Ex Parte McWilliams

Emanuel McWilliams is a state inmate incarcerated in the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. He petitions for a writ of mandamus directing the Court of Criminal Appeals to set aside its order taxing him $100 in costs pursuant to Rule 35A(b), Ala.R.App.P., as the docket fee for the filing of an appeal from an order of the Escambia Circuit Court. The appeal was from an order purporting to deny McWilliams's petition for postconviction relief. We grant the mandamus petition and issue the writ.

Facts and Procedural History

On March 21, 1996, McWilliams was convicted in the Montgomery Circuit…