Supreme Court of Alabama Decisions 2013
Date: December 30, 2013
Docket Number: 1101204
Justia Opinion Summary: Edward Crabtree slipped and fell on the top floor of physician's parking deck of a medical center owned by Mobile Infirmary Associates d/b/a Mobile Infirmary Medical Center, and he suffered injuries as a result. The…
Date: December 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1080284
Justia Opinion Summary: Cavalier Manufacturing, Inc. appealed a circuit court order that denied its motion to alter, amend, or vacate an arbitration award entered in favor of Janie Gant. Gant purchased a mobile home manufactured by Cavalier…
Date: December 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1090436
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, employees sued their employer alleging breach of contract, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, and bad faith and the application of the doctrine of estoppel arising out of the defendants' recoupment of…
Date: December 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1110105
Date: December 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120045
Justia Opinion Summary: Charles Gower petitioned the Supreme Court to vacate an arbitration award in favor of Turquoise Properties Gulf, Inc., Caribe Realty, Inc., Larry Wireman, and Judy Ramsey Wireman(collectively, "Turquoise"). The…
Date: December 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120298
Date: December 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120389
Date: December 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120573
Justia Opinion Summary: Hubert Norris appealed the grant of summary judgment to the Fayette County Commission and the dismissal of his petition for a writ of mandamus. Norris held the office of Sheriff of Fayette County for consecutive…
Date: December 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120688
Justia Opinion Summary: John and Oretha Meeks appealed the grant of partial summary judgment in favor of Roderick Morrow and Merchants & Farmers Bank. Because it appeared that the judgment from which the Meekses purported to appeal was not a…
Date: December 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120950
Justia Opinion Summary: Chad Jones petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the Circuit Court to vacate its order denying his motion for a summary judgment in an action filed against him by Latonya Hall, individually and as…
Date: December 13, 2013
Docket Numbers: 1090988, 1091041
Justia Opinion Summary: Gambro Renal Products, Inc. hired The Facility Group, Inc. ("TFG"), as the general contractor for the construction of a facility designed to produce kidney dialysis filters in Opelika. TFG contracted with the Hardy…
Date: December 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1100510
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's judgment in this case to the extent that it concluded Parker Towing was not entitled to indemnity for $25,000 it paid landowners in settlement of landowners' claims against…
Date: December 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1120439
Justia Opinion Summary: Safeway Insurance Company of Alabama, Inc. petitioned for a writ of mandamus to direct the Circuit Court to grant its Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss a bad-faith claim against it for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.…
Date: December 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1120537
Justia Opinion Summary: Roy Harbin started working as a police officer for the City in 1972. At that time, he started mandatory participation in the Policemen's and Firemen's Retirement Fund of the City of Gadsden ("the PFRF"). In 1975, the…
Date: December 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1120738
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted father Adam Terry's petition for certiorari to consider whether the appellate court erred by reversing the trial court's judgment enjoining Emily Terry (mother) from relocating from Lawrence…
Date: December 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1121069
Justia Opinion Summary: Bay Area Physicians for Women ("BAPW") petitioned for a writ of mandamus to direct the Baldwin Circuit Court to vacate an order entered by that court on November 8, 2012, which reinstated a medical-malpractice case filed…
Date: December 6, 2013
Docket Number: 1101439
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alabama Department of Transportation ("ALDOT") and its director, John Cooper, petitioned for a writ of mandamus to direct the Circuit Court to vacate its order denying their motion to dismiss all claims filed against…
Date: December 6, 2013
Docket Numbers: 1110840, 1110857
Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated appeals, Pensacola Motor Sales, Inc., d/b/a Bob Tyler Toyota ("BTT"), one of two named defendants, appealed in case no. 1110840 a judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs Daphne…
Date: December 6, 2013
Docket Number: 1111353
Date: December 6, 2013
Docket Number: 1111386
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Patricia Working, Rick Erdemir, and Floyd McGinnis appealed a circuit court judgment that held that the Jefferson County Election Commission ("the JCEC"), Probate Judge Alan King, Circuit Clerk Anne-Marie…
Date: December 6, 2013
Docket Numbers: 1111588, 1120264
Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated appeals, defendants the Alabama Department of Corrections, various department officials, and Governor Robert Bentley, appealed in case no. 1111588, the trial court's determination limiting certain…
