Lightsey v. State

800 So. 2d 520, 2001 Miss. App. LEXIS 331, 2001 WL 973255
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedAugust 28, 2001
DocketNo. 2000-CA-00416-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 800 So. 2d 520 (Lightsey 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
Lightsey v. State, 800 So. 2d 520, 2001 Miss. App. LEXIS 331, 2001 WL 973255 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

IRVING, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Clint Lightsey pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court of Jackson County to the offense of armed robbery. Seventeen days later, Lightsey moved to have the plea set aside. The trial court denied the motion. Feeling aggrieved, Lightsey has appealed and asserts the following four propositions which he contends require us to reverse his conviction: (1) the guilty plea of the Appellant, January 11, 2000, was not a knowing and voluntary plea, (2) the petition to plead guilty in this case should have been declared invalid, (3) Appellant’s guilty plea was the result of ineffective assistance of counsel, and (4) the denial of the Appellant’s motion to set aside guilty plea and sentence represents an abuse of judicial discretion.

¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. Using a pellet gun, Lightsey and two friends, identified as Anthony Steven Agostino and Holly Mae Ates, robbed the Holiday Inn in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The trio later decided to rob an ATM but were unsuccessful in their plot. Lightsey and his accomplices were indicted together for robbery of the Holiday Inn. Additionally, Lightsey had two other felony charges, statutory rape and stalking, pending against him and was expecting to be charged with the attempted burglary of the ATM. He hired Attorney Keith Rob[522]*522erts to represent him on the armed robbery charge. Initially, Lightsey pleaded not guilty to the armed robbery charge but later petitioned the court to enter a guilty plea.

¶ 4. Before accepting Lightsey’s guilty plea, the court conducted an inquiry whereby Lightsey acknowledged that he signed the petition and announced that he understood the consequences of pleading guilty. Under examination of the trial court, Lightsey further acknowledged that he knew he could receive up to life in prison or a minimum of three years and that any sentence of ten years or less would have to be served day for day, without parole. Following the examination by the court, the court accepted Lightsey’s guilty plea and sentenced him to fifteen years with eight years suspended and three years post-release supervision.

¶ 5. As stated, Lightsey filed a motion to' set aside his plea and sentence. In his motion, he alleged that his plea was not made knowingly or intelligently. The basis offered for this contention was that his attorney advised him that the attorney had gotten the charge reduced to robbery and that in all probability, if Lightsey would plead guilty to robbery, he would be sentenced to the Regimented Inmate Discipline (RID) program.

¶ 6. The motion was denied after an extensive hearing which included the testimony of Lightsey and his trial counsel. Additional facts will be given as warranted during the discussion of the issues.

DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

I. Knowledge and Voluntariness of the Plea

¶ 7. Lightsey argues that the trial court erred in ruling that his plea was knowingly and voluntarily entered. Light-sey maintains that his plea was not voluntary because he pleaded based on an impression from counsel that he would be sentenced to the RID program or no more than three years in prison.

¶ 8. Unless Lightsey can prove by a preponderance of evidence that his plea was made involuntarily, he is not entitled to a withdrawal of the plea. Schmitt v. State, 560 So.2d 148, 151 (Miss.1990) (citing Leatherwood v. State, 539 So.2d 1378, 1381 n. 4 (Miss.1989)). The standard of review in determining whether a plea was voluntarily and intelligently made is that this Court will not reverse the findings of a trial court sitting without a jury unless the findings are clearly erroneous. House v. State, 754 So.2d 1147 (¶ 24) (Miss.1999). Moreover, a guilty plea is voluntary when the defendant understands, and is properly informed, of the elements of the charge(s) against him and the possible sentence. Alexander v. State, 605 So.2d 1170, 1172 (Miss.1992) (citing Wilson v. State, 577 So.2d 394, 396-97 (Miss.1991)).

¶ 9. A meticulous review of the record reveals an absence of any evidence tending to show that Lightsey’s plea was not knowing and voluntary. The record of the plea hearing is replete with evidence that the trial judge posed many questions to ensure that Lightsey knew and understood the charge against him, including the elements of the charge and the possible sentence he could receive if he pleaded guilty. Further, Lightsey informed the court that he had not been promised leniency nor had he been threatened. Following a thorough inquiry, the trial judge accepted Lightsey’s plea as being entered knowingly and voluntarily. We agree with the trial court and find that this assignment of error lacks merit.

II. Validity of the Plea Petition

¶ 10. Lightsey argues that his plea petition should have been declared invalid be[523]*523cause noticeable alterations appeared on the face of the petition. An examination of the petition reveals that “yes” was written as the answer to the following questions: “Has anyone threatened you in order to make you plead guilty?” “Has anyone promised you anything in order to get you to plead guilty?” However, the “yes” had been lined through and the word “no” inserted instead. The question — “Are you satisfied with his services as an attorney?” — was answered “no,” but the “no” had been lined through and changed to “yes.”

¶ 11. The Supreme Court recites the standard of review in Brown v. State, 731 So.2d 595(¶ 6) (Miss.1999) (citing Bank of Mississippi v. Southern Mem’l Park, Inc. 677 So.2d 186, 191 (Miss.1996)) that “when reviewing a lower court’s decision to deny a petition for post-conviction relief, this Court will not disturb the trial court’s factual findings unless they are found to be clearly erroneous. However, where questions of law are raised the applicable standard of review is de novo.”

¶ 12. At the hearing on the motion to set aside the plea, Roberts, Lightsey’s trial counsel, testified that he prepared the plea petition for Lightsey because Lightsey was in a holding cell and his hands weye not free but that Roberts “spent quite some time going over the petition, explaining it, reading it.” Roberts also testified that it was his practice of reading every word of a plea petition to his criminal clients and that in this case, he and Lightsey went through the plea petition together. He further testified that the answers on the petition were Lightsey’s answers and that Roberts made it clear to Lightsey that Lightsey was pleading guilty to armed robbery as opposed to robbery.

¶ 13. We are satisfied, based on Robert’s and Lightsey’s testimony, that Roberts completed the plea petition for Light-sey and that it was Roberts who made the alterations on the petition. It certainly would have been helpful for review purposes had the trial judge made further inquiry as to why the alterations were made. Nevertheless, we can find no basis for concluding that the trial judge erred by accepting Lightsey’s petition to plead guilty.

III. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

¶ 14. Lightsey argues that Roberts failed to consult or properly advise him of the facts of the State’s ease or the law of the case. Lightsey further maintains that he had a specific understanding that he would be sentenced to a maximum of three years or RID.

¶ 15.

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Related

Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Leatherwood v. State
539 So. 2d 1378 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1989)
House v. State
754 So. 2d 1147 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1999)
Wilson v. State
577 So. 2d 394 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1991)
Berry v. State
722 So. 2d 706 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1998)
Reynolds v. State
585 So. 2d 753 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1991)
Bank of Mississippi v. SOUTHERN MEMORIAL PARK, INC.
677 So. 2d 186 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1996)
Alexander v. State
605 So. 2d 1170 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1992)
Brown v. State
731 So. 2d 595 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1999)
Schmitt v. State
560 So. 2d 148 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1990)
McDonald v. State
118 So. 628 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1928)
Langston v. State
245 So. 2d 579 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
800 So. 2d 520, 2001 Miss. App. LEXIS 331, 2001 WL 973255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lightsey-v-state-missctapp-2001.