Henderson v. State

89 So. 3d 598, 2011 WL 2315198, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 351
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJune 14, 2011
DocketNo. 2009-CP-01824-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 89 So. 3d 598 (Henderson 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
Henderson v. State, 89 So. 3d 598, 2011 WL 2315198, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 351 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

CARLTON, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Allen Henderson was indicted by a Rankin County grand jury for the murder of Kayla Polk under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-19(l)(a) (Rev.2006) and of child abandonment under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-5-1 (Rev. 2006), for having left Polk’s nine-month-old child alone in a vehicle with the child’s deceased mother. Henderson later pleaded guilty to child abandonment and to the lesser-included offense of manslaughter. The Rankin County Circuit Court sentenced Henderson to twenty years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) for the manslaughter conviction and to seven years, with five years suspended and two to serve, for the child-abandonment conviction, with both sentences to run consecutively.

¶ 2. Henderson thereafter filed a motion for post-conviction relief (PCR) in the Rankin County Circuit Court, in which he alleged that: (1) his guilty plea to manslaughter was invalid; (2) he received ineffective-assistance of counsel; (3) the trial court failed to advise him that his sentence could be directly appealed; and (4) the trial court failed to grant him a competency hearing. The trial court found that Henderson was not entitled to relief and dismissed Henderson’s PCR motion without an evidentiary hearing. Finding no error, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 3. The circuit court may summarily dismiss a PCR motion without an evi-dentiary hearing “if ‘it plainly appears from the face of the motion, any annexed exhibits and the prior proceedings in the case that the movant is not entitled to any relief.’ ” Staggs v. State, 960 So.2d 563, 565 (¶ 2) (Miss.Ct.App.2007) (quoting Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-11(2) (Rev.2000)). This Court will affirm the summary dismissal of a PCR motion “if the petitioner has failed to demonstrate a claim procedurally alive substantially showing the denial of a state or federal right.” Flowers v. State, 978 So.2d 1281, 1283 (¶5) (Miss.Ct.App.2008) (citation and quotations omitted).

DISCUSSION

I. Validity of Henderson’s Guilty Plea

¶ 4. Henderson does not challenge his guilty plea to child abandonment. Rather, he contends that he unwillingly pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and he contends that the plea colloquy contained in the record demonstrates as much. Henderson also contends there was no factual basis to support his guilty plea to manslaughter. The record before this Court refutes each contention.

¶ 5. For a guilty plea to be valid it must be entered into “voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently, ‘with sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances and likely consequences.’ ” Carroll v. State, 963 So.2d 44, 46 (¶8) (Miss.Ct.App.2007) (quoting Bradshaw v. Stumpf, 545 U.S. 175, 183, 125 S.Ct. 2398, 162 L.Ed.2d 143 (2005)). “To determine whether the plea is voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently given, the trial court must advise the defendant of his rights, the nature of the charge against him, as well as the consequences of the plea.” Burrough v. State, 9 So.3d 368, 373 (¶ 11) (Miss.2009) (citation omitted).

¶ 6. In assessing the validity of the guilty plea, the trial court must also determine that there is a factual basis for the plea. Id. at 373 (¶ 14) (citing Rule 8.04 (A)(3) of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court). The Supreme Court stated:

[601]*601The factual-basis component of the rule requires that, “before it may accept the plea, the circuit court have before it ... substantial evidence that the accused did commit the legally defined offense to which he is offering the plea.” Corley v. State, 585 So.2d 765, 767 (Miss.1991). What facts must be shown depends on the crime and its assorted elements. Id. There are numerous ways by which the facts may be found, but what ultimately is required is “there must be enough that the court may say with confidence the prosecution could prove the accused guilty of the crime charged.” Id. (citing United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 568, 570, 109 S.Ct. 757, 102 L.Ed.2d 927 (1989)).

Id.

¶ 7. According to the plea colloquy, the trial court thoroughly advised Henderson of his rights, the nature and elements of the charge against him, as well as the consequences of his guilty plea. The colloquy shows Henderson expressly indicated to the trial court’s satisfaction that he understood each of the trial court’s advise-ments, and he wished to waive the rights ordinarily due a criminal defendant in a criminal prosecution.

¶ 8. The State provided the following offer of proof when asked by the trial court what the factual basis was for State’s charge of manslaughter against Henderson:

On count one, the Pearl Police Department was notified on the 28th day of July, 2006, by a custodian of a daycare, that he had found a body in a vehicle, which was parked at the daycare. The Pearl Police Department responded, and that body was later identified as Kayla Polk. The Police Department then contacted the Simpson County authorities, as [Polk] resided in Simpson County. In talking with friends of [Polk], authorities were able to determine that on the weekend of her death, that [Polk] had spent time with [Henderson]. Officers then began to search local hotels and determine[d] that [Henderson] and [Polk] had checked into a hotel room in Pearl. [Henderson] was arrested.... [A]n autopsy was performed. Dr. Steven Hayne said that this case was consistent with strangulation. [Henderson] did admit to being with [Polk] and admitted to moving the body, but he denied that he was actually the individual who did in fact strangle and kill [Polk],

¶ 9. Afterwards, the trial court asked both Henderson and his attorney whether they had any disagreement that the State could prove its case for manslaughter. Both replied, “No.”

¶ 10. Because Henderson had entered an Alford plea (see North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970)), also known as a “best-interest plea,” to the crime of manslaughter in his plea petition, the trial court queried Henderson as follows:

BY THE COURT: And your lawyer says that you want what’s called a best-interest plea.... And you remember whenever I said as to count one, are you pleading guilty because you believe that based on the evidence the State would present at trial, the probability of conviction is more likely than your acquittal, and you wish to take advantage of the plea bargain offered by the State?
HENDERSON: Yes, sir.
BY THE COURT: And you said yes?
HENDERSON: So you have to plead guilty to accept the plea bargain? Okay, yeah.
BY THE COURT: Now, are you sure you want to do that?
[602]*602HENDERSON: Yes, sir. That’s what the State has to offer me on a plea bargain.
BY THE COURT: But I just want to make sure that you want to do it.... I think you’re just a little confused.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
89 So. 3d 598, 2011 WL 2315198, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 351, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/henderson-v-state-missctapp-2011.