294 Ala. 358 - Edwards v. State

How this case has been cited

Cited by 50 later decisions — most recently September 2012 · most notably Watkins v. State (1978), 365 So. 2d 358 - McCovery v. State (1978)

50 state decisions

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

MADDOX, Justice.

¶1 Robert P. Edwards was indicted for a felony. He was 20 years old. At arraignment, he asked to be tried as a youthful offender. The court overruled his request without conducting an investigation or examination of Edwards. The Court of Criminal Appeals remanded the cause to the trial court on the authority of Morgan v. State, 291 Ala. 764, 287 So.2d 914 (1973), with instructions to the court “to investigate and examine the appellant at a hearing and determine whether in its discretion appellant should be tried as a youthful offender.” 55 Ala.App. 544, 317 So.2d 511. 1 We granted certiorari. We affirm.

¶2 The trial court should have conducted some investigation or examination. Even though the court is not now required to refer the matter to a probation officer, it may. Ex parte State of Alabama, ex rel. Attorney General (In re: Clemmons v. State of Alabama), 294 Ala. 746, 321 So.2d 238, decided May 22, 1975, which modified this Court’s holding in Morgan v. State that referral to a probation officer was mandatory.

¶3 Affirmed.

HEFLIN, C. J., MERRILL, BLOOD-WORTH, JONES, SHORES and EMBRY, JJ., and COLQUITT, Circuit Judge, sitting specially, concur. FAULKNER, J., dissents. ALMON, J., not sitting.

¶4 . A checklist for use by the trial court in informing “youthful offenders” of their rights under the Act are set out in Ex parte Raines (In re: Raines v. State), 294 Ala. 360, 317 So.2d 559, decided May 22, 1975.