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Nation v. State
Citations: 579 So. 2d 690; 1990 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 168; 1990 WL 64671Docket: 4 Div. 505
Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama; April 12, 1990; Alabama; State Appellate Court
On May 24, 1989, the appellant was convicted of unlawful possession of a controlled substance under § 13A-12-212 of the Code of Alabama 1975 and subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison as a habitual offender, along with a $25 payment to the Crime Victims’ Compensation Fund and court costs. The key issue on appeal was the trial court's allowance of police officer testimony regarding hearsay from an informant, which the appellant argued was improperly admitted before the jury. The court found that this constituted error, as Alabama law prohibits the use of informant information to establish guilt in front of a jury, though it may be used in suppression hearings to establish probable cause. The officer testified about receiving information from a reliable source regarding the appellant's possession of crack cocaine, despite defense objections that this was hearsay and should not be presented to the jury. The Attorney General's argument that the admission of this testimony was harmless error was rejected, as the jury could have dismissed the appellant's defense of unintentional possession due to potential bias from the informant's testimony. Consequently, the court reversed the conviction and remanded the case for a new trial. The appeal raised another issue, but it was deemed unnecessary to address due to the ruling on the hearsay issue. All judges concurred with the decision to reverse and remand.