Date: November 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120509
Justia Opinion Summary: The parties in this dispute entered into a common-law marriage in 2006. They lived together as husband and wife in Alabama with their minor children, L.F. and M.F, until 2009. Siderius moved with L.F. and M.F. to Oregon…
Date: November 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1120352
Justia Opinion Summary: Robert and Tracy Barrett appealed the grant of two summary judgments in favor of Carlos Roman d/b/a Carlos Roman Roofing ("Roman") and Bobby Beach d/b/a Just Brick Masonry ("Beach") on all of the Barretts' claims against…
Date: November 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1120578
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, the State of Kentucky entered an order finding that 74-year-old Shirley Day was in need of a guardian and conservator. The Kentucky court appointed her adult daughter, Rhonda Sears, to serve in both capacities.…
Date: November 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1120614
Justia Opinion Summary: Wausau Development Corporation ("WDC") appeals a circuit court judgment in favor of Natural Gas & Oil, Inc. ("NGO"). NGO filed a complaint seeking a judgment determining the validity of certain oil and gas leases held by…
Date: November 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1120781
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants Del Marsh, Gerald Dial, Jay Love, and Chad Fincher were members of the Alabama Legislature during its 2013 Regular Session. They sought a writ of mandamus to order the Circuit Court to set aside its order…
Date: November 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1120801
Justia Opinion Summary: Afassco, Inc., a Nevada-based corporation, appealed a circuit court judgment that held a judgment Afassco obtained in a Nevada state court against former Afassco employee and Alabama resident Comer Ladon Sanders was void…
Date: November 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1120824
Justia Opinion Summary: Jeffery and Allison Rhodes petitioned for a writ of mandamus to direct the Circuit Court to dismiss the ejectment action filed against them by the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"). The Supreme Court…
Date: November 15, 2013
Docket Number: 1121111
Justia Opinion Summary: The Bessemer City Board of Education and Davis Middle School petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the Circuit Court to vacate its order denying the petitioners' motion to dismiss the claim filed…
Date: November 15, 2013
Docket Number: 1121321
Date: November 8, 2013
Docket Number: 1110959
Justia Opinion Summary: Dr. Ann M. Mottershaw and The Radiology Group, LLC, appealed a trial court's order granting a motion for a new trial filed by plaintiff Shannon Ledbetter, as administrator of the estate of Venoria Womack. These appeals…
Date: November 8, 2013
Docket Number: 1111204
Justia Opinion Summary: Ligon Capital, LLC, and its subsidiary HTI Hydraulic Technologies, LLC, sued CNH America, LLC, asserting breach-of-contract, fraudulent-misrepresentation, and fraudulent suppression claims stemming from CNH's decision to…
Date: November 8, 2013
Docket Number: 1120007
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2005, James Wiese attended an auction held by Alabama Powersport Auction, LLC (APA) and purchased a "Yerf Dog Go-Cart," for his two minor sons. The go-cart was on consignment to APA from FF Acquisition; however, Wiese…
Date: November 8, 2013
Docket Number: 1120500
Date: November 8, 2013
Docket Number: 1120579
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Gadsden and certain members of the State Employees' Insurance Board appealed two circuit court orders that granted injunctive relief to John Boman. Boman worked as a Gadsden police officer from 1965 until he…
Date: November 8, 2013
Docket Number: 1120813
Date: October 25, 2013
Docket Number: 1110413
Justia Opinion Summary: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit certified two questions pertaining to Alabama law to the Alabama Supreme Court. The certified questions in this matter required the Court to determine the scope of…
Date: October 25, 2013
Docket Number: 1120176
Date: October 25, 2013
Docket Number: 1120855
Date: October 25, 2013
Docket Number: 1120873
Justia Opinion Summary: Two police officers and the City of Birmingham petitioned for a writ of mandamus to direct the circuit court to vacate its judgment denying the petitioners' motion for a summary judgment and to enter a judgment in their…
Date: October 25, 2013
Docket Number: 1121262
Date: October 18, 2013
Docket Number: 1101455
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Bessemer and Bessemer City Councillors Jimmy Stephens, Dorothy Davidson, Sarah W. Belcher, and Albert Soles sought a writ of mandamus to direct the Circuit Court to dismiss a claim alleging bad-faith failure…
Date: October 18, 2013
Docket Number: 1120569
Justia Opinion Summary: Bruce L. Johnson, Michael L. King, and William Harrison sued Luke Edwards, the Apostolic Advancement Association, Heritage Real Investment, Inc., Alabama-Mississippi Farm, Inc., and several officers and board members of…
Date: October 11, 2013
Docket Number: 1110738
Justia Opinion Summary: Alabama Mutual Insurance Corporation ("AMIC"), the defendant in an action pending at the Lamar Circuit Court filed by the City of Vernon on behalf of itself and other similarly situated entities, appealed the court's…
Date: October 11, 2013
Docket Number: 1110791
