Committee Comments
Under the Judicial Article Implementation Act, the circuit court has jurisdiction of appeals from municipal and district courts. Ala.Code 1975, § 12- 1130.
The right to appeal from a judgment of a municipal or district court to the circuit court is purely statutory. The right is granted to those parties in a municipal court case in the Judicial Article Implementation Act, Ala.Code 1975, § 12-14-70, and in district court cases under Ala.Code 1975, §§ 12-12-70 and 12-12-71. Ala.Code 1975, § 12-12-72, provides for appeals directly to the appellate courts in certain cases. See, also, §§ 12-12-70(b) and (d).
Pursuant to Ala.Code 1975, § 12-14-70, a defendant may appeal from the entry of a municipal court judgment in “any case.” Ala.Code 1975, § 12-12-70, provides that in a criminal or quasi-criminal case tried in district court, the defendant may appeal from a final judgment. “For a judgment to be final, it must … reflect a complete resolution of each and every matter in controversy…. In short, [it] must be conclusive and certain.” Potter v. Owens, 535 So.2d 173, 174 (Ala.Civ.App.1988). The term “convicted” in section (a) is used in its usual sense to connote a final judgment on a judicial finding of guilt or a plea of guilty; therefore, pursuant to this rule, the defendant in a criminal case shall be allowed to appeal to the circuit court for a trial de novo even after entering a plea of guilty in district or municipal court. See ABA, Standards for Criminal Justice, Criminal Appeals 211.3(a)(iii) (2d ed. 1986). This procedure follows present practice authorizing an appeal from “a final judgment” under § 12-12-70 and an appeal “in any case … from entry of judgment” pursuant to § 12-14-70 and specifically supersedes Ala.Code 1975, § 15-15-26, prohibiting appeal following a guilty plea.
Section (b) of Rule 30.1 changes the statutory time for a municipality to appeal from a judgment of the municipal court holding an ordinance invalid from sixty (60) days to fourteen (14) days. Ala.Code 1975, § 12-14-70(b).
Section (c) of Rule 30.1 conforms with the statutory right of a state or a municipality to appeal to the circuit court from a judgment of the district court holding a statute or ordinance invalid. Ala.Code 1975, §§ 12-12-70(c) and 12- 1470(b).
