Holland v. State

956 So. 2d 322, 2007 WL 336595
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 6, 2007
Docket2005-CA-01669-COA, 2005-CA-01673-COA, 2002-KA-01921-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 956 So. 2d 322 (Holland 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
Holland v. State, 956 So. 2d 322, 2007 WL 336595 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

956 So.2d 322 (2007)

Jason HOLLAND a/k/a Jason Allan Holland, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.
Paul Sookraj, Appellant
v.
State of Mississippi, Appellee.
Jason Holland a/k/a Jason Allan Holland and Paul Sookraj, Appellant
v.
State of Mississippi, Appellee.

Nos. 2005-CA-01669-COA, 2005-CA-01673-COA, 2002-KA-01921-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

February 6, 2007.
Rehearing Denied May 15, 2007.

*324 Jefferson D. Gilder, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, attorney for appellee.

Before MYERS, P.J., CHANDLER and ROBERTS, JJ.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY AND STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

MYERS, P.J., for the Court.

¶ 1. On March 26, 2002 a woman was robbed at gun point in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Olive Branch, Mississippi. The victim's description of her assailants and the vehicle in which they fled led to the apprehension of Jason Holland and Paul Sookraj, the appellants herein. Sookraj and Holland both confessed to Olive Branch police that they conspired to commit the robbery and that Sookraj had been the gunman, while Holland had driven the getaway car. The two men then led police to a residential trash can in Memphis, Tennessee, where they had disposed of the victim's purse. On October 14, 2002, in the DeSoto County Circuit Court, Holland and Sookraj, each represented by separate counsel, pled guilty to the crime of armed robbery in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-1 (Rev.2000). Holland was sentenced to twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with eight years to serve and twelve years suspended; Sookraj was sentenced to twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with ten years to serve and ten years suspended.

¶ 2. Following their sentencing on November 8, 2002, Holland and Sookraj, through their new joint counsel, filed separate motions to withdraw their guilty pleas. The circuit court entered separate orders denying the motions to withdraw the pleas, finding that the court had no authority to reduce, suspend, or otherwise alter a lawfully imposed sentence. The circuit court order further stated that the proper procedure for the relief sought by Holland and Sookraj was to petition under the Mississippi Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act, Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-1. Holland and Sookraj then appealed the circuit court's denial of their respective motions to withdraw their pleas of guilt to this Court. On motion of the State of Mississippi, Holland's and Sookraj's consolidated appeal *325 was dismissed on November 4, 2003. See Sookraj v. State, No.2002-KA-01921-COA (Miss.Ct.App. Nov.4, 2003).

¶ 3. On March 2, 2005, Holland and Sookraj filed separate petitions for post-conviction collateral relief with the Circuit Court of DeSoto County. In their petitions, Holland and Sookraj each raised the issues of insufficient assistance of counsel and involuntariness of the pleas. Finding both Holland's and Sookraj's claims to be without merit, the circuit judge dismissed the petitions without holding an evidentiary hearing. From the circuit court's ruling, Holland and Sookraj now bring this consolidated appeal and raise the following issues, which we quote verbatim:

Issue 1: Did the Court err in finding that Mr. Sookraj and Mr. Holland had not made a prima facie case so that at least a hearing was required?
Sub-Issue A: Was the promise of the officers prior to getting the confession enforceable?
Sub-Issue B: Was the confession tainted by promises of leniency which were specific enough to warrant reliance?
Sub-Issue C: Was the identification of Mr. Sookraj in the photo lineup tainted due to one Indian and five black males?
Sub-Issue D: Was other evidence subject to suppression due to the fruit of the poisonous tree?
Sub-Issue E: Was counsel ineffective for Mr. Holland and/or Mr. Sookraj?

¶ 4. In their reply brief, Holland and Sookraj attempt to define sub-issues A-D as issues that deal only with the prejudice to a defense under the second prong of the Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) test for ineffective assistance of counsel, rather than non-jurisdictional defects or rights incident to a jury trial that would be deemed waived by the entry of their guilty pleas. However, what is clearly under attack in the appellant's brief is the voluntariness of the confessions, and therefore, the voluntariness of the guilty pleas, as well as the ineffectiveness of Holland's and Sookraj's separate counsel in advising them that the police officers' promises of leniency in sentencing were not enforceable, and the cumulative effect of those three issues on the necessity of an evidentiary hearing before the trial court. Thus, we must address the following three issues:

I. WHETHER THE CONFESSIONS WERE VOLUNTARY?

II. WHETHER THE GUILTY PLEAS WERE KNOWINGLY, INTELLIGENTLY, AND VOLUNTARILY MADE?

III. WHETHER COUNSEL WAS CONSTITUTIONALLY INEFFECTIVE?

¶ 5. Finding no error, we affirm.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6. This Court employs the "clearly erroneous" standard when reviewing a trial court's denial of post-conviction relief. Brown v. State, 731 So.2d 595, 598(¶ 6) (Miss.1999). The trial court's denial of post-conviction relief will not be addressed absent a finding that the trial court's finding was clearly erroneous. Andrews v. State, 932 So.2d 61, 62(¶ 4) (Miss.Ct.App. 2006). However, we review questions of law de novo. Brown, 731 So.2d at 598(¶ 6).

LEGAL ANALYSIS

¶ 7. Holland and Sookraj first assert that the trial court erred in failing to conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine whether their guilty pleas were involuntary, and second that they received constitutionally ineffective assistance of *326 counsel when entering their separate guilty pleas. In order to have obtained the right to an evidentiary hearing on the merits of their ineffective assistance of counsel claims, Holland and Sookraj were required to establish a prima facie case in their petitions to the lower court. Robertson v. State, 669 So.2d 11, 13 (Miss.1996). When a motion for post-conviction relief is filed, the trial judge is obligated to review the motion, all files, records, transcripts, and correspondence relating to the judgment. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-11(1) (Rev.2000); Cole v. State, 608 So.2d 1313, 1325 (Miss.1992). If upon such review it is clear that there is no entitlement to relief, the judge may enter an order dismissing the action. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-11(2) (Rev.2000); Cole, 608 So.2d at 1324. "We adhere to the principle that a post-conviction relief petition which meets basic pleading requirements is sufficient to mandate an evidentiary hearing unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Robertson, 669 So.2d at 13 (citing Harveston v. State, 597 So.2d 641, 643 (Miss. 1992)).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
956 So. 2d 322, 2007 WL 336595, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holland-v-state-missctapp-2007.