Dowdell v. State

I concur to affirm the summary denial of Dowdell's Rule 32, Ala.R.Crim.P., petition for postconviction relief, although not for the reasons stated by the majority.

Like Judge Baschab, who filed a dissenting opinion in this case, I fully recognize the need for, and the importance of, postconviction DNA testing in certain cases — especially in capital-murder cases in which the death penalty has been imposed.

"A criminal trial is not a lottery, a spin of the roulette wheel or a throw of the dice. The orderly processing of cases through the court is an important value, but it is not the end in…