Jones v. State

936 So. 2d 993, 2006 WL 2406311
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided August 22, 2006·No. 2005-CP-01702-COA·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinion

936 So.2d 993 (2006)

Douglas JONES, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2005-CP-01702-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

August 22, 2006.

*994 Douglas Jones, pro se.

Office of the Attorney General by Billy L. Gore, attorney for appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., SOUTHWICK and ISHEE, JJ.

SOUTHWICK, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Douglas Jones pled guilty to the crime of sexual battery in 2004. The next year he filed for post-conviction relief. He claims that his plea was not voluntarily and knowingly entered. We agree that there is some question as to whether he knowingly entered his plea. We remand for a hearing.

FACTS

¶ 2. On April 10, 2003, Jones was indicted by a Marshall County grand jury for the crime of sexual battery of a minor under the age of fourteen. The victim was his then-ten-year-old biological daughter. She said that Jones had raped her. The victim's mother took the victim to a physician due to worrisome symptoms. A physician confirmed that the victim had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Jones suffered from this sexually transmitted disease at the time of the incident. On May 19, 2004, Jones pled guilty to sexual battery. The circuit court accepted Jones's guilty plea and sentenced Jones in accordance with the recommendation of the prosecution. Jones was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment, fifteen years suspended, three years of post-release supervision, registration as a sex offender, and court costs.

¶ 3. On May 13, 2005, a little less than a year later, Jones filed for post-conviction relief. His claims concern what he was told at the guilty plea hearing, what he otherwise knew concerning his rights, and the details of the charged crime. The trial judge found that the motion should be disposed of without requiring a response from the State or having a hearing. All relief was denied. Jones's appeal has been deflected to this Court.

DISCUSSION

ISSUE 1: Validity of Guilty Plea

¶ 4. Jones argues that his guilty plea was not voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently entered because he was not informed of the elements of the charge. Before we review the evidence, we will seek clarity in understanding what the constitutional requirements for a plea entail.

¶ 5. A guilty plea is not valid unless it is made "with sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances and likely consequences." Bradshaw v. Stumpf, 545 U.S. *995 175, 125 S.Ct. 2398, 2405, 162 L.Ed.2d 143 (2005) (quoting Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 748, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970)). The "Constitution insists" that a plea be entered in this manner because a defendant, by pleading guilty, foregoes fundamental constitutional guarantees. United States v. Ruiz, 536 U.S. 622, 629, 122 S.Ct. 2450, 153 L.Ed.2d 586 (2002).

¶ 6. The objective of this standard is to satisfy the due process requirement that a defendant receive "real notice of the true nature of the charge against him." Bousley v. United States, 523 U.S. 614, 618, 118 S.Ct. 1604, 140 L.Ed.2d 828 (1998) (quoting Smith v. O'Grady, 312 U.S. 329, 334, 61 S.Ct. 572, 85 L.Ed. 859 (1941)). At the hearing accepting a guilty plea, a trial court must assure itself that a defendant understands the nature and elements of the crime for which he is admitting guilt. Stumpf, 125 S.Ct. at 2405 (citing Henderson v. Morgan, 426 U.S. 637, 96 S.Ct. 2253, 49 L.Ed.2d 108 (1976)). A court accepting a guilty plea does not have to explain the crime's elements to the defendant on the record, as it is also sufficient if "the record accurately reflects that the nature of the charge and the elements of the crime were explained to the defendant by his own, competent counsel." Stumpf, 125 S.Ct. at 2405.

¶ 7. In Stumpf, the defendant's attorneys made a representation on the record that they explained the elements of the crime to the defendant. Id. The defendant then confirmed that what the attorneys had said was true. Id. The Supreme Court opinion is not explicit that this was done in open court instead of in writing, but the district court opinion described the plea hearing in detail. The district judge "engaged petitioner and his attorneys in a colloquy" that evoked assurances by the attorneys that they had informed the accused of the elements of the offense and his defenses. Stumpf v. Anderson, No.C-1-96-668, 2001 WL 242585, at *15 (S.D.Ohio Feb.7, 2001). The Court of Appeals opinion determined that these assurances were inadequate:

[The defendant's] attorneys represented to the court that they had explained to Stumpf the elements of the crime, their own arguments to the court during the plea colloquy and the evidentiary hearing to establish a factual basis for the plea refute the typical presumption that defense counsel have fully and adequately explained all elements of a crime to a client before he pleads guilty. Indeed, defense counsel's representations to the court either betray their own ignorance of the intent element of aggravated murder, or represent a woefully inadequate understanding of the meaning of a guilty plea. Finally, the plea colloquy itself, along with Stumpf's statements to the court through all stages of the proceedings, demonstrates Stumpf's unwillingness to admit to intent.

Stumpf v. Mitchell, 367 F.3d 594, 601 (6th Cir.2004), rev'd sub nom. Bradshaw v. Stumpf, 545 U.S. 175, 125 S.Ct. 2398, 162 L.Ed.2d 143 (2005). The circuit court found that despite the assurances by counsel that their client knew the nature and elements of the charge, other comments by them "betrayed" those assurances.

¶ 8. With this background, the Supreme Court in Stumpf made these relevant comments:

In Stumpf's plea hearing, his attorneys represented on the record that they had explained to their client the elements of the aggravated murder charge; Stumpf himself then confirmed that this representation was true. . . . While the court taking a defendant's plea is responsible for ensuring "a record adequate for any review that may be later sought," Boykin *996 v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 244, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969), we have never held that the judge must himself explain the elements of each charge to the defendant on the record. Rather, the constitutional prerequisites of a valid plea may be satisfied where the record accurately reflects that the nature of the charge and the elements of the crime were explained to the defendant by his own, competent counsel. Cf. Henderson, supra, at 647, 96 S.Ct. 2253 (granting relief to a defendant unaware of the elements of his crime, but distinguishing that case from others where "the record contains either an explanation of the charge by the trial judge, or at least

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Jones v. State, 936 So. 2d 993, 2006 WL 2406311 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

936 So. 2d 993 (Jones v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Darrell Shoemake v. State of Mississippi
222 So. 3d 339 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2017)
Ferguson v. State
131 So. 3d 1235 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2013)
Adams v. State
117 So. 3d 674 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2013)
Hill v. State
60 So. 3d 824 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)
Williams v. State
31 So. 3d 69 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2010)
Simoneaux v. State
29 So. 3d 26 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2009)
Gross v. State
973 A.2d 895 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2009)
Miller v. State
970 A.2d 332 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2009)
Davis v. State
973 So. 2d 1040 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Jones v. State
970 So. 2d 1316 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Abrams v. State
933 A.2d 887 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2007)
Turner v. State
961 So. 2d 734 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Staggs v. State
960 So. 2d 563 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)