Robert Stanley Rowland v. State of Mississippi
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2008-CP-00731-COA
ROBERT STANLEY ROWLAND
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
01/10/2008
HON. W. ASHLEY HINES
WASHINGTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
ROBERT STANLEY ROWLAND (PRO SE)
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: JOHN R. HENRY
CIVIL - POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE
AFFIRMED – 06/09/2009
EN BANC.
ROBERTS, J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1.
This is an appeal of the Washington County Circuit Court’s decision to dismiss Robert
Stanley Rowland’s motion for post-conviction relief. We are called upon to determine
whether Rowland’s claim of a “fundamental” constitutional double jeopardy violation
justifies waiver of three different statutory bars to post-conviction relief. For reasons later
expressed, we decline the invitation.
¶2.
More than thirty years ago, Rowland pled guilty to two counts of capital murder and
two counts of armed robbery. A central factor in this case is that the two counts of capital
murder were elevated to that status because the homicides were committed in the process of
armed robberies. Rowland argued that the circuit court should vacate the two armed robbery
convictions because the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy precluded
sentencing him for both armed robbery and capital murder. The circuit court found that,
having pled guilty in 1979 to the charges at issue, Rowland’s motion was time-barred.
Accordingly, the circuit court summarily dismissed Rowland’s motion without conducting
an evidentiary hearing. Aggrieved, Rowland appeals and claims: (1) the trial court erred
when it found his motion was time-barred, and (2) his guilty pleas and convictions for the
two counts of capital murder and the two underlying counts of armed robbery violate the
constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy and are, therefore, the equivalent of
illegal sentences. For reasons that will be elaborated on below, we find no error and affirm
the judgment of the circuit court.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶3.
The record before this Court is scant at best, and must be reconstructed from events
that transpired more than thirty years ago. On February 16, 1979, Rowland, Donald Keeton,
and Keith Ouzts concealed their identities with masks and armed themselves with shotguns.
That night, they went into the Leflore County Country Club where Pat Bolton, James
Campbell, Billy Floyd, Joe Floyd, Paul Hughes, Steve McHann, G.W. Putnam, and O.B.
Singleton were gathered playing poker.
¶4.
Rowland and his co-defendants ordered the eight men attending the poker game to line
up and face a wall. According to Rowland and his co-defendants, one of them reached across
2
the poker table to pick up some money, and as he did so, his shotgun discharged, shooting
Campbell in the back.1 Campbell died as a result. At that point, Hughes ran, attempting to
escape. He too was shot in the back as he attempted to run from the room. Hughes died as
well.
¶5.
Apparently, either Rowland or one of his two co-defendants took one of the victims’
car keys. Rowland and his co-defendants all escaped in the stolen car. Two of the armed
robbery victims were able to discretely follow Rowland and his two co-defendants and they
obtained a description sufficient to aid the authorities. All three defendants confessed to their
heinous crimes.
¶6.
Rowland, Keeton, and Ouzts were jointly indicted by a Leflore County grand jury on
multiple indictments charging two capital murders and at least two armed robberies.
Statutory authority for multi-count indictments was non-existent at that time. The record is
incomplete, but it appears that there may well have been other armed robbery charges
connected to other victims and other possible charges.
¶7.
Due to pretrial publicity, the circuit court transferred venue to Washington County.
Facing the possibility of being twice sentenced to death, Rowland decided to enter into plea
negotiations with the district attorney’s office. In March 1979, George Everett was the
district attorney who prosecuted Rowland and Rowland’s two co-defendants. A plea bargain
was reached and Rowland pled guilty pursuant to that understanding. The Honorable B.B.
1
None of the three defendants ever specifically admitted to being the person who was
holding the shotgun that, by their description, just happened to discharge at that moment.
All three claimed that one of the others was the person who was holding the shotgun when
it discharged.