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Pavilion Development, L.L.C., sought to redeem certain foreclosed real property. In this appeal, it challenged the trial court's judgment assessing the "lawful charges" due the various parties holding a legal…
Date: October 4, 2013
Docket Number: 1110931
Date: October 4, 2013
Docket Number: 1120387
Justia Opinion Summary: Carolyn Christopher petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to review the a Court of Appeals judgment that affirmed an order requiring her to pay postminority educational support on behalf of her child,…
Date: October 4, 2013
Docket Number: 1120439
Justia Opinion Summary: Safeway Insurance Company of Alabama, Inc. petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the Circuit Court to grant its Rule 12(b)(1), Ala. R. Civ. P., motion to dismiss a bad-faith claim against it for…
Date: October 4, 2013
Docket Number: 1120661
Justia Opinion Summary: George Patrick Stacey and Innovative Treasury Systems, Inc. ("I.T.S."), sued Anthony Lee Peed for breach of contract, account stated, and money lent. Peed denied he was indebted to Stacey and I.T.S., moved for dismissal…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Numbers: 1110105, 1110505
Justia Opinion Summary: Deidre W. Lee and Samuel G. McKerall appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Town of Magnolia Springs Mayor Charles Houser and Town Councilman Robert C. Holk. The Town of Magnolia Springs and the Magnolia…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1110439
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1111117
Justia Opinion Summary: State Farm Fire and Casualty Company appealed an adverse judgment entered on a jury verdict in in favor of homeowner and policyholder Shawn Brechbill on his claim of "abnormal" bad-faith failure to investigate an…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Numbers: 1111232, 1111360
Justia Opinion Summary: Terminix International Company, L.P., and Terminix International, Inc. appealed a trial court's order denying Terminix's motion to vacate or modify an arbitration award entered in favor of Walter Scott III and his wife,…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Numbers: 1111378, 1111368, 1111337, 1111335
Justia Opinion Summary: John and Judith Valloze and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company; State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Company; Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation; Freightliner, Allison Transmission, Inc. ("Allison Transmission"); and…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1111494
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alabama Educational Television Commission and Ferris W. Stephens, Rodney D. Herring, Les Barnett, J. Holland, Dannetta K. Thornton Owens, Bebe Williams, and Gregory O. Griffin, Sr. (collectively, "the…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1111627
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120103
Justia Opinion Summary: Sandra Chavers sued the City of Mobile seeking damages based on claims of negligent maintenance, continuing trespass, continuing nuisance, and inverse condemnation, all related to that part of the City's storm…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120251
Justia Opinion Summary: Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. sought a writ of mandamus to direct the Jefferson Circuit Court to vacate its order compelling discovery of a post-accident investigation report related to an accident that occurred at…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120385
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court concluded the Court of Criminal Appeals erred when it affirmed Derek Baker's conviction for trafficking in marijuana. Baker was entitled to production of the seized substance in his case for the purpose…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120395
Justia Opinion Summary: Tammie Boyles, as mother and next friend of Colton Elijah Powell Boyles ("Eli"), filed a lawsuit on behalf of her son for injuries he allegedly sustained from an arterial stick while he was hospitalized at University of…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120531
Justia Opinion Summary: George Mason petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the Macon Circuit Court to enter a summary judgment for him on the basis of State-agent immunity in an action filed against him by Kola Oyedepo,…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120536
Justia Opinion Summary: F.V.O., respondent in a dependency action, appealed a trial court's orders after a dispositional review hearing in a dependency case. A majority of the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the orders; the Supreme Court…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120577
Justia Opinion Summary: The State petitioned the Supreme Court for review of a Court of Criminal Appeals' decision to reverse Curtis Maurice Sanders's conviction for third-degree burglary. Sanders entered a guilty plea. As a matter of first…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120603
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120920
Justia Opinion Summary: Foundation Bank petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to compel the circuit court to vacate its order staying the Bank's attempted redemption in the probate court of certain property. The property at issue…
Date: September 27, 2013
Docket Number: 1120958
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1091762
