Johnson v. State

204 So. 3d 346, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 287
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 10, 2016
DocketNo. 2015-CP-00234-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 204 So. 3d 346 (Johnson 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
Johnson v. State, 204 So. 3d 346, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 287 (Mich. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

GREENLEE, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Sammie Lee Johnson appeals the dismissal of his fifth motion for post-conviction relief (PCR). Because we find his motion is successive, untimely, not excepted from the successive-writ bar nor the time-bar, barred by res judicata, and without merit, we affirm the circuit court’s dismissal.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

¶ 2. On August 19, 2002, Johnson pleaded guilty to capital murder, and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

¶ 3. Johnson filed four previous PCR motions, and all four were denied. Johnson appealed his third and fourth denial to this Court. Both times we affirmed the denial of PCR because his appeal was untimely filed', his motion was procedurally barred as a successive writ, and it was without merit. Johnson v. State (Johnson 11), 39 So.3d 963, 964-66 (¶¶1, 6, 10-14) (Miss.Ct.App.2010); Johnson v. State (Johnson I), 962 So.2d 87, 88-89 (¶¶ 1, 9-12) (Miss.Ct.App.2007).

¶ 4. Johnson filed his fifth PCR motion, presently before this Court, titled “Application for Leave to Proceed in the Trial Court of Marshall County With Motion for Post-Conviction Relief Pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. 99-39-1 et al.” Being substantially the same as the fourth PCR motion before the Court in Johnson II, the motion was denied by the circuit court as time-barred and a successive writ. Johnson again appeals the circuit court’s denial of his motion to this Court.

DISCUSSION

¶ 6. A trial court’s denial of PCR will not be reversed absent a finding that the trial court’s decision was clearly erroneous; however, when reviewing issues of law, this Court’s proper standard of review is de novo. Russell v. State, 73 So.3d 542, 544 (¶ 5) (Miss.Ct.App.2011).

¶ 6. On appeal, Johnson argues the following: his claims are not procedurally barred; he was denied due process of law; his counsel was ineffective; error occurred because he was represented by only one attorney; his plea was not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary; and the cumulative effect of ei'rors denied him a fair trial. These exact issues were already addressed by this Court in Johnson II and are proce[349]*349durally barred as a successive writ, time-barred, and barred by the doctrine of res judicata. Johnson II, 39 So.3d at 964, 966 (¶¶ 6, 14).

I. Res Judicata

¶7. In applying the doctrine of res judicata, there are four elements that must be identical for the doctrine to apply: subject matter, cause of action, parties, and quality or character of the person sued. EMC Mortg. Corp. v. Carmichael, 17 So.3d 1087, 1090 (¶ 10) (Miss.2009). After a thorough review and comparison, it is obvious that res judicata applies to Johnson’s claims because the parties and issues before this Court are exactly the same as in Johnson I and Johnson II.

II. Successive Writ

¶ 8. Under the Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act (UCCPRA), an order “denying relief ... is a final judgment and shall be conclusive until reversed. It shall be a bar to a second or successive motion under this article.” Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-23(6) (Rev.2015). The movant bears the burden of “proving] by a preponderance of the evidence that his claims are. not barred as successive writs.” Robinson v. State, 19 So.3d 140, 144 (¶16) (Miss.Ct.App.2009) (citing Carbin v. State, 942 So.2d 231, 233 (¶ 9) (Miss.Ct.App.2006)).

¶9. Johnson’s present PCR motion is his fifth and, without question, successive to his fourth. So we now look to see whether he has raised any viable exception to the successive-writ bar.

A. Exceptions to the Successive-Writ Bar

¶ 10. When a successive PCR motion is filed, “the burden falls on the movant to show he has met a statutory exception.” White v. State, 59 So.3d 633, 635 (¶ 8) (Miss.Ct.App.2011) (citing Adams v. State, 954 So.2d 1051, 1053 (¶ 7) (Miss.Ct.App.2007)). Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-23(6), in pertinent part, has an exception for newly discovered evidence. ‘ Also, “[e]rrors affecting fundamental rights are excepted from the procedural bars of the UPCCRA.” Rowland v. State, 42 So.3d 503, 507 (¶ 12) (Miss.2010). “But mere assertions of constitutional-rights violations do not suffice to overcome the procedural bar.” White, 59 So.3d at 636 (¶ 11) (citing Chandler v. State, 44 So.3d 442, 444 (¶8) (Miss.Ct.App.2010)). Johnson fails to provide any legitimate reason the successive-writ bar should not apply, and we find none. We also find no merit to his claims. But because Johnson insists that newly discovered evidence exists, we briefly address this exception.

B. Newly Discovered Evidence

¶ 11. Newly discovered evidence must be “evidence, not reasonably discoverable at the time of trial, which is of such nature that it would be practically conclusive that, if it had been introduced at trial, it would have caused a different result in the conviction or sentence.” Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-23(6). The newly-discovered—evidence exception does apply to situations where a defendant pleaded guilty. Chancy v. State, 938 So.2d 251, 252-253 (¶ 4) (Miss.2006). However, similar to the outcome of Chancy, we find the exception does not apply to Johnson because the alleged “newly discovered evidence”—the information contained in the affidavit of his codefendant—is not newly discovered evidence. See id. at 253 (¶ 15).

¶ 12. Also in Johnson II, this Court found that Johnson’s affidavit failed to meet the requirements of newly discovered evidence because he “[did] not explain how he discovered this new testimony by [his codefendant], nor [did] he explain why [350]*350this information- could not have been discovered before he entered his guilty plea.” Johnson II, 39 So.3d at 966 (¶ 12). There-, fore, we also find that Johnson’s claim of newly discovered evidence is barred by the doctrine of res judicata.

III. Time-Bar

¶ 13. Additionally, the UPCCRA has a thrée-year statute of limitations. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-5(2) (Rev.2015). Johnson’s motion was filed well after the statute had run, and is therefore time-barred. The statute of limitations has several exceptions that are substantively identical to those for the successive-writ bar. See id. at § 99-39-5(2)(a)-(b). But again, Johnson’s motion does not fit an exception for the reasons already discussed.

IV. Due Process and Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

¶ 14.

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Bluebook (online)
204 So. 3d 346, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 287, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-state-missctapp-2016.