Hadley v. State

821 So. 2d 915, 2002 Miss. App. LEXIS 393, 2002 WL 1554578
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJuly 16, 2002
DocketNo. 2001-CP-01292-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 821 So. 2d 915 (Hadley 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
Hadley v. State, 821 So. 2d 915, 2002 Miss. App. LEXIS 393, 2002 WL 1554578 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

CHANDLER, J„

for the court.

¶ 1. Charles Hadley pleaded guilty to sexual battery and was sentenced by the Lee County Circuit Court to fifteen years’ imprisonment in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Hadley appealed for post-conviction relief and the circuit court dismissed his petition. Aggrieved, Hadley appeals, arguing that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. Hadley also asserts that because of counsel’s ineffective representation, his plea was involuntarily entered. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. In July 1998, the Lee County grand jury indicted Charles Hadley, charging him with capital rape of his minor daughter. Hadley, facing a minimum of life imprisonment if convicted of capital rape, pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of sexual battery. Before accepting the plea, the trial judge questioned Hadley extensively in order to determine whether he understood the charge brought against him and the consequences of entering a plea of guilt. Assured that Hadley fully understood the nature of the proceedings, the trial judge accepted his plea and sentenced him to fifteen years’ imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

¶ 3. In reviewing the trial court’s denial of a petition for post-conviction re[917]*917lief, we will not disturb the factual findings of the trial court unless they are determined to be clearly erroneous. Brown v. State, 731 So.2d 595, 598 (¶ 6) (Miss.1999). This Court “will not vacate such a finding unless, although there is evidence to support it, we are on the entire evidence left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made.” Merritt v. State, 517 So.2d 517, 520 (Miss.1987).

¶ 4. Hadley first argues that defense counsel refused to provide him with crucial documents from a prior youth court hearing involving the victim. According to Hadley, the documents would undeniably prove his innocence. Additionally, Hadley asserts that counsel failed to inform him of his rights to a fast and speedy trial. Had-ley claims that these actions amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel. Moreover, Hadley asserts that defense counsel’s ineffective assistance effectively rendered his plea of guilt involuntary.

¶ 5. In order to succeed on the issue of whether his defense counsel’s performance was ineffective, Hadley' must show that counsel’s performance was deficient and that the he was prejudiced by counsel’s mistakes. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-96, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Hadley bears the burden of bringing forth evidence that demonstrates both prongs of the Strickland test are met. Moody v. State, 644 So.2d 451, 456 (Miss.1994). There is a strong presumption that counsel’s conduct falls within a wide range of reasonable professional assistance; however, this presumption is rebuttable. McQuarter v. State, 574 So.2d 685, 687 (Miss.1990). Accordingly, this Court grants substantial deference to counsel’s perfom manee when reviewing ineffective assistance claims. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052. This Court looks at the totality of the circumstances when determining if the defendant was prejudiced by counsel’s representation. McQuarter, 574 So.2d at 687. .To overcome this highly deferential standard, Hadley must demonstrate that but for counsel’s errors, the outcome of his trial would have been different. Buford v. State, 756 So.2d 815, 817 (¶ 7) (Miss.Ct.App.2000).

¶ 6. On September 2, 1998, the Lee County Youth Court held a hearing to determine whether the victim had been abused within the meaning of the Mississippi Youth Court Act. At the conclusion of the hearing, the youth court judge decided that Hadley had sexually abused his daughter. Prior to pleading guilty in the cause sub judice, Hadley filed a motion to obtain these transcripts. ' The'trial judge granted the motion and the youth court judge released the transcripts under a confidential seal, instructing the trial judge to review the transcript for any information that might have been material to Hadley’s defense. The record reflects that the trial judge never released the transcripts to either Hadley or defense counsel.' Nonetheless, Hadley argues that the trial judge did in fact hand the transcripts over to defense counsel who then refused to provide them to him. Unfortunately, Hadley fails to support his contentions with any evidence, asking this Court to assume that counsel refused to turn the transcripts over to him. This is an assumption we are unwilling to make as it is “well known, [we] cannot act based on assertions made by parties in briefs, but must limit [our] review to the record set before [us].” Jones v. State, 803 So.2d 1259, 1261 (¶ 9) (Miss.Ct.App.2002). In essence, Hadley’s failure to provide this Court with evidence in support of his claim has undermined his attempt to rebut the presumption that counsel’s performance was reasonable.

¶ 7. Even assuming Hadley could prove that defense counsel’s performance [918]*918was deficient, Hadley makes no attempt to show counsel’s failure to provide him with the documents resulted in prejudice. Subsequent to the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief, Hadley obtained the transcripts from the youth court clerk. He has placed them in his brief under the heading of “Exhibit F.” Although we are limited to only those matters in the record before us, we note that the youth court transcripts support the conclusion that Hadley had sexually abused his daughter. By including the transcript in his brief, Hadley has proven that the outcome of the case would not have been different had he come into possession of the youth court transcripts; therefore, his claim for ineffective assistance is without merit.

¶ 8. For the same reason, Had-ley’s claim that his attorney failed to inform him of his right to a speedy trial fails. Hadley was arrested on May 13, 1998, indicted on July 23, 1998, and pleaded guilty on May 3, 1999. The trial had originally been set for November 16, 1998, 117 days after the indictment. This date was pushed back after Hadley filed a motion for continuance which was granted on November 5, 1998. The Mississippi Supreme Court has stated that “continuances sought by the defense are charged against them.” Sharp v. State, 786 So.2d 372, 378 (¶ 7) (Miss.2001). Although we do not know the date of the arraignment, we can assume that the trial date of May 3,1999, did not violate Hadley’s statutory right to a speedy trial as he was indicted only 117 days prior to the original trial date and that date was extended only after the trial court granted Hadley’s motion for a continuance. See Id. at 377-78 (¶ 5) (noting the 270-day rule); see also Miss.Code Ann. §§ 99-17-1 (Rev.2000) (stating that “[u]nless good cause be shown, and continuance duly granted by the court, all offenses for which indictments are presented to the court shall be tried no later than two hundred seventy (270) days after the accused has been arraigned”). Likewise, Hadley’s constitutional claim to a speedy trial would have failed. See Sharp, 786 So.2d at 380 (¶ 15) (listing the requirements for proving constitutional violation of speedy trial, none of which would have supported Hadley’s claim); see also Perry v. State,

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

Related

Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Buford v. State
756 So. 2d 815 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2000)
Merritt v. State
517 So. 2d 517 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1987)
Stevenson v. State
798 So. 2d 599 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2001)
Moody v. State
644 So. 2d 451 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1994)
Sharp v. State
786 So. 2d 372 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)
Alexander v. State
605 So. 2d 1170 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1992)
McQuarter v. State
574 So. 2d 685 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1990)
Brown v. State
731 So. 2d 595 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1999)
Weatherspoon v. State
736 So. 2d 419 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 1999)
Rivers v. State
807 So. 2d 1280 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2002)
Perry v. State
419 So. 2d 194 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1982)
Jones v. State
803 So. 2d 1259 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
821 So. 2d 915, 2002 Miss. App. LEXIS 393, 2002 WL 1554578, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hadley-v-state-missctapp-2002.