Christopher Cornielus Moore v. Mississippi Department of Corrections
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2004-CP-01706-COA
CHRISTOPHER CORNIELUS MOORE A/K/A
CHRISTOPHER A. MOORE A/K/A CHRISTOPHER
ALEXANDER MOORE
v.
APPELLANT
MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
APPELLEE
DATE OF JUDGMENT:
TRIAL JUDGE:
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:
NATURE OF THE CASE:
TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION:
DISPOSITION:
MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:
MANDATE ISSUED:
7/23/2004
HON. SAMAC S. RICHARDSON
RANKIN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
CHRISTOPHER CORNIELUS MOORE (PRO SE)
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: JANE L. MAPP
CIVIL - POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
HABEAS PETITION DISMISSED FOR LACK OF
JURISDICTION
AFFIRMED - 11/29/2005
BEFORE KING, C.J., IRVING AND BARNES, JJ.
BARNES, J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1.
Christopher C. Moore filed a “Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus” in the Circuit Court of Rankin
County, Mississippi. On July 23, 2004, the circuit court entered an order dismissing the petition. The court
considered the pleading as a petition for post-conviction relief and found that the court did not have
jurisdiction to consider the petition since the sentence had been imposed in another district and the
petitioner was housed in a Mississippi Department of Corrections facility outside the jurisdiction of the
court. The court ordered the forfeiture of earned time pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 475-138 (Rev. 2002).
¶2.
Moore filed a notice of appeal and raises these issues: (1) whether the trial court erred in rejecting
his habeas petition for lack of jurisdiction; (2) whether Moore’s habeas petition should be treated as a postconviction petition; and (3) whether Moore’s earned time should be forfeited because of the failure of the
trial court to judge the petitioner’s habeas corpus on its face.
¶3.
The Court finds no merit to Moore’s arguments and affirms the circuit court finding.
FACTS
¶4.
Christopher C. Moore pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court of Lee County, Mississippi, on or about
November 4, 1998, to the crime of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He was sentenced to
twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) and placed in the
Intensive Supervision Program (ISP), commonly known as “house arrest,” for one year.
¶5.
Under the sentencing order, if Moore successfully completed the program, the remainder of his
sentence was to be suspended and he was to be placed on supervised probation. If he failed to
successfully complete the program, he was to be placed in the general prison population to complete the
full sentence.
¶6.
Moore also pled guilty to possession of cocaine and was sentenced to a concurrent three-year
sentence and placed under “house arrest” for one year. The conditions for suspension of his sentence were
the same as with the other sentence.
¶7.
On December 7, 1998, Moore was given a Rules Violation Report. In a statement to the Verona,
Mississippi, police department, Moore had admitted to the crime of sexual battery. An ISP revocation
2
hearing was held on or about December 22, 1998, and, based on the evidence presented, Moore’s ISP
was revoked, and he was returned to the general prison population to serve the twenty- year sentence.
¶8.
Moore filed his first motion for post-conviction relief on September 19, 2000, arguing that his ISP
had been revoked without a probation hearing, thus denying him due process of law. The circuit court
denied relief on February 5, 2001.
¶9.
On April 12, 2003, Moore filed a second motion for post-conviction relief, in which he claimed
that his guilty plea was involuntary and that he was afforded ineffective assistance of counsel. This second
motion was dismissed as a successive writ. Moore filed a notice of appeal, and this Court affirmed the
judgment of the Circuit Court of Lee County. Moore v. State, 897 So. 2d 997 (Miss. Ct. App. 2004).
¶10.
More than five years after he was removed from ISP and placed in the general prison population,
Moore filed a grievance with the MDOC’s Administrative Remedy Program (ARP), claiming that he was
unlawfully incarcerated. His claim was found to be without merit, and he was given a Certificate of
Completion. Moore signed a receipt on March 30, 2004, stating that he had received the certificate. The
certificate stated that Moore has “fulfilled the requirements of the Administrative Remedy Program and is
eligible to seek judicial review within 30 days of receipt of the Third Step Response.”
¶11.
It was approximately three and a half months later, on July 22, 2004, that Moore filed his “Petition
for Writ of Habeas Corpus” in the Circuit Court of Rankin County. Moore claimed that his ISP had been
revoked based on a false police report and a coerced confession. Moore stated that the sexual battery
charges had been dropped and he attached a letter from the Verona Chief of Police stating that Moore was
never indicted on the sexual battery charge.
¶12.
In the order dismissing the pleading, Circuit Court Judge Samac Richardson found the following:
(1) that Moore was housed in the East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian, Mississippi; (2) that
3
the court should treat the pleading as a petition for post-conviction relief; (3) that the court did not have
the jurisdiction to hear and consider a petition for post-conviction relief since the sentence was imposed
in another circuit court district; (4) that if the court considered the pleading as a petition for writ of habeas
corpus, the court would not have jurisdiction of all the parties, since Moore was housed in a MDOC facility
outside the jurisdiction of the court; and (5) that the pleading was without merit and frivolous, and therefore
Moore should forfeit the appropriate earned time under Mississippi Code Annotated section 47-5-138.
