Alford v. State

Barry Wade Alford was indicted by the grand jury for attempting to obtain controlled substances (dilaudid and prednisone) "by the forgery of a prescription in writing." The jury found the defendant "guilty as charged," and the trial court set sentence at eight years imprisonment in the penitentiary.

On July 19, 1977, at about 6:30 p.m., appellant and a young woman (later determined to be his wife, Ginger P. Alford) entered a drugstore on Federal Drive in Montgomery, Alabama. The owner and pharmacist of the drugstore, Robert Mallet, testified that appellant and the woman walked to the…