Justia Opinion Summary: Ann Whitty, Tratillia McCall, and other class-action plaintiffs filed suit against Montgomery County and Janet Buskey (in her capacity as Montgomery County Revenue Commissioner. Plaintiffs appealed the dismissal of their…
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1100637
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1101051
Justia Opinion Summary: Donald Hughes and John Hughes appealed circuit court judgment vacating a deed and imposing a constructive trust upon real property formerly owned by Henry Hughes and Emma Lucille Hughes, both of whom are deceased.…
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1110424
Justia Opinion Summary: Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (RJFS), and its employee, Bernard Michaud appealed a trial court order vacating an arbitration award in their favor and entering a judgment in favor of Kathryn Honea. Honea had…
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1111199
Justia Opinion Summary: AltaPointe Health Systems, Inc. ("AHS"), appealed a probate court order denying its petition for an award of expert-witness fees a civil-commitment proceeding. This case presented a matter of first impression for the…
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Numbers: 1111370, 1111567
Justia Opinion Summary: Two petitions for a writ of mandamus came before the Supreme Court. Both sought review of orders that found plaintiffs lacked of standing and, in turn, found the trial courts lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. In case…
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1111376
Justia Opinion Summary: Jamie Gaddy appealed a circuit court judgment that dismissed with prejudice Gaddy's medical-malpractice action against certified nurse anesthetist Lisa Brascho. According to Gaddy, the reason she requested the dismissal…
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1111567
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1111621
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120413
Justia Opinion Summary: John Lanier appealed the denial of his motion to alter, amend, or vacate a judgment, and for relief from the judgment. Lanier's motion was filed after plaintiff McMath Construction, Inc. filed a "Notice of Filing of…
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120573
Justia Opinion Summary: Hubert Norris appealed the grant of summary judgment entered in favor of the Fayette County Commission and the dismissal of his petition for a writ of mandamus. Because the trial court correctly held that, as a matter of…
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120599
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, the Baldwin County Commission passed a resolution recognizing the Fair Association's planned construction of a multimillion dollar coliseum at the Association's new fairgrounds site in Baldwin County. The…
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120764
Justia Opinion Summary: Owners Insurance Company appealed a circuit court judgment declaring Owners was obligated to pay an arbitration award entered against Jim Carr Homebuilder, LLC ("JCH"), under the terms of a commercial general-liability…
Date: September 20, 2013
Docket Number: 1120781
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants Del Marsh, Gerald Dial, Jay Love, and Chad Fincher were members of the Alabama Legislature during its 2013 Regular Session. Defendants sought a writ of mandamus to order the Circuit Court to set aside its…
Date: September 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1110054
Date: September 13, 2013
Docket Numbers: 1110054, 1110373
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court consolidated two cases for the purposes of this opinion. Each of the plaintiffs in these cases attended a foreclosure auction, was the successful bidder at that auction, paid money for the auctioned…
Date: September 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1110547
Justia Opinion Summary: GMAC Mortgage, LLC challenged the reversal of a circuit court judgment entered on GMAC Mortgage's ejectment action against Reginald and Diana Patterson. Upon review the Supreme Court reversed the appellate court's and…
Date: September 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1111507
Justia Opinion Summary: Frank Moultrie appealed a circuit court judgment that assessed attorney fees and costs to Moultrie after finding him in contempt for violating the terms of a temporary restraining order. Upon review, the Supreme Court…
Date: September 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1120140
Justia Opinion Summary: In petitions for a writ of mandamus, two juvenile offenders sought dismissal of capital-murder indictments based on "Roper v. Simmons," (543 U.S. 551 (2005)), and "Miller v. Alabama," (132 S.Ct. 2455 (2012)). Both…
Date: September 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1120593
Justia Opinion Summary: The State sought certiorari for review of a decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals that reversed the Juvenile Court's decision to deny G.M.'s motion to suppress evidence that G.M. argued was obtained pursuant to an…
Date: September 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1120629
Justia Opinion Summary: General Motors of Canada Limited ("GM Canada") petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the Choctaw Circuit Court to enter a summary judgment in its favor on the ground that the plaintiff's…
Date: September 13, 2013
Docket Number: 1120630
Justia Opinion Summary: The Water Works and Sewer Board of the City of Prichard appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners of the City of Mobile d/b/a Mobile Area Water and Sewer Service System…
