Mike Brian Rutledge v. State of Mississippi

• Court: Court of Appeals of Mississippi
• Decided: April 18, 2023
• Docket: 2022-CP-00513-COA
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

NO. 2022-CP-00513-COA

MIKE BRIAN RUTLEDGE APPELLANT

v.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 04/18/2022 TRIAL JUDGE: HON. JOHN R. WHITE COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: PRENTISS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: MIKE BRIAN RUTLEDGE (PRO SE) ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: ASHLEY LAUREN SULSER NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - POST-CONVICTION RELIEF DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 04/18/2023 MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:

BEFORE BARNES, C.J., LAWRENCE AND EMFINGER, JJ.

LAWRENCE, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Mike Brian Rutledge filed a motion for post-conviction collateral relief (PCR) in the

Prentiss County Circuit Court concerning his guilty plea to capital murder. In his PCR

motion and supplemental filings, he raised multiple issues including an involuntary plea,

ineffective assistance of counsel, speedy-trial violations, and a defective indictment. The

circuit court denied his PCR motion because each of his claims lacked merit. Rutledge now

appeals from the circuit court’s order but challenges only the validity of his 2015 burglary

conviction. But this issue is procedurally barred because it was never presented to the circuit

court. Therefore, the circuit court’s order denying Rutledge post-conviction collateral relief

is affirmed. ¶2. On November 7, 2017, Rutledge was indicted by a Prentiss County grand jury for the

capital murder of Laura Rutledge and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. The

indictment alleged that Rutledge possessed a “butcher knife” and that he previously had been

convicted of burglary on September 21, 2015. On June 9, 2020, Rutledge pled guilty to the

capital murder charge, but the possession of a weapon by a felon charge in Count II was

retired to the files. The trial court sentenced Rutledge to life imprisonment without eligibility

for parole for the capital murder conviction and ordered the term to run consecutively to the

burglary sentence Rutledge was serving at the time of the plea.

¶3. On October 4, 2020, Rutledge filed a PCR motion in the Prentiss County Circuit

Court. Rutledge alleged in his motion that his capital murder plea was involuntary, his

counsel was ineffective, and he was denied a mental evaluation. He also alleged various

other constitutional and statutory grievances. The circuit court denied the PCR motion on

April 18, 2022.

¶4. Rutledge now appeals the decision but does not address any of the allegations made

in the PCR motion. Instead, he raises only one issue—the validity of his 2015 burglary

conviction. This appeal, however, is the first time Rutledge has raised this issue. Therefore,

this claim is procedurally barred. See Smith v. State, 973 So. 2d 1003, 1006 (¶6) (Miss. Ct.

App. 2007) (“Issues not raised in [a] motion for post-conviction relief are procedurally barred

on appeal.”); see also Stamps v. State, 151 So. 3d 248, 255 (¶18) (Miss. Ct. App. 2014) (“A

petitioner who fails to raise an issue in his motion for post-conviction relief before the trial

court may not raise that issue for the first time on appeal.”); Bell v. State, 105 So. 3d 401,

2 403-04 (¶10) (Miss. Ct. App. 2012) (“It is well settled that issues not raised before the trial

court for resolution are procedurally barred from being raised for the first time before the

appellate court.”).

¶5. AFFIRMED.

BARNES, C.J., CARLTON AND WILSON, P.JJ., GREENLEE, WESTBROOKS, McDONALD, McCARTY, SMITH AND EMFINGER, JJ., CONCUR.