Ex Parte Williams

Defendant, John B. Williams, was indicted for the attempted murder of a Mobile County nightclub operator. He was convicted in the Mobile County Circuit Court of the lesser included offense of assault in the second degree and was sentenced to serve a term of ten years in the state penitentiary. Following an affirmance of his conviction by the Court of Criminal Appeals, Williams v. State, 484 So.2d 500 (Ala.Crim.App. 1985), defendant petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari, raising two issues: (1) was it reversible error for the trial court to permit a police officer to testify about an…