Opinion ID: 470407
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: trial, appeal and resentence

Text: 2 Peoples, an Alabama state prisoner, was convicted May 21, 1981 of murder, pursuant to Alabama Code Sec. 13A-6-2 (Suppl.1977). The court continued the case for sentencing to June 12, 1981, noting that the probation staff was not available. On June 12 Peoples was sentenced to 20 years. Immediately upon imposition of sentence trial counsel gave notice of appeal. Trial counsel withdrew and, on July 31, 1981, Donald Harrison was appointed for appeal. The trial transcript was not completed until March 5, 1982, and petitioner's brief to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals was filed April 9, 1982. The only issues raised were sufficiency of the evidence and admissibility of a single piece of evidence, neither of which had been properly preserved at trial. The court, Peoples v. State, 415 So.2d 1230 (Ala.Crim.App.1982), summarily rejected both arguments on the ground nothing was presented to it for review and affirmed the guilt phase of the trial. Then, on its own motion, the court took up the matter of the sentence, an issue not raised by either party. It noted the requirements of the Alabama Habitual Felony Offender Act, Alabama Code Sec. 13A-5-9(b)(3) (Supp.1981), which provides: 3 (b) In all cases when it is shown that a criminal defendant has been previously convicted of any two felonies and after such convictions has committed another felony, he must be punished as follows: 4