Rule 2.2. Prosecution of criminal proceedings

Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure

Rule 2. Commencement and prosecution of criminal proceedings.

Rule 2.2. Prosecution of criminal proceedings.

(a)

FELONIES. All felony charges and misdemeanor or ordinance

violations which are lesser included offenses within a felony charge or which arise

from the same incident as a felony charge shall be prosecuted in circuit court,

except that the district court shall have concurrent jurisdiction to receive guilty

pleas and to impose sentences in felony cases not punishable by sentence of

death, including related and lesser included misdemeanor charges, and may hold

preliminary hearings with respect to felony charges.

(b)

MISDEMEANORS

AND

ORDINANCE

VIOLATIONS. All misdemeanor

offenses (including an indictment charging a traffic infraction) shall be prosecuted

originally in district court or, where adopted as municipal ordinance violations,

municipal court, except:

(1)

Misdemeanors for which an indictment has been returned by a grand

jury.

(2)

Misdemeanors that are lesser included offenses within a felony

charge as to which concurrent jurisdiction as described in Rule 2.2(a) has not been

exercised.

(c)

TRANSFER OF CASES. Cases filed in a court that does not have original

trial jurisdiction of the offense charged shall be transferred to the appropriate court

as provided in Ala.Code 1975, § 12-11-9.

(d)

TRIAL DE NOVO. Criminal proceedings prosecuted in the district or the

municipal court, from conviction of which the defendant has appealed for trial de

novo in the circuit court, shall be prosecuted in the circuit court on the original

charging instrument, which shall include the Uniform Traffic Ticket and Complaint

(UTTC) in traffic cases.

rt

as provided in Ala.Code 1975, § 12-11-9.

(d)

TRIAL DE NOVO. Criminal proceedings prosecuted in the district or the

municipal court, from conviction of which the defendant has appealed for trial de

novo in the circuit court, shall be prosecuted in the circuit court on the original

charging instrument, which shall include the Uniform Traffic Ticket and Complaint

(UTTC) in traffic cases.

(e)

PROCEEDING ON INFORMATION.

At arraignment on an information following receipt of a defendant’s written

notice of his or her desire to plead guilty as charged or as a youthful offender upon

the granting of youthful-offender status, the court shall proceed as provided in Rule

14.4. If the court does not accept the defendant’s guilty plea or denies the

defendant’s application for youthful- offender status, the court shall proceed as

provided by law.

[Amended eff. 8-1-97; Amended eff. 8-1-2002.]

Committee Comments as Amended to Conform to Rule as Amended

Effective August 1, 1997

Section (a) is derived from Ala.Code 1975, § 12-11-30, vesting exclusive

original jurisdiction of prosecution for felony offenses and lesser included or

incidental misdemeanor offenses and ordinance violations in the circuit court. The

applicable statute upon which Rule 2.2(b) is based is Ala.Code 1975, § 1212-32,

which provides:

“(a) MISDEMEANORS. The district court shall have exclusive original

trial jurisdiction over prosecutions of all offenses defined by law or ordinance

as misdemeanors, except:

“(1) Prosecutions by municipalities having municipal courts,

“(2) Any such prosecution which also involves a felony offense which

is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the circuit court, except as the district

court is empowered to hold preliminary hearings with respect to felonies and

to receive guilty pleas as provided in subsection (b) of this section, and

“(3) Any misdemeanor for which an indictment has been returned by

a grand jury [ (except indictments charging traffic infractions) Wright v

elony offense which

is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the circuit court, except as the district

court is empowered to hold preliminary hearings with respect to felonies and

to receive guilty pleas as provided in subsection (b) of this section, and

“(3) Any misdemeanor for which an indictment has been returned by

a grand jury [ (except indictments charging traffic infractions) Wright v. State,

494 So.2d 177 (Ala.Crim.App.1986) ].

“(b) FELONIES.

“(1) The district court may exercise original jurisdiction concurrent

with the circuit court to receive pleas of guilty in prosecutions of offenses

defined by law as felonies not punishable by sentence of death.

“(2) The district court shall have jurisdiction to hold preliminary

hearings in prosecutions for felonies as provided for in Title 15 of this Code.”

In addition, Wright v. State, 494 So.2d 177 (Ala.Crim.App.1986), holds that

the district court has exclusive original jurisdiction of any misdemeanor traffic

infraction, even where an indictment has been returned.

Section (c) provides that cases filed in an inappropriate court may be

transferred to the correct court in accordance with the statutory provisions of § 12-

11-9, governing the transfer of cases misfiled for lack of jurisdiction in either the

circuit court or the district court.

Section (d) eliminates the procedural requirement of § 12-22-113 mandating

that the prosecuting attorney file a new complaint in circuit court on appeal de novo

from a district or municipal court. As noted by the Supreme Court in Ex parte

Young, 611 So.2d 414 (Ala.1992), the filing of a new complaint by the prosecutor

in cases appealed de novo to the circuit court is not a matter of jurisdiction, but

rather a notice requirement, which is fulfilled by the original complaint, which is filed

with the circuit court when an appeal is taken. Id. at 415. See also Moye v. City of

Foley, 632 So.2d 1012 (Ala.Crim.App.1993)

t in Ex parte

Young, 611 So.2d 414 (Ala.1992), the filing of a new complaint by the prosecutor

in cases appealed de novo to the circuit court is not a matter of jurisdiction, but

rather a notice requirement, which is fulfilled by the original complaint, which is filed

with the circuit court when an appeal is taken. Id. at 415. See also Moye v. City of

Foley, 632 So.2d 1012 (Ala.Crim.App.1993). Although the court limited its holding

to appeals of convictions pursuant to a valid uniform traffic ticket and complaint,

the committee sees no reason for maintaining this anachronistic and superfluous

requirement of filing a new complaint and not authorizing the prosecution to

proceed on the original complaint in nontraffic as well as traffic cases appealed for

trial de novo in circuit court.

Section (e) provides a procedure for utilizing the exception to the rule

precluding use of informations permitted by Amendment No. 37 to the Alabama

Constitution of 1901. The advisory committee would have preferred less restrictive

use of informations, but any change here addresses itself to changes in the

Alabama Constitution. The rule reflects the common law preference for proceeding

by indictment and distrust of the use of informations. This rule follows present

practice statutorily authorized by § 15-15-20 et seq.

Subsections (e)(2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) reiterate provisions now codified at

§§ 15-15-21, 15-15-22, 15-15-23, 15-15-26, and 15-15-25, respectively, without

change. Section 15-15-26, which denied the defendant a right of appeal, is

superseded by Rule 2.2(e)(5), which grants the defendant a right of appeal.

Note from the reporter of decisions: The order amending Rule 2.2(e),

effective August 1, 2002, is published in that volume of Alabama Reporter that

contains Alabama cases from 810 So.2d.