Justia Alabama Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Edward "Tiger" Ferguson, V. appealed a probate court's judgment awarding an omitted-spouse share of his stepfather's estate to Katina Critopoulos. Dimitrios Critopoulos (the decedent) died in 2012. The decedent had no children. His parents predeceased him, and he had no siblings. At the time of his death, the decedent was married to Katina. The couple had wed less than a year earlier. The decedent had a valid will at the time of his death, but the will, which was executed prior to their marriage, made no provision for Katina. The decedent's first wife, Dorothy Marie Hayes Critopoulos, had been married to the decedent for 35 years when she predeceased him in 2009. Dorothy had three children from a prior marriage: Crystal M. Hanawalt, Tiger, and Timothy Ferguson ("Tim"). Although the decedent did not adopt Crystal, Tiger, and Tim, it was undisputed that the three enjoyed a parent-child relationship with the decedent. Crystal, Tiger, and Tim were named as the residual legatees under the decedent's will. When the will was probated, Katina filed a petition for an omitted-spouse share. The probate court granted Katina's request. Tiger appealed. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded: the record showed that the amount of the transfers made during the marriage, along with the testimony that the decedent considered the terms of his will, the fact that Katina was not included in the will, the fact that the decedent did not change his will, and the fact that the will ultimately benefited Dorothy's children provided reasonable proof to satisfy Tiger's burden of proving an exception to the omitted-spouse share under the facts of this case. "[I]t was the main role of the probate court in this case to apply the law to the largely undisputed material facts." View "Ferguson v. Critopoulos " on Justia Law

On May 10, 2013, CAG MLG, L.L.C. sued Bart Smelley and Smelley Family Investments, L.L.C., alleging six counts of misrepresentation and/or fraud and a single count of unjust enrichment. Smelley responded with a motion to dismiss, arguing that CAG was a foreign limited-liability company formed and organized in the State of Florida in 2010 and that it was "not registered or qualified to do business in the State of Alabama." Smelley also alleged that CAG had domesticated in Wyoming as Oceans, LLC, in March 2011 and that CAG was subsequently dissolved as a Florida entity in April 2011. Smelley argued that CAG "failed to state the jurisdictional element establishing its ability to maintain an action in its initial pleading." Accordingly, Smelley argued, the circuit court lacked "subject matter jurisdiction and/or personal jurisdiction over the matters contained in the [c]omplaint." CAG amended its complaint to add an eighth count requesting that the circuit court issue an injunction preventing Smelley from selling a piece of real property. Smelley amended its motion to dismiss to include the additional claim. CAG filed a motion to strike the paragraphs of Smelley's motion to dismiss that alleged that CAG was a foreign entity that was not registered to transact business in Alabama and the exhibits attached in support thereof. The circuit court held a hearing on the motions, and, the next day, issued an order granting CAG's motion to strike the objected to paragraphs of Smelley's motion. The court dismissed the request for an injunction as moot, and instructed the parties to file briefs regarding the remainder of Smelley's motion. Later that year, the circuit court granted Smelly's motion. CAG appealed. On review, the Supreme Court found that the circuit court granted Smelley's motion to dismiss without considering the exhibits attached thereto (having struck those exhibits pursuant to CAG's motion). Accordingly, Smelley's motion was not converted to a motion for a summary judgment. The the circuit court's dismissal of CAG's complaint would have only been proper if CAG's alleged lack of capacity was evident from the face of CAG's complaint. The Court concluded that it was not. Therefore, the circuit's court's dismissal of the complaint was reversed. View "CAG MLG, L.L.C. v. Smelley" on Justia Law

Brandy Matthews and Joshua Taylor Matthews were married in 2004. In 2011, Brandy died as a result of gunshot wounds inflicted by Joshua. Brandy's death was determined to be a homicide. On the same date, Joshua died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Brandy and Joshua both died intestate. Deborah Willingham (Brandy's mother) was appointed by the Probate Court as the administrator of Brandy's estate. Rodney Matthews (Joshua's brother) was appointed as the administrator of Joshua's estate. Willingham filed for a declaratory judgment, stating that there was a justiciable controversy between Brandy's estate and Joshua's estate as to their respective rights, duties, and liabilities based on Willingham's interpretation of section 43-8-253 ("the Slayer's statute). She contended that, upon application of the statute, Joshua would have been unable to inherit from Brandy, and that his property was to pass as if he had predeceased Brandy. Matthews filed a response to Willingham's motion for a summary judgment, arguing that the statute only addressed how Brandy's estate would pass but not how Joshua's estate would pass, and that it therefore would have no bearing on the administration of Joshua's estate. The trial court entered a summary judgment declaring that 43-8-253 applied to the passing of Brandy's estate but not to the passing of Joshua's. Willingham appealed that judgment to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court found that Willingham did not establish that the trial court erred in finding that 43-8-253 was not applicable to the administration of Joshua's estate. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the trial court's judgment. View "Willingham v. Matthews" on Justia Law