3
Wilkes was the circuit judge who accepted Rowland’s guilty pleas. During the subsequent
guilty plea hearing, the circuit court asked the district attorney to summarize the facts in the
case.2 The district attorney responded as follows:
On the night of February 16, 1979, a group of citizens was at the Leflore
County Country Club, a short distance outside of Greenwood in Leflore
County, Mississippi, at a social event, that social event being a poker game,
when three individuals, masked and dressed similarly with their identification
completely concealed and armed with shotguns, entered the room and
proceeded to perform an armed robbery with firearms of this group of
individuals. They had the men line up against the wall of the building or the
room with their backs toward the defendants. And as one of the defendants
was reaching across the table where the game had been held to pick up the
money, a shotgun that he was holding discharged and shot James Campbell in
the back, and [sic] killing James Campbell. The shotgun then discharged again
and the shot went into the ceiling of the room. At that time, Paul Hughes, one
of the participants in the game, broke and ran to get out of the place and he
was shot in the back and killed by one of the individuals in the robbery. They
then secured an automobile from one of the participants in the game and made
their getaway from the Country Club, which they abandoned a short distance
away where they got in their own automobile. They were followed by two of
the people involved in the game – discreetly followed – who got enough
description to aid the authorities, which led to much hard work in the arrest of
these three who all confessed to that crime.
¶8.
Rowland and his two co-defendants were represented by counsel. They all were
2
The guilty plea colloquy is not part of the record. Rowland attached it as an exhibit
to his brief. This Court has noted that the Mississippi Supreme Court has “repeatedly
stressed that the necessary transcripts are to be made part of the record, and that the appellant
bears the burden of presenting a record which is sufficient to undergird his assignment of
error.” Harwell v. State, 817 So. 2d 598, 600 (¶11) (Miss. Ct. App. 2002) (quoting Williams
v. State, 522 So. 2d 201, 209 (Miss. 1988)). “[The appellate] Court may not act upon or
consider matters which do not appear in the record and must confine itself to what actually
does appear in the record.” Fuselier v. State, 654 So. 2d 519, 521 (Miss. 1995) (citation
omitted). However, the State has not moved to strike Rowland’s inclusion of matters
previously not included in the record. This statement should not be taken as criticism of the
State’s decision, as it is quite possible that the decision was a tactical one. In any event, we
consider Rowland’s inclusion of the guilty plea colloquy to the extent that it sheds light on
his claimed double jeopardy violation.
4
offered the same plea bargain. All three pled guilty to the capital murder of Campbell and
Hughes. All three pled guilty to the armed robbery of Singleton and Bolton. For the two
capital murder charges, the circuit court sentenced all three defendants to two consecutive
life sentences.3 The controlling law at that time made all three defendants eligible for parole
consideration after they served ten years of each sentence. Miss. Code Ann. § 47-7-3(1)
(1972).
¶9.
For the two armed robbery pleas, the circuit court sentenced all three defendants to
two twenty-four-year sentences to run consecutively to the sentences for capital murder and
one another. Again, the controlling law at that time made all three defendants eligible for
parole consideration on the armed robberies after serving the first ten years of each sentence.
See Miss. Code Ann. § 47-7-3(1)(d)(i) (Rev. 2004). It should be noted that Rowland and his
two co-defendants got exactly the sentences for which they bargained.
¶10.
On November 13, 2007, Rowland filed his most recent motion for post-conviction
relief. Rowland requested that the circuit court vacate his two armed robbery convictions as
violations of the constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy. The circuit court found
that Rowland’s motion was time-barred and summarily dismissed Rowland’s motion with
prejudice. Rowland appeals. Importantly, Rowland makes no claim of any error in his two
capital murder pleas that were part of his plea agreement with the prosecution. Logically,
3
In 1979, Mississippi law provided only two possible punishments for capital
murder: life with the possibility of parole in ten years, or death. After July 1, 1994, the
Mississippi Legislature provided the additional option of sentencing one found guilty of
capital murder to life without parole. 1994 Miss. Laws, ch. 566, § 3.
5
Rowland could have just as effectively attacked his capital murder sentences under a double
jeopardy claim while allowing his armed robbery sentences to remain intact. If Rowland is
correct and the armed robbery sentences must be vacated, he would be entitled to immediate
parole eligibility.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶11.
