Knight v. State

MURDOCK, Justice.

This Court granted certiorari review to consider the validity of an administrative order of the Montgomery Circuit Court pursuant to which a circuit judge was appointed to decide James Sheridan Knight’s motion for sentence reconsideration filed under Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-5-9.1, and Kirby v. State, 899 So.2d 968 (Ala.2004).

I. Facts and Procedural History

In 1993, Knight was convicted of first-degree theft of property and third-degree burglary. He was sentenced under the Habitual Felony Offender Act, Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-5-9 (“the HFOA”), to life imprisonment on the theft…