Henry J. Laneri, III v. State of Mississippi

248 So. 3d 898
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 22, 2018
DocketNO. 2017–CP–00407–COA
StatusPublished

This text of 248 So. 3d 898 (Henry J. Laneri, III v. State of Mississippi) 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
Henry J. Laneri, III v. State of Mississippi, 248 So. 3d 898 (Mich. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

WESTBROOKS, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. Henry J. Laneri III, appearing pro se, appeals the Pearl River County Circuit Court's denial of his motion for postconviction relief (PCR). Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On April 21, 2011, the Grand Jury of Pearl River County indicted Laneri on the charge of possession of contraband in a correctional facility. At the time of his indictment, Laneri was currently serving an eight-year sentence for possession of a controlled substance. On January 13, 2012, Laneri filed a petition to enter a guilty plea for the possession of contraband charge. At this plea hearing the judge stated, "I'll sentence you to serve a term of eight years. Six will be suspended, with the two you already served to run concurrent with the sentence you're serving in Hancock County."

¶ 3. The Order of Conviction and Sentence, filed on January 19, 2012, reflected that Laneri was sentenced to eight years in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) with two years to serve and the remaining six years to be served under the post-release provisions set forth in Mississippi Code Annotated section 47-7-34 (Rev. 2011), with a five-year supervision period.

¶ 4. Late February 2016, Laneri was released from custody. Shortly after, Laneri inquired whether he was sentenced to post-release supervision (PRS). The parole officer in Hancock County confirmed that he was sentenced to PRS. On July 18, 2016, Laneri was arrested in the front of his home by the Hancock Sheriff's Department for possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia. During that time, Laneri was also sixteen payments behind on his court fines. Laneri later filed a motion to dismiss arguing (1) he was not sentenced to PRS in his plea hearing and (2) his charges were misdemeanors. Later, Laneri pleaded guilty. Pursuant to Laneri's admission, the court revoked Laneri's probation and reinstated the remaining five years and seven months of his previous sentence.

¶ 5. On January 25, 2017, Laneri filed a petition for habeas corpus and asserted (1) the Circuit Court of Pearl River County did not have jurisdiction to revoke his PRS and (2) the court's written order did not reflect the court's verbal pronouncement of his sentence. The circuit court denied Laneri's petition stating his first assertion was without merit and his second was successive as he had previously raised the issue. Without much detail, the order states "Laneri previously raised this issue before the Court[.] See Pearl River County Circuit Court No. 2013-0174M-PC. This argument is therefore barred as a subsequent writ." Because Laneri sought review of his sentence, the circuit court treated Laneri's petition as a motion for PCR. Laneri timely appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6. "When reviewing a trial court's denial or dismissal of a PCR motion, we will only disturb the trial court's factual findings if they are clearly erroneous; however, we review the trial court's legal conclusions under a de novo standard of review." Purnell v. State , 126 So.3d 949 , 951 (¶ 4) (Miss. Ct. App. 2013) (citing Hughes v. State , 106 So.3d 836 , 838 (¶ 4) (Miss. Ct. App. 2012) ).

DISCUSSION

¶ 7. The circuit court held that Laneri's PCR motion was without merit and successive. We agree. "[A] trial court's denial of a PCR motion is a final judgment and bars a second or successive motion unless an exception applies." Kennedy v. State , 179 So.3d 82 , 83 (¶ 6) (Miss. Ct. App. 2015). Laneri asserts his PCR is exempt from the procedural bar because his sentence was in violation of double jeopardy, his due process rights were violated, his arrest was illegal, and the order revoking his PRS was erroneous.

¶ 8. This Court has held that, "only four types of fundamental rights have been expressly found to survive PCR procedural bars: (1) double jeopardy; (2) illegal sentence; (3) denial of due process at sentencing; and (4) ex post facto claims." Id. at 83-84 (¶ 8) (citing Boyd v. State , 155 So.3d 914 , 918 (¶ 13) (Miss. Ct. App. 2014) ). Furthermore, "to find an exception to the successive-writ bar, 'there must at least appear to be some basis for the truth of the claim' a fundamental constitutional rights violation." Mays v. State , 228 So.3d 946 , 948 (¶ 5) (Miss. Ct. App. 2017) (quoting Stovall v. State , 873 So.2d 1056 , 1058 (¶ 7) (Miss. Ct. App. 2004) ). This Court does not find a "basis for the truth" under any of the four exceptions. Id. Notwithstanding the procedural bar, we briefly discuss the issues below.

I. Double Jeopardy

¶ 9. Laneri argues that his right against double jeopardy was violated when he had to attend two revocation hearings. We disagree. Furthermore, Laneri states that through the theory of double jeopardy he is "protected from being placed in jeopardy of his life limb or liberty." However, that is not a guaranteed protection. The Supreme Court of Mississippi has held that double jeopardy provides three constitutional protections: "(1) protection from a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal, (2) protection from a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction, and (3) protection from multiple punishments for the same offense." Kelly v. State , 80 So.3d 802 , 805 (¶ 10) (Miss. 2012). Here, Laneri first attended a PRS revocation hearing in Hancock County Circuit Court. Hancock County soon determined they did not have jurisdiction over the hearing. As a result, the Pearl River County Circuit Court exercised its jurisdiction and reinstated Laneri's suspended sentence. Therefore, we find this issue without merit.

II. Due Process

¶ 10. Laneri raises three issues in support of his due process claim: (1) he was never informed of the possibility of revocation and the reinstatement of his suspended sentence, (2) three of the six due process requirements for revoking probation were not met, and (3) he was denied counsel at the second PRS revocation hearing.

¶ 11.

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Related

Riely v. State
562 So. 2d 1206 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1990)
McClinton v. State
799 So. 2d 123 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2001)
Stovall v. State
873 So. 2d 1056 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Christopher Conway Boyd v. State of Mississippi
155 So. 3d 914 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2014)
Elroy Kennedy v. State of Mississippi
179 So. 3d 82 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2015)
Derrick Stokes v. State of Mississippi
199 So. 3d 745 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Nicholas Desmond Mays v. State of Mississippi
228 So. 3d 946 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2017)
Hughes v. State
106 So. 3d 836 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2012)
Purnell v. State
126 So. 3d 949 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2013)
Kelly v. State
80 So. 3d 802 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
248 So. 3d 898, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/henry-j-laneri-iii-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2018.