Davis v. State5/25/2001
This case is on appeal following a finding of guilt, and an order issued by the Baldwin District Court denying Kenneth Earl Davis's motion to dismiss his case for lack of jurisdiction and certifying a question of law for consideration by this court. See Rule 30.2(2), Ala.R.Crim.P.
The pertinent facts are as follows: On January 29, 2000, the appellant, Kenneth Earl Davis, was issued a traffic ticket charging him with driving under the influence of alcohol, a violation of § 32-5A- 191(a)(2), Ala. Code 1975. On February 29, 2000, the case was sent to the Baldwin County grand jury: the grand jury returned an indictment charging the appellant with felony DUI, misdemeanor DUI, and driving while his license was revoked. On May 24, 2000, Davis entered a plea of not guilty and a waiver of arraignment. On July 5, 2000, the State filed a motion to remand the case to the district court on grounds that, although "it has been determined that while the defendant may have three prior DUI convictions, they are not documented in such a manner that said conviction would be admissible in Circuit Court." On July 6, 2000, the circuit court, pursuant to the State's motion to remand, transferred the case to the district court, after dismissing the felony count. On August 22, 2000, the appellant's trial counsel filed a motion in the district court to dismiss, stating as grounds that, because the appellant was indicted by the Baldwin County grand jury, jurisdiction was with the circuit court, not with the district court. The district court denied the motion to dismiss. The appellant stipulated to a prima facie case, and the district court found the appellant guilty and certified the following question of law as the sole issue on appeal:
"When a DUI case and its companion cases(s) (if any) are sent to the Grand Jury for consideration, and that Grand Jury returns an indictment for one count of Felony DUI and one count of Misdemeanor DUI, and in a Circuit Court proceeding it is determined that the State cannot prove three proper prior convictions for enhancement purposes, and if the Circuit Court then enters an Order remanding the case for prosecution in the District Court, does the District Court have jurisdiction to hear the case or does jurisdiction remain in the Circuit Court for prosecution of the misdemeanor count(s)?
"This Court further notes that the attorneys for the parties (D.Robert Stanfoski for the State and Gregory B. Dawkins for the Defendant) have orally stipulated before this Court that only questions of law are involved." Pursuant to Rule 30.2, Ala.R.Crim.P., this question is properly before this court.
In Ex parte Form-by, 750 So. 2d 587, 590 (Ala. 1999), the Alabama Supreme Court held that prosecutions for felony DUI offenses are to be initiated in the circuit court, stating that "the Legislature's enactment of § 32-5A-191(h) made jurisdiction over a fourth or subsequent DUI charge appropriate in the circuit court, because the offense charged ... is a felony." As the Supreme Court noted in Ex parte Form-by, the indictment, in and of itself, acts as notice to the defendant that the State is invoking the circuit court's jurisdiction to impose, upon conviction for a violation of § 32-5A-191(a), the felony punishment mandated by § 32-5A-191(h). In Casey v. State, 740 So. 2d 1136 (Ala.Crim.App. 1998), this Court addressed the defendant's argument that the circuit court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction to hear his case because, immediately before trial, the indictment charging him with felony DUI had been nol-prossed. The defendant argued that, although all of the charges against him had been returned by indictment, because the remaining charges were misdemeanors, jurisdicti
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