Knight v. State

956 So. 2d 264, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 663, 2006 WL 2615251
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 12, 2006
DocketNo. 2005-CP-00110-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 956 So. 2d 264 (Knight 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
Knight v. State, 956 So. 2d 264, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 663, 2006 WL 2615251 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

GRIFFIS, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Shawn Louis Knight pled guilty to gratification of lust in the Circuit Court of Rankin County. He was sentenced to serve a total of fifteen years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with five years suspended, followed by five years supervised probation. He was fined $1,000, which was suspended, and was ordered to pay court costs. Knight then filed a motion for post-conviction relief, which was denied on its merits. On appeal, he raises the following issues: (1) the indictment was insufficient to charge a crime, (2) the grand jury could not find penetration and corpus delicti, (3) his plea was involuntary and unknowing, and (4) his counsel was ineffective. After the appeal was filed, the trial court judge moved this Court to consider Knight’s petition a successive writ. We find no error and affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. Knight was indicted on two counts of sexual battery of a minor. The two counts were nearly identical in that they charged sexual battery against a minor, identified as M.W. However, Count I was for one act of sexual battery in September 2001, and Count II was for an act on October 27, 2001. In exchange for a guilty plea to gratification of lust for the incident described in Count II, the prosecution agreed not to prosecute Count I. Knight pled guilty on December 19, 2002.

¶ 3. On September 15, 2004, Knight filed his petition for post-conviction relief. Judge Samac Richardson denied the motion on its merits. Knight appealed to this Court.

¶ 4. This Court ordered the lower court to supplement the record with the plea hearing transcript. The lower court complied; however, it was accompanied by an ex parte “Supplemental Findings of the Trial Court” (“Supplemental Findings”). The Supplemental Findings stated that the trial court should have considered the petition a successive writ and asked this Court to “correct this error” and to sanction Knight. This Court supplied the parties with a copy of the supplemental findings and ordered supplemental briefing.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 5. A trial court’s denial of post-conviction relief will not be reversed absent a finding that the trial court’s decision was clearly erroneous. Smith v. State, 806 So.2d 1148, 1150 (¶ 3) (Miss.Ct.App.2002). However, when issues of law are raised the proper standard of review is de novo. Brown v. State, 731 So.2d 595, 598 (¶ 6) (Miss.1999). Whether or not an indictment is defective is a question of law. Peterson v. State, 671 So.2d 647, 652 (Miss.1996).

ANALYSIS

I. Is the successive writ bar properly before this Court?

¶ 6. First, we must consider whether the Supplemental Findings are properly before this Court. Knight argues that the lower court has violated proper procedure and “waived” its holding by not considering it in the first place. He also argues the State waived this argument when it was not raised below. In the alternative, Knight argues that he has raised fundamental, constitutional rights which survive a successive writ bar. The State finds “no [267]*267legal impediment to Judge Richardson’s supplemental finding.”

¶ 7. The Supplemental Findings read, in part:

The Trial Court after receiving the Court of Appeals Order for Supplementation, researched all of the Movant’s court files and pleadings. The Trial Court has determined that the Movant filed a pro se Motion to Vacate and Set Aside Sentence June 9, 2003 ... which the Trial Court elected to treat as a Motion for Post Conviction Relief based upon the relief requested, urging essentially the same grounds for relief as he has alleged in the Motion ... which is the subject of the current appeal. At the time the Trial Court addressed and considered the current Motion ... the Trial Court ... did not realize and was unaware that the Movant had previously filed a Motion for Post Conviction Relief which had been denied. No appeal was taken from this order and the time for taking such appeal has expired .... The Trial Court urges the Court of Appeals to correct the Trial Court’s error or oversight and dismiss the [appeal] as a second or successive motion. Further, the Trial Court urges the Court of Appeals to impose sufficient sanctions on the Movant....

(emphasis added).

¶ 8. The “error and oversight” was not that of the trial court; rather, it was the State’s error and oversight. It is the duty and responsibility of the State to present arguments that refute Knight’s petition for post-conviction relief. The State did not raise this issue below, nor did it raise it here in its brief. Having failed to do so, we decline to reach the State’s argument that Knight’s petition is a successive writ now. Herrington v. State, 690 So.2d 1132, 1137 (Miss.1997). The final judgment, which Knight appeals, denied his petition on its merits. We now consider the merits of Knight’s appeal.

II. Was Knight’s guilty plea knowing and voluntary?

¶ 9. Knight claims that he never waived his rights in a face-to-face exchange with the trial court judge. He further claims the trial court never discussed the elements of sexual battery. The trial court held this issue was meritless, because Knight asserted under oath, in his petition to enter a plea and in open court, that he was pleading guilty freely and voluntarily.

A. Did Knight know which rights he was waiving?

¶ 10. A plea of guilty is binding only if it is entered voluntarily and intelligently. Myers v. State, 583 So.2d 174, 177 (Miss.1991). A plea is voluntary and intelligent when the defendant is informed of the charges against him and the consequences of his plea. Alexander v. State, 605 So.2d 1170, 1172 (Miss.1992). A defendant must be told that a guilty plea involves a waiver of the right to a trial by jury, the right to confront adverse witnesses, and the right to protection against self incrimination. URCCC 8.04.

It is not enough to ask an accused whether counsel has explained his constitutional rights. Nor is a standardized petition ... sufficient standing alone. The court must go further and determine in a face-to-face exchange in open court that the accused knows and understands the rights to which he is entitled.

Nelson v. State, 626 So.2d 121, 126 (Miss.1993). However, “failure of a trial court to advise the defendant of any ... constitutional rights which are waived by a guilty plea, will not render a guilty plea to be involuntary if such information has been supplied from another source, such as his attorney.” Courtney v. State, 704 So.2d [268]*2681352, 1359 (¶ 29) (Miss.Ct.App.1997). “A showing that the plea was voluntarily and intelligently made must appear in the record.” URCCC 8.04.

¶ 11. For example, in Nelson, the trial judge did not inform Nelson of his right to compulsory process. Nelson, 626 So.2d at 126. Although it was discussed in the plea petition, the petition did not specify that process could also be used for out-of-state witnesses. Id. The ease was remanded for an evidentiary hearing to determine if Nelson was misinformed about this right by his attorney. Id. at 127.

¶ 12. In Courtney,

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Peterson v. State
671 So. 2d 647 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1996)
State v. Pittman
671 So. 2d 62 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1996)
Boddie v. State
875 So. 2d 180 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2004)
Myers v. State
583 So. 2d 174 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1991)
Nelson v. State
626 So. 2d 121 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1993)
Alexander v. State
605 So. 2d 1170 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1992)
Courtney v. State
704 So. 2d 1352 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 1997)
Smith v. State
806 So. 2d 1148 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2002)
Lindsay v. State
720 So. 2d 182 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1998)
McQuarter v. State
574 So. 2d 685 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1990)
King v. State
503 So. 2d 271 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1987)
Brown v. State
731 So. 2d 595 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1999)
Thomas v. State
881 So. 2d 912 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
956 So. 2d 264, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 663, 2006 WL 2615251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/knight-v-state-missctapp-2006.