Date: September 9, 2013
Docket Number: 1091758
Justia Opinion Summary: Target Media Partners Operating Company, LLC and Specialty Marketing Corporation d/b/a Truck Market News, have litigated a commercial contract dispute since 2007. Each party alleged breach-of-contract claims against the…
Date: September 6, 2013
Docket Number: 1091758
Date: August 30, 2013
Docket Number: 1111323
Justia Opinion Summary: Jessica Eastman, as the dependent widow of David Bentley, and on behalf of Bentley's three minor children, appealed a judgment entered in favor of R. Warehousing and Port Services Inc. On appeal to the Supreme Court, she…
Date: August 30, 2013
Docket Number: 1120084
Justia Opinion Summary: The Board of Equalization and Adjustment of Shelby County appealed a consent judgment reflecting an agreement between the Board and Shelby 39, LLC. The Board argued the circuit court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction…
Date: August 30, 2013
Docket Number: 1120348
Justia Opinion Summary: Joseph Lester Pate petitioned the Supreme Court Court for a writ of certiorari to review the Court of Criminal Appeals' affirmance by unpublished memorandum of the circuit court's denial of his motion for reconsideration…
Date: August 30, 2013
Docket Number: 1120445
Justia Opinion Summary: Toma E. Smith, as personal representative of the estate of Tiffani P. Smith, appeals the grant of a summary judgment in favor of Dr. James Fleming, and a judgment entered in favor of Dr. Winfield S. Fisher III and the…
Date: August 30, 2013
Docket Number: 1120561
Date: August 30, 2013
Docket Number: 1120749
Date: August 30, 2013
Docket Number: 1120782
Date: August 23, 2013
Docket Number: 1120016
Date: August 23, 2013
Docket Number: 1120228
Date: August 23, 2013
Docket Number: 1120580
Date: August 23, 2013
Docket Number: 1120879
Date: August 23, 2013
Docket Number: 1121166
Date: August 16, 2013
Docket Number: 1111513
Justia Opinion Summary: Rebecca B. McDonald, as administrator of the estate of her son Jeremy Wayne McDonald, sued Kubota Manufacturing of America Corporation, Kubota Corporation, and Kubota Tractor Corporation, asserting various claims after…
Date: August 16, 2013
Docket Numbers: 1111525, 1111568
Justia Opinion Summary: In case no. 1111525, M & F Bank ("M & F") appealed a summary judgment entered in favor of First American Title Insurance Company ("FATIC") on negligence, breach-of-contract, and bad-faith-failure-to-pay claims M&F…
Date: August 16, 2013
Docket Number: 1111626
Justia Opinion Summary: Garfield W. Ivey, Jr. appealed circuit court judgment in favor of James C. King. In 2007, King sued Dollar & Eads, P.C., Rhonda Dollar, and Phillip Eads ("Dollar & Eads"), Peggy G. Northcutt a/k/a Peggy G. Fannin…
Date: August 16, 2013
Docket Number: 1120522
Justia Opinion Summary: Michelle D. Morgan appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Publix Super Markets, Inc., on her claim alleging a violation of the Alabama Medical Liability Act. Morgan sued Publix, asserting that she had…
Date: August 2, 2013
Docket Number: 1110760
Justia Opinion Summary: Felice McGathey appealed a circuit court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Brookwood Health Services, Inc., d/b/a Brookwood Medical Center, and Scott Appell, M.D., in her medical malpractice action; she also…
Date: August 2, 2013
Docket Number: 1110996
Justia Opinion Summary: South Alabama Gas District (SAG) appealed a circuit court order enjoining it from selling liquified petroleum ("LP") gas and related appliances outside its member cities. Four individual taxpayers and Fletcher Smith…
Date: July 12, 2013
Docket Number: 1110672
Date: July 12, 2013
Docket Number: 1110786
Justia Opinion Summary: Precision Gear Company, Precision Gear LLC, and General Metal Heat Treating, Inc. were granted permission to appeal an interlocutory order denying their motion to dismiss the third-party claims against them filed by…
Date: July 12, 2013
Docket Number: 1120200
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Reginald Tyrone Lightfoot challenged his conviction for trafficking in cocaine and his sentence of 15 years' imprisonment. The Supreme Court granted certiorari review to determine, as a matter of first…
Date: July 3, 2013
Docket Number: 1091780
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Defendant's Rule 32 petition should not have been dismissed on the grounds that his claim for relief under Rule 32.1 lacked allegations to negate the preclusive bars of Rule 32.1(a)(3) and…
Date: July 3, 2013
Docket Number: 1111448
Justia Opinion Summary: Luther Pate, IV sought review of the Court of Criminal Appeals' decision to affirm his conviction for menacing. In a matter of first impression, the issues before the Supreme Court were: (1) whether lawfully arming…
Date: July 3, 2013
Docket Number: 1120176
Justia Opinion Summary: The O'Neals appealed a circuit court order that granted Bama Exterminating Company, Inc.'s motion to compel arbitration. The dispute arose shortly after the O'Neals closed on the purchase of a house. As part of the loan…
Date: July 3, 2013
Docket Number: 1120549
Date: July 1, 2013
Docket Number: 1100637
Date: June 28, 2013
Docket Number: 1090549
Date: June 28, 2013
Docket Number: 1091163
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Stanford Isbell sued M&J Materials, Inc. seeking workmans' compensation benefits. He also sought compensatory and punitive damages based on his claim of a retaliatory discharge. M&J denied liability,…
Date: June 28, 2013
Docket Number: 1100637
