Christie v. State

996 So. 2d 81, 2008 Miss. App. LEXIS 143, 2008 WL 641361
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 11, 2008
DocketNo. 2007-CA-00373-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 996 So. 2d 81 (Christie v. State) 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
Christie v. State, 996 So. 2d 81, 2008 Miss. App. LEXIS 143, 2008 WL 641361 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

MYERS, P.J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Jamie Christie, Jr. seeks review of the trial court’s dismissal of his motion for post-conviction relief as being barred as a successive writ. Christie also seeks a determination of whether sanctions were properly imposed against his attorney. We affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the post-conviction relief. However, we reverse and render the imposition of sanctions, finding an abuse of discretion.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On May 24, 2004, Christie pleaded guilty to two separate counts of burglary in the Circuit Court of Marion County in Cause Nos. K03-0055P and K03-0056P, respectively. The trial court accepted his guilty plea and sentenced him to serve ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections in Cause No. K03-0055P. Christie was also sentenced at the same plea hearing in Cause No. K03-0056P to serve twenty years, the term of which was to run consecutive to the ten year sentence imposed in Cause No. K03-0055P. The trial court then suspended ten years of the sentence in Cause No. K03-0056P to be served under the provisions of Mississippi Code Annotated [83]*83sections 47-5-138 (Rev.2004) and 47-7-34 (Rev.2004).

¶ 3. On November 16, 2004, Christie filed his first motion for post-conviction relief, attacking the validity of the guilty plea previously entered. Christie claimed the trial court did not honor his original plea deal. Christie also argued that his counsel was ineffective for failing to enforce a purported oral plea deal, which allegedly limited his sentence to a maximum of ten years.

¶ 4. The trial court denied Christie’s first motion for post-conviction relief on December 16, 2004, making several findings relevant to the instant case. Initially, the trial court found that Christie had asked for post-conviction relief in both Cause Nos. K03-0055P and K03-0056P in the same pleading instead of two separate pleadings. The trial court allowed this error by Christie and agreed to hear both post-conviction relief motions since one plea hearing originally disposed of both cases. The trial court ultimately dismissed Christie’s motion for post-conviction relief, and this Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of post-conviction relief on November 15, 2005. Christie v. State, 915 So.2d 1073 (Miss.Ct.App.2005).

¶ 5. On December 29, 2006, Christie filed his second motion for post-conviction relief, only requesting relief from his conviction in Cause No. K03-0056P. The trial court dismissed the motion as being barred as a successive writ. It is from this ruling that Christie now appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6. We are to review a dismissal of post-conviction relief for an abuse of discretion. Willis v. State, 904 So.2d 200, 201(¶ 3) (Miss.Ct.App.2005). “The findings of the trial court must be clearly erroneous in order to overturn a lower court’s dismissal of a post-conviction relief motion.” Id. Additionally, an appellate court will only overturn a “trial court’s imposition of sanctions for abuse of discretion.” Wyssbrod v. Wittjen, 798 So.2d 352, 357(¶ 17) (Miss.2001).

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DISMISSING CHRISTIE’S MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF AS BEING BARRED AS A SUCCESSIVE WRIT.

¶ 7. Christie asks on appeal for reversal of the trial court’s dismissal of his post-conviction relief motion pertaining to Cause No. K03-0056P and to compel the trial court to hear his post-conviction relief motion. Christie first sought post-conviction relief from the trial court on November 16, 2004. Christie argued in his first post-conviction relief motion that it was error for the trial court to ignore the oral plea agreement and for the trial judge not to have recused himself. Christie also contended that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.

¶ 8. Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-23(6) (Rev.2007) provides in part that “any order dismissing the prisoner’s motion or otherwise denying relief under this article is a final judgment and shall be conclusive until reversed.” “It shall be a bar to a second or successive motion under this article.” Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-23(6). Additionally, this Court acknowledges that Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-9(2) (Rev.2007) requires a petitioner to file a separate motion for each conviction on which relief is requested.

¶ 9. The trial court noted in its first post-conviction relief order that Christie had improperly asked for post-conviction relief regarding two separate counts of [84]*84robbery in one motion instead of two. However, the trial court allowed both requests in one motion since both counts were heard in one plea hearing. The trial court ultimately dismissed Christie’s motion for post-conviction relief. This Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of relief from the conviction. Christie, 915 So.2d 1073.

¶ 10. On December 29, 2006, Christie filed a second post-conviction motion for relief. Christie claimed his motion was not procedurally barred since his first post-conviction motion addressed only his burglary conviction in Cause No. K03-0055P. In this appeal, Christie asks whether his petition for post-conviction relief was properly dismissed by the trial court as being barred as a successive writ.

¶ 11. The State argues that the trial court was correct in dismissing Christie’s motion as successive. The State relies, in part, on Moore v. State, 897 So.2d 997 (Miss.Ct.App.2004). In Moore, the appellant pleaded guilty on October 16, 1998, to the sale and transfer of cocaine, and he also entered a separate guilty plea involving a simple possession of cocaine charge. Id. at 999(¶ 2). Moore filed his first post-conviction motion on September 19, 2000, which was denied. Id. at 999(¶ 5). The first post-conviction relief motion “attack[ed] the validity of both judgments [in one motion].” Id. at 1001(¶ 13). Moore subsequently filed a second post-conviction relief motion on April 12, 2003, attacking the same two judgments he had previously addressed in his first post-conviction relief motion. Id. at 999(¶ 6). The trial court dismissed Moore’s petition as being barred as a successive writ, this Court affirmed. Id. at 999, 1002 (¶ 6, ¶ 13). In Moore, the appellant argued that since Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-9(2) (Supp. 2003) required a petitioner to seek relief from only one judgment per post-conviction relief motion, his April 2003 motion was not barred. Id. at 1001(¶ 13). However, this Court disagreed, finding that “Moore failed to follow the statute, and his post-conviction pleas are arguably invalid for this failure.” Id. This Court ultimately found the motion was barred as a successive writ because “[n]othing in the statute indicates that a judge must deny each post-conviction relief motion with a separate order for each judgment.” Id. 1001-02 (¶ 13). Here, as in Moore, Christie failed to follow the proper procedures in filing his post-conviction relief motion. Christie incorrectly appealed both his convictions in one motion instead of two separate motions. The trial court noted this failure to follow procedure, but it agreed to hear both appeals rather than requiring two separate motions. As in Moore, Christie now attacks the same two judgments he had previously addressed in his first post-conviction relief motion.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Choctaw, Inc. v. Campbell-Cherry-Harrison
965 So. 2d 1041 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2007)
Wilson v. Greyhound Bus Lines, Inc.
830 So. 2d 1151 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2002)
Leaf River Forest Products, Inc. v. Deakle
661 So. 2d 188 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1995)
Stevens v. Lake
615 So. 2d 1177 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1993)
Kinard v. Morgan
679 So. 2d 623 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1996)
Wyssbrod v. Wittjen
798 So. 2d 352 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)
Christie v. State
915 So. 2d 1073 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)
Bean v. Broussard
587 So. 2d 908 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1991)
Willis v. State
904 So. 2d 200 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)
Nichols v. Munn
565 So. 2d 1132 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1990)
Moore v. State
897 So. 2d 997 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Asanov v. Hunt
914 So. 2d 769 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
996 So. 2d 81, 2008 Miss. App. LEXIS 143, 2008 WL 641361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/christie-v-state-missctapp-2008.