make a drug offense any less a felony or the perpetrator any less a habitual offender. In Motley v. State, 409 So. 2d 945 (Ala.Cr.App.1981), the court answered an argument made by a defendant, convicted of attempted murder, that drug offenders were not treated as habitual offenders, as follows:
"`[A]ny person who possesses, sells, furnishes, gives away, obtains or attempts to obtain by fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or subterfuge or by the forgery or alteration of a prescription or written order or by the concealment of material fact or by use of false name or giving a false address controlled substances enumerated in schedules I, II, III, IV and V is guilty of a felony....'
"`Any offense defined outside this title which is declared by law to be a felony without specification of its classification or punishment is punishable as a Class C felony.' [Emphasis added.]
By adopting Temporary Rule 6, this Court placed emphasis on the "conduct" made the basis of the prior conviction, rather than where it occurred, or when it occurred. This Court, therefore, made the triggering mechanism not whether another jurisdiction might have punished the prior offense by imprisonment for more than one year, but whether Alabama considered the prior "conduct" so blame-worthy as to merit more than one year's imprisonment. The wording of the rule, therefore, has the following effect: (1) A conviction for an "offense" committed in Alabama prior to January 1, 1980, or after January 1, 1980, for that matter, punishable by a sentence of more than one year, is a "felony conviction"; thus, the fact that a defendant was convicted in Alabama and received a sentence of more than a year would necessarily mean that the prior conviction is a "prior felony"; (2) A conviction in any other jurisdiction, at any time, for a criminal act punishable in the other jurisdiction by a sentence exceeding one year, however, is not a "felony conviction" unless the act "would have been" punishable under our own criminal laws on or after January 1, 1980, by a sentence exceeding one year. We need not decide whether a conviction in any other jurisdiction, at any time, for an offense punishable in that other jurisdiction by a sentence not exceeding one year is, nevertheless, a "prior felony" if it "would have been" punishable by a sentence in excess of one year "had the conduct taken place in Alabama on or after January 1, 1980." Consequently, the rule does not say, and was not intended to say, that "a felony is a felony is a felony is anything punishable anywhere, anytime, by a sentence exceeding one year." By limiting the application of the Habitual Offender Act to the cases where the prior felony conviction involved conduct which would constitute a felony under Alabama's criminal laws, this Court has construed the Habitual Offender Act to guarantee equal treatment to all habitual offenders when the prior convictions are from jurisdictions outside Alabama, because the prior felony conviction is measured by the offender's conduct which gave rise to the conviction and whether such conduct constituted an offense punishable under the laws of this state by a sentence to a term in excess of one year.
We recognize, of course, that certain problems can occur under certain fact situations which make it difficult to determine whether a prior felony conviction can be used. In fact, the Court of Criminal Appeals has already been called upon to address one of these problems.
In Lidge v. State, 419 So. 2d 610 (Ala. Crim.App.), cert. denied, 419 So. 2d 616 (Ala.1982), the defendant's prior felony was here in the state of Alabama, in 1973; Lidge's conviction was for "grand larceny" under the old code. The old code defined "grand larceny" as (generally, but subject to many exceptions) the theft of property worth $25 or more, and punished it as a "felony." Tit. 14, § 331, Code 1940. The new code generally requires a theft of property worth $100 or more. Code 1975, § 13A-8-4(a). Upon his later conviction for robbery, under the new code, Lidge argued that his sentence as a habitual offender was improper. The Court of Criminal Appeals wrote: "This record does not state the value of the property stolen [in the prior offense]. The defendant argues that since no value is shown, it cannot be determined whether the crime would amount to a felony under the new Criminal Code." 419 So. 2d  at 614.
The Court of Criminal Appeals cited Rule 6(b)(3)(iv), but nevertheless concluded that § 13A-1-2(4), Code 1975, required the first offense to be treated as a prior "felony." That court wrote:
"The three year sentence of imprisonment in the penitentiary [in the earlier conviction] would bring grand larceny *827 within the definition of a felony under our new criminal code. Section 13A-1-2(4) provides that a felony is `an offense for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in excess of one year is authorized by this title.'"
It is apparent that the Court of Criminal Appeals did not consider the last phrase, "authorized by this title," to be a limitation upon the right of the sentencing authority to use a conviction for an offense occurring prior to January 1, 1980. Implicit in its holding, however, is the emphasis the court placed on the prior conduct of the accused. In Lidge, what the Court of Criminal Appeals did, in effect, was to apply the Rule 6 test and uphold Lidge's conviction as a habitual offender, because the record showed that he received a sentence in excess of one year. Lidge's counsel did not raise the prior conviction question before this Court on petition for certiorari; therefore, this Court did not address it, but had it been raised, we would have reached the same result we reach today.
