Jenkins v. State

770 So. 2d 568, 2000 Miss. App. LEXIS 494, 2000 WL 1669884
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 7, 2000
DocketNo. 1998-CP-01639-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 770 So. 2d 568 (Jenkins 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
Jenkins v. State, 770 So. 2d 568, 2000 Miss. App. LEXIS 494, 2000 WL 1669884 (Mich. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

BRIDGES, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Claiborne Jenkins was indicted by a grand jury in June 1997 for the crime of aggravated assault. On October 13, 1997, Jenkins filed a petition, to enter a plea of guilty. A hearing was held on October 14, 1997, and the court accepted Jenkins’s guilty plea and sentenced him to a term of twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

¶ 2. On March 31, 1999, Jenkins filed a motion for post-conviction relief with the Circuit Court of Wilkinson County, Mississippi. The motion was dismissed by the lower court, and Jenkins seeks review of the denial of post-conviction relief.

FACTS

f 3. Jenkins came before the Circuit Court of Wilkinson County, Mississippi having been indicted for the crime of aggravated assault. Jenkins pled guilty to this crime and was questioned by the trial judge regarding the consequences of his guilty plea. The trial judge specifically asked Jenkins whether or not he understood his guilty plea and whether his counsel was satisfactory. Jenkins at no time indicated to the trial judge that he was confused about the effects of his guilty plea, nor did Jenkins complain that he had insufficient counsel at the time he made his plea of guilty. However, Jenkins now seeks post-conviction relief based on his assertion that he lacked adequate counsel under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-96, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). He also claims that he did not plead guilty knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily and should therefore have his guilty plea and twenty year sentence overturned.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

¶ 4. Jenkins submits to this Court that, despite the evidence in the record indicating that he fully understood the consequences of his guilty plea, he was actually “confused and bewildered” when he made this plea and therefore, did not do so knowingly, voluntarily or intelligently. The U.S. Supreme Court case of Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 242, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969) provides the standard for determining whether a guilty plea is knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily made by a defendant. Id. There are at least three federal constitutional rights which are necessarily waived with a guilty plea. Id. at 243, 89 S.Ct. 1709. “First, is the privilege against compulsory self-incrimination.... Second, is the right to trial by jury. Third, is the right to confront one’s accusers.” Id. A presumption of a waiver of these rights by a defendant may not be had where the record is silent. Id. at 242, 89 S.Ct. 1709. The record must provide definite evidence of such a waiver and the admissibility of the waiver must be “based oh a reliable determination on the voluntariness” of the waiver. Id.

¶ 5. In the instant case, the record transcript of Jenkins’s plea hearing speaks volumes to this Court. The trial judge informed Jenkins, upon his guilty plea for aggravated assault, that the plea could not be entered until it was determined that it was “knowingly, understandably, freely and voluntarily made.” The trial judge [570]*570then asked Jenkins a series of questions regarding Jenkins’s understanding of his guilty plea:

Q. [By the court] Okay, Mr. Jenkins, did you understand the charge against you?
A. [By Jenkins] Yes, ma’am.
Q. Did you commit this crime?
A. Yes, ma’am.
Q. Do you understand that the maximum sentence that can be imposed upon you for a plea of guilty to the charge would be twenty (20) years to serve in the Mississippi Department of Corrections?
A. Yes, ma’am.
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Q. Knowing these things, do you still wish to enter a plea of guilty?
A. Yes, ma’am.
Q. If you entered a plea of not guilty and the jury convicted you and you were sentenced, you’d have a right to appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court. But when you enter a plea of guilty, you are waiving these rights. Do you understand that?
A. Yes, ma’am.
Q. Has anybody threatened you in order to make you plead guilty?
A. No, ma’am.
Q. Has anybody promised you anything in order to get you to plead guilty?
A. No, ma’am.
Q. Do you realize that you are waiving your rights under the Constitution that protects you against self incrimination?
A. Yes, ma’am.
Q. Do you realize that you are waiving your rights to a trial by jury?
A. Yes, ma’am.

¶ 6. The court went on to point out to Jenkins that if he were to plead not guilty, the State must prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial judge also noted that Jenkins would be waiving his right to confrontation of witnesses and testifying on his own behalf with a guilty plea. Jenkins indicated in no uncertain terms that he understood these things. He submits to this Court that he was not aware that by entering a plea of guilty, he would be forfeiting the opportunity to have other witnesses testify on his behalf. He asserts that he had such witnesses available and that if he had known that they could not testify after a plea of guilty, he would not have pleaded such. We are not convinced that Jenkins was uninformed as he would have this Court believe. The trial court adequately informed him that with a guilty plea, there would be no trial. We do not subscribe to Jenkins’s argument now, that he believed witnesses could testify on his behalf without a trial.

¶ 7. In the case of Mason v. State, 440 So.2d 318, 319 (Miss.1983), the Mississippi Supreme Court professed:

We have on many occasions held that we must decide each case by the facts shown in the record, not assertions in the brief, however sincere counsel may be in those assertions. Facts asserted to exist must and ought to be definitely proved and placed before us by a record, certified by law; otherwise, we cannot know them.

In accordance with that ruling, this Court finds that Jenkins was fully aware of the repercussions of his guilty plea and was well informed about this waiver of his constitutional rights and he therefore did plead guilty knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily.

¶ 8. As to Jenkins’s contention that he was not given an evidentiary hearing on this issue, we find that there was no error on the part of the trial judge. An evidentiary hearing is only imperative where the transcript of the plea hearing “does not reflect that [the petitioner] was advised concerning the rights of which he allegedly claims ignorance.” Roland v. State, 666 So.2d 747, 751 (Miss.1995); Al[571]*571exander v. State, 605 So.2d 1170, 1172 (Miss.1992). It is clear to this Court from the record provided that Jenkins was explicitly informed by the trial judge of his right against self-incrimination, to a trial by jury and to confront his accusers.

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Related

Boykin v. Alabama
395 U.S. 238 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Williamson v. United States
512 U.S. 594 (Supreme Court, 1994)
United States v. Luis Oscar Sarmiento-Perez
633 F.2d 1092 (Fifth Circuit, 1981)
Roland v. State
666 So. 2d 747 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1995)
Cole v. State
666 So. 2d 767 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1995)
Williams v. State
667 So. 2d 15 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1996)
Brent v. State
632 So. 2d 936 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1994)
Moody v. State
644 So. 2d 451 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1994)
Blanch v. State
760 So. 2d 820 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2000)
Alexander v. State
605 So. 2d 1170 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1992)
Mason v. State
440 So. 2d 318 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1983)
Lambert v. State
574 So. 2d 573 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
770 So. 2d 568, 2000 Miss. App. LEXIS 494, 2000 WL 1669884, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jenkins-v-state-missctapp-2000.