Raymond Scott Alexander v. State of Mississippi

228 So. 3d 338, 2017 WL 4251668
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 26, 2017
DocketNO. 2016-CP-01454-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 228 So. 3d 338 (Raymond Scott Alexander 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
Raymond Scott Alexander v. State of Mississippi, 228 So. 3d 338, 2017 WL 4251668 (Mich. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

WESTBROOKS, J.,

FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Raymond Scott Alexander, appearing pro se,; appeals the Rankin County Circuit Court’s dismissal of his motion for postconviction relief (PCR). Finding no error, we affirm. ...

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. In July 2003, Alexander was indicted on one count of possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) by a Rankin County grand jury. Alexander pleaded guilty to the charge in 2004, and was placed in the nonadjudication program to serve a term of five years of supervised probation under the supervision of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). Alexander was informed that if he did not comply with the any of the conditions of the nonadjudication program, he would be sentenced to eight years in the custody of MDOC, with one year suspended and five years of supervised probation.

¶ 3. Later in 2004, the State moved to impose Alexander’s sentence for violating the terms of the nonadjudication program. Alexander had failed to pay court costs and admitted to molesting a nine-year-old girl. As a result, Alexander was sentenced to eight years in the custody of the MDOC, with one year suspended and five years of supervised probation.

¶ 4. In 2005, Alexander was indicted in the Circuit Court of Rankin County on one count of gratification of lust and two counts of sexual battery. Alexander entered a guilty plea to one count of sexual gratification and one count of sexual battery. Alexander was sentenced to twelve years in the custody of the MDOC for gratification of lust and thirty years in the custody of the MDOC for sexual battery, with twelve years to serve, eighteen years suspended, and five years of postrelease supervision. The gratification-of-lust and sexual-battery sentences were ordered to run concurrently; however, they were ordered to run consecutively to Alexander’s eight-year sentence for possession of a controlled substance.

¶ 5. In June 2016, Alexander filed a “petition for immediate release on probation and in the alternative immediate release on parole.” The circuit court treated the filing as a PCR motion and denied it. The circuit court found that the motion was time-barred and -without merit. In July 2016, Alexander filed a similarly titled petition in the Mississippi Supreme Court. Because there had been no direct appeal of Alexander’s convictions and sentences, the supreme court dismissed Alexander’s petition without prejudice, and found that it could be brought in the circuit court as a PCR motion.

¶ 6. In September 2016, Alexander filed his second PCR motion. The circuit court dismissed his motion, stating it was time-barred, successive, and without merit. Alexander appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 7. “When reviewing a trial court’s denial or dismissal of a PCR motion, we will only disturb the trial court’s factual findings if they are clearly erroneous; however, we review the trial court’s legal conclusions under a de novo standard of review.” Jackson v. State, 178 So.3d 807, 809 (¶ 8) (Miss. Ct. App. 2014) (citation omitted).

DISCUSSION

¶ 8. The circuit court held that Alexander’s PCR motion was time-barred, successive, and without merit. We agree.

¶ 9. “A PCR motion challenging a guilty plea must be filed within three years of the entry of the judgment of conviction.” Kennedy v. State, 179 So.3d 82, 83 (¶ 6) (Miss. Ct. App. 2015); see also Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-5(2) (Rev. 2015). Following Alexander’s violation of the terms of his nonadjudication program, his sentence of eight years, with one year suspended, for possession of a controlled substance was imposed in 2004. Next, Alexander pleaded guilty to the charges of gratification-of-lust and sexual battery in 2005 and received concurrent sentences for these charges. However, Alexander did not file a PCR motion until 2016. Therefore, Alexander’s motion is time-barred.

¶ 10. Additionally, Alexander’s PCR motion is successive-writ barred. “Under the [Uniform Postconviction Collateral Relief Act], any order denying or dismissing a PCR motion is a bar to a second or successive PCR motion.” Stokes v. State, 199 So.3d 745, 749 (¶ 9) (Miss. Ct. App. 2016) (citing Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-23(6) (Rev. 2015)). The circuit court dismissed Alexander’s first PCR motion filed in June 2016, citing lack of merit and the procedural time-bar. In the order dismissing Alexander’s second PCR motion, the circuit court found that “it ... plainly appealed] from the face of the petition that [Alexander] was not.entitled to any relief.” See Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-11(2) (Rev. 2015). We find the Court properly dismissed Alexander’s successive motion.

¶ 11. However, Alexander asserts that his second PCR motion is exempt from the procedural bars, because he was issued an illegal sentence. In Mississippi, “only four types of ‘fundamental rights’ have been expressly found to survive PCR procedural bars: (1) double jeopardy; (2) illegal sentence; (3) denial of due process at sentencing; and (4) ex post facto claims.” Kennedy, 179 So.3d at 83-84 (¶ 8) (citing Boyd v. State, 155 So.3d 914, 918 (¶ 13) (Miss. Ct. App. 2014)). However, this Court has previously held that “mere assertions of constitutional-rights violations do not suffice to overcome the procedural bar.” Stokes, 199 So.3d at 749 (¶ 10). But as explained below, Alexander did not receive an illegal sentence. Thus, his PCR motion is procedurally barred.

I. Illegal Sentence

¶ 12. Alexander asserts that he received an illegal sentence for his possession-of-a-coñtrolled-substance charge. However, we disagree with his assertion. Alexander was sentenced to eight years, with one year suspended, for possession of a controlled substance pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 41-29-139(c)(1)(B) (Rev. 2001). That code section, revised.in 2014, now states in part:

A person shall be charged and sentenced as follows for a violation of this subsection with respect to: ■
(1) A controlled substance classified in Schedule I or II, except marijuana and synthetic cannabinoids:
[[Image here]]
(B) ' If one-tenth (0.1) gram or more or two (2) or more dosage units, but less than two (2) grams or ten (10) dosage units, by imprisonment for not more than three (3) years or a fine of not more than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), or both.

(Emphasis added).

¶ 13. However, Alexander was sentenced to possession of a controlled substance in 2004. This court has recently held that “when a person is sentenced prior to a statute’s amendment, the penalty of the statute as it existed at the time of sentencing applies.” Barnett-Phillips v. State, 195 So.3d 226, 229 (¶ 8) (Miss. Ct. App. 2016).

¶ 14.

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228 So. 3d 338, 2017 WL 4251668, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/raymond-scott-alexander-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2017.