Pate v. State

BOLIN, Justice.

We granted certiorari review in order to determine whether the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals erred in declining to review the circuit court’s refusal to consider Joseph Lester Pate’s motion for sentence modification.

Facts and Procedural History

Following a 1987 conviction for first-degree theft of property and his unsuccessful direct appeal of that conviction, see Pate v. State, 537 So.2d 76 (Ala.Crim.App. 1988) (table), Pate filed a Rule 32, Ala. R. Crim P., petition. The circuit court summarily denied his Rule 32 petition, in which Pate challenged his 1987 conviction and…