Reeves v. City of Crystal Springs

54 So. 3d 322, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 82, 2011 WL 505215
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 15, 2011
DocketNo. 2009-CA-01362-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 54 So. 3d 322 (Reeves v. City of Crystal Springs) 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
Reeves v. City of Crystal Springs, 54 So. 3d 322, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 82, 2011 WL 505215 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

BARNES, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. The Circuit Court of Copiah County dismissed James Edwin Reeves’s appeal of his municipal court conviction for first-offense driving under the influence (DUI) for lack of jurisdiction, finding that the appeal was filed untimely. Finding no error, we affirm.

SUMMARY OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On the morning of August 24, 2008, Reeves was involved in a one-vehicle accident when he ran his SUV into a telephone pole in Crystal Springs, Mississippi. However, when Officer Colin Cooper of the Crystal Springs Police Department arrived at the accident site, Reeves had disappeared. Searching the nearby area for the driver, another police officer saw Reeves standing approximately 300 feet away from the accident, hiding behind a pillar in front of a building. After confirming that he was the driver of the vehicle, the officer brought Reeves back to the accident scene. Officer Cooper noted that Reeves had red eyes, dilated pupils, and slurred speech. Reeves was taken to the police station and given an Intoxilyzer test. The test showed that Reeves was over the legal limit, and he was arrested and charged with first-offense DUI, a misdemeanor.

¶ 3. At a hearing on October 8, 2008, the Crystal Springs Municipal Court requested that Reeves’s counsel prepare and submit a brief prior to the court’s entry of judgment. Counsel complied with the order, and the municipal judge took the matter under advisement. According to a letter contained in the record, defense counsel submitted a “motion to dismiss” prior to November 26, 2008, and counsel informed Reeves that the municipal judge was going to rule on the motion without conducting a hearing. However, this referenced motion is not in the record.

¶ 4. On February 13, 2009, Reeves’s counsel received a notice from the municipal court for an unpaid fine resulting from Reeves’s DUI conviction. This notice was dated February 3, 2009, and stated that Reeves had ten days to pay his fine. On February 16, 2009, Reeves’s counsel sent a letter to the municipal court clerk, stating he was unaware that Reeves had been found guilty and that he would file a notice of appeal within the week. Reeves’s counsel also sent a letter to the municipal judge, requesting that an appeal bond be set. In the process of obtaining the bond, Reeves claims that the bail bondsman was told by the municipal court clerk that the date of conviction was February 11, 2009. This date is written on the face of the appeal bond.

¶ 5. On March 3, 2009, Reeves filed a notice of appeal from his DUI conviction and his appeal bond with the Copiah County Circuit Court. After a bench trial held on March 30, 2009, the circuit court dismissed Reeves’s appeal without prejudice, finding that it was not filed in a timely manner. See URCCC 12.02(A)(1). The circuit judge’s dismissal was based upon an “Abstract of Court Record” filed on March 30, 2009, which stated that the date of Reeves’s conviction was January 14, 2009. The abstract also stated that Reeves had entered a plea of nolo contendere. Reeves now appeals the circuit court’s dismissal for lack of jurisdiction. Finding no error, we affirm.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6. This Court conducts a de novo review on the issue of “[wjhether a circuit court has jurisdiction to hear a particular matter [as it] is a question of law[.]” Raspberry v. City of Aberdeen, 964 So.2d 1211, 1213 (¶ 7) (Miss.Ct.App.2007) (citing [325]*325Edwards v. Booker, 796 So.2d 991, 994 (¶ 9) (Miss.2001)).

I. Whether Reeves’s appeal was timely filed.

¶ 7. Rule 12.02(A)(1) of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court states, in pertinent part, that:

Any person adjudged guilty of a criminal offense by a justice or municipal court may appeal to county court or, if there is no county court having jurisdiction, then to circuit court by filing simultaneously a written notice of appeal, and both a cost bond and an appearance bond (or cash deposit) as provided herein within 30 days of such judgment with the clerk of the circuit court having jurisdiction. This written notice of appeal and posting of the cost bond and the appearance bond or cash deposit perfects the appeal.

(Emphasis added). Reeves claims that the circuit judge should not have dismissed his appeal since the judge could not determine the date of conviction by reviewing the record. At the bench trial, the circuit court stated that there was nothing “in [the] court file indicating when there was a conviction.” When the circuit judge asked Reeves’s counsel how he knew that the municipal court had ruled, counsel answered: “I called. She said he was convicted. I just filed a notice of appeal when I found that out.” However, although the City of Crystal Springs, Mississippi (the City) acknowledged that the judge did retain the case “for quite sometime,” it informed the circuit judge of the January 14, 2009 conviction date, and the circuit court allowed the City to provide an abstract of the record the day after the trial.1

¶ 8. Under Rule 5.01 of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court, all direct appeals from municipal court “shall be by trial de novo.” Thus, the circuit court may “require the filing of any supplemental pleadings to clarify the issues.” URCCC 5.07. We find no error in the circuit court’s decision to allow the City to submit the abstract of record to furnish Reeves’s date of conviction. Although Reeves notes that the appeal bond had a conviction date of February 11, 2009, this information is hearsay. Reeves admits that this date came from a phone conversation between the bail bondsman and the municipal clerk’s office, and he admits that the date given was not certain. As stated in his brief, “the Municipal Court Clerk intimated to the bail bondsman that the date of conviction was February 11, 2009.” (Emphasis added).

¶ 9. Reeves has not provided any evidence that the January 14, 2009 conviction date is incorrect; neither has Reeves addressed nor refuted the fact that the abstract of the record states he entered a plea nolo contendere. Although a letter to Reeves from his counsel states that a motion to dismiss was filed, this motion is absent from the record.

¶ 10. This Court has applied a strict standard when interpreting Rule 12.02. In Hill v. City of Wiggins, 984 So.2d 1086, 1089 (¶ 15) (Miss.Ct.App.2008), we affirmed a circuit court’s dismissal of an appeal since the defendant failed to post the requisite bond with his notice of appeal in a timely manner. See Riley v. Town of Lambert, 856 So.2d 721, 724 (¶ 11) (Miss. Ct.App.2003) (finding the circuit court’s dismissal of the appeal appropriate based on defendant’s “failure to comply with the [326]*326requirement that both a cost and appearance bond be posted”). Accordingly, we find no error in the circuit court’s finding that Reeves’s notice of appeal was not filed timely.

II. Whether the notice of appeal included a motion for enlargement of time.

¶ 11. Reeves further contends that his notice of appeal to the circuit court should have been considered a motion for enlargement of time. He argues that “[a]llowing a[c]ircuit [c]ourt trial to proceed on the merits was tantamount to the [c]ourt granting the enlargement, and the prosecution acquiescing thereto by not objecting.”

¶ 12. First, we cannot agree that the issue of the timeliness of Reeves’s appeal was waived.

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Bluebook (online)
54 So. 3d 322, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 82, 2011 WL 505215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reeves-v-city-of-crystal-springs-missctapp-2011.