Justia Opinion Summary: Hosea O. Weaver & Sons, Inc. appealed a jury verdict in favor of Ira Balch, personal representative of the Estate of Danny Balch, and Melvin Balch, personal representative of the estates of Bernard Balch and Armie Balch.…
Date: June 28, 2013
Docket Number: 1110698
Justia Opinion Summary: Southern Natural Gas Company (Sonat) sued Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London and Certain London Marketing Insurance Companies (Phase III), alleging breach of numerous umbrella and excess liability policies. Sonat…
Date: June 28, 2013
Docket Number: 1120099
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Fernando Rodriguez-Flores appealed the dismissal of his claims of retaliatory discharge and fraud brought against his former employer, U.S. Coatings, Inc. He worked as a painter. He stated that he suffered on…
Date: June 28, 2013
Docket Number: 1120296
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants U.S. Innovations Group, Inc. (and several others) petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to order the trial court to dismiss claims filed against it by Judy Hawke and Carolyn Grimes. Defendants…
Date: June 21, 2013
Docket Number: 1090874
Date: June 21, 2013
Docket Number: 1111240
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Tonya Cate sought a writ of mandamus to direct the trial court to vacate its order requiring her to submit for a mental examination. She was indicted for capital murder and did not use the…
Date: June 21, 2013
Docket Number: 1111558
Justia Opinion Summary: The Utilities Board of the City of Opp appealed a circuit court's order that denied its motion to dismiss a third-party complaint filed by Shuler Brothers, Inc. The Alabama Electric Company (AEC) had filed suit against…
Date: June 21, 2013
Docket Number: 1120291
Justia Opinion Summary: Joe Robertson appealed a circuit court order that held his claims against Mount Royal Towers were subject to an arbitration agreement and compelled him to arbitrate those claims. Finding that Robertson had not met his…
Date: June 21, 2013
Docket Number: 1120744
Justia Opinion Summary: USA Water Ski, Inc. sought a writ of mandamus to direct the trial court to vacate its discovery order compelling the production of a report that it deemed privileged under the work-product doctrine. Finding that USA…
Date: June 21, 2013
Docket Number: 1120945
Date: June 14, 2013
Docket Number: 1120337
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff SafetyNet Youth Systems, LLC sued Defendants Guarantee Insurance Company, Patriot National Insurance Group, Randy Thomas, and Paul Harper in Dallas County Circuit Court. Defendants sought the writ of mandamus…
Date: June 7, 2013
Docket Number: 1111419
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, Sterling Bank sued Christopher Sanspree for nonpayment on a promissory note. Sanspree answered, raised counterclaims of fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, negligence and negligent supervision.…
Date: June 7, 2013
Docket Number: 1111451
Justia Opinion Summary: Raymond Patterson appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Jai Maatadee, Inc. (d/b/a, R.C. Quick Stop) and its owners. Patterson visited the R.C. Quick Stop to buy gasoline. He stepped on a metal drain cover in…
Date: June 7, 2013
Docket Number: 1120016
Date: June 7, 2013
Docket Number: 1120442
Justia Opinion Summary: Timmy and Stephanie Blackmon sued Eddie Powell (d/b/a Powell Plumbing Company) for negligence, wantonness, breach of implied warranties and breach of contract following a water-line rupture that caused extensive flooding…
Date: June 7, 2013
Docket Number: 1120852
Date: May 31, 2013
Docket Number: 1111239
Justia Opinion Summary: Riverfront, LLC, petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the Etowah Circuit Court to vacate its order denying Riverfront's motion to enforce a forum-selection clause in a lease agreement between it…
Date: May 31, 2013
Docket Number: 1111375
Justia Opinion Summary: Guardian Builders, LLC, and Wayne Tackett (collectively "Guardian") appealed an order that denied its motion to vacate or modify an arbitration award entered in favor of Randy and Melissa Uselton. In April 2010, the…
Date: May 31, 2013
Docket Number: 1111625
Date: May 31, 2013
Docket Number: 1120133
Justia Opinion Summary: Tommy Hand sued the Prattville law firm of Howell, Sarto & Howell and William P. Roberts II, an attorney formerly employed by the Howell firm, asserting a claim under the Alabama Legal Services Liability Act based on…
Date: May 31, 2013
Docket Number: 1120227
Date: May 24, 2013
Docket Number: 1110931
Justia Opinion Summary: Tyson Foods, Inc. petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the Blount Circuit Court to dismiss Reba Kirkley's action against it, brought in her capacity as administratrix of her father's estate, on…
Date: May 24, 2013
Docket Number: 1111340
Date: May 24, 2013
Docket Number: 1120301
Date: May 17, 2013
Docket Number: 1090084
Date: May 17, 2013
Docket Number: 1120310
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants Marathon Construction and Demolition, LLC, and OAX, LLC, appealed a circuit court order granting injunctive relief to the plaintiff King Metal Recycling and Processing Corporation. King Metal sued Marathon and…
Date: May 17, 2013
Docket Number: 1120394
Justia Opinion Summary: Fred and Nancy Eagerton petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the Circuit Court to enter a judgment as a matter of law in their favor and against SE Property Holdings, LLC, consistent with the…
Date: May 17, 2013
