Rule 20.3. Motion for judgment of acquittal after verdict or judgment of conviction

motion to be presented to the judge, nor is it required, in order to perfect its filing, that the motion be set for a date certain.

(f) DENIAL BY OPERATION OF LAW.

(1) In general. No motion for a judgment of acquittal under this Rule 20 shall remain pending in the trial court for more than sixty (60) days after the pronouncement of sentence, except as provided in this section. A failure by the trial court to rule on such a motion within the sixty (60) days allowed by this section shall constitute a denial of the motion as of the sixtieth day; provided, however, that with the express consent of the district attorney and the defendant or the defendant’s attorney, which consent shall appear in the record, the motion may be carried past the sixtieth day to a date certain; if not ruled upon by the trial court as of the date to which the motion is continued, the motion is deemed denied as of that date, unless it has been continued again as provided in this section. The motion may be continued from time to time as provided in this section.

(2) District and municipal courts. In district and municipal courts the sixty- day period provided for in subsection (1) of section (f) is reduced to fourteen (14) days.

(g) TOLLING OF PERIOD FOR APPEAL FROM DISTRICT OR MUNICIPAL COURTS. The timely filing of a motion for judgment of acquittal after a judgment of conviction in the district or municipal court shall toll the running of the time for appeal, until the motion is denied. [Amended eff. 7-1-98.]

Committee Notes

Committee Comments as Amended Effective August 1, 1997 Rule 20.3 provides a means of granting a delayed judgment of acquittal. It does not alter the following principle of law as expressed in Tooson v. State, 56 Ala.App. 613, at 615, 324 So.2d 327, at 329, cert. denied, 295 Ala. 426, 324 So.2d 333 (1975): “In considering the question as to whether the trial court correctly overruled the motion to exclude, we can only consider the evidence which was before the trial court at the time the motion to exclude was made.” (Citations omitted.) This rule provides that a defendant may make a motion for a judgment of acquittal after the jury has returned a verdict, or after a judgment of conviction is entered, without having made such a motion under Rule 20.2 before submission of the case to the factfinder. Compare Rule 50(b), Ala.R.Civ.P., which allows a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict only if a motion for a directed verdict has been made at the proper time. Section (b) allows the motion to be made at any time from the time a verdict is returned or a judgment of conviction is entered until thirty (30) days following the sentencing (fourteen (14) days in a district or municipal court). If in a jury trial the jury is discharged without having returned a verdict, the defendant has ten (10) days in which to file the motion, or a shorter time if a new trial begins within the ten (10) days. The time periods, including the reduced period in district and municipal court, are consistent with the time limits allowed for motions filed pursuant to Rule 24. Section (c), while allowing a motion for a judgment of acquittal to be filed as a separate motion, contemplates that the usual procedure will be to join in one motion the motion for a judgment of acquittal based on insufficiency of the evidence, and the motion for a new trial based on other grounds; nevertheless, it permits the filing of separate motions. Section (d), in allowing a motion for judgment of acquittal to be