To file a Rule 32 petition in Alabama, you submit a verified petition on the form published with the rule to the clerk of the circuit court where your conviction was entered, together with two copies and the civil filing fee, within the deadline set by Rule 32.2. Each claim has to identify a ground listed in Rule 32.1 and lay out the full facts that support it. Miss the deadline, skip the specifics, or file in the wrong court, and the petition will be dismissed before it gets a hearing.
Where to File and What to Submit
The proceeding begins in the circuit court that entered the conviction. You file a verified petition, signed under oath by you or your attorney, that substantially follows the standard form published with Rule 32. Courts return petitions that do not follow the form and require the petitioner to correct them before the case moves forward.
Along with the petition, you file two copies and pay the filing fee prescribed for civil cases in circuit court. If you cannot afford the fee, you can apply to proceed in forma pauperis by filing a poverty declaration. In that situation the petition must also include a certificate from the warden or other institutional officer showing your account balance for the previous twelve months.
The Deadline You Have to Meet
For non-capital cases, the limitations period is one year. The clock starts on one of two dates depending on what happened after trial:
- If you appealed, one year from the date the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals issues its certificate of judgment.
- If you did not appeal, one year from the date the time for filing an appeal expired.
This one-year window governs claims raised under Rule 32.1(a) (constitutional violations) and Rule 32.1(f) (failure to appeal without fault). The period was shortened from two years to one year for cases with triggering dates on or after August 1, 2002.1Alabama Judicial System. Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 32.2
Courts enforce this deadline strictly. There is no general good-cause extension in non-capital cases, and a late petition will almost always be dismissed unless it raises a ground that is exempt from the limitations period, such as a jurisdictional challenge under Rule 32.1(b), an illegal sentence under Rule 32.1(c), or an expired sentence under Rule 32.1(d).1Alabama Judicial System. Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 32.2
Capital cases run on a different track. Alabama law requires Rule 32 proceedings in death penalty cases to run at the same time as the direct appeal rather than after it, with the petition and any amendments due within 365 days of the defendant’s first appellate brief. The court can grant one 90-day extension for good cause with notice to the Attorney General.2Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-53.1 – Appeals of Capital Punishment If you are in a capital case, you and your appointed post-conviction counsel are building the petition while the direct appeal is still being briefed.
Grounds You Can Raise
Rule 32.1 lists six grounds for post-conviction relief. Every claim in the petition has to fit one of them:
- Rule 32.1(a): a violation of the U.S. Constitution or the Alabama Constitution that requires a new trial, a new sentencing, or other relief.
- Rule 32.1(b): the court that entered the conviction lacked jurisdiction to render the judgment or impose the sentence.
- Rule 32.1(c): the sentence exceeds the maximum authorized by law or is otherwise not authorized.
- Rule 32.1(d): you remain in custody after the sentence has been fully served.
- Rule 32.1(e): newly discovered material facts require the conviction or sentence to be set aside.
- Rule 32.1(f): you failed to appeal within the time allowed, and the failure was not your fault.
Constitutional claims (including ineffective assistance of counsel) are by far the most commonly filed. The narrower grounds under 32.1(b), (c), and (d) carry a procedural advantage worth knowing about: they are not subject to the one-year limitations period. A defect in jurisdiction does not become less defective with time.
How to Draft Claims That Survive Review
The single most important drafting requirement is specificity. Each claim must state the legal ground and the full factual basis behind it. A petition that alleges “my constitutional rights were violated” without saying how, when, and by whom will be dismissed. Bare legal conclusions do not survive even the initial review. This is where most pro se petitions fail: the petitioner knows something went wrong but does not lay out the facts in enough detail for the court to evaluate the claim.
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Ineffective assistance is the most frequently raised ground and one of the hardest to win. Alabama applies the two-part test from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1984 decision in Strickland v. Washington: you must prove both deficient performance and resulting prejudice.3Constitution Annotated. Prejudice Resulting from Deficient Representation Under Strickland
On the first prong, the court asks whether the attorney’s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. Review is highly deferential. Judges start from the presumption that whatever counsel did was a reasonable strategic choice, and the petitioner has to overcome that presumption with concrete evidence. Failures that can qualify include not investigating the facts, failing to challenge evidence that should have been excluded, ignoring viable defenses, or missing clear opportunities to object. Simple mistakes or strategic disagreements rarely qualify.
On the second prong, you must show a reasonable probability that the outcome would have been different without the attorney’s errors. Reasonable probability does not mean more likely than not; it means a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.3Constitution Annotated. Prejudice Resulting from Deficient Representation Under Strickland Most ineffective assistance claims die here. The petition needs to connect the specific failure to a concrete way the trial or sentence could have come out differently.
Newly Discovered Evidence
A claim under Rule 32.1(e) requires material facts that were not available at trial and could not have been discovered through reasonable diligence at the time. Evidence the defense knew about but chose not to use does not qualify. You also have to show the new evidence is material enough that it would likely have changed the outcome. Courts view these claims skeptically. Recanted witness testimony draws particular suspicion; forensic results and documentary records that genuinely did not exist earlier tend to be stronger.
Alabama has a separate statutory route for post-conviction DNA testing in capital cases under Alabama Code Section 15-18-200. If testing produces conclusive evidence of factual innocence, you have 60 days from being notified of the results to file a Rule 32.1 petition based on them.4Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 15-18-200 – Motion by Persons Convicted
Procedural Bars That Block Relief
A petition can be filed on time, in the right court, and on the correct form, and still be blocked by Rule 32.2. These bars prevent relitigation of issues already decided or that should have been raised sooner. The ones that catch the most petitioners:
- Claims already raised and decided at trial, on direct appeal, or in a prior Rule 32 petition cannot be raised again.
- Claims that could have been raised at trial or on direct appeal but were not are generally barred. If trial counsel failed to object to something, the argument usually has to be framed as ineffective assistance rather than as a standalone constitutional claim.
- Successive petitions face increasing scrutiny. A later petition raising grounds that were or could have been raised in the first will generally be dismissed.
- Claims under Rule 32.1(a) and (f) must be filed within the limitations period.
Jurisdictional, illegal-sentence, and expired-sentence claims are exempt from some of these bars, including the limitations period.1Alabama Judicial System. Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure Rule 32.2
What Happens After You File
Once you file and the state responds, the circuit court reviews each claim. The court can summarily dismiss claims that lack specificity, are procedurally barred, or fail to state a legal basis for relief. If no material issue of fact or law would entitle you to relief, the whole petition can be dismissed without a hearing.
When the court dismisses, it must grant leave to amend freely. A first dismissal for lack of specificity is not necessarily the end. You can refile with more detailed factual allegations, though the amended petition still has to satisfy the same procedural requirements and clear the same substantive review.
Claims that present a genuine factual dispute proceed to an evidentiary hearing. This is your chance to build a record: call witnesses, introduce documents, make arguments. In an ineffective assistance claim, this is typically where trial counsel testifies about strategic decisions or the absence of them. The court then makes findings of fact and rules.
Appealing a Denied Petition
If the circuit court denies the petition, you can appeal to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. The appeal is not a fresh look at the claims. The appellate court reviews the circuit court’s decision for legal errors and examines the factual findings for clear error. When the petition was summarily dismissed, the appellate court asks whether the claims, taken at face value, stated a valid basis for relief that should have proceeded to a hearing. If you lose there, you can seek a writ of certiorari to the Alabama Supreme Court, though the court has discretion to decline it.