# State v. Harris

> Supreme Court of Alabama · December 18, 1992 · 612 So. 2d 1177

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/7626243

## Case

- **Full name:** Ex Parte Joseph Phelps, Circuit Judge, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. (Re State of Alabama v. William Donald Harris).
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Alabama
- **Decided:** December 18, 1992
- **Citations:** 612 So. 2d 1177; 1992 Ala. LEXIS 1541; 1992 WL 371478
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Maddox
- **Judges:** Almon, Shores, Adams, Steagall, Ingram, Maddox, Houston, Kennedy
- **Cited by:** 4 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/7626243

## Opinion text

MADDOX, Justice
(dissenting).
A writ of prohibition is an extraordinary remedy and will not issue unless there is no other adequate remedy, and that writ is available to prevent a usurpation or abuse of power where a judge or court undertakes to act in a manner in which he or it has no jurisdiction. Ex parte Strickland, 401 So.2d 33 (Ala.1981).
Based on my reading of the law and the documents submitted by Judge Joseph Phelps, I am convinced that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in issuing the writ of prohibition against Judge Phelps in this matter. As Justice Houston points out in his dissenting opinion, there is a serious question whether the Board has standing to raise the issue, and there certainly is a question on the scope of the contract entered into by the Board; those questions should not be determined in an extraordinary proceeding. I would grant the writ of prohibition sought by Judge Phelps; consequently, I must respectfully dissent.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/7626243. Public record. Not legal advice.