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Harris v. State

Supreme Court of Alabama
Jun 7, 1973
279 So. 2d 118 (Ala. 1973)

Opinion

SC 360.

June 7, 1973.

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Calhoun County, William C. Bibb, J.

J. Paul Lowery, Montgomery, for appellant.

William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and David W. Clark, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

Petitions for writ of error coram nobis are properly denied where matters attempted to be raised were fully reviewed on appeal from judgment of conviction or where it is sought to review errors concerning facts known to the trial court. Ex parte Frank Lee Rudolph, 276 Ala. 392, 162 So.2d 486, Id. 377 U.S. 919, 84 S.Ct. 1185, 12 L.Ed.2d 188.


This is an appeal from a denial of a writ of error coram nobis. Ralph Patterson Harris was convicted of second-degree murder in 1969. His conviction was affirmed on appeal. Harris v. State, 46 Ala. App. 497, 243 So.2d 770 (1970). On September 17, 1971, Harris petitioned for a writ of error coram nobis. On January 13, 1972, the trial court denied his petition, and Harris appealed to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. On April 24, 1973, the cause was transferred to this Court.

The petition for writ of error coram nobis claimed that the trial judge had not qualified the jury as required by law, that certain jurors had been represented by government attorneys, that certain jurors were prejudiced against appellant because he was a gambler, and that one specific juror was involved with a corporation represented by one of the government attorneys.

The latter claim was fully litigated on the original trial and appeal, and is not available to petitioner here. Ex Parte Seals, 271 Ala. 622, 126 So.2d 474 (1961); Ex Parte Ellis, 41 Ala. App. 253, 128 So.2d 108 (1961). As to the three former grounds, the trial judge's comments are apropos:

"[T]he testimony at the hearing held on this matter totally failed to substantiate or prove the allegations in the petition."

The judgment is affirmed.

Affirmed.

HEFLIN, C. J., and MERRILL, HARWOOD, and MADDOX, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Harris v. State

Supreme Court of Alabama
Jun 7, 1973
279 So. 2d 118 (Ala. 1973)
Case details for

Harris v. State

Case Details

Full title:Ralph Patterson HARRIS v. STATE of Alabama

Court:Supreme Court of Alabama

Date published: Jun 7, 1973

Citations

279 So. 2d 118 (Ala. 1973)
279 So. 2d 118

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