The standard of review applied by this Court when considering the appeal of a trial
court’s decision to dismiss a motion for post-conviction relief is well settled. Williams v.
State, 872 So. 2d 711, 712 (¶2) (Miss. Ct. App. 2004). This Court will not disturb the factual
findings of the trial court unless they are found to be clearly erroneous. However, where
questions of law are raised, this Court reviews them de novo. Id.
ANALYSIS
¶12.
The Mississippi Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act (MUPCCRA) became
law in 1984. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that our state applies the MUPCCRA
prospectively from its date of enactment, April 17, 1984. Odom v. State, 483 So. 2d 343, 344
(Miss. 1986). “Individuals convicted prior to April 17, 1984, ha[d] three (3) years from April
17, 1984, to file their petition for post[-]conviction relief.” Id. Rowland pled guilty in 1979,
and he filed his current motion on November 13, 2007. Within his most recent motion for
post-conviction relief, Rowland admitted that he had filed prior motions for post-conviction
relief attacking his convictions, but he claims that he never attacked his convictions based
on a double jeopardy argument. Rowland gives no reason for his failure to raise the double
jeopardy issue in his first motion for post-conviction relief, much less his additional ones.
Accordingly, Rowland must overcome the time bar as set forth in Mississippi Code
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Annotated section 99-39-5(2) (Rev. 2007), the res judicata bar as set forth in Mississippi
Code Annotated section 99-39-21 (Rev. 2007), and the successive-writ bar established in
Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-23(6) (Supp. 2008).
¶13.
Rowland claims he should not be subject to the time bar or successive-writ bar
established in Mississippi Code Annotated sections 99-39-5(2) and 99-39-23(6), respectively,
because the right to be free from an illegal sentence is a “fundamental” right. However,
Rowland attacks his armed robbery convictions, and we find that a twenty-four-year sentence
for armed robbery is not an illegal sentence. The minimum sentence for armed robbery is
three years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), and the
maximum sentence is life imprisonment.
Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-79 (Rev. 2006).
Rowland’s sentences can only be arguably considered “illegal” if one finds that those
sentences, in conjunction with the capital murder sentences, are violations of the double
jeopardy clause. Be that as it may, even if Rowland’s issue was whether he was subjected
to an illegal sentence, pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-21(1), a
petitioner may waive such a claim. Payton v. State, 845 So. 2d 713, 717 (¶14) (Miss. Ct.
App. 2003) (“Because Payton did not raise [a claim that a sentence of five years of probation
was illegal] at the time he was sentenced, he waived its consideration on a motion for
post-conviction relief or an appeal from the denial therefrom.”)
¶14.
There are certain codified exceptions to the time bar as provided by Mississippi Code
Annotated section 99-39-5(2). The “fundamental rights” exception is not listed as one of
those codified exceptions. Be that as it may, supreme court precedent dictates that “[e]rrors
affecting fundamental constitutional rights may be excepted from procedural bars which
7
would otherwise prohibit their consideration.” Luckett v. State, 582 So. 2d 428, 430 (Miss.
1991) (emphasis added). The supreme court’s discretionary may language implies that this
Court has the discretion to consider when an otherwise procedurally barred “fundamental”
constitutional right should or should not be considered on appeal.
¶15.
The appellate courts of this state have spoken with conflicting voices on the issue of
whether a possible double jeopardy violation is waived if not asserted at trial or at the plea
and whether a possible double jeopardy claim is such a “fundamental” constitutional right
to justify waiver of procedural bars on post-conviction proceedings. It is elementary that
“[t]he Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment provides that no person shall be
‘subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.’” Jones v. Thomas,
491 U.S. 376, 380 (1989). The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that “the protection
against double jeopardy is a fundamental right.” Graves v. State, 969 So. 2d 845, 846-47
(¶6) (Miss. 2007). The supreme court’s decision in Graves suggests that Rowland should not
be subjected to procedural bars. However, the analysis does not end here.
