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481 So. 2d 456

McDonald v. State

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama

Decided December 10, 1985

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama · decided 1985-12-10

Relies on Strickland v. Washington · 471 So. 2d 1257 - Ex Parte Boatwright

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1985-12-10

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently July 2015

4 state decisions

101985199020002010decided

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.

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TYSON, Judge.

¶1Sylvester Earl McDonald appeals from the denial of his petition for writ of error coram nobis by the Circuit Court of Mobile County without conducting a hearing thereon.

¶2In the petition McDonald avers that his murder and robbery in the first degree conviction had in circuit court on March 23, 1983 and life without parole sentence entered on April 26, 1983 were unconstitutional arid avers several grounds. (1) He was denied the effective assistance of counsel at original trial and appeal; (2) that original counsel failed to call certain witnesses in his behalf; (3) that the appellant and his family were not properly notified as to the time and date of the trial; (4) that the appellant was not permitted to testify at trial in his own behalf and, (5) that the prosecution knowingly and willfully used the perjured testimony of an eyewitness named Hawkins.

¶3On authority of Boatwright v. State, 471 So.2d 1257 (Ala.1985) and Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) this cause is reversed and remanded for a hearing on the merits of the appellant’s allegations. The trial court shall appoint counsel to represent the appellant and conduct a full hearing on the merits of the allegations made.

¶4For the reasons stated, this cause is due to be and is, hereby, reversed and remanded for a hearing.

¶5REVERSED AND REMANDED.

All the Judges concur.
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