Kenneth Jakeman appealed the trial court's dismissal of his claims against defendants Lawrence Group Management Company, LLC, Montgomery Memorial Cemetery ("MMC"), and Judy A. Jones. Lawrence Group owned and operated Montgomery Memorial Cemetery. Lawrence Group purchased the cemetery from Alderwoods, Inc. in or around 2002. In 1967, Jakeman's father, Ben, purchased a 'family plot' in the cemetery containing 10 separate burial spaces. The plot Ben selected was specifically chosen because of its location adjacent to plots owned by Ben's mother, Frances O'Neal. Pursuant to the terms of the purchase agreement, burial within Ben's plot was limited to members of either the Jakeman family or the O'Neal family. In 2002, MMC allegedly mistakenly conveyed two spaces in Ben's family plot to James Jones and his wife, Judy. James was interred in one of those two spaces. In 2006, Kenneth Jakeman learned that James had been buried in Ben's family plot, at which time, Kenneth says, he immediately notified MMC and Ben. In response to demands by Kenneth and Ben, MMC disinterred James and moved both his body and his marker; however, James was reinterred in another space on Ben's family plot. Ben died in 2008. At the time of Ben's death, James's body remained buried in one of the spaces in Ben's plot. Despite the offer of an exchange of burial spaces, and based upon their purported refusal to again exhume and move James's body and marker, in May 2010 Kenneth Jakeman filed suit against Alderwoods, Lawrence Group, MMC, and Judy Jones, alleging breach of contract; trespass; negligence, willfulness, and/or wantonness; the tort of outrage; and conversion. In her answer to Kenneth's complaint, Judy asserted her own cross-claim against Alderwoods, Lawrence Group, and MMC, based on their alleged error in conveying to her spaces already owned by Ben and the initial erroneous burial of James, his disinterment, and his subsequent erroneous reburial in another of Ben's spaces. Alderwoods moved to dismiss Kenneth Jakeman's complaint, arguing he lacked 'standing' to pursue the stated claims, that the asserted tort claims did not survive Ben's death, and that some of the claims were barred by the expiration of the applicable limitations periods. Lawrence Group and MMC later joined Alderwoods's dismissal motion. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court concluded that Kenneth Jakeman was entitled to pursue his individual breach-of-contract claim concerning MMC's reinterment of James Jones in one of the his family's plots, and that he was entitled to pursue his claim for injunctive relief. View "Jakeman v. Lawrence Group Management Company, LLC, et al. " on Justia Law

In February 2008, a Mobile County grand jury charged Lam Luong with five counts of capital murder in connection with the deaths of his four children. Luong killed his four children by throwing them off a bridge into water 100 feet below the bridge. The trial court sentenced Luong to death for each of the five capital-murder convictions. The Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Luong's convictions and death sentences, holding that the trial court erred by refusing to move the trial from Mobile County because, it reasoned, the pretrial publicity was presumptively prejudicial and by refusing to conduct individual questioning of the potential jurors regarding their exposure to that publicity. The Court of Criminal Appeals also held that the trial court erred in denying defense counsel funds to travel to Vietnam to investigate mitigation evidence and in admitting into evidence during the sentencing hearing a videotape simulation using sandbags approximately the weight of each child illustrating the length of time it took for each child to fall from the bridge to the water. After careful consideration of the trial court record, the Supreme Court held: (1) the trial court did not exceed the scope of its discretion in refusing to find presumed prejudice against Luong and refusing to transfer his case on that basis; (2) the trial court did not exceed the scope of its discretion in denying Luong's request that the trial court conduct individual voir dire; (3) and because the record established that the trial court considered the reasonableness of Luong's request and provided a means for Luong to develop mitigation evidence, the trial court did not exceed the scope of its discretion in denying Luong's request for funds for his counsel to travel to Vietnam to investigate mitigation evidence; and (4) the trial court did not exceed the scope of its discretion in admitting certain videotape evidence. Accordingly, the court of Criminal Appeals was reversed. View "Luong v. Alabama" on Justia Law

Clay Merches petitioned the Alabama Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to direct the trial court to dismiss claims against him for lack of personal jurisdiction. The underlying case concerned a missing flatbed trailer owned by Builders Transportation, a Tennessee company. The plaintiffs were Alabama residents. The complaint alleged that the parties had entered into a contract in which Builders Transportation and Dwight Bassett (employee of Builders Transportation) had agreed to pay the plaintiffs $10,000 in return for information about the location of the missing trailer. The plaintiffs further alleged that Builders Transportation and Bassett had breached that contract by failing to pay the plaintiffs $10,000 for the information given about the trailer, which was located in a field in Hale County. Instead of receiving $10,000, the plaintiffs were arrested in Hale County and charged with receiving stolen property and conspiracy to commit theft of property. Those charges were later dismissed. In July 2012, the plaintiffs amended their complaint to add Merches, an employee of Builder Transportation as a defendant. The claims and factual allegations made against Merches in the amended complaint were the same as those made against Builders Transportation and Bassett. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded Merches lacked sufficient contact with Alabama to support the trial court's exercise of personal jurisdiction over him. Accordingly, the Court issued the writ.View "Brantley v. Bassett" on Justia Law

