Carpenter v. StateCarpenter v. State
- Reporters:
- , ,
- Before:
- Long, McMillan, Cobb, Baschab, Fry
The appellant,
In processing this appeal, this Cоurt realized that the trial court never ruled on Carpenter‘s affidavit of substantial hardship or his rеquest to proceed in forma pauperis, see §
This Court in Goldsmith v. State, 709 So.2d 1352 (Ala.Crim.App. 1997), held that аbsent the payment of a filing fee or the granting of a request to proceed in forma рauperis the trial court fails to obtain subject matter jurisdiction to consider a postconviction petition. See Ex parte Beavers, 779 So.2d 1223 (Ala. 2000). We believe that the same rationale applies tо habeas corpus petitions. Because the trial court did not have jurisdiction to consider the merits of the habeas corpus petition, its judgment dismissing that petiiton is void, and this Court has no jurisdiction to consider this appeal; thus, this appeal is due to be dismissed.
We take this opрortunity, however, to write to an issue that is becoming an ever increasing problem in this Court. Section
“(a) There shall be a consolidated civil filing fee, known as a docket fee, collected from a рlaintiff at the time a complaint is filed in circuit court or in district court.
“(b) The docket fee mаy be waived initially and taxed as costs at the conclusion of the case if the court finds thаt
payment of the fee will constitute a substantial hardship. A verified statement of substantial hardship, signed by the plaintiff and approved by the court, shall be filed with the clerk of court.”
(Emphasis added.)1
Here, the trial court attempted to invoke this statute by taxing the filing fee as costs at the еnd of the proceeding. However, the trial court did not approve the affidavit of substаntial hardship before it ruled on the petition. Section
“The use of the term `shall’ in this provision [§
12-19-70(a) ] makes the payment of the filing fee mandatory. See Price v. Hunter, 388 So.2d 546, 547 (Ala. 1980). It was the obvious intent оf the legislature to require that either the payment of this fee or a court-apprоved verified statement of substantial hardship accompany the complaint [petition] at the time of filing. No doubt the purpose behind the passage of this provision was to discourage the filing of frivolous suits and to insure that the clerks of the circuit court do not become `credit men.’ Cf. Turkett v. United States, 76 F. Supp. 769 (N.D.N.Y. 1948) (holding that payment of the filing fee is a prerequisite to filing an action underRule 3, Fed.R.Civ.P. , which is identical to our Rule 3, and28 U.S.C.A., § 549 (now28 U.S.C.A., § 1914 ), which provides that the party instituting a civil action must pay a filing fee, and commenting, `Any other construction would open the door to actions without merit by irresponsible parties, and make the clerk a сredit man, whose accountability might result in his personal loss,’ 76 F. Supp. at 770).”
De-Gas, Inc. v. Midland Resources, 470 So.2d 1218, 1220 (Ala. 1985).
No person should be permitted tо file a postconviction petition without paying the requisite filing fee, unless the petition is аccompanied by a court-approved verified statement of substantial hardship signеd by the petitioner. Here, Carpenter filed a habeas corpus petition. This Court is awаre that, `[I]n order to prevent “effectively foreclosed access” [to the cоurts], indigent prisoners must be allowed to file appeals and habeas corpus petitiоns without payment of docket fees.’ Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 822, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977).” Ex parte Beavers, 779 So.2d at 1224. However, Alabama has provided indigent defendants with а means to file habeas corpus petitions without prepaying the filing fees, see §
Here, the trial court‘s order was void for lack of jurisdiction. The trial court did nоt approve on the verified statement of substantial hardship. Because the trial cоurt‘s actions were void, there is no judgment to support an appeal. McKinney v. State, 549 So.2d 166, 168 (Ala.Crim.App. 1989).
APPEAL DISMISSED.
Long, P.J., and McMillan, Cobb, Baschab, and Fry, JJ., concur.