¶16.
Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-21(1) provides as follows:
Failure by a prisoner to raise objections, defenses, claims, questions, issues, or
errors either in fact or in law which were capable of determination at trial
and/or on direct appeal, regardless of whether such are based on the laws or
the Constitution of the [S]tate of Mississippi or of the United States, shall
constitute a waiver thereof and shall be procedurally barred, but the court may
upon a showing of cause and actual prejudice grant relief from the waiver.
(Emphasis added). The Mississippi Supreme Court has applied that waiver to double
jeopardy claims. Mann v. State, 490 So. 2d 910, 911 (Miss. 1986) (the failure to raise a
double jeopardy issue causes the issue to be procedurally barred); see also Jennings v. State,
8
700 So. 2d 1326, 1328 (¶¶10-11) (Miss. 1997) (holding that a double jeopardy claim was
barred due to a petitioner’s failure to make the argument during a guilty plea, sentencing, or
during two prior post-conviction proceedings).
¶17.
This Court has repeatedly followed the supreme court’s lead in that regard. Hoskins
v. State, 934 So. 2d 326, 330 (¶9) (Miss. Ct. App. 2006) (“the failure to address a double
jeopardy claim at the trial court level concludes the issue, and it cannot be raised for the first
time in a post-conviction relief motion”); Sessums v. State, 899 So. 2d 903, 904 (¶3) (Miss.
Ct. App. 2005) (the petitioner’s “double jeopardy claims are procedurally barred . . . [because
the] [f]ailure to address a claim of double jeopardy at trial concludes that issue, it cannot then
be raised initially in a motion for post-conviction relief”); Brooks v. State, 832 So. 2d 607,
610 (¶10) (Miss. Ct. App. 2002) (“Failure to address a claim of double jeopardy at trial
concludes that issue, it cannot then be raised initially in a motion for post-conviction relief.”);
Henley v. State, 749 So. 2d 246, 249 (¶11) (Miss. Ct. App. 1999) (“Failure to address a claim
of double jeopardy at trial concludes that issue, it cannot then be raised initially in a motion
for post-conviction relief.”). Consequently, precedent dictates that it is possible to waive a
double jeopardy violation.
¶18.
Such a position makes abundant sense. “[A] valid guilty plea operates as a waiver of
all non-jurisdictional rights or defects which include rights secured by the Fifth, Sixth, and
Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.” Hoskins, 934 So. 2d at 330 (¶9)
(citing Anderson v. State, 577 So. 2d 390, 391 (Miss. 1991)). Specifically, the United States
Supreme Court has held that a guilty plea operates as a waiver of the privilege against
self-incrimination. Boykin v. Alabama, 392 U.S. 238, 243 (1969). When one pleads guilty,
9
he or she waives the right to a trial by jury. Id. A guilty plea operates as a waiver of the
right to confront one’s accusers. Id. If a defendant can waive his constitutional right to trial
by jury, to confront and cross-examine his accusing witnesses, his constitutional right to a
speedy trial, his right to appeal, his constitutional right to the assistance of counsel, and his
rights to untold other “fundamental” constitutional rights, there is no logical reason to
distinguish double jeopardy from the same status.
¶19.
What is commonly referred to as the “successive-writ bar” is found in Mississippi
Code Annotated section 99-39-23(6), which sets forth that “any order dismissing the
prisoner’s motion or otherwise denying relief under this article is a final judgment and shall
be conclusive until reversed.” See also Freshwater v. State, 914 So. 2d 328, 329 (¶2) (Miss.
Ct. App. 2005). That prior judgment shall be a bar to a second or successive motion under
the MUPCCRA. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-23(6). As stated by this Court:
Aside from insanity, (which only applies in death penalty cases), there are only
two exceptions allowed for a prisoner to defeat the successive[-]writ bar: (1)
where there has been an intervening decision by the United States Supreme
Court, or the Mississippi Supreme Court, in which the prisoner can show
adversely affected the outcome of his conviction or sentence, or that he has
newly discovered evidence which if it had been introduced at trial would have
caused a different result, and (2) where the prisoner claims that his sentence
has expired or his probation, parole, or conditional release has been unlawfully
revoked.
