Murphy v. State
Murphy v. State
Opinion
The defendant was indicted for the murder of Leonard Stradford, Sr. Alabama Code 1975, Section
The record shows that the defendant was indicted in the Circuit Court of Mobile County on June 6, 1980. On June 23rd, the defendant was arraigned and youthful offender treatment was denied, "a previous investigation having been made." On this date, the defendant filed a motion to dismiss the indictment alleging that Alabama Code 1975, Section 12-15-34 was unconstitutional. This motion was amended on October 6th by the addition of the ground that the "Juvenile Court of Mobile County did not comply with the law in referring the case to the Circuit Court of Mobile County for trial of the Defendant as an adult." The motion sought to have the indictment dismissed and the case remanded to the Juvenile Court.
The record before this Court contains no ruling on theamended motion to dismiss. The minute entry does reflect that the motion to dismiss filed on July 23rd was denied on October 7, 1980.
"This day in open court came the State of Alabama by its District Attorney and defendant's Motion to Dismiss filed by attorney, James Bryd, July 23rd, 1980, coming to be heard, being argued by Counsel and being understood by the Court; It is ordered and adjudged by the court that defendant's Motion to Dismiss filed on the 23rd day of July, 1980, be and the same is hereby denied." (emphasis added)
The defendant did not appeal the order of transfer to "the appropriate appellate court," A.R.J.P. Rule 28 (A) or to the Circuit Court A.R.J.P. Rule 28 (B). See Walker v. State,
In his brief, the defendant correctly notes that there is no record of what occurred in the juvenile court:
"No order of the Juvenile Court transferring Appellant for criminal prosecution as an adult was introduced into evidence, nor was there any evidence or testimony as to whether Appellant was afforded his rights as defined in Section 12-15-34 (e)(f), Code of Alabama (1975), Section 12-15-65 (b), Code of Alabama (1975), Rule 24, Alabama Rules of Juvenile Procedure and Rule 11, Alabama Rules of Juvenile Procedure."
The defendant could have established a proper record for this Court to review by appealing the order of transfer. See Youngv. State,
True, the transcript of the trial proceedings does not reflect that such an oath was administered. However, a minute entry *Page 316
does state that the jury was "duly empaneled and sworn according to law." This alleged defect was not called to the attention of the trial judge even though defense counsel admitted during oral argument that he suspected or had reason to believe that the jury had not been sworn. Since there was no objection, the minute entry will be deemed correct. Armstead v.State,
The provisions of Alabama Code 1975, Section
In ruling on the motion to recuse, the trial judge noted:
"THE COURT: I don't (know of any prohibition) either. It might be different if I were going to pass judgment on the merits of the case, but since it is a jury trial, I'm up here merely to pass upon the law and the rulings of law, and I don't believe that that would have any bearing upon the outcome of the case. So I will respectfully deny your motion."
We specifically note that the defendant has pointed to no occurrence during the trial in which the judge acted in any way other than entirely impartially. We also note that the judge did not give the defendant the maximum sentence allowed by law. Alabama Code 1975, Section
We have searched the record and found no error prejudicial to the rights of the defendant. The judgment of the Circuit Court is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
All Judges concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Antonio Daniel Murphy v. State.
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published