Alexander v. State
Alexander v. State
Opinion of the Court
Petitioner Charles E. Alexander filed in this court a petition in which he requests that we reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court so that he may file a petition for writ of error coram nobis and audita querela. Alexander also filed four amendments to the petition and a motion in which he requested that the original petition, which Alexander submitted with additional copies, be filed with only one copy of one of the exhibits attached to the original pleading. Because the original petition was filed as Alexander requests, the motion is moot. Because Alexander fails to set out a basis in the original petition or in his amended petitions that would support issuance of the writ, we deny the petition and the amended petitions.
*404Alexander was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. This court affirmed. Alexander v. State ,
With all due respect to Alexander, much of what he has filed in this matter is simply indecipherable. Alexander's original 149-page, handwritten petition is often confusing, extremely difficult to read, and at times incomprehensible. The bulk of the petition is devoted to exhibits that Alexander intended to support his claims for relief, although the relevance of those exhibits, much of which relate to prison grievances Alexander has filed since he was incarcerated, is oftentimes unclear. Alexander lists his grounds for issuance of the writ, asserting (1) that a violation of Brady v. Maryland ,
Although the 173-page first amended petition that Alexander filed is also often illegible, it appears to readopt all claims from the original petition. It is far less clear what new claims, if any, Alexander asserts, although ineffective assistance of counsel and diplomatic immunity are referenced. In the first amended petition, Alexander asserts that the "record" in the matter needs to be supplemented with newly discovered evidence, which he appears to contend would be available in proceedings in the trial court, and that this court should permit that court to have a hearing and make findings of fact. Alexander also appears to assert that this court must review the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the judgment of conviction in these proceedings.
Alexander's 274-page second amendment, 9-page third amendment, and 2-page fourth amendment, which appears to have been intended to clarify the second amendment, are again extremely difficult to decipher, and aside from the titles of the documents, none bears a clear relationship to the original error coram nobis petition. Instead, the second amendment appears to reference unrelated federal proceedings and civil complaints about the conditions of Alexander's incarceration and transfer to another facility. He requests a change of venue to Washington, D.C., calls for the governor to convene a special session on juvenile-sentencing guidelines, references various current and former state and federal judges and officials with no clear connection to the matter, and seeks permission for a secret masonic wedding with a state senator. As in his previous petitions, he describes what he portrays as a masonic ritual with hand gestures accompanied by a distress signal in Morse code, which is *405signaled through a blinking eye, in a ceremony that he believes should serve to rebuke Satan and cause this court to grant him relief.
Alexander's third and fourth amendments are also extremely difficult to understand. Although parts are legible, the third amendment demonstrates no relationship to the coram nobis proceedings. There is a request for transfer to a different ADC facility, vague complaints about the handling of mail and documents, unclear references to an act of congress, bankruptcy, and a civil case, along with the same consistent reference to the blinking-eye signal. There is nothing that would appear to further Alexander's previous claims or add new ones. The fourth amendment is almost entirely, aside from the cover page identifying its purpose, unintelligible. It again references federal proceedings and people unconnected to either Alexander's trial or the charges, and it requests a number of forms of relief that simply are not available in error coram nobis proceedings.
A writ of audita querela is indistinguishable from a writ of error coram nobis, and this court treats a request for permission to pursue audita querela relief as a petition to reinvest jurisdiction in the trial court to consider a writ of error coram nobis. Munnerlyn v. State ,
The function of the writ is to secure relief from a judgment rendered while there existed some fact that would have prevented its rendition if it had been known to the trial court and which, through no negligence or fault of the defendant, was not brought forward before rendition of the judgment. Jackson ,
The writ is allowed under compelling circumstances to achieve justice and to address errors of the most fundamental nature. Wooten ,
*406With the exception of the alleged Brady claims, none of Alexander's proposed grounds for the writ are cognizable in proceedings for the writ or fall within one of the recognized categories of error to support the writ. A claim of actual innocence is a direct attack on the judgment that is not cognizable in proceedings for a writ of error coram nobis. Ramirez ,
Alexander's claims concerning defects in the proceedings that should have been raised during the proceedings-including any claim of immunity or of defects in joinder or the charging instruments-are likewise not cognizable because assertions of trial error that could have been raised at trial are not within the purview of a coram nobis proceeding. Carner v. State ,
As noted, material evidence withheld by the prosecutor is one of the recognized categories of error that may support issuance of the writ. The mere fact that a petitioner alleges a Brady violation, however, is not sufficient to provide a basis for error coram nobis relief. Wallace v. State ,
Alexander's allegations concerning his Brady -violation claims are too vague and conclusory and lack the requisite factual support. Conclusory claims are not a ground for the writ. Green v. State ,
In short, none of the claims set forth Alexander's petition are sufficiently supported to warrant error coram nobis *407relief. To prevail in error coram nobis proceedings, a petitioner must show fundamental error sufficient to preclude entry of the judgment and not simply allege facts that might have produced a different result if known to the judge and jury. Larimore v. State ,
Petition and amended petitions denied; motion moot.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Charles E. ALEXANDER v. STATE of Arkansas
- Cited By
- 8 cases
- Status
- Published