Ex Parte Melvin Gene Hodges (In Re: Melvin Gene Hodges v. State of Alabama).

Summary

The Alabama Supreme Court held that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in summarily dismissing Hodges’s Rule 32 petition alleging juror misconduct because, under the Burgess rule, a petitioner is entitled to an evidentiary hearing unless the record shows he knew or should have known of the misconduct in time to raise it on appeal. Finding no such knowledge in the record, the Court reversed the appellate judgment and remanded for a hearing.