DISCUSSION
Whether the trial court erred in rejecting Moore’s habeas petition for lack of
jurisdiction
¶13.
The Circuit Court of Rankin County found that since Moore was housed in the correctional facility
in Lauderdale County it lacked jurisdiction over the habeas petition. Moore’s argument is that since the
classification committee that revoked his ISP is located in Rankin County, the appeal can properly be
brought in that county.
¶14.
Under Mississippi Code Annotated section 47-5-807 (Rev. 2000), Moore had thirty days to seek
judicial review of the MDOC’s decision under ARP. Moore acknowledged receipt of the decision on
March 30, 2004, and his petition was not filed under July 22, 2004, well beyond the thirty-day period.
“Filing within the statutorily-mandated time is jurisdictional.” Stanley v. Turner, 846 So. 2d 279, 282
(¶11) (Miss. Ct. App. 2003) (citing Edmond v. Anderson, 820 So. 2d 1, 3 (¶8) (Miss. Ct. App. 2002)).
Moore claims to have filed one or more motions for extension of time, but there is no indication that these
motions were ever ruled on and they are not part of the record. The Court, therefore, must conclude that
the petition was not timely filed, and that the circuit court did not have jurisdiction.
4
¶15.
Although Moore titled his motion a petition for habeas corpus relief, this does not change the nature
of the relief sought or the remedy. “A habeas corpus proceeding is appropriate as an original proceeding
only to protest a constitutionally-recognized liberty interest, asserted by the petitioner. Stanley, 846 So.
2d at 281 (¶8). See Miss. Code Ann. § 11-43-1 (Rev. 2002). The interests of a person in the ISP do
not rise to the level of “constitutionally-cognized liberty interests.” Moore v. State, 830 So. 2d 1274, 1276
(¶11) (Miss. Ct. App. 2002); Lewis v. State, 761 So. 2d 922, 923 (¶3) (Miss. Ct. App. 2000). Also,
under Mississippi Code Annotated section 11-43-9 (Rev. 2002), a petition for writ of habeas corpus
should be filed in the county where the inmate is detained.
¶16.
The Court, therefore, concludes that there were ample reasons for finding that the court lacked
jurisdiction to hear Moore’s petition.
Whether Moore’s habeas petition should have been treated as a post-conviction
petition
¶17.
Moore contends that the circuit court erred in ruling that it lacked jurisdiction because his petition
was one for post-conviction relief and should have been filed in the county of conviction. As previously
discussed, Moore could not have been given any relief regardless of what the petition was called or how
it was considered.
¶18.
As an appeal from the MDOC’s Administrative Remedy Program, the appeal was not timely,
having been filed more than thirty days after the receipt of the recommendation. As a petition for writ of
habeas corpus, the petition did not meet the criteria for relief and was not filed in the county where Moore
was held, as required by statute. As a petition for post-conviction relief, the petition was also not filed in
the proper county and would be successive, as found by the Lee County Circuit Court and affirmed by this
Court. See Moore v. State, 897 So. 2d 997 (Miss. Ct. App. 2004). The petition would also be time-
5
barred and well beyond the three-year statute of limitations. See Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-5(2) (Supp.
2005).
¶19.
As argued by the State, if the judgment of the circuit court can be sustained for any reason, it must
be affirmed even though the trial court judge based the decision on the wrong legal reason. Patel v.
Telerent, 574 So. 2d 3, 6 (Miss. 1990); Stanley, 846 So. 2d at 282 (¶12); Booker v. State, 745 So. 2d
850 (¶18) (Miss. Ct. App. 1998). Even if the issues involved do not fall under the post-conviction relief
statutes, there were ample reasons for the court to deny relief. We find no merit to the petitioner’s
argument.
Whether the circuit court erred in ordering forfeiture of Moore’s earned time
¶20.
Moore argues that the circuit court erred in holding that his petition was without merit and frivolous
and that he should forfeit earned time pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 47-5-138.
¶21.
Moore’s claims arise from the revocation of his house arrest in December 1998. The present
petition was filed in July 2004. This Court addressed Moore’s attempts at post-conviction review of his
removal from house arrest in Moore v. State, 897 So. 2d 997 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005). These issues were
also raised in the MDOC’s Administrative Remedy Program. In numerous decisions, this Court has
addressed the proper procedure for removal from house arrest. See, e.g., Moore v. State, 830 So. 2d
1274 (Miss. Ct. App. 2002); Lewis v. State, 761 So. 2d 922 (Miss. Ct. App. 2000).
¶22.
The circuit court clearly did not err in applying the earned time forfeiture statute in this case.
¶23. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF RANKIN COUNTY DISMISSING
THE MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF
APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO RANKIN COUNTY.
KING, C.J., LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., BRIDGES, IRVING, CHANDLER, GRIFFIS
AND ISHEE, JJ., CONCUR.
6
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.