Roberson v. State

140 S.W.3d 634, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 1163, 2004 WL 1822410
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided August 17, 2004·No. WD 62658·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE, Judge.

James Roberson, Jr., appeals the denial of his Rule 29.15 motion without an eviden-tiary hearing. He raises three points on appeal. These points were originally considered by this court in an opinion handed down on February 24, 2004. In that opinion, this court concluded that discussion of Mr. Roberson’s first two points would have no precedential value and affirmed those points by summary order pursuant to Rule 84.16(b). A memorandum of the reasons for the decision as to those issues was provided to the parties. In the published opinion, this court addressed only Mr. Roberson’s third point, which was that the motion court erred in ordering him to pay court costs. This court found that the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) does not provide authority to assess court costs against indigent movants in Rule 29.15 proceedings and, therefore, the order assessing costs was reversed. The cause was remanded to the motion court to order reimbursement to Mr. Roberson of any costs paid.

As this court noted in the original opinion, the case relied upon for its holding regarding the assessment of court costs, Wallingford v. State, No. WD 61316, slip op. at 6-11 (Mo.App. July 31, 2003), was transferred to the Supreme Court of Missouri on December 15, 2003. Roberson v. State, No. WD 62658, slip. op. at 2 n. 1, 2004 WL 330105 (Mo.App. Feb. 24, 2004). After the mandate was issued in this case on March 17, 2004, the Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Wallingford, in which it reversed the motion court on another issue and did not address the propriety of assessing court costs under the PLRA in post-conviction proceedings. Wallingford v. State, 131 S.W.3d 781, 782 n. 1 (Mo. banc 2004).

Because this court’s opinion in Wallingford was vacated by the Supreme Court, it cannot be relied upon as authority for reversing the assessment of court costs in this case. Although unusual, this court is permitted to recall its mandate on its own motion “to correct errors that occurred in appellate proceedings.” City of Excelsior Springs v. Elms Redevelopment Corp., 18 S.W.3d 53, 55 (Mo.App.2000). To correct the error in this case, this court recalls its mandate, on its own motion, and issues this new opinion to provide authority for its holding that the motion court erred in assessing court costs against Mr. Roberson.

The history of the proceedings against Mr. Roberson is that a jury convicted him of the felony of forcible rape, in violation of *636 section 566.030, RSMo 2000. He was sentenced, as a prior and persistent offender, to twenty-five years in prison. This court affirmed Mr. Roberson’s conviction and sentence on direct appeal in State v. Roberson, 75 S.W.3d 893 (Mo.App.2002).

Mr. Roberson subsequently filed a pro se Rule 29.15 motion and was granted leave to proceed on his motion in forma pauperis. The motion court appointed counsel for Mr. Roberson. Thereafter, Mr. Roberson’s appointed counsel filed an amended motion. The motion court denied Mr. Roberson’s amended Rule 29.15 motion without an evidentiary hearing. The motion court then entered another judgment ordering him to pay $92 in court costs. The motion court stated that it was assessing costs against him pursuant to the PLRA.

On appeal, Mr. Roberson argues that the PLRA does not encompass Rule 29.15 as a civil action requiring the payment of costs. A post-conviction motion is a civil action filed by an offender. State v. Basile, 942 S.W.2d 342, 362 (Mo. banc 1997). The PLRA, which is found in sections 506.360 to 506.390, RSMo 2000, addresses several issues connected with civil actions brought by or against offenders. 1 The motion court did not specify the PLRA section on which it relied for the authority to order Mr. Roberson to pay court costs, so all of the sections will be examined. The PLRA provision that addresses the payment of costs in a judgment is section 506.378. Section 506.378 provides that “[i]f a judgment against an offender includes the payment of costs, the offender shall pay the full amount of costs ordered in the same manner as provided in section 506.372 or as otherwise authorized by law.” Section 506.372 provides a procedure for an offender to pay court costs in monthly installments, based on the offender’s monthly income; 2

In determining whether these PLRA sections provide the authority for the motion court to order indigent movants such as Mr. Roberson to pay costs in Rule 29.15 proceedings, this court looks at the plain and ordinary meaning of the language used in the statutes. State, Dep’t of Soc. Servs., Div. of Aging v. Brookside Nursing Ctr., Inc., 50 S.W.3d 273, 276 (Mo. banc 2001). The plain and ordinary meaning of the language of sections 506.378 and 506.372 presupposes the authority to enter an order assessing costs against the indigent offender. See section 506.378 (“If a judgment against an offender includes the payment of costs, ...”) and section 506.372 (“If the court has entered an order for payment of fees in installments ...”). While these PLRA sections provide the mechanism by which indigent offenders can pay costs where the court has the authority to order such costs, the statutes do not grant the authority to order indigent offenders to pay costs in such cases.

All the remaining sections of the PLRA contain provisions that are clearly inapplicable to post-conviction relief cases. For example, section 506.366 provides a proee- *637 dure for waiver of the pre-payment of the entire filing fee in civil actions or appeals brought by an indigent offender. 3 Where an indigent offender files a motion for waiver of the prepayment of the entire filing fee in a civil action under section 506.366, section 506.369 provides a procedure for the court to order the indigent offender to make partial payment of court costs due with respect to the ease. 4

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Roberson v. State, 140 S.W.3d 634, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 1163, 2004 WL 1822410 (Mo. Ct. App. 2004).

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