Jenkins v. State

881 So. 2d 870, 2003 WL 22846050
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 2, 2003
Docket2002-KA-00394-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 881 So. 2d 870 (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, 881 So. 2d 870, 2003 WL 22846050 (Mich. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

881 So.2d 870 (2003)

Shannon JENKINS a/k/a Slink, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2002-KA-00394-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 2, 2003.
Rehearing Denied February 10, 2004.

*871 Shannon Jenkins, appellant, pro se.

Harvey Lee Morrison, Joseph Joshua Stevens, attorneys for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Deirdre McCrory, attorney for appellee.

Before KING, P.J., IRVING and GRIFFIS, JJ.

KING, P.J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Shannon Jenkins was convicted of escape by the Oktibbeha County Circuit Court. Jenkins was sentenced to a term *872 of five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with this sentence to run consecutively to any prior sentence. Aggrieved, Jenkins has appealed and raised the following issues which we quote verbatim:

I. Whether or not the Indictment stated a cause of action under either Section 97-9-45 or Section 97-9-49.
II. Whether or not the Defendant was put to trial on a void indictment.
III. Whether or not the Defendant, upon conviction, should have been sentenced under Section 97-9-45, Section 97-9-49(1) or Section 97-9-49(2).
IV. Whether or not the court erred in the granting and refusing of certain instructions including the refusal to grant Defendant's Instructions D-10-A and D-11.
V. Whether the Defendant's right to a speedy trial was violated.
VI. Whether the Defendant could have been authorized to leave the jail premises by the jail personnel in charge of him on May 16, 1999.
VII. Trial court erred in sentencing Appellant to a five year term.
VIII. Appellant was denied his right to a speedy trial.
IX. Appellant was denied his right to be heard as provided by Mississippi Constitution Art. III Section 26.

¶ 2. Where these issues are interrelated, they will be combined and addressed as one.

FACTS

¶ 3. On February 4, 1994, Jenkins pled guilty to vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to a term of ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Jenkins' sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation.

¶ 4. In April 1999, the State sought to revoke Jenkins' suspended sentence because he had been convicted of DUI and distribution of marijuana while on probation. On April 20, 1999, the trial judge entered an order revoking the suspended sentence.

¶ 5. Following the revocation of his probation, Jenkins was being held in the county jail awaiting transportation to the penitentiary to serve his sentence on the vehicular manslaughter conviction. On May 16, 1999, at 5:00 a.m. roll call, it was discovered that Jenkins was missing from the jail. In April of 2000, Jenkins was located in Texas, where he was taken into custody. In November 2000, he was returned to Oktibbeha County to stand trial on the charge of escape.

¶ 6. On September 17, 2001, Jenkins acting pro se, filed a motion for a speedy trial. However, this motion was not presented to the trial court until the day of trial, February 1, 2002. The trial court ruled that Jenkins' Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial had not been violated.

¶ 7. On February 1, 2002, immediately prior to trial, Jenkins' attorney presented a motion to quash the indictment saying that it failed to allege that Jenkins had been sentenced to the Mississippi Department of Corrections, and that he had used force or violence to escape. The trial court determined that the indictment was sufficient as a matter of law and denied the motion. Upon the denial of that motion, Jenkins' attorney presented a motion which asked the trial court to determine which specific statute was relied upon as a basis for the indictment. This motion was also denied. Thereafter, the trial of this matter proceeded.

¶ 8. Chief Deputy George Carrithers testified that Jenkins was held in the new Oktibbeha County Jail pending the revocation hearing. He was made a trustee, but *873 only allowed to move within the jail itself. Carrithers testified that in March 1999, Jenkins, at the request of his stepfather, was moved from the new jail and housed in the old jail across the street. Carrithers indicated that trustees housed in the old jail were allowed greater freedom of movement than those trustees housed in the new jail. However, they were not allowed to leave the premises except for special purposes and then only when accompanied by a deputy for a "special detail." According to Carrithers, he explained these restrictions to Jenkins.

¶ 9. Jenkins testified that he was not supervised, was free to come and go as he pleased, and was only required to tell someone if he was going after dark. Jenkins indicated that on May 16, 1999, he informed the dispatcher that he was going to the store to get himself a Coke. Jenkins testified that after getting the Coke, he did not return to the jail, but kept going.

¶ 10. After a trial on February 1st and 4th, 2002, Jenkins was convicted of escape and sentenced to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 97-9-45.

ISSUES AND ANALYSIS

I.

Was the indictment defective?

¶ 11. Jenkins contends that the trial court erred in allowing him to stand trial on an indictment which was void for failure to reference the specific statute upon which it was brought. Jenkins claims that either Mississippi Code Annotated Section 97-9-45 (Rev.2000)[1] or 97-9-49 (Rev.2000)[2] could have applicability to the facts in this matter.

*874 ¶ 12. Uniform Circuit and County Court Rule 7.06 sets forth the requirements of an effective indictment. It provides:

The indictment upon which the defendant is to be tried shall be a plain, concise and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged and shall fully notify the defendant of the nature and cause of the accusation. Formal and technical words are not necessary in an indictment, if the offense can be substantially described without them. An indictment shall also include the following:
1. The name of the accused;
2. The date on which the indictment was filed in court;
3. A statement that the prosecution is brought in the name and by the authority of the State of Mississippi;
4. The county and judicial district in which the indictment is brought;
5. The date and, if applicable, the time at which the offense was alleged to have been committed. Failure to state the correct date shall not render the indictment insufficient;
6. The signature of the foreman of the grand jury issuing it; and
7. The words "against the peace and dignity of the state."
The court on motion of the defendant may strike from the indictment any surplusage, including unnecessary allegations or aliases.

¶ 13. Uniform Circuit and County Court Rule 7.06 does not mandate that the indictment reference a particular section of the Mississippi Code. It does require that the defendant be informed of the nature of the charge and of the facts upon which it is based. The indictment stated:

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Related

Jenkins v. State
888 So. 2d 1171 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2004)
Shannon Jenkins v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2002

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
881 So. 2d 870, 2003 WL 22846050, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jenkins-v-state-missctapp-2003.