Docket Number: 1120495
Date: May 3, 2013
Docket Number: 1110418
Justia Opinion Summary: Shane Traylor Cabinetmaker, L.L.C. ("STC"), and Michael Shane Traylor sued American Resources Insurance Company, Inc., alleging breach of contract and bad faith, based on American Resources' refusal to defend or to…
Date: May 3, 2013
Docket Number: 1110759
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants The Pantry, Inc., and Herndon Oil Corporation appealed a judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs Kaycee Mosley and Alana Byrd. The appeals primarily concerned whether Kaycee and Alana's…
Date: May 3, 2013
Docket Number: 1120326
Justia Opinion Summary: Transportation Leasing Corp. ("TLC") and Aquilex Hydrochem, LLC, petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to order the Perry Circuit Court to vacate its order denying TLC and Aquilex's motion to dismiss the…
Date: April 26, 2013
Docket Number: 1120035
Justia Opinion Summary: Roosevelt Upshaw appealed a circuit court's decision to deny his petition for habeas relief. In his petition, Upshaw alleged that the Alabama Department of Corrections ("ADOC") had erred in calculating the term of his…
Date: April 26, 2013
Docket Number: 1120165
Justia Opinion Summary: Brooks Insurance Agency, Sidney Brooks (its agent), and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company (collectively "Nationwide") petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to…
Date: April 26, 2013
Docket Number: 1120625
Date: April 19, 2013
Docket Number: 1101337
Justia Opinion Summary: Immediately following the release of the Supreme Court's previous decision in this case, the Alabama Legislature passed Act No. 2012-198, Ala. Acts 2012, which repealed the statutory provision that underpinned the…
Date: April 19, 2013
Docket Number: 1110295
Justia Opinion Summary: Lowell and Deborah Fuller, and Ronald Sheila Turner, appealed a circuit court judgment that found that although the Town of Magnolia Springs held no riparian rights in or to the Magnolia River, the Town was entitled to…
Date: April 5, 2013
Docket Number: 1110566
Justia Opinion Summary: Jermaine Parker was convicted of conspiracy to commit a controlled-substance crime (the unlawful distribution of cocaine), and of obstructing governmental operations. The Supreme Court granted certiorari review to…
Date: April 5, 2013
Docket Number: 1110578
Justia Opinion Summary: Daniel Ernest Hegarty, M.D., and the Monroeville Medical Clinic appealed a circuit court judgment entered in favor of Dixie Hudson in her medical-malpractice action. Dr. Hegarty delivered Hudson's baby via…
Date: April 5, 2013
Docket Number: 1120229
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs sued Mobile Gas Service Corporation, pipeline operators and several other companies over the release of an odorant containing mercaptan. Mobile Gas, stated that, in fall 2011, Mobile Gas started receiving…
Date: March 29, 2013
Docket Number: 1090638
Justia Opinion Summary: On rehearing, Clay C. Slagle moved the Supreme Court to "disqualify" Robert Bernard Harwood, Jr., from sitting as a Special Justice on this case on the ground, among others, that he was then-currently engaged in the…
Date: March 29, 2013
Docket Number: 1091215
Date: March 29, 2013
Docket Number: 1111509
Justia Opinion Summary: Following an automobile accident in which Ron'Drequez Cortez White was killed by a drunk driver, Elizabeth McElroy, the county administrator for Jefferson County and appointed personal representative of White's estate,…
Date: March 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1101555
Justia Opinion Summary: Derrick Ervin appealed a summary judgment in favor of the City of Birmingham seeking the return of $178,858. The money was taken pursuant to a search of a vehicle impounded by police in connection with suspected drug…
Date: March 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1111309
Date: March 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1111433
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants R & G, LLC, George D. Copelan, Sr., Gilman Hackel, and Robert Yarbrough appealed a $1.3 million circuit court judgment entered against them and in favor of RCH IV-WB, LLC ("RCH"). In July 2005, Wolf Bay…
Date: March 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1120122
Justia Opinion Summary: SSC Montgomery Cedar Crest Operating Company, LLC appealed a circuit court judgment denying its motion to compel arbitration of the medical-malpractice claim asserted against it by Linda Bolding, as attorney in fact and…
Date: March 15, 2013
Docket Number: 1110910
Justia Opinion Summary: First Commercial Bank of Huntsville appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of various defendants on claims alleged by the Bank against those defendants. Because the summary judgment did not resolve all claims…
Date: March 15, 2013
Docket Number: 1111340
Date: March 15, 2013
Docket Number: 1111541
Justia Opinion Summary: Alamo Title Company ("Alamo"), petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the Jefferson Circuit Court to vacate its order that denied Alamo's motion to dismiss an action filed against it by P.B. Surf,…
Date: March 15, 2013
Docket Number: 2100907
Justia Opinion Summary: J.D.A. ("the husband") appealed a circuit court judgment that, among other things, divorced him from A.B.A. ("the wife"); divided the marital assets; awarded the wife periodic alimony; required the husband to pay child…
Date: March 15, 2013
Docket Number: 2110768