Freshwater, 914 So. 2d at 329 (¶2) (emphasis added). If there are “only” two exceptions to
the successive-writ bar, and neither of those exceptions apply to the facts of this case, then
this Court must find that Rowland’s current motion for post-conviction relief is barred by the
statutory prohibition against successive writs.
¶20.
Applying our previously-mentioned discretionary authority, we decline to find that
10
Rowland is exempt from the time bar. As mentioned above “[e]rrors affecting fundamental
constitutional rights may be excepted from procedural bars which would otherwise prohibit
their consideration.” Luckett, 582 So. 2d at 430 (emphasis added). Having found no
guideline as to when this Court should or should not apply our discretionary authority to
ignore the time bar, it is nonetheless elementary that an appellant must show good cause and
actual prejudice to demonstrate that an issue should not be barred by res judicata, as set forth
in Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-21(1). Operation of the discretionary “may”
language as applied to the “fundamental rights” exception should carry the same burden.
With those factors in mind, we decline to apply our discretionary authority to consider
Rowland’s issue.
¶21.
Two years prior to Rowland’s guilty pleas, the United States Supreme Court held that
“[w]hen . . . conviction of a greater crime, murder, cannot be had without conviction of the
lesser crime, robbery with firearms, the Double Jeopardy Clause bars prosecution for the
lesser crime after conviction of the greater one.” Harris v. Oklahoma, 433 U.S. 682, 682
(1977). Despite the holding in Harris, Rowland freely and voluntarily pled guilty in 1979
– two years after the Supreme Court’s decision in Harris. Good cause does not arise when
one delays thirty years in attacking his armed robbery convictions until he becomes eligible
for parole on his murder convictions.4 This is particularly true because Rowland had a threeyear window after the Legislature enacted the MUPCCRA and he was charged with
4
This opinion should not be construed as a finding that a failure to raise a double
jeopardy claim at trial should always operate as a bar to it being raised later. As will be
demonstrated, based on the particular facts of this specific case, this factor is merely one
consideration among a totality of circumstances.
11
knowledge of the Harris decision. Even so, Rowland filed nothing during his window of
opportunity.
¶22.
Moreover, in 1979, no decision from the Mississippi Supreme Court existed
demonstrating a double jeopardy problem with Mississippi’s capital murder statute and an
underlying felony conviction. The first pronouncement of the problem appeared in 1992,
when Meeks v. State, 604 So. 2d 748, 754 (Miss. 1992) was decided. It is reasonable to
conclude that neither the district attorney, defense counsel, nor the circuit judge envisioned
any double jeopardy issue in Rowland’s plea agreement. Had such an issue been recognized,
modification of the plea agreement to two counts of premeditated murder and two armed
robberies would have effectuated the same result with no double jeopardy issue involved.
¶23.
There are also severe logistical problems involved that, under the circumstances,
preclude granting relief. The underlying crimes occurred more than thirty years ago.
Rowland waited twenty-five years after the enactment of the MUPCCRA to file his motion.
All of the evidence has very likely disappeared or been lost. The innocent victims, witnesses,
district attorney, trial judge, court reporter, and other necessary witnesses have probably died,
moved, or disappeared. Normally, a litigant who successfully obtains post-conviction relief
and has his guilty plea and sentence invalidated is restored to the status he enjoyed prior to
his plea. The State may place such a defendant on trial for the original charge in the grand
jury indictment. As a practical matter, it is very likely now impossible for the State to
prosecute Rowland on any crimes that arose from the underlying facts.
¶24.
