Ex parte Queen

Summary

The Supreme Court of Alabama granted a petition for a writ of mandamus concerning proceedings on remand in a dispute over the mental capacity of an incapacitated person's father to execute certain legal documents. The court held that the trial court could not reopen the record or conduct a new evidentiary hearing because the prior remand directed reconsideration based on the existing record. The trial court was ordered to vacate its order and enter findings and judgment applying the proper legal standard to the existing evidence.

Holdings

1. A petition for a writ of mandamus is the proper method for bringing before an appellate court the question whether a trial court complied with the appellate court's mandate on remand.
2. When an appellate court remands for reconsideration under a specified legal standard and does not expressly direct a new trial or evidentiary hearing, the trial court may not reopen the record or take additional evidence; it must decide the matter from the existing record in accordance with the appellate mandate.

Questions Presented

1. Whether mandamus was the proper vehicle to review the Bibb Circuit Court's compliance with the Supreme Court's remand mandate.
2. Whether the trial court could conduct a new evidentiary hearing and receive additional evidence concerning the father's mental capacity when the Supreme Court's remand order directed reconsideration based on the existing record and did not expressly authorize a new hearing.

Disposition

writ_granted