Lewis v. State

48 So. 3d 583, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 254, 2010 WL 2044151
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 25, 2010
Docket2008-CP-01752-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 48 So. 3d 583 (Lewis 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
Lewis v. State, 48 So. 3d 583, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 254, 2010 WL 2044151 (Mich. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

*585 MYERS, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. On May 12, 2003, Gary Lewis was indicted by a Pike County grand jury for one count of sale of cocaine and one count of conspiracy to sell cocaine. The offenses were alleged to have occurred in April and June 2002, respectively. On January 6, 2004, Lewis pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count, and the sale of cocaine charge was dropped pursuant to a plea agreement. On the conspiracy count, the circuit court sentenced Lewis to twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The sentencing order was filed and the conviction entered on January 7, 2004.

¶2. At the sentencing hearing, Lewis was sentenced on three additional counts of conspiracy to sell cocaine, for which he was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment on each count. Lewis was also sentenced to twenty-five years imprisonment for a single count of sale of cocaine. All four conspiracy sentences were ordered to be served concurrently to each other, but the sentence on the sale count was ordered to be served consecutively to the sentences on the conspiracy counts. The circuit court ordered the final twenty-eight years of the total sentence suspended, with five years’ post-release supervision. 1

¶ 8. On January 17, 2008, Lewis filed the instant motion for post-conviction relief, asserting that: his guilty plea was not voluntary or sufficient; he received ineffective assistance of counsel; and the circuit judge should have recused himself from taking Lewis’s guilty plea. 2 On February 18, 2008, the circuit court dismissed Lewis’s motion without an evidentiary hearing. Lewis subsequently filed a motion for an out-of-time appeal, which the circuit court granted on September 29, 2008.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 4. “A trial court’s decision to dismiss a motion for post-conviction relief is insulated from appellate review unless it is determined that the trial court’s decision was clearly erroneous.” Dyson v. State, 996 So.2d 172, 173 (¶ 3) (Miss.Ct.App.2008) (citing Willis v. State, 904 So.2d 200, 201 (¶ 3) (Miss.Ct.App.2005)). A trial court may dismiss a motion for post-conviction relief “[i]f it plainly appears from the face of the motion, any annexed exhibits and the prior proceedings in the case that the movant is not entitled to any relief[.]” Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-11(2) (Supp.2009).

DISCUSSION

1. Statute of Limitations

¶5. Although the circuit court addressed the merits of Lewis’s motion in its order of dismissal, we are compelled to note that Lewis’s motion was filed more than four years after the entry of his conviction and sentence. Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-5(2) (Supp.2009) states that a motion for post-conviction relief “in case of a guilty plea, [shall be made] within three years after entry of the *586 judgment of conviction.” The statute enumerates certain exceptions to this statute of limitations:

(a)(i) That there has been an intervening decision of the Supreme Court of either the State of Mississippi or the United States which would have actually adversely affected the outcome of his conviction or sentence or that he has evidence, not reasonably discoverable at the time of trial, which is of such nature that it would be practically conclusive that had such been introduced at trial it would have caused a different result in the conviction or sentence; or
(ii) That, even if the petitioner pled guilty or nolo contendere, or confessed or admitted to a crime, there exists biological evidence not tested, or, if previously tested, that can be subjected to additional DNA testing that would provide a reasonable likelihood of more probative results, and that testing would demonstrate by reasonable probability that the petitioner would not have been convicted or would have received a lesser sentence if favorable results had been obtained through such forensic DNA testing at the time of the original prosecution.
(b) Likewise excepted are those cases in which the petitioner claims that his sentence has expired or his probation, parole or conditional release has been unlawfully revoked. Likewise excepted are filings for post-conviction relief in capital cases which shall be made within one (1) year after conviction.

Id. Nothing in the record indicates that any of these exceptions are applicable to this case. However, “errors affecting fundamental constitutional rights” may be excepted from this procedural bar. Ivy v. State, 731 So.2d 601, 603 (¶ 13) (Miss.1999). Nevertheless, “the mere assertion of a constitutional right violation is not sufficient to overcome the time bar. There must at least appear to be some basis for the truth of the claim before the limitation period will be waived.” Stovall v. State, 873 So.2d 1056, 1058 (¶ 7) (Miss.Ct.App.2004). “[Djouble jeopardy, ineffective assistance of counsel, involuntary guilty pleas, and speedy trial challenges all have been held to be time-barred.” Dyson, 996 So.2d at 173 (¶ 5) (citations omitted). We find the time bar generally applicable to Lewis’s petition; however, we shall briefly address the merits of the claims made.

2. Factual Basis

¶ 6. Lewis argues that his guilty plea lacked a sufficient factual basis because he made no admissions during the guilty plea colloquy that: he had “knowingly” conspired to commit the sale of cocaine; he had known that “such actions” were illegal; or his criminal acts had been committed within the jurisdiction of the Pike County Circuit Court. Because the trial court must determine the existence of a factual basis for a guilty plea before accepting the plea, we shall address this issue notwithstanding the time bar. Boddie v. State, 850 So.2d 1205, 1209 (¶ 16) (Miss.Ct.App.2002) (citing URCCC 8.04).

¶ 7. Lewis’s argument that he was required to admit that he subjectively knew, at the time of the conspiracy, that his actions 3 were illegal is without merit because subjective knowledge of the illegality of such acts is not required to support a conviction for conspiracy. Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-1-1(1) (Supp.2009) states, in pertinent part, that conspiracy may be proven where “two ... *587 or more persons conspire ... to commit a crime ... or [t]o accomplish any unlawful purpose, or a lawful purpose by any unlawful means.... ” There is no requirement that Lewis must have subjectively known that either the conspiracy or the underlying crime of sale of cocaine was illegal to support a conviction for conspiracy.

¶ 8. Lewis’s remaining arguments regarding the factual basis are also without merit. Lewis argues that he did not admit during the plea colloquy that he had “knowingly” entered the conspiracy or that the events had occurred within the jurisdiction of the circuit court.

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Bluebook (online)
48 So. 3d 583, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 254, 2010 WL 2044151, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-state-missctapp-2010.