Craytonia Latroy Badger a/k/a Craytonia Badger a/k/a Craytonia L. Badger v. State of Mississippi; C

CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 28, 2020
DocketNO. 2017-CP-01489-COA
StatusPublished

This text of Craytonia Latroy Badger a/k/a Craytonia Badger a/k/a Craytonia L. Badger v. State of Mississippi; C (Craytonia Latroy Badger a/k/a Craytonia Badger a/k/a Craytonia L. Badger v. State of Mississippi; C) 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
Craytonia Latroy Badger a/k/a Craytonia Badger a/k/a Craytonia L. Badger v. State of Mississippi; C, (Mich. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

NO. 2017-CP-01489-COA

CRAYTONIA LATROY BADGER A/K/A APPELLANT CRAYTONIA BADGER A/K/A CRAYTONIA L. BADGER

v.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 08/14/2017 TRIAL JUDGE: HON. LAMAR PICKARD COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: COPIAH COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: CRAYTONIA LATROY BADGER (PRO SE) ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: SCOTT STUART NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - POST-CONVICTION RELIEF DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 01/28/2020 MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED: MANDATE ISSUED:

BEFORE CARLTON, P.J., WESTBROOKS AND McCARTY, JJ.

CARLTON, P.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. On November 19, 2009, Craytonia Badger filed a petition to enter a guilty plea to

possession-of-a-cell-phone-while-incarcerated in the Copiah County Circuit Court (Cause

No. 2009-0153CR). On November 23, 2009, Badger was sentenced by the Copiah County

Circuit Court to serve seven years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of

Corrections (MDOC). Badger appealed the trial court’s denial of his motion for

reconsideration of his sentence, asserting that his guilty plea was unknowingly and

involuntarily made. That appeal was docketed and assigned to this Court as case number 2010-CP-00132-COA.1

¶2. In the course of the record preparation for Badger’s appeal, the court reporter

discovered that due to a malfunction with her stenographic machine, the transcript from

Badger’s sentencing hearing had been lost. The Court of Appeals issued an order remanding

the case to the circuit court with instructions to address the missing-transcript issue. The

circuit court held a hearing on July 6, 2010, for the purpose of recreating what occurred at

Badger’s November 23, 2009 sentencing hearing. The transcript of the July 6, 2010

proceeding was filed as a supplement to the record in Badger’s appeal (Case No. 2010-CP-

00132-COA). On September 30, 2010, Badger filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss that

appeal, which was granted, and Badger’s appeal in the cell-phone-possession case (Cause

No. 2009-0153CR) was dismissed on November 2, 2010.

¶3. On August 7, 2017, over seven-and-a-half years after his November 23, 2009

sentencing order was entered, Badger filed a “Motion to the Correct the Records” in the cell-

phone-possession case (Cause No. 2009-0153CR). Badger asserted that the circuit court

should correct the date of his sentencing order from November 23, 2009 (the date the order

was entered) to July 6, 2010 (the date the circuit court held the hearing to recreate Badger’s

original sentencing hearing). Badger also asserted that the July 6, 2010 hearing took place

“without the defendant ever pleading guilty.” The circuit court denied Badger’s motion.

1 In a separate order, the trial court denied Badger’s motion for post-conviction collateral relief that was a part of Badger’s motion for reconsideration of his sentence. That order was not in this record on appeal. It was, however, attached to Badger’s brief in case number 2010-CP-00132-COA. We may take judicial notice of documents in our own files. In re Dunn, 166 So. 3d 488, 492 n.6 (Miss. 2013).

2 ¶4. Badger appeals, asserting that his sentencing order should be vacated because (1) the

seven-year sentence he received was illegally imposed in violation of his due process rights;

and (2) the sentencing order is a “false document” that was used to enhance his sentences in

other proceedings in violation of his due process rights and the Mississippi Public Records

Act of 1983, Mississippi Code Annotated sections 25-61-1 to 25-61-19 (Rev. 2010). Badger

also asserts, in the alternative, that the circuit court erred in failing to correct the date of the

sentencing order to reflect the July 6, 2010 remand-hearing date.

¶5. We find that Badger’s August 7, 2017 motion was effectively a motion seeking relief

under the Mississippi Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act, Mississippi Code

Annotated sections 99-39-1 to 99-39-29 (Rev. 2015) (a PCR motion). For the reasons

detailed below, we affirm the circuit court’s denial of Badger’s August 7, 2017 motion.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶6. On September 30, 2009, Craytonia Badger was indicted for possession of a cell phone

while in the Copiah County Detention Center in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated

section 47-5-193 (Supp. 2008). Badger’s cell-phone-possession case was filed in Copiah

County Circuit Court (Cause No. 2009-0153CR). On the same day, Badger was indicted for

burglary, and his burglary case was filed in Copiah County Circuit Court (Cause No. 2009-

0154CR-A). This appeal concerns the cell-phone-possession case (Cause No. 2009-

0153CR). Nevertheless, some discussion of Badger’s burglary case (Cause No. 2009-

0154CR-A) is necessary because Badger was sentenced in both cases in a joint hearing, as

detailed below.

3 ¶7. On November 19, 2009, Badger filed a petition to enter a guilty plea on the cell-

phone-possession charge against him (Cause No. 2009-0153CR). Badger’s guilty plea

petition provided that the district attorney would recommend an open plea with respect to

sentencing on this charge. In the meantime, Badger was also found guilty in a jury trial in

the burglary case (Cause No. 2009-0154CR-A), and he was found to be a habitual offender.

¶8. On November 23, 2009, the circuit court held a joint sentencing hearing for both

convictions and entered separate sentencing orders in each cause. Badger was sentenced to

serve seven years in the custody of the MDOC in the cell-phone-possession case (Cause No.

2009-0153CR). In the burglary case (Cause No. 2009-0154CR-A), Badger was sentenced

as a habitual offender to serve life in prison “without the benefit of parole.”

¶9. The circuit court entered its sentencing order in cause number 2009-0153CR on the

same day as the joint hearing was held, November 23, 2009. The sentencing order provides

that Badger, being represented by counsel, and the district attorney appeared in open court

on November 23, 2009, and that Badger knowingly and voluntarily entered a guilty plea on

the possession of contraband in a jail-facility charge, having been first duly advised by the

court of his “legal and constitutional rights, . . . and having freely, voluntarily and

intelligently waived said rights.” The sentencing order further provides that Badger was

sentenced to seven years in the custody of the MDOC on this charge and that this sentence

would run concurrently with the sentence imposed in the burglary case (Cause No.

2009-0154CR-A).

¶10. In December 2009, Badger subsequently moved for reconsideration on his seven-year

4 sentence for the cell-phone-possession conviction in cause number 2009-0153CR, asserting

that his guilty plea was unknowingly and involuntarily made. The circuit court denied this

motion, and Badger appealed this decision on January 19, 2010. Badger’s appeal was

assigned to this Court (Case No. 2010-CP-00132-COA).

¶11. Badger also appealed his life sentence in the burglary case (Cause No. 2009-0154CR-

A), asserting that he was improperly sentenced as a habitual offender. This appeal was also

docketed and assigned to this Court (Case No. 2010-KA-00154-COA).

¶12. In the course of the record preparation for Badger’s appeals in both cases, the court

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