Criminal defendants Clement Poiroux, Lamar Osborne, Travis Blair, Christopher Raybon, Sara Hawkins, Brian Williams, Levorish Hudson, Joseph Johnson, Jr., Nicholas McNeil, and Willie Walker II, and McNeil & Stokley Enterprises, LLC, d/b/a Metro Bonding Co., Bay Area Bail Bonds, LLC, A-Plus Bonding, Inc., Alternative Justice Bail Bonding, Inc., A-Advantage Bonding, LLC, Affordable Bail Bond, Inc., and Allstar Bail Bonds, Inc. appealed the dismissal of their claims against various district attorneys, circuit court clerks, and other state officials. Several of the criminal defendants and of the bail-bond companies sued the defendants and fictitiously named parties alleging claims related to Act No. 2012-535, Ala. Acts 2012 (codified as 12-14-31 and 12-19-311, Ala. Code 1975). The criminal defendants and the bail-bond companies argued, among other things, that the fee assessed pursuant to 12-19-311(a)(1)a., Ala. Code 1975 ("the filing fee"), and the fee assessed pursuant to 12-19-311(a)(1)b., Ala. Code 1975 ("the back-end fee"), were unconstitutional. Upon review of the circuit court record, the Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of all claims regarding the back-end fees, all claims seeking monetary relief, and all claims against the defendant sheriffs. The Court also affirmed the dismissal of the criminal defendants' claims for declaratory and injunctive relief. The Court reversed the circuit court's judgment insofar as it dismissed the bail-bond companies' claims for declaratory and injunctive relief against the defendants other than the defendant sheriffs. View "Poiroux v. Rich" on Justia Law

Daughters Bonnie Wehle, Penny Martin, and Sharon Ann Wehle appealed a Circuit Court's order on final settlement of the estate of their father, Robert G. Wehle. In this "final order," the circuit court denied the daughters' claims against Thomas H. Bradley III, James H. McGowan, and Grady Hartzog, as the co-personal representatives of the estate; the order also denied the daughters'request that McGowan be removed as a cotrustee of the family trust created under Robert G. Wehle's will. After review of the facts and circumstances of this case, the Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's order insofar as the amount of compensation awarded to the personal representatives and insofar as it refused to remove McGowan as a cotrustee of the family trust. The Court reversed the circuit court's order insofar as it denied the daughters' interest claims, awarded attorney fees and costs to the personal representatives, and failed to tax the costs of the appeal in "Wehle I" against the personal representatives. The case was remanded back to the circuit court for the purpose of taxing the costs of the appeal in Wehle I against the personal representatives, and for the award of interest against the personal representatives.View "Wehle v. Bradley" on Justia Law

Wayne Morrow filed a permissive appeal to the Circuit Court's order denying his request for a judgment declaring that the $100,000 cap on damages in section 11-47-190, Ala. Code 1975, applied to Morrow, a municipal employee who was sued in his individual capacity. In 2009, Alice Yu sought to have Alabama Power Company restore electrical service in her name at a commercial building she was leasing. The premises had been without power for approximately eight months. The City of Montgomery sent Morrow to perform an electrical inspection of the premises and clear the premises for service before electrical service was restored. Keandarick Russell, a minor, was staying with his great-grandmother, who lived next door to the premises. Russell was playing on the concrete pad on which the air-conditioning system was located and was electrocuted when he came in contact with a chain-link fence adjacent to the premises. When the incident occurred, wires from an uncovered junction box at the electrical source had come in contact with a portion of the fence, and, as a result, the fence had become electrified. Russell was electrocuted when he touched the fence. Shameka Caldwell, as Russell's mother and next friend, filed a wrongful-death action against multiple defendants, including Morrow and Yu for two fictitiously named defendants. In the amended complaint, Caldwell alleged that Morrow had negligently, recklessly, and/or wantonly inspected the premises and had negligently, recklessly, and/or wantonly allowed electrical service to be restored to the premises. In his answer, Morrow asserted that he was entitled to State immunity, to State-agent immunity, and to qualified immunity. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded the plain language of 11-47-190 did not limit the recovery on a claim against a municipal employee in his or her individual capacity, the $100,000 statutory cap on recovery would not apply to Caldwell's claims against Morrow. Therefore, the trial court properly denied Morrow's request for a judgment declaring that it would. View "Morrow v. Caldwell" on Justia Law

In case no. 1120010, CVS Caremark Corporation; American International Group, Inc.; National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA; AIG Technical Services, Inc.; and American International Specialty Lines Insurance Company appealed a trial court order certifying as a class action the fraud claims asserted by plaintiffs John Lauriello; James O. Finney, Jr.; Sam Johnson; and the City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief System. In case no. 1120114, the plaintiffs cross-appealed the same class-certification order, alleging that, though class treatment was appropriate, the trial court erred in certifying the class as an "opt-out" class pursuant to Rule 23(b)(3), Ala. R. Civ. P., rather than a "mandatory" class pursuant to Rule 23(b)(1), Ala. R. Civ. P. Finding no reversible error in either case, the Supreme Court affirmed in both. View "John Lauriello et al. v. CVS Caremark Corporation et al. " on Justia Law