Courtney v. State

704 So. 2d 1352, 1997 WL 793192
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 7, 1997
Docket95-KA-01067 COA
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 704 So. 2d 1352 (Courtney 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
Courtney v. State, 704 So. 2d 1352, 1997 WL 793192 (Mich. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

704 So.2d 1352 (1997)

Charles COURTNEY a/k/a "Bear", Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 95-KA-01067 COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

October 7, 1997.

*1353 George F. Hollowell, Jr., Greenville, for appellant.

Michael C. Moore, Attorney General, Deirdre McCrory, Sp. Asst. Attorney General, Jackson, for appellee.

Before THOMAS, P.J., and HERRING and SOUTHWICK, JJ.

HERRING, Judge, for the Court:

¶ 1. This action involves an appeal by the Appellant, Charles Courtney, from a judgment of the Circuit Court of Sunflower County, Mississippi, wherein the trial court denied Courtney's motion to vacate the sentence imposed by the court as a result of his plea of guilty to two charges of the illegal sale of cocaine and one charge of manufacturing cocaine. After a review of the record and the applicable law, we reverse and vacate the judgment and sentence rendered by the trial court and remand this action to the trial court for further proceedings. We further vacate and set aside Courtney's guilty pleas so that both the State and Courtney are placed back in the positions which they occupied prior to Courtney's plea of guilty.

I. THE FACTS

¶ 2. Charles Courtney appeared before the Circuit Court of Sunflower County, Mississippi, on May 12, 1994, and entered guilty pleas to two counts of the sale of cocaine and one count of manufacturing cocaine, all in violation of section 41-29-139 of the Mississippi Code Ann. (Rev. 1993). The indictment also correctly charged Courtney with being a habitual[1] and subsequent offender[2] on all charges. According to the record, Courtney had previously been convicted of one count of the sale of marijuana and one count of the sale of cocaine, both felonies.

*1354 ¶ 3. Judge Howard Q. Davis presided at the hearing on May 12, 1994, when Courtney entered his guilty pleas. At a subsequent hearing on the motion to set aside the sentence received by Courtney which took place over one year later on August 31, 1995, Judge Davis was no longer on the bench and testified as to certain events that took place prior to his accepting Courtney's guilty pleas. According to Judge Davis, David Sullivan of the Delta Drug Task Force, Cleve McDowell, the attorney for the Appellant, and Courtney, himself, came to the judge's office to discuss Courtney's possible guilty plea. It is noteworthy that no prosecuting attorney was present or aware of the meeting, and according to Sullivan, the district attorney would not agree to any plea bargaining negotiations with Courtney. Thus, as stated by Cleve McDowell, an effort was made to "go around" the district attorney by going directly to Judge Davis to discuss a possible plea contract.

¶ 4. Sullivan and McDowell informed Judge Davis in Courtney's presence that he wanted to plead guilty and then have his sentence postponed for one year, while he worked for the Task Force and attempted to assist the narcotics agents as an undercover informant and operative. Sullivan recommended that the court accept the plea of guilty and postpone the sentence in accordance with Courtney's wishes. Judge Davis was agreeable to Sullivan's recommendation and informed Courtney at the meeting that he was facing one hundred eighty years in prison on the pending charges and would probably receive such a sentence unless the judge decided to do otherwise. In essence, Judge Davis informed Courtney that when the time came to sentence Courtney the judge would take into consideration the fact that Courtney worked for the Task Force, although he could make no promises as to what sentence would be imposed upon the Appellant. The judge agreed, however, to reduce Courtney's sentence, "commensurate to what he might do."

¶ 5. At the May 12, 1994, hearing, Courtney was represented by McDowell and was informed by Judge Davis prior to entering his guilty plea, that the court was authorized to impose three consecutive sentences of sixty years each, for a total of one hundred eighty years, without any possibility of parole. Courtney was further informed that he could also be fined in the sum of $6,000,000. The following exchange then took place in open court between the trial judge, Courtney, McDowell, and Gail Bridges, the Assistant District Attorney:

¶ 6. Q. Six million dollars because it doubles? And the Court understands that it has been requested by the Task Force to accept the guilty plea but to withhold sentencing for a year in this cause without any promise as to what that sentence might be. Do you understand that?

A. Yes, Sir.
Q. And that's correct?
A. That's correct.
BY MRS. BRIDGES: Your Honor, I want to state for the record that this is not the recommendation of the State, that this is strictly at the request of the Task Force.
BY THE COURT: All right.
Q. You have discussed this with Mr. McDowell.
A. Yes, sir, we've discussed it.
Q. Are you satisfied with his representation?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. All right.
BY THE COURT: Mr. McDowell you have discussed this with Mr. Courtney?
BY MR. MCDOWELL: I have, Your Honor.
BY THE COURT: Are you satisfied that he understands what he is doing here today?
BY MR. MCDOWELL: Yes, Your Honor.
Q. How old are you, Mr. Courtney?
A. Thirty-eight.
Q. How far did you go in school?
A. Uh — I graduated.
Q. Anything wrong with your mind?
A. Sir?
Q. Anything wrong with your mind?
A. No, sir.
*1355 Q. Are you under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the present time?
A. No, sir.

¶ 7. Thereafter, the trial court accepted the guilty pleas of Courtney to all charges as being knowingly and voluntarily made, continued the action for sentencing for a period of one year, and sealed the court file.

¶ 8. According to the testimony of Agent Sullivan, he was approached by Judge Davis in September 1994, who indicated that he had heard that Courtney was not cooperating with the Narcotics Task Force as he promised to do. Sullivan stated that the judge issued a warrant for Courtney's arrest shortly thereafter, and Courtney was taken into custody at that time. However, Sheriff Holder of Sunflower County wanted to give Courtney another chance to work with the Task Force, which resulted in Courtney being released once again with the approval of Judge Davis. Upon his release, Courtney apparently did assist the law enforcement officers and was given credit during the period from October 1994, through January 1995, for six or seven drug related arrests, and the recovery of a Task Force camera, as well as the recovery of three or four firearms.

¶ 9. Sullivan testified that at some point during February 1995, he was contacted by Courtney who indicated that he wanted to be sentenced prior to the expiration of one year, since a new law was about to go into effect which would require convicted felons to serve eighty-five percent of their sentences.

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Bluebook (online)
704 So. 2d 1352, 1997 WL 793192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/courtney-v-state-missctapp-1997.