Timothy Rice v. State of Mississippi

189 So. 3d 722, 2016 WL 1564388, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 224
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 19, 2016
Docket2015-CP-00446-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 189 So. 3d 722 (Timothy Rice 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
Timothy Rice v. State of Mississippi, 189 So. 3d 722, 2016 WL 1564388, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 224 (Mich. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

CARLTON, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. After‘a Jones County jury convicted Timothy Rice for the crime of selling cocaine, Rice appealed to this Court, which affirmed Rice’s conviction and' sentence. Rice v. State, 172 So.3d 768, 769-71 (¶¶6,13) (Miss.Ct.App.2013). Rice then sought leave from the Mississippi Supreme Court to proceed with a motion for postconviction collateral relief (PCR) on the following issues: (1) whether he was subjected' to double' jeopardy; (2) whether he lacked notice of the State’s intent to charge him as a recidivist; and (3) whether the circuit court violated his right to be sentenced outside the jury’s presence. The supreme court, however, granted Rice leave to proceed with his PCR motion oh the sole issue of whether his sentence enhancement as a subsequent drug offender was in error in light of the supreme court’s decision in Williams v. State, 131 So.3d 1174 (Miss.2014).

¶2. After finding the subsequent-drug-offender enhancement of Rice’s sentence was in error, the Jones County Circuit Court entered an order amending Rice’s sentence. On appeal from the circuit court’s order on his PCR motion, Rice raises the following issues: (1) whether the State’s amendment to his indictment to charge him as a habitual offender caused unfair surprise and prevented him from presenting a defense; (2) whether the circuit court erred by sentencing him in front of the jury; (3) whether he was denied effective assistance of counsel; and (4) whether the circuit court erred by denying his request for an evidentiary hearing pri- or to disposing of his PCR motion.

¶ 3. Finding no error, we affirm.'

FACTS

¶4. In a previous opinion, this Court acknowledged the following relevant facts and procedural history underlying Rice’s direct appeal from his conviction for the sale of cocaine: *

On March 3, 2009, the Jones County grand jury indicted Rice for the sale of cocaine, a Schedule II substance, in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 41-29-139 (Rev.2009). On October 9, 2009, the State filed a motion to amend the indictment to charge Rice as a habitual offender pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-19-81 (Rev.2009). Rice had been convicted previously of burglary, grand larceny, escape, and simple assault. On October 13, 2009, the same day the trial began, the trial judge entered an order amending the indictment to charge Rice as a habitual offender.
The trial occurred .from October. 13, 2009, until October 14, 2009. On the last day of the trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict. The trial judge then sentenced Rice as a habitual offender to forty years of imprisonment, with ten years suspended and thirty years to serve, all in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. On October 23, 2009, Rice filed a motion for a new trial or, in the alternative, a [judgment notwithstanding the verdict]. His motion was denied by the trial court on May 31, 2011. Rice now appeals. In his sole issue on appeal, Rice argues the trial court erred by amending the indictment to reflect his status as a habitual offender after the voir dire of the jury had taken place and the trial had begun.

*724 Rice, 172 So.3d at 769-70 (¶¶ 5-6). Finding no merit to Rice’s arguments, this Court affirmed Rice’s conviction and sentence on appeal. Id. at 771 (¶ 13).

¶ 6. After this Court affirmed his conviction and sentence, Rice filed a petition with the supreme court seeking permission to file a PCR motion with the circuit court. Rice alleged the following assignments of error: (1) he was subjected to double jeopardy; (2) he failed to receive notice of the State’s intent to charge him as a recidivist; and (3) the circuit court violated his right to be sentenced outside the jury’s presence. The supreme court ordered the State to file a response to Rice’s petition. After the State’s response, the supreme court entered a second order requiring the State, to file an additional response “to address Rice’s sentence as a subsequent drug offender in light of [Williams ].”

¶ 6. On November 25, 2014, the supreme court entered an order granting Rice leave to proceed, in circuit court on his PCR motion. With regard to the issues Rice raised, the supreme court stated the following in its order:

Regarding Rice’s claims of double jeopardy and lack of a separate sentencing hearing, [this] panel finds that Rice fails to present a substantial showing of the dénial of a state or federal right. See Rowland v. State, 98 So.3d 1032, 1036 [ (¶ 6) ] (Miss.2012). Rice, citing Williams ..., challenges his sentence as a recidivist for lack of notice. The habitual-offender enhancement was addressed on direct appeal and, thus, is barred from review. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-21(3) [ (Rev.2009) ]. After due consideration, we find that Rice should be allowed leave to proceed in the trial court to address the subsequent-drug-offender enhancement in light of [our] decision in Williams.

¶ 7. Following the supreme court’s order granting him leave to proceed on the sole issue of his subsequent-drug-offender enhancement, Rice filed his PCR motion in circuit court on December 23, 2014. Despite the supreme court’s order, Rice asserted in his PCR motion that the circuit court erred by allowing the State, on the first day of his trial, to amend his indictment to charge him as a habitual offender. Rice argued that the State’s filing on the first day of his trial unfairly surprised him and denied him a fair opportunity to present a defense. As the procedural history of this case shows, however, the supreme court found in its November 25, 2014 order that the issue of Rice’s habitual-offender enhancement was addressed on direct appeal and was therefore barred from review.

¶ 8. On January 29, 2015, the circuit court entered its order addressing Rice’s PCR motion. Even though'the supreme court granted Rice permission to proceed with his PCR motion on the sole issue of whether error resulted .from his subsequent-drug-offender enhancement, the circuit court nevertheless reviewed Rice’s habitual-offender, enhancement and found no error., The circuit court noted that, in Williams, the State filed its motion to amend Williams’s indictment to charge him as a recidivist a mere three days before trial. See Williams, 131 So.3d at 1176 (¶2). In addressing the amendment to Williams’s indictment, the Williams court stated:

Through formal pleadings filed three days in advance of trial, the State informed Williams of its intent to seek enhanced punishment under one of Mississippi’s recidivist statutes, [s]ection 99-19-81. The State’s motion specifically provided the details of the prior convictions which would be presented to the trial judge for sentence enhancement (subject to a conviction for the crime charged in the indictment), including the cause numbers, dates, and courts in *725 which they were obtained.

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189 So. 3d 722, 2016 WL 1564388, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 224, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/timothy-rice-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2016.