Supreme Court of Alabama
Ex Parte Luther Stancel Pate Iv. (in Re Luther Stancel Pate Iv v. City of Tuscaloosa)
July 3, 2013145 So. 3d 733
Summary
The Alabama Supreme Court reversed the Court of Criminal Appeals and remanded, holding that merely retrieving a firearm does not satisfy the “physical action” element required for a menacing conviction under Ala.Code § 13A‑6‑23(a). The Court applied strict statutory construction principles, concluding that the statute’s language does not extend to the defendant’s act of getting a gun absent additional conduct. Separate dissenting and concurring opinions address the scope of “physical action” and the appropriateness of the writ.