The issue of what constitutes a prior conviction under the Habitual Offender Act was raised in another case, where the conviction was for violating federal law.
In Carter v. State, 420 So. 2d 292 (Ala. Crim.App.1982), cert. den., 420 So. 2d 292 (Ala.1982), one of the defendant's prior convictions was based on 18 U.S.C. § 1708 (1970), possession of a check stolen from the United States mail. The Court of Criminal Appeals held that the federal conviction, although it carried a federal sentence exceeding one year, could not be used as a prior "felony" under Rule 6(b)(3)(iv). The Court of Criminal Appeals correctly framed the issue when dealing with crimes committed in jurisdictions outside Alabama. The court stated:
The Court of Criminal Appeals noted, "[T]he United States courts appear to have exclusive jurisdiction of crimes relating to mail theft." Carter v. State, 420 So. 2d  at 298. Actually, the possession of the check was one count of the federal indictment; the second count charged forgery of a check drawn on the United States treasury. The Court of Criminal Appeals held that the conviction as based on that second count could be used under Rule 6 because "[a]lthough Alabama has no criminal statute analogous to § 1708, supra, proscribing theft of mail or possession of stolen mail, this State does proscribe the receiving, retaining or disposing of stolen property. See Ala.Code § 13A-8-16 (1975)." Id.
The problem presented in Carter, whether the prior conviction was for conduct which would be classified as a felony under Alabama law, is not present here, because unquestionably the prior convictions here were for conduct proscribed as "felonies" under Alabama law, as in Lidge.
We recognize that there may be instances when a problem could arise in determining whether a prior conviction can be used, but we need not address every conceivable instance in which a problem might be presented. We do, however, believe it would be helpful to show how other jurisdictions have handled similar problems when prior convictions in other jurisdictions are used to enhance punishment.
Our research indicates that other jurisdictions are split as to the best method to use in determining whether such prior convictions can be used to enhance a defendant's sentence. New York, for instance, looks only to the face of the statute under which the defendant was convicted. In People v. Olah, 300 N.Y. 96, 89 N.E.2d 329 (1949), the New York habitual offender law in effect at that time allowed an out-of-state conviction to be considered a "prior felony" only if the "crime" committed out-of-state would have been a "felony" in New York. Olah had been previously convicted of larceny in New Jersey under a statute making it a crime (punishable by more than a year's imprisonment) to steal money or goods having a "value ... of or *828 above twenty dollars." The New York theft statute at that time punished as a felony the theft of property valued at $100 or more.
In the earlier New Jersey case, the indictment charged the theft of property valued at over $200, and Olah pleaded guilty. Nevertheless, the New York Court of Appeals held the New Jersey conviction could not be used as a "prior conviction" in the New York proceeding:
300 N.Y.  at 96, 89 N.E.2d  at 330.
The question Olah raised, as applied to Alabama is: How does a court determine if the defendant's conduct that resulted in his prior conviction constituted a "felony" in Alabama under the Habitual Felony Offender Act without retrying the earlier case?
The Supreme Court of Minnesota considered this very question in State v. Briton, 265 Minn. 326, 121 N.W.2d 577 (1963). There, the defendant's prior conviction was in Iowa, where the theft of $20 was a felony; Minnesota law required the theft of $25 for the conduct to constitute a felony. Evidence in the prior Iowa case indicated the defendant had stolen $46. Interpreting a statute similar to our Temporary Rule 6, the court wrote:
265 Minn. at 329, 121 N.W.2d  at 579.
Not all jurisdictions have followed the reasoning of the New York and Minnesota courts. In State v. Hines, 109 N.J.Super. 298, 263 A.2d 161 (1970), the defendant's prior conviction was in Pennsylvania, whose statute at the time simply punished "larceny" as a "felony." In the second state, New Jersey, the comparable statute in effect at the time punished as a "high misdemeanor" the theft of $50 or more. The defendant, relying on the reasoning of the New York Olah case, argued that a *829 Pennsylvania conviction of "larceny" would not support a finding of a prior felony under New Jersey law. The Court rejected the Olah reasoning:
109 N.J.Super. at 305, 263 A.2d  at 165.
New Jersey, therefore, focused on the conduct, as we have done in this case. We hold that the Hines case comes closer to carrying out the intent of our legislature, but we do not address in this opinion how the state can make proof of a "prior conviction." Under the New York-Minnesota approach, because of chance differences between the laws of two states, many defendants with felony convictions could escape the enhanced punishment which was unquestionably intended for them. The New Jersey-California approach, on the other hand, would effectuate the purposes behind habitual offender statutes, in general, and Alabama's in particular. It is interesting to note that New York, after Olah, changed its habitual offender statute to authorize finding that a prior conviction was a felony if, under the convicting state's law, the defendant could have been sentenced to prison for more than one year. In People v. Morton, 48 A.D.2d 58, 367 N.Y.S.2d 595 (1975), the New York Appellate Division held this statute to be a violation of equal protection. The court pointed out:
48 A.D.2d  at 60, 367 N.Y.S.2d  at 597.
The New York legislature promptly responded to the Morton case by returning to a statutory scheme similar to the one involved in Olah, and which is similar to our own rule. This scheme is unquestionably constitutional. Watson v. State, 392 So. 2d 1274 (Ala.Cr.App.1980).
