Ex Parte Curtis Tanner Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Court of Criminal Appeals (in Re: City of Huntsville…

Summary

The Supreme Court of Alabama affirmed the Court of Criminal Appeals' judgments, holding that defects in municipal-court complaints did not deprive the circuit court of subject-matter jurisdiction and that the petitioners did not waive their challenges by raising them for the first time in their de novo circuit-court appeals. The court nevertheless concluded that the complaints satisfied the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure because they adequately informed the petitioners of the charged offenses and were not required to allege the prior adoption of the municipal ordinances. The court also held that its certiorari jurisdiction was properly invoked because the Court of Criminal Appeals accepted the rehearing applications and the petitions were timely filed thereafter.