Justia Opinion Summary: Harold Keith Hunt, the surviving son of Harold Guy Hunt, who died testate in 2009, appealed a November 2011 circuit court order among other things, refused to issue him a deed to the real property devised to him in his…
Date: March 15, 2013
Docket Number: 2110807
Justia Opinion Summary: Cocina Superior, LLC owned a restaurant in Birmingham that sold alcoholic beverages to the public. Cocina appealed two final assessments of the Jefferson County Department of Revenue. The assessments reflected that, for…
Date: March 15, 2013
Docket Number: 2120035
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Nandean Sanders appealed a circuit court judgment in favor of Defendants E.I. Campbell, Averline Campbell and Jerry Lawrence. The parties owned adjoining properties in Dallas County. Sanders sought declarative…
Date: March 15, 2013
Docket Number: 2120330
Justia Opinion Summary: Tommy Wiley appealed a circuit court judgment in favor of Bohannon Services, Inc. As a Bohannon employee, Wiley suffered a shoulder injury as a result of a work-related accident. Wiley filed a complaint requesting that…
Date: March 8, 2013
Docket Number: 1101163
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants Jim Cody Beddingfield and his parents, Jimmy Larry and Rebecca M. Beddingfield appealed a judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of Plaintiff Trace Rex Linam, and appealed the trial court's order denying…
Date: March 8, 2013
Docket Number: 1120403
Date: March 1, 2013
Docket Number: 1110295
Justia Opinion Summary: Lowell and Deborah Fuller, and Ronald and Sheila M. Turner, appealed a circuit court judgment which found that, although the Town of Magnolia Springs held no riparian rights in and to the Magnolia River, the Town was…
Date: March 1, 2013
Docket Number: 1120498
Justia Opinion Summary: The State through the Alabama Attorney General, sought a writ of mandamus to direct the presiding judge of the Macon Circuit Court to issue a search warrant as to "certain allegedly illegal gambling devices and related…
Date: February 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1111316
Justia Opinion Summary: Anthony Haywood and Daniel Hall appealed a circuit court judgment that dismissed claims against Sheriff Dorothy "Jean Dot" Alexander, which were filed as part of a counterclaim in an action filed against Phillip Eugene…
Date: February 22, 2013
Docket Number: 1111486
Justia Opinion Summary: Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company filed a declaratory-judgment action in the federal district court seeking, among other things, a determination of the status of…
Date: February 15, 2013
Docket Number: 1110688
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Joe F. Watkins, Patricia M. Smith, and RE/MAX Lake Martin Properties, LLC sued Bear Brothers, Inc., ETC Lake Development, LLC ("ETC Lake"), and E.T. "Bud" Chambers, among others, asserting claims related to…
Date: February 15, 2013
Docket Number: 1111206
Justia Opinion Summary: The Alabama Insurance Guaranty Association ("AIGA") filed an action against Mercy Medical Association, and Catholic Health East, Inc. ("CHE"), seeking to recover money it had paid on behalf of Mercy Medical and CHE on…
Date: February 15, 2013
Docket Number: 1111347
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Irondale appealed a circuit court's grant of summary judgment which declared its annexation of a parcel of property owned by the Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust adjacent to the Cahaba River as void.…
Date: January 25, 2013
Docket Number: 1111283
Justia Opinion Summary: The president of the University of South Alabama and several hospital administrators petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the circuit court to vacate an order that denied their motion for summary…
Date: January 11, 2013
Docket Number: 1101397
Justia Opinion Summary: The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, Southern Division certified a question to the Alabama Supreme Court: "Under Alabama law, may a drug company be held liable for fraud or…
Date: January 11, 2013
Docket Number: 1101403
Justia Opinion Summary: Carl Weaver appealed the trial court's denial of his motion to dismiss the complaint filed against him by Roger D. Firestone. In May 1995, Firestone, Charles T. Amberson, Jr., and Darrell Thomas were assaulted, battered,…
Date: January 11, 2013
Docket Number: 1110176
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners Hope Ankrom and Amanda Kimbrough each petitioned the Supreme Court for review of the Court of Criminal Appeals' decisions in their respective cases. The Court granted their petitions and consolidated the…
Date: January 11, 2013
Docket Number: 1110724
Justia Opinion Summary: Miller Trucking, LLC, Ben Miller, and Miriam Miller ("the Miller plaintiffs) appeal a summary judgment in favor of APAC Mid-South, Inc. (APAC), Oldcastle Materials, Inc., and Steve Reynolds (defendants). The facts of…
Date: January 11, 2013
Docket Number: 1110993
Justia Opinion Summary: Ryan Price-Williams sued Admiral Insurance Company and Gabriel Dean and Charles Baber in Circuit Court pursuant to Alabama's direct-action statute. Both Dean and Baber were alleged by Price-Williams to be covered under a…
Date: January 11, 2013
Docket Number: 1111598
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners James Waltman and Progressive Casualty Insurance Company petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the Perry Circuit Court to vacate its order that denied their respective motions to…
Date: January 11, 2013
Docket Number: 1120201
Date: January 4, 2013
Docket Number: 1111130
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