# Harrison v. State

> Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama · December 18, 2015 · 203 So. 3d 126

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4829788

## Case

- **Full name:** Jeremy K. HARRISON v. STATE of Alabama
- **Court:** Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
- **Decided:** December 18, 2015
- **Citations:** 203 So. 3d 126; 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 97
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Welch
- **Judges:** Burke, Joiner, Kellum, Welch, Windom
- **Cited by:** 7 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4829788

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding “that a defendant asserting immunity based on self-defense under § 13A-3-23(d), Ala. Code 1976, is entitled to an opportunity to prove that claim by a preponderance of the evidence at a pretrial hearing before the court”
- holding that the defendant was entitled to a pretrial evidentiary hearing on his claim of immunity based on self-defense
- stating that “Alabama law has always allowed a defendant to argue self- defense at trial”

## Opinion text

WELCH, Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur in the majority’s opinion.
I write specially because, as the majority states, when the Alabama Legislature enacted § 13A-3-23(d), Ala.Code 1975, it did not define the phrase “immune from criminal prosecution,” did not specify who would determine whether the defendant was eligible for immunity, and did not provide a procedure for determining whether immunity should be granted. Although this Court has now, out of necessity, decided those issues, I believe those decisions are best made by the Alabama Legislature or the' Alabama Supreme Court after proposed rules are submitted by the Standing Committee on the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure rather than by this Court. I encourage the legislature and the Supreme Court to resolve these matters so as to provide guidance to the circuit judges, district attorneys, and defense attorneys throughout the State.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/4829788. Public record. Not legal advice.