In 2009, Jeffery Ervin pleaded guilty to third-degree robbery and to unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on each conviction and those sentences were to run concurrently. The sentences were split and Ervin was ordered to serve 30 months’ imprisonment followed by five years’ probation. Ervin did not appeal those sentences or convictions. In 2012, Ervin filed a petition for postconviction relief pursuant to Ala. R. Crim. P. 32. He alleged that his trial counsel, William Faile, was ineffective and that at the time that Faile was representing him, he was also representing Justin Malone, who was charged as a codefendant in the same robbery and who gave a statement to police implicating Ervin.
The trial court determined that Ervin’s claim was not timely and it denied postconviction relief. Ervin appealed. Reversed.