Additionally, Rowland suffered no actual prejudice by the sentences he bargained for
and received. Rowland bargained to avoid two possible death sentences. He got exactly that
12
for which he bargained. It is possible, if not likely, that through counsel Rowland chose to
waive his rights against double jeopardy regardless of the fact that the pleas could be
considered violations of the prohibition against double jeopardy. It is certainly within the
realm of possibilities, if not probabilities, that Rowland willingly waived his double jeopardy
protection in exchange for avoidance of two death sentences – especially since during the
plea colloquy and prior to sentencing, the circuit court asked Rowland’s attorney whether
he had gone over all of Rowland’s constitutional rights with Rowland and whether he
understood the rights he was waiving. In Rowland’s presence, his attorney responded,
“[y]es, sir.”
¶25.
Of interest is the fact that the indictment for the armed robbery of Bolton states that
the property taken – cash valued at over $100 – belonged to eight people: Singleton, Putnam,
B. Floyd, Hughes, J. Floyd, Bolton, McHann, and Campbell. The indictment that charged
Rowland with the armed robbery of Singleton stated that the property taken – cash valued
at more than $100 – belonged to the same eight men. The indictment that charged Rowland
with capital murder of Campbell stated that Campbell was murdered during the armed
robbery of Bolton and others. The indictment that charged Rowland with the capital murder
of Hughes stated that Hughes was murdered during the armed robbery of Singleton and
others.
¶26.
It is impossible to determine from the record currently before us whether the only
money taken was the pile of money on the table, which apparently belonged to all eight
victims, or whether Rowland and his two co-defendants took any other personal property
from the eight victims in this case. However, it is reasonable to assume that Rowland and
13
his two co-defendants took money, car keys, or property from the person or presence of the
other individuals because the three defendants fled in a car that belonged to one of the
victims. Therefore, one of the three defendants would have had to take the keys to that car
from one of the victims. It appears that more than one armed robbery occurred because more
than one person was placed in fear through the exhibition of a deadly weapon, and personal
property was taken from his person or presence. Our armed robbery statute is found at
Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-79 (Rev. 2006). It appears that there were eight
armed robberies that night since eight different people had personal property taken from their
persons or presence by placing each in fear through the exhibition of a deadly weapon. Since
the capital murder indictments stated that the murders of Campbell and Hughes occurred
during the armed robberies of other un-named victims (presumptively out of the group of
people including Singleton, Bolton, Putnam, B. Floyd, Hughes, J. Floyd, and McHann), no
double jeopardy violation may even exist. Stated differently, Rowland pled guilty to the
armed robberies of Bolton and Singleton. He also pled guilty to the capital murders of
Campbell and Hughes while committing armed robberies of un-named “other” people.
¶27.
The dissent would remand this matter to the circuit court for an evidentiary hearing
with instructions to “afterwards rule on [Rowland’s] double jeopardy/illegal sentence claim.”
The dissent’s prospective instructions on remand may well prove impossible to obey. Just
from whom is the circuit court expected to hear testimony?
What evidence is the State
expected to present at the evidentiary hearing? Is the circuit court expected to somehow
resurrect matters that occurred over thirty years ago in a vain attempt to determine whether
Rowland was actually subjected to a valid double jeopardy violation? Did Rowland waive
14
any double jeopardy claim or was it even discussed with him by his then attorney? Does
anybody even remember? A circuit court will be required to resolve these issues, and it will
have an extremely difficult, if not impossible, task.
¶28.
With utmost respect for the dissent, based on the totality of the circumstances, this
Court declines to exercise whatever discretionary authority it may have to consider otherwise
time-barred issues pursuant to the “fundamental rights” exception. Additionally, Rowland’s
motion is clearly barred by Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-21(1) and the
prohibition against successive writs. Accordingly, we find no error and affirm the judgment
of the circuit court.
¶29. THE JUDGMENT OF THE WASHINGTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
DISMISSING THE MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF IS AFFIRMED.
ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO WASHINGTON COUNTY.
LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., IRVING, GRIFFIS AND MAXWELL, JJ., CONCUR.
KING, C.J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY
BARNES, ISHEE AND CARLTON, JJ.
KING, C.J., DISSENTING:
¶30.
I dissent from the majority opinion herein.
¶31.
