Opinion

Brown v. State

  • 45 Ala. App. 261
  • 229 So. 2d 36
  • 1969 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 221
Court
Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
Filed
Dec 9, 1969
Status
Published
Author
Price
On the bench
Price
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 11.8%

The opinion

PRICE, Presiding Judge.

Petitioner was convicted of murder in the first degree on November 12, 1943, and was sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for life.

Petition for writ of error coram nobis was filed on December 16, 1968, in which petitioner alleged that he was not represented by counsel at his trial.

Counsel was appointed to represent petitioner at the coram nobis hearing held on July 2, 1969. At the hearing the state introduced the judgment entries reflecting that two attorneys, G. G. Griffin and Henry McDaniel, were appointed by the court to represent defendant and that they were appointed before arraignment. The name of Henry McDaniel is stricken through in the judgment entry. Both attorneys have died since the trial and no witness could testify positively that the appellant was represented by a particular attorney. The petitioner testified he was not represented by a lawyer but admitted that the Honorable G. G. Griffin questioned him in court at his trial.

In Howard v. State, 280 Ala. 430 , 194 So.2d 834 , the court said:

“Of course, in a case of this kind, there is a presumption of reliability which attaches to the recital in a judgment entry and we do not think that ordinarily that presumption can be overcome by the mere statement of a petitioner that the judgment entry is incorrect.”

The testimony of the petitioner was not sufficient to overcome the presumption of the truthfulness of the judgment entry.

The judgment is affirmed.

Affirmed.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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