Ex Parte Phillips

The petitioner, Charles Phillips, filed this petition for a writ of mandamus requesting that we grant him an out-of-time appeal from the denial of his petition for postconviction relief filed pursuant to Rule 32, Ala.R.Crim.P.

In December 1982, Phillips was convicted of murder and attempted murder. He was sentenced under the Habitual Felony Offender Act ("the HFOA") to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal. See Phillips v. State, 462 So.2d 981 (Ala.Crim.App. 1984). In January 2003, Phillips filed a Rule 32 petition in…