Robert Rowland filed a request for post-conviction relief in the Washington County
Circuit Court, alleging that he had been subjected to double jeopardy. Rowland argued that
the circuit court imposed upon him separate sentences for capital murder, as well as separate
sentences for the armed robberies that were the underlying offenses of the capital murders.
The circuit court summarily denied Rowland’s request as barred by the three-year statute of
limitations established by our post-conviction relief statutes. Rowland has appealed that
summary denial, and asks this Court to hold that he be accorded at least an evidentiary
15
hearing on the substantive basis of his request.
¶32.
The majority denies Rowland’s request for an evidentiary hearing and merely affirms
the actions of the circuit court. The majority, while inferring that Rowland was subjected to
double jeopardy, finds that Rowland waived his claim to be free from double jeopardy and
is, thus, procedurally barred from now raising the issue and affirms. If Rowland’s sentences
are in violation of the fundamental constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy, then
they are illegal and would be excepted from the three-year statute of limitations.
¶33.
Believing the action taken by the majority to be error, I dissent.
¶34.
The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that where it is necessary to protect
fundamental rights, the procedural bar may not apply to a motion for post-conviction relief.
Sneed v. State, 722 So. 2d 1255, 1257 (¶11) (Miss. 1998). “The right to be free from an
illegal sentence has been found to be fundamental.” Id. A claim that the defendant is serving
an illegal sentence is not subject to the time bar “because errors affecting a fundamental
constitutional right are excepted from the time bar.” Caviness v. State, 1 So. 3d 917, 919 (¶9)
(Miss. Ct. App. 2008) (quoting Miller v. State, 879 So. 2d 1050, 1051 (¶4) (Miss. Ct. App.
2004)).
¶35.
However, I would note at the outset of this dissent that the appellate courts of this
State have not been consistent in their use and application of the procedural bar. The
inconsistencies in the application of the procedural bar, would in my judgment, suggest that
this Court should not apply the procedural bar, but rather given the very scant record, remand
this matter to the circuit court for an evidentiary hearing.
¶36.
While holding that fundamental rights may be excepted from the imposition of a
16
procedural bar, our appellate courts have failed to provide specific direction as to when the
protection of a fundamental right should preclude the application of a procedural bar.
Indeed, while identifying some rights as fundamental, there has been little, if any, guidance
as to when the courts should except a procedural bar in order to protect a fundamental right.
This failure to provide guidance as to the use of the exception to a procedural bar makes the
process near arbitrary and capricious.
¶37.
The law is abundantly clear that a defendant charged with capital murder may not
lawfully be convicted and sentenced for both the crime of capital murder and the underlying
felony which elevated the homicide to capital murder. Meeks v. State, 604 So. 2d 748, 75154 (Miss. 1992); see Jones v. Thomas, 491 U.S. 376, 381 (1989). To punish a defendant for
capital murder and the underlying felony that causes it to be capital murder is offensive to
and in violation of the double jeopardy provisions of the United States and Mississippi
Constitutions. See Graves v. State, 969 So. 2d 845, 847 (¶7) (Miss. 2007). “[T]he protection
against double jeopardy is a fundamental right.” Id. at 846-47 (¶6). “Errors affecting
fundamental constitutional rights may be excepted from procedural bars which would
otherwise prohibit their consideration. . . .” Luckett v. State, 582 So. 2d 428, 430 (Miss.
1991); see Read v. State, 430 So. 2d 832, 837 (Miss. 1983).
¶38.
Rowland’s claim that his right to be protected from an illegal sentence caused by
double jeopardy is a fundamental right which the courts are required to give due
consideration. Consistent with the holding in Luckett, Rowland’s argument that his sentence
is illegal should be addressed on its merits. Kennedy v. State, 732 So. 2d 184, 186 (¶8)
(Miss. 1999). Accordingly, I believe that Rowland was entitled to an evidentiary hearing to
17
determine whether he was, in fact, subjected to double jeopardy.
¶39.
