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Hamilton v. State3/1/2002
The appellant, David Hamilton, was indicted by the fall 2000 Escambia County grand jury for misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol. In March 2001, the prosecutor moved to amend the indictment to charge felony driving under the influence because Hamilton had three prior convictions for driving under the influence. Hamilton consented to the amendment, and the circuit court granted the State's motion to amend. However, the second indictment contained another individual's name. In March 2001, the State moved to amend the second indictment to state Hamilton's name. Over Hamilton's objection, the circuit court granted the State's motion to amend the second indictment. Hamilton was subsequently convicted of felony DUI in the Circuit Court for Escambia County. Hamilton filed a notice of appeal. The State has filed a motion in this Court asking us to vacate the circuit court's judgment of conviction because, it says, the circuit court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction of the case. The State has also moved that we dismiss this appeal. We granted Hamilton 14 days to respond to the State's motion.
The State asserts that Hamilton's conviction is void because (1) he was convicted of an offense for which he was never indicted; (2) his conviction is based on a void indictment; and (3) the circuit court judge had no jurisdiction to enter the judgment. The State contends that a void judgment cannot support an appeal. The first indictment read as follows:
"David Hamilton, alias David Michael Hamilton, whose name to the Grand Jury is otherwise unknown, did drive or was in actual physical control of a vehicle upon a public roadway in Escambia County, Alabama, to wit: Highway 31 South, while he was under the influence of alcohol, in violation of Section 32-5A-191(a)(1) of the Code of Alabama against the peace and dignity of the State of Alabama."
This indictment clearly tracked the language of § 32-5A-191(a)(1), which defines the offense of misdemeanor driving under the influence . With Hamilton's consent, the circuit court amended the indictment to charge felony DUI. The second indictment read:
"Timothy Wayne Powers, whose name to the Grand Jury is otherwise unknown, having been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol three times, did drive or was in actual physical control of a vehicle upon a public roadway in Escambia County, Alabama, to wit: Highway 31 South, while he was under the influence of alcohol, in violation of Section 32-5A-191(a)(2) of the Code of Alabama against the peace and dignity of the State of Alabama."
This second indictment was amended, over Hamilton's objection, to change the name to "David Hamilton."
The first indictment charged a misdemeanor offense and vested jurisdiction of the case in the district court. Section 12-11-30, Ala. Code 1975, delineates the jurisdiction of a circuit court and provides, in part:
"The circuit court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of all felony prosecutions and of misdemeanor or ordinance violations which are lesser included offenses within a felony charge or which arise from the same incident as a felony charge; except, that the district court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court to receive pleas of guilty in felony cases not punishable by sentence of death."
"In Blevins v. State, 747 So. 2d 914 (Ala.Crim.App. 1998), this Court held that a circuit court has no jurisdiction when an indictment alleges only a misdemeanor; rather 'the district court has exclusive original jurisdiction of misdemeanor prosecutions for traffic infractions even when an indictment has been returned (except ordinance infractions prosecuted i
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