Robert H. Jackson v. State of Mississippi
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2008-CP-00074-COA
ROBERT H. JACKSON
APPELLANT
v.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
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:
APPELLEE
12/4/2007
HON. ISADORE W. PATRICK, JR.
WARREN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
ROBERT H. JACKSON (PRO SE)
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: JOHN R. HENRY
CIVIL - POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
DISMISSED
AFFIRMED - 2/24/2009
BEFORE MYERS, P.J., ISHEE AND CARLTON, JJ.
MYERS, P.J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1.
The Circuit Court of Warren County dismissed Robert H. Jackson’s motion for post-
conviction relief as successive-writ-barred. Jackson appeals the dismissal, citing numerous
errors for our review. Finding no error in the circuit court’s judgment, we affirm.
FACTS
¶2.
Jackson pleaded guilty to capital murder for killing Josephine Todd during the
burglary of her home on June 4, 1979. Jackson v. State, 506 So. 2d 994, 994 (Miss. 1987).
Jackson appears to have sought post-conviction relief numerous times since his guilty plea.
See id.; Jackson v. State, 568 So. 2d 1212 (Miss. 1990); Jackson v. State, 665 So. 2d 1356
(Miss. 1995).
¶3.
In 2001, Jackson sought leave of the supreme court to again seek post-conviction
relief in the circuit court, under cause number 2001-M-00864. The supreme court denied
Jackson permission, finding that his petition was procedurally barred as a successive writ.
Jackson sought reconsideration of this judgment numerous times, but each of his variously
styled motions was ultimately denied. Jackson then filed a “Petition for Extraordinary
Circumstances Review,” cause number 2003-M-01858, that the supreme court treated as
another petition for permission to seek post-conviction relief. The supreme court found this
petition, “like others filed previously by Jackson,” to be barred as a successive writ.
Undeterred, Jackson filed the instant motion for post-conviction relief in the circuit court.
The circuit court dismissed Jackson’s petition as a successive writ. Jackson now appeals
from that judgment, asserting numerous errors. We have condensed those into a single issue.
WHETHER THE CIRCUIT COURT ERRED IN DISMISSING JACKSON’S
MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF.
¶4.
The relevant code section on successive attempts to obtain post-conviction relief reads
in part as follows: “The dismissal or denial of an application under this section is a final
judgment and shall be a bar to a second or successive application under this article.” Miss.
Code Ann. § 99-39-27(9) (Rev. 2007). We recognize certain enumerated exceptions to the
successive-writ bar, including an application filed raising the issue of the convict’s
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supervening insanity prior to the execution of a sentence of death, intervening cases of either
the United States Supreme Court or the Mississippi Supreme Court that would have
adversely affected the outcome of conviction or sentence, or newly discovered evidence
which was not reasonably discoverable at the time of trial. See id. However, we will not
overturn a dismissal of a motion for post-conviction relief without a showing that an
exception to the successive-writ bar exists. Johnson v. State, 962 So. 2d 87, 89 (¶12) (Miss.
Ct. App. 2007).
¶5.
Jackson argues that State v. Berryhill, 703 So. 2d 250 (Miss. 1997), is such an
intervening decision. Nonetheless, it is apparent from our review of the record that Jackson
has made the same argument before the supreme court in his prior petitions. The supreme
court found it to be without merit, and we are bound by its prior decision.
More
fundamentally, Berryhill cannot now be an “intervening decision” because it was handed
down well before the supreme court’s dismissal of Jackson’s most recent petitions seeking
permission to file a motion for post-conviction relief.
¶6.
Additionally, while Jackson did seek permission from the supreme court to proceed
with a motion for post-conviction relief, he never received it. When, as here, the supreme
court is the court which has last exercised jurisdiction, a prisoner is required to obtain its
leave before proceeding in the circuit court because "the supreme court has initial jurisdiction
over a post-conviction proceeding where that court is the one that last exercised jurisdiction
in the case." Perry v. State, 759 So. 2d 1269, 1270 (¶6) (Miss. Ct. App. 2000). See also
Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-7 (Rev. 2007).
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¶7.
Jackson’s motion is procedurally barred as an impermissible subsequent attempt to
obtain post-conviction relief, as Jackson has failed to show that it falls within any of the
statutory exceptions to the successive-writ bar. Furthermore, the circuit court was without
jurisdiction to entertain Jackson’s motion absent leave of the supreme court, which Jackson
did not obtain. Accordingly, the circuit court’s judgment dismissing Jackson’s motion for
post-conviction relief is affirmed.
¶8.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF WARREN COUNTY
DISMISSING THE MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF IS AFFIRMED.
ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO WARREN COUNTY.
KING, C.J., LEE, P.J., IRVING, GRIFFIS, BARNES, ISHEE, ROBERTS AND
CARLTON, JJ., CONCUR.
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