The majority suggests that because this is an old case, the logistical problems involved
require that no relief be given to Rowland. The majority states:
The underlying crimes occurred more than thirty years ago. Rowland waited
twenty-five years after the enactment of the MUPCCRA to file his motion. All
of the evidence has very likely disappeared or been lost. The innocent victims,
witnesses, district attorney, trial judge, court reporter, and other necessary
witnesses have probably died, moved, or disappeared. Normally, a litigant
who successfully obtains post-conviction relief and has his guilty plea and
sentence invalidated is restored to the status he enjoyed prior to his plea. The
state may place such a defendant on trial for the original charge in the grand
jury indictment. As a practical matter, it is very likely now impossible for the
State to prosecute Rowland on any crimes that arose from the underlying facts.
The majority appears to be a bit disingenuous with this suggestion, as that is not the issue
before this Court. Additionally, the majority’s suggestion of potential difficulty is not an
appropriate standard by which to determine whether or not Rowland should have received
an evidentiary hearing. If after an evidentiary hearing, it were determined that Rowland had
imposed upon him separate punishments for both the capital murders and the underlying
offenses (armed robberies) which made the crimes capital murders, the court would vacate
the armed robbery convictions and sentences. That action would have no impact upon the
validity or status of the convictions and sentences for capital murder.
¶40.
The majority argues that Rowland has suffered no actual prejudice; therefore, the
procedural bar should not be excepted. The majority states that:
Rowland bargained to avoid two death sentences. He got exactly that for
which he bargained. It is possible, if not likely, that through counsel Rowland
chose to waive his rights against double jeopardy regardless of the fact that the
pleas could be considered violations of the prohibition against double
jeopardy. It is certainly within the realm of possibilities, if not probabilities,
that Rowland willingly waived his double jeopardy protection in exchange for
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avoidance of two death sentences - especially since during the plea colloquy
and prior to sentencing, the circuit court asked Rowland’s attorney whether he
had gone over all of Rowland’s constitutional rights and whether he
understood the rights he was waiving. In Rowland’s presence, his attorney
responded “[y]es, sir.”
¶41.
There is nothing in the record before this Court to support these assumptions. Rather
than engage in rank speculation, the appropriate course would be to have an evidentiary
hearing conducted by the circuit court.
¶42.
The majority’s suggestion that the plea colloquy supports its finding that Rowland was
informed by his attorney of the protection against double jeopardy and waived that protection
is not only merely rank speculation, it is also totally devoid of logic. When Rowland entered
his plea, Mississippi had not adopted procedural rules indicating what was required for a
valid guilty plea. However, in 1969, the United States Supreme Court decided Boykin v.
Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (1969). In Boykin, the Court provided that for a guilty plea to be
valid, the record must reflect that the defendant was informed of (1) the privilege against
self-incrimination guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, (2) the right to a jury
trial, and (3) the right of confrontation. Id. at 243. Mississippi was bound by and followed
the minimum requirements established by Boykin to determine whether a guilty plea was
valid. Alexander v. State, 226 So. 2d 905, 909 (Miss. 1969). A discussion of double
jeopardy has never been listed as one of the required discussion items for a valid guilty plea.
As such, it is totally illogical to even infer that the plea colloquy establishes any discussion
of or a waiver of double jeopardy.
¶43.
Under some circumstances, it may be true that one who receives an illegal sentence
that is lenient may not suffer prejudice. However, a person who is twice punished for the
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same offense does suffer very real prejudice. If Rowland is twice serving time for the same
offense, as he alleges and the limited record before us appears to so indicate, then he has
suffered prejudice.
¶44.
The matters raised by Rowland are of sufficient gravity to require the granting of an
evidentiary hearing for their substantive consideration. This Court does not have before it
a record that is sufficient to resolve the merits of this matter. Therefore, I believe that the
appropriate course of action is to reverse the judgment of the circuit court and remand the
case to the circuit court with instructions to conduct an evidentiary hearing and afterwards
rule on the double jeopardy/illegal sentence claim of Rowland. For these reasons, I dissent
and would remand for an evidentiary hearing.
BARNES, ISHEE AND CARLTON, JJ., JOIN THIS OPINION.
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