Echoles v. State

180 So. 2d 630, 254 Miss. 133, 1965 Miss. LEXIS 936
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 6, 1965
DocketNo. 43710
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 180 So. 2d 630 (Echoles v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Echoles v. State, 180 So. 2d 630, 254 Miss. 133, 1965 Miss. LEXIS 936 (Mich. 1965).

Opinion

Inzer, J.

This is an appeal by Samuel Echóles from a judgment of the Circuit Court of Panola County, Mississippi, wherein the trial court dismissed the petition of appellant for the issuance of a writ of error coram nobis.

The petition alleged that appellant had been indicted by the grand jury of Panola County on September 12, 1964 for the crime of perjury. He was arrested on that date at about 7:30 p.m. and was carried to Sardis where he was incarcerated in jail. The following morning he was taken to the courthouse and arraigned without benefit of counsel. Upon his plea of guilty he was sentenced to serve a term of three years in the state penitentiary, with eighteen months of the sentence being suspended. The petition further alleged that appellant’s plea of guilty had been obtained by duress and misrepresenta[137]*137tion and that appellant had been denied his basic rights to a jury trial, assistance of counsel, and dne process of law, all in violation of the sixth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States and sections 14, 26 and 31 of the Mississippi Constitution.

When the petition was presented to the circuit judge, he granted a hearing thereon, and the same was had on December 5, 1964. A record was made of the proceedings, and at the conclusion of the hearing the trial judge rendered his opinion. His opinion in part states:

The Court has attempted to resolve the testimony offered here today, and the Court is now of the opinion and finds that the prayer of the petition should be denied and the petition should be dismissed for the reason that the Court is of the opinion that the Petitioner was adequately and timely advised of his constitutional rights to counsel; that Petitioner was arrested at about 7:30 P.M. on the evening of Septemper 28, 1964; that he was brought to the jail at Sardis in the First District of Panola County; and the following morning he had a conference with the District Attorney, Mr. Pinch, at which several officers were also present.
The Court is of the opinion that he was timely and adequately advised of his rights to counsel before any questions were asked him with reference to the crime or before he was interrogated in any way about the crime for which he was being charged; that the charges against him were stated to him by the District Attorney; and that the Petitioner was fully advised as to what those charges were.
The Court finds that the District Attorney did state to the Petitioner that he could receive as much as ten years if found guilty of the crime of perjury, but the Court also finds that that statement of the District Attorney was made in response to the question asked [138]*138by the Petitioner, Samuel Echóles, as to what the maximum penalty might be.
The Court is of the opinion that the Petitioner was not denied his constitutional rights in any way at the September, 1964, Term of the Court, and that he entered his plea of guilty with full knowledge of what he was doing, and that he did so freely and voluntarily.
The Court, also, finds from the testimony of the Petitioner himself, Samuel Echóles, that at the time of his indictment, arraignment, and sentence at the September, 1964, Term of this Court that he was not an indigent, but that from the Petitioner’s own admissions on the witness stand here today, at that time he was possessed of property which had a net value over and above any debts owned of several hundred dollars, and that the Petitioner was by his own admission financially able to employ his own counsel had he seen fit to do so.
So, the Court finds that the Petitioner was timely and adequately advised of all of his constitutional rights, and has not been denied of any of those rights, and that he was sentenced pursuant to a free and voluntary plea of guilty. The prayer of the Petition for a Writ of Error Coram Nobis is denied and the Petition is dismissed.
An order will be entered accordingly, and the Petitioner will have reserved to him any and all rights he might have of appeal or any other rights which he might have under the laws of the State of Mississippi and the laws of the United States.

An order in accordance with this opinion was entered, and the petition was dismissed. Hence this appeal was brought.

The appellant contends that the trial court was in error in dismissing his petition for three reasons. They are: (1) The indictment on which appellant was con[139]*139victed is fatally defective because on its face it shows no crime was committed; (2) The undisputed testimony adduced at the hearing shows that appellant did not knowingly or intelligently waive his rights to counsel and to a jury trial; and (3) The compulsory pre-arraignment interrogation without the advice of counsel, under the circumstances, was both overtly and inherently coercive.

The contention that the indictment is fatally defective is raised for the first time on this appeal. Appellant contends that under our decisions this question can be raised for the first time in a collateral proceeding on appeal. He cites in support of this contention the following cases: Love v. State, 211 Miss. 606, 52 So. 2d 470 (1951); Kelly v. State, 204 Miss. 79, 36 So. 2d 925 (1948); Taylor v. State, 74 Miss. 544, 21 So. 129 (1897); Cook v. State, 72 Miss. 517, 17 So. 228 (1895). The State correctly concedes that under our decisions the validity of the indictment can be raised for the first time on appeal, but insists that the indictment is valid.

We will first address ourselves to the question concerning the validity of the indictment. This necessitates a careful examination of it, and although it is lengthy, it will be set out in full at the end of this opinion.

The indictment reveals that the perjury charged was based upon answers given by appellant to questions contained in a written application to register as an elector of Panola County. The indictment charges that appellant falsely swore that he had not been convicted of any crime, when in truth he had been convicted of the crime of possession of intoxicating liquor, and that he failed to list this crime as required so to do. These were the answers given to questions numbered 16 and 17 in the registration form. The indictment charges that appellant was under oath at the time he made these false answers, but this allegation is contradicted by the indictment itself by the inclusion therein of the registra[140]*140tion form executed by appellant. The setting out of the registration form in full in the indictment made it an integral part of the indictment, and it shows that appellant was not under oath at the time he answered the questions alleged to be false. The oath that appellant actually signed is incorporated in paragraph 18(a) of the registration form, and it does not refer to answers given to prior questions. Appellant in this oath swore, among other things, that he was not disqualified from voting by reason of having been convicted of any crime named in the Constitution as a disqualification to be an elector. The crime of possession of intoxicating liquor is not one of the crimes listed in the Constitution.

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Bluebook (online)
180 So. 2d 630, 254 Miss. 133, 1965 Miss. LEXIS 936, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/echoles-v-state-miss-1965.