Bruce Bernard Wade v. State of Mississippi

CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 13, 2024
Docket2022-CA-00370-COA
StatusPublished

This text of Bruce Bernard Wade v. State of Mississippi (Bruce Bernard Wade v. State of Mississippi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bruce Bernard Wade v. State of Mississippi, (Mich. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

NO. 2022-CA-00370-COA

BRUCE BERNARD WADE APPELLANT

v.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 03/24/2022 TRIAL JUDGE: HON. WINSTON L. KIDD COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: HINDS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: DEREK L. HALL JEANINE M. CARAFELLO ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: CASEY BONNER FARMER NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - POST-CONVICTION RELIEF DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 02/13/2024 MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:

BEFORE BARNES, C.J., McDONALD AND SMITH, JJ.

BARNES, C.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. In 2010, Bruce Wade pleaded guilty to the reduced charges of manslaughter and

simple robbery, crimes committed when he was sixteen years old. Wade was sentenced to

serve twenty-five years for manslaughter, which included a five-year firearm enhancement,

and to fifteen years for simple robbery, with two years suspended and thirteen years to serve,

followed by two years of supervised probation. The sentences were ordered to run

consecutively.

¶2. In 2013, Wade, represented by new counsel, filed an initial post-conviction relief

(PCR) motion and then an amended PCR motion in October 2017, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, an involuntary guilty plea, lack of competence to enter a guilty plea,

and an unconstitutional sentence. His arguments were based upon his intellectual incapacity

and young age. After a hearing, the trial court denied Wade’s PCR motion. Wade now

appeals. Finding no error, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶3. In January 2009, Wade was indicted in Hinds County for capital murder and

conspiracy to commit robbery, along with co-defendant Tevin Ward, who was also sixteen

years old at the time of the offenses. The charges stemmed from events that occurred on the

evening of October 3, 2008, at a gas station, where the victim came into contact with Wade

and Ward. At some point, the defendants entered the female victim’s vehicle. From the

back seat, Wade pointed a gun at the victim, demanding money. Ward then snatched the gun

out of Wade’s hand, shooting and killing the victim.

¶4. A few days later, Wade was arrested at his home, one day after Ward was arrested.

Wade’s mother claimed that she requested to be present during Wade’s police interviews but

was not allowed to be present. Upon incarceration at the Raymond Detention Center, Wade

was independently tested by Petra Kay for his academic level. Kay was in charge of a

program sponsored by the Department of Human Services and the Jackson Public Schools

for youth under the age of eighteen who were incarcerated instead of in school. Test results

showed that Wade read at about a third-grade level.

¶5. Wade was represented by members of the Hinds County Public Defender’s Office,

who requested that Dr. Mark Webb, a psychiatrist, render an opinion regarding Wade’s

2 competency. On December 4, 2009, Dr. Webb performed an independent medical

examination of Wade at the Raymond Detention Center and rendered a report finding that

Wade was competent to stand trial.1 However, the results of his exam raised a question

about the possibility that Wade was suffering from “mental retardation.”2 At the time, Dr.

Webb did not have any information on past IQ testing of Wade but was able to obtain

records of an IQ test performed in September 2007 (about one year before the crimes at

hand). The testing was part of a psychoeducational evaluation performed on Wade at the

University of Mississippi Medical Center.3 Wade’s full-scale IQ was 58, using the Wechsler

Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) standard. The score was classified as “extremely

low” and placed Wade in the 0.3 percentile compared to the intelligence of his peers. It was

found Wade also had “extremely low abstract reasoning and vocabulary skills.”

Accordingly, about a year later, on November 4, 2010, Dr. Webb provided Wade’s public

defenders with an “Addendum Medical Report” to his December 4, 2009 report, now stating

that with the addition of the IQ test results, Wade “would qualify for a diagnosis of Mental

Retardation which would signify very extremely low verbal skills.” Dr. Webb concluded

1 Dr. Webb’s December 4, 2009 report is not in our appellate record, but it was listed as being admitted into evidence at Wade’s PCR hearing. 2 The term “mental retardation” has been replaced in this opinion with the term “intellectual disability.” 3 The 2007 evaluation was performed because Wade’s mother sought services for her son due to his “history of difficulties in school and a lack of motivation academically.” At that time, Wade was fifteen years old and in the eighth grade. The report stated that in addition to the extremely low IQ, Wade exhibited several emotional and behavioral difficulties.

3 that Wade would not be competent to stand trial due to his intellectual disability and could

not understand the waiver of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 486 (1966).4

¶6. On December 7, 2010, Wade pleaded guilty to the reduced charges of manslaughter

with a firearm enhancement and simple robbery.5 At the plea hearing, there was no mention

made of Wade’s low IQ, low verbal skills, or diagnosis by Dr. Webb of “mental

retardation”; however, Wade responded appropriately to all of the questions from the judge.

Wade testified that he understood his petition to enter a guilty plea and the charges against

him. He told the judge his age and level of education (through the eighth grade). Wade

affirmed that his counsel had gone over the plea petition with him. In describing his

involvement in the crimes, Wade testified that he “pulled the gun out on [the victim] and

asked her for the money and she said she ain’t have none, and then, I believe, some kind of

way [Tevin Ward] . . . snatched the gun out of my hand and some kind of way she was shot.”

He claimed to be “under the influence” of some friends who were trying to get him to rob

someone. He testified that he did not mean for the victim to be murdered; he thought he

“was going to rob somebody and get away.” Wade testified that he understood the State’s

sentencing recommendation, the maximum and minimum sentences the court could impose,

the waiver of his rights, and that he had no questions for the judge. Wade’s counsel was

4 The 2007 test results, Dr. Webb’s December 2009 report, and the November 2010 addendum were brought before the trial court, before Wade pleaded guilty, by being attached to an amended motion to suppress his statements to police, which his public defenders filed on November 22, 2010. 5 A few days after Dr. Webb supplemented his report, Wade’s co-defendant Ward pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

4 also questioned by the judge:

THE COURT: Ms. Harris, are you the attorney for the defendant?

MS. MACK-HARRIS: Yes, your Honor.

THE COURT: Have you talked with him about the petition to enter a plea of guilty?

MS. MACK-HARRIS: Yes, your Honor, I read it to him actually line by line.

THE COURT: From your observation of him today, do you see anything that would lead you to believe that he is presently intoxicated or under the influence of any drugs?

MS. MACK-HARRIS: No, your Honor.

THE COURT: And from your conversation with him, do you think he fully understands what he’s doing at this time?

THE COURT: Have you advised the defendant of all of his constitutional rights?

BY THE COURT: Mr.

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