Mark A King v. State of Mississippi

220 So. 3d 280, 2017 WL 2781997, 2017 Miss. App. LEXIS 318
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 30, 2017
DocketNO. 2016-CP-00904-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 220 So. 3d 280 (Mark A King v. State of Mississippi) 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
Mark A King v. State of Mississippi, 220 So. 3d 280, 2017 WL 2781997, 2017 Miss. App. LEXIS 318 (Mich. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

CARLTON, J.,

FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. Mark King entered a guilty plea to the charge of possession of counterfeit bank notes or other instruments. The Madison County Circuit Court sentenced King to ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) and ordered him to pay court costs, fees, and assessments in the amount of $498.50. King filed a motion for postcon-viction relief (PCR), arguing that his indictment was defective for failing to provide him with notice of the amount of counterfeit bank notes in his possession, and as a result, his sentence was unconstitutional. After reviewing the record and King’s PCR motion, the circuit court denied King’s requested relief and dismissed his PCR motion. King now appeals. Finding no error, we affirm the circuit court’s dismissal of King’s PCR motion.

FACTS

112. On August 14, 2014, a Madison County grand jury indicted King for possession of counterfeit bank notes or other instruments in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-21-37 (Rev. 2006) (Count I), and conspiracy to possess a counterfeit instrument in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-1-1 (Rev. 2006) (Count II). 1

¶3. On November 17, 2014, King entered a plea of guilty to Count I, possession of counterfeit bank notes, and Count II was nolle prossed. On December 8, 2014, the circuit court sentenced King to serve ten years in the custody of the MDOC and to pay court costs, fees, and assessments in the amount of $498.50.

¶ 4. On April 15, 2016, King filed a PCR motion, arguing that his indictment was *282 defective for failing to provide him notice of the monetary value of the counterfeit bank notes he was charged with possessing. King further submitted that no proof was offered in the indictment as to the face amount of those notes. King also claimed that his sentence exceeded the maximum authorized by law, arguing that he should not have been sentenced to more than six months in the county jail pursuant to the amendment to the sentencing scheme found in Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-21-33(1) (Rev. 2014).

¶ 5. After reviewing both the record and King’s PCR motion, the circuit court entered an order on April 29, 2016, denying King’s requested relief and dismissing his PCR motion. The circuit court explained:

[Pjursuant to the versions of ... [sections] 97-21-37 and 97-21-33 in effect on the date the crime was committed, it was a felony to possess such counterfeit checks in any amount. While the State could have proceeded against King on a misdemeanor charge if the face amount of the checks [was] below $500, the State was not-required to do so and could have proceeded against King as a felony regardless of the face amount of the checks.

The circuit court also held that the face of the indictment clearly provided King with notice that the State was charging him with a felony charge of possession of counterfeit bank notes or other instruments.

¶ 6. King now appeals the circuit court’s dismissal of his PCR motion.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶7. “When reviewing a trial court’s denial or dismissal of a motion for PCR, we will only disturb the trial court’s factual findings if they are clearly erroneous; however, we review legal conclusions under a de novo standard of review.” Chapman v. State, 167 So.3d 1170, 1172 (¶ 3) (Miss. 2015).

DISCUSSION

¶8. King argues that his indictment charging him with possession of counterfeit bank notes or other instruments was defective. King admits that his indictment notified him that he was being charged with the offense of possession of counterfeit bank notes pursuant to section 97-21-37. However, King argues that the indictment failed to specify the amount of forged notes found in his possession for sentencing purposes. King submits that the sentencing statute, section 97-21-33, applies different penalties depending on the amount of forged notes in possession of the defendant. As a result, King asserts that, imposing a sentence without properly including the amount of forged notes in his indictment violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

¶ 9. Uniform Rule of Circuit and County Court 7.06 states that an indictment “shall be a plain, concise[,] and definite written statement of -the essential facts constituting the offense charged and shall fully notify the defendant of the nature and cause of the accusation.” In Davis v. State, 171 So.3d 537, 540 (¶ 11) (Miss. Ct. App. 2015), this Court explained that “[t]he chief objective of an indictment is to provide a defendant fair notice of the crime charged.” Furthermore, “[a]n indictment must contain (1) the essential elements of the offense charged,' (2) sufficient facts to fairly inform the defendant of the charge against which he must defend, and (3) sufficient facts to enable him to plead double jeopardy in the event of a future prosecution for the same offense.” Id. (quoting Gilmer v. State, 955 So.2d 829, 836-37 (¶ 24) (Miss. 2007)).

*283 ¶ 10. The record reflects that King’s indictment for possession of counterfeit bank notes charged:

[0]n or about the 11th day of June, 2014, ..'. [King] did unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously have in [his] possession multiple forged, altered[,] or counterfeited negotiable notes, namely: multiple business checks drawn on the account of HRL Contractors, LLC, ... when ... [King] knew same to be forged, altered[,] or counterfeited, with intention to utter the same as true or as false, or to cause the same to be uttered, with intent to injure or defraud, in violation of ... [section] 97-21-37[.]

¶ 11. At the time King committed the crime charged in his indictment, Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-21-33 (Rev. 2006) provided the following penalty for a violation of section 97-21-37: a term of imprisonment between two and ten years, a fine of not more than $10,000, or both. As stated, the circuit court herein “reviewed the complete file in this matter, including all the pleadings in this cause, the underlying criminal file, [and] the transcript of the "guilty plea and sentencing hearings” and ultimately entered an order denying relief and dismissing King’s PCR motion. In its order of dismissal, the circuit court explained that, “pursuant to the versions of ... [sections] 97-21-37 and 97-21-33 in effect on the date the crime was committed, it was a felony to possess such counterfeit checks in any amount.” The circuit court held:

It is clear from the face of the indictment that the State was proceeding against King on a felony charge, regardless of the amount of the checks, which the Court finds to have been within the discretion of the State. Count I of the indictment clearly shows that "King was called into Court to face a felony charge for the possession of counterfeit business checks drawn on the account of HRL • Contractors, LLC, which King possessed in Madison County, Mississippi, knowing the same to be forged, altered^] or counterfeit, and that he had ■the intent to utter and published such checks with the further intent to injur[e] and defraud,

¶ 12.

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Related

Gilmer v. State
955 So. 2d 829 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2007)
Harrison v. State
722 So. 2d 681 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1998)
Richard Chapman v. State of Mississippi
167 So. 3d 1170 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2015)
Randy Charles Wilson v. State of Mississippi
194 So. 3d 855 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2016)
Davis v. State
171 So. 3d 537 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2015)

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Bluebook (online)
220 So. 3d 280, 2017 WL 2781997, 2017 Miss. App. LEXIS 318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mark-a-king-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2017.