Summary
The Alabama Supreme Court reviewed the reversal of a trial court's order revoking Troy Andrew Smiley's probation. The court held that the trial court properly relied on evidence that Smiley engaged in post-probation conduct intended to conceal a murder, reversed the Court of Criminal Appeals' judgment, and remanded the case.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court properly revoked Smiley's probation based on credible evidence that he engaged in post-probation conduct intended to conceal a murder that occurred before probation began.
- Whether the Court of Criminal Appeals improperly reweighed conflicting ore tenus evidence and failed to apply the presumption of correctness owed to the trial court's factual findings.
Holdings
- A trial court may revoke probation based on credible evidence that the probationer engaged in post-probation acts intended to conceal a prior murder, even though the murder itself occurred before sentencing and placement on probation.
- The Court of Criminal Appeals erred by rejecting the trial court's factual chronology and effectively reweighing the evidence; ore tenus findings supported by credible evidence are entitled to a presumption of correctness.
Key quotations
“The ore tenus rule provides that a trial court's findings of fact based on oral testimony "have the effect of a jury's verdict," and that "[a] judgment, grounded on such findings, is accorded, on appeal, a presumption of correctness which will not be disturbed unless plainly erroneous or manifestly unjust."” (52 So. 3d at 568)
“A probation-revocation hearing is a bench trial and the trial court is the sole fact-finder.” (52 So. 3d at 568)
“Accordingly, the trial court, as the fact-finder, did not exceed its discretion in revoking Smiley's probation based on this conduct.” (52 So. 3d at 569)
Factual background
Smiley pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia on June 13, 2008, and received a suspended one-year sentence and one year of supervised probation. Before that plea and sentencing, his friend Nathan Lee used Smiley's handgun to murder Jeffery Blake Stone. After Smiley was placed on probation, the evidence indicated that he participated in acts connected to concealing the murder, including retrieving the gun, moving Stone's body, and discussing disposal of the body, before confessing on July 1, 2008.
Procedural history
Smiley pleaded guilty in the Lee Circuit Court to unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and received a suspended one-year sentence with one year of supervised probation. After the trial court found that Smiley had engaged in post-probation conduct intended to conceal a murder, it revoked his probation. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed, reasoning that the misconduct arose from a murder committed before Smiley was placed on probation. The Alabama Supreme Court granted review, reversed the Court of Criminal Appeals, and remanded.
Remand instructions
Remand for proceedings consistent with the Alabama Supreme Court's opinion, leaving in place the trial court's order revoking Smiley's probation.