In Gryger v. Burke, 334 U.S. 728, 732, 68 S. Ct. 1256, 1258, 92 L. Ed. 1683 (1948), the United States Supreme Court stated:
In summary, we hold that Temporary Rule 6(b)(3)(iv) was adopted to further the purposes of the Habitual Offender Act, as intended by the legislature. The rule does not expand the provisions of law, but only assists courts in their application of the law; therefore, it does not violate the concept of separation of powers.
In its petition, the State contends that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in remanding the case to the trial court for the purpose of holding a hearing on the question of the effectiveness of Thompson's *830 trial counsel. The State contends that Thompson should not be allowed to raise this issue on direct appeal, because claims of ineffective assistance of counsel constitute grounds for a writ of error coram nobis, citing Sheehan v. State, 411 So. 2d 824 (Ala.Crim.App.1981). We disagree.
Technically, a writ of error coram nobis is the appropriate writ because it brings a judgment before the original trial court for correction due to an error of fact not in evidence from the record that would have prevented the judgment. Alabama Section, Postconviction Remedies in Alabama, 29 Ala.L.Rev. 617, 631 (1978). The function of coram nobis is to correct a judgment that the trial court would not have rendered had it been aware of all facts. Summers v. State, 366 So. 2d 336 (Ala.Cr.App.1978). Essentially, coram nobis operates as a motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence. Tillis v. State, 349 So. 2d 95 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 349 So. 2d 100 (Ala.1977).
As noted in Summers, supra, at 341:
Coram nobis, therefore, can now be used to raise claims of inadequate assistance of counsel, although earlier cases refused to allow this use of the writ. Those cases required that claims raising the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel be made by motion for a new trial. Ex parte Gammon, 255 Ala. 502, 505, 52 So. 2d 369 (1951).[1]
The method used to raise the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel varies with the forum. Waltz, Inadequacy of Trial Defense Representation as a Ground for Post-Conviction Relief in Criminal Cases, 59 Nw.U.L.Rev. 289, 290 (1964). Some jurisdictions allow such claims to be made by coram nobis, motion for new trial, and by direct appeal.
The Court of Criminal Appeals, in Delevie v. State, 454 So. 2d 1044, 1048 (Ala.Cr. App.1984), remanded a cause, as it did here, thereby allowing the question of ineffective assistance of counsel to be raised by direct appeal. The State did not ask us to review that opinion; therefore, this is the first time we have been asked to consider the issue.
We believe the Court of Criminal Appeals, in Delevie, adequately justified allowing an accused to raise the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal. That court held:
We hold that the Court of Criminal Appeals has authority to remand a case, if it determines justice would require it, to the trial court for a determination to be made on the defendant's claim that he was inadequately represented at his trial.
84-304 AFFIRMED.
84-305 AFFIRMED.
TORBERT, C.J., and FAULKNER, JONES, ALMON, SHORES, BEATTY, ADAMS and HOUSTON,[*] JJ., concur.
ON APPLICATION FOR REHEARING
MADDOX, Justice.
The State, on application for rehearing, presents the following issues:
On Issue I, we refuse to advise the Court of Criminal Appeals whether "justice requires" that this particular case be remanded. We assume the Court of Criminal Appeals has already made a determination that "justice requires" a remand in this case.
On Issue II, whether a hearing is required in this particular case is a question for the Court of Criminal Appeals to decide.
The record on appeal may prove the defendant's claim, or a hearing may be required in the case. Each case will depend upon its particular facts.
The opinion is extended, and the application for rehearing is overruled.
OPINION EXTENDED; APPLICATION FOR REHEARING OVERRULED.
TORBERT, C.J., and FAULKNER, JONES, ALMON, SHORES, BEATTY and HOUSTON, JJ., concur.
ADAMS, J., not sitting.
[1]  In Edwards v. State, 287 Ala. 588, 253 So. 2d 513 (1971), a capital case, Edwards was allowed to raise his claim on direct appeal, through amicus curiae, that he was inadequately represented. The Court noted, however, that on appeal the reviewing court would be limited to the record and could not examine extrinsic evidence. Edwards, 287 Ala. at 591, 253 So. 2d  at 516.
[*]  Houston, J., was not sitting when this case was orally argued, but has listened to the tapes of that argument, and has read the briefs before voting.