Tony Hampton v. State of Mississippi
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2003-CP-00025-COA
TONY HAMPTON
APPELLANT
v.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
DATE OF TRIAL COURT JUDGMENT:
TRIAL JUDGE:
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:
DISTRICT ATTORNEY:
NATURE OF THE CASE:
TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION:
DISPOSITION:
MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:
CERTIORARI FILED:
MANDATE ISSUED:
APPELLEE
11/21/2002
HON. LEE J. HOWARD
LOWNDES COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
TONY HAMPTON (PRO SE)
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: BILLY L. GORE
FORREST ALLGOOD
CIVIL - POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
DISMISSED
AFFIRMED -- 12/02/2003
BEFORE MCMILLIN, C.J., BRIDGES AND THOMAS, JJ.
MCMILLIN, C.J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1.
Tony Hampton has appealed from the judgment of the Circuit Court of Lowndes County denying
relief on a motion filed in September 2002. The motion sought relief from a guilty plea Hampton entered
to a felony indictment in that court in November 2000. The circuit court treated the pleading as an action
brought pursuant to Mississippi’s post-conviction relief statutes and denied relief without a hearing.
Hampton has appealed that determination.
¶2.
Though Hampton’s pleadings do not conform to the statutory requirements for a motion for post-
conviction relief, it is plain that, based on the ground for relief asserted by Hampton, a post-conviction relief
proceeding was his only available procedural vehicle to bring his grievances to the attention of the circuit
court. The court was, therefore, correct in treating the proceeding under the applicable statutes.
¶3.
Section 99-39-11(2) of the Mississippi Code provides that the circuit court, upon review of the
motion, may dismiss the motion without the necessity of a hearing if it appears on the face of the pleading
that no relief is warranted. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-11(2) (Rev. 2000).
¶4.
Insofar as this Court is able to grasp Hampton’s pro se pleadings and brief, Hampton contends that
the indictment charging him with the sale of an illegal narcotic was fatally defective on its face because it
failed to properly identify the nature of the narcotic substance and the quantity of drugs involved in the
transaction. Hampton argues that, because the maximum punishment for such an offense is dependent upon
such facts, they are essential elements of the crime that must be set out in the indictment. He cites, in
support of that proposition, the United States Supreme Court case of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S.
466 (2000). That case held that any fact, except prior criminal convictions, having the potential to increase
the maximum punishment for an offense is an element of the crime that must be alleged and proven to the
satisfaction of the fact-finder beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 490.
¶5.
This Court concedes the validity of Hampton’s contention in the abstract that the nature and
quantity of the drug involved is an essential element of the crime that must be alleged in the indictment and
proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. However, we are unable to understand how the facts of this
case demonstrate his entitlement to relief based on this proposition. The indictment to which he pled guilty
charges, in part, that he “did unlawfully . . . sell a controlled substance, to-wit: Cocaine, to Diane Lowe,
in an amount of 1.25 grams . . . .” Despite this wording in the indictment, Hampton contends in his brief
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that “the appellant’s information failed to state any quantity of drug for which he pled guilty to.” His
contention of error therefore lacks any basis in fact.
¶6.
Hampton makes this further argument: “Nor did the trial court instruct the jury that they had to find
a specific quantity of drug as an element in determination . . . .” We do not understand this alternate
argument. By entering a guilty plea, Hampton waived his right to a jury trial to dispute any of the essential
factual elements of the crime laid out in the indictment. We are satisfied, even giving Hampton’s pleadings
the most liberal construction possible, that he has failed to set out any fact or legal theory that would entitle
him to have his guilty plea set aside and the indictment against him dismissed.
¶7.
In a supplemental brief permitted by order of the Mississippi Supreme Court, Hampton further
charges a defect in his sentence arising out of the fact that the trial court erroneously believed that it was
not within that court’s authority to order Hampton’s sentence to run concurrently with another sentence
arising out of a federal conviction and that, as a result, his punishment is more severe than it otherwise might
have been had the trial court understood that it could order the sentences to be served concurrently. This
matter was not raised initially before the trial court and, under long-standing case law in this State, may not,
for that reason, be raised for the first time on appeal. Mitchell v. Glimm, 819 So. 2d 548, 552 (¶11)
(Miss. Ct. App. 2002) (citing Gatlin v. State, 724 So. 2d 359, 369 (¶43) (Miss. 1998). We have
carefully reviewed the supreme court order permitting Hampton to file this supplemental brief and, though
the order certainly permits Hampton to file this further pleading, we do not construe the terms of the order
as requiring this Court to address the merits of an issue raised in the pleading that is procedurally barred
under long-standing principles of Mississippi law.
¶8.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF LOWNDES COUNTY DENYING
POST-CONVICTION RELIEF IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE
ASSESSED TO LOWNDES COUNTY.
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KING AND SOUTHWICK, P.JJ., BRIDGES, THOMAS, LEE, IRVING, MYERS,
CHANDLER AND GRIFFIS, JJ., CONCUR.
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