Ford v. State

956 So. 2d 301, 2006 WL 3199496
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 7, 2006
Docket2005-KA-00478-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 956 So. 2d 301 (Ford 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
Ford v. State, 956 So. 2d 301, 2006 WL 3199496 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

956 So.2d 301 (2006)

Billy Ray FORD, Jr., Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2005-KA-00478-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 7, 2006.
Rehearing Denied April 10, 2007.

*302 Jonathan Michael Farris, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Deirdre McCrory, attorney for appellee.

Before MYERS, P.J., BARNES and ISHEE, JJ.

BARNES, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Billy Ray Ford, Jr. was convicted of perjury by a Forrest County jury. He was sentenced as a habitual offender to ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections without the benefit of parole. Ford perfected this *303 appeal following denial of his post-trial motions for new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict ("JNOV"). On appeal, Ford contends that (1) the prosecution failed to satisfy the "minimum of two witnesses or one witness and corroborating circumstances" requirement, and (2) Ford's perjury conviction was improper because "he did not in a direct and specific manner make the false statement he is accused of making. . . ." Finding no reversible error, we affirm the conviction and sentence.

SUMMARY OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On May 20, 2002, Ford pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement and was convicted in the Circuit Court of Forrest County, Mississippi of receiving stolen property. Ford was initially charged with residential burglary, but this charge was reduced as part of the plea agreement. The agreement provided for a five year sentence in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections with three years suspended on unsupervised probation and two years to serve. Ford was given credit for time already served in custody awaiting trial, satisfying the two year service portion of the sentence. As a result, the three years of unsupervised probation was all that remained to be served by Ford. In exchange for these concessions by the State, Ford was required to leave the jurisdiction of Forrest, Perry, and Lamar Counties and remain out of these counties for the duration of his three year probation period. This condition was made a part of the "Entry of Guilty Plea and Judgment of Court" entered on May 20, 2002.

¶ 3. On the evening of October 13, 2003, officers with the Hattiesburg Police Department, investigating an incident reported earlier that evening, were led to an apartment complex where Billy Ray Ford was located. This apartment complex was located in Hattiesburg, Forrest County, Mississippi. Believing that Ford was involved in the incident that was reported earlier that evening, the Hattiesburg police officers took Ford into custody.

¶ 4. On November 10, 2003, an affidavit was filed in the Forrest County Circuit Court for violation of probation, alleging that Ford "violated the condition of his suspended sentence by being present in Forrest County, Mississippi on 10-13-2003 when he was prohibited from being in Forrest County by the terms of his probation." A revocation hearing was held on March 3, 2004, in the Forrest County Circuit Court to determine whether Ford violated the terms of his plea agreement and whether, as a result, his probation should be revoked. The State of Mississippi was represented by the district attorney for Forrest County while the defendant Ford appeared pro se.[1]

¶ 5. During the course of the hearing, Ford repeatedly referenced cases that he had pending in federal court and stated that he "was subpoenaed back here for a hearing on the matter for which I filed the paperwork in the federal court building."[2] Believing that Ford was affirmatively representing that he was in Hattiesburg on October 13, 2003, by court order, District Attorney Jon Mark Weathers requested that Ford be placed under oath. Testifying *304 now under oath, Ford was questioned at some length regarding his presence in Hattiesburg on October 13, 2003. More specifically, Judge Helfrich asked Ford questions to determine why Ford was in Hattiesburg on the day in question, as Ford was not disputing that he was physically present on October 13.[3] It is testimony elicited during this line of questioning that was the basis for Ford's perjury charge and conviction. The following is an excerpt from the revocation hearing transcript containing the statements for which Ford was charged and convicted of perjury:

THE COURT: So you're alleging that on October 13 of 2003 you were summonsed to be back before the federal court?
DEFENDANT FORD: No. You said that.
THE COURT: No, I'm saying is that what you're alleging?
DEFENDANT FORD: What are you alleging that I did on October 13?
THE COURT: It's alleged that you were in this jurisdiction in violation —
DEFENDANT FORD: And I already told you —
THE COURT: Mr. Ford, do not interrupt me again. It is alleged that you were in this jurisdiction on that date in violation of this Court's order. That's the allegation.
DEFENDANT FORD: And the allegation I'm asking for you to is I was summoned back here to this town.
THE COURT: By the federal court —
DEFENDANT FORD: And this case was not dismissed until after October 13. It was not dismissed until after this alleged victim keep trying to throw up in my face it was still in the federal court building. And as pro se, I'm claiming my right to as an attorney I have a right to go in and out of that building just like they got rights in here as an attorney.
THE COURT: But you're stating —
DEFENDANT FORD: I'm claiming today —
THE COURT: You're claiming you were subpoenaed to be here or summonsed to be here by the Court for a hearing in that matter on the day?
DEFENDANT FORD: That's what I said. I swore an oath to that.[4]

¶ 6. After the above exchange, the hearing was recessed so that members of Weathers' staff could search the federal court files to determine whether Ford was telling the truth regarding the federal cases. Pursuant to this search, it was determined that Ford did in fact have two active federal cases still pending at that time but there were no documents which indicated that Ford was subpoenaed or was otherwise required to be in Hattiesburg on October 13. The following represents the colloquy that transpired after the hearing reconvened:

THE COURT: Let the record reflect we've reconvened. Do you have the file?
MR. WEATHERS: Yes, sir. If it please the Court, I'm going to hand you a United States District Court civil file, Billy Ray Ford versus Forrest County, et al., . . . which was a case pending in the year 2003. In addition to that, there was another case that was pending. . . . The file should reflect there was a writ *305 of habeas corpus ad testificadum issued by the clerk of the court on the 18th day of September 2002 requiring Mr. Ford to be present at the courthouse in Hattiesburg on May 29, 2003, at 9:00 a.m. That, as the file will reflect, applied to both cases and those are the only two cases pending at the time, so the file should reflect that he had no business[] being here and was not subpoenaed to the United States District Court on October 13, 2002, as he previously stated under oath here today.

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Bluebook (online)
956 So. 2d 301, 2006 WL 3199496, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ford-v-state-missctapp-2006.