Albert Edmond v. State of Mississippi
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2001-CP-00225-COA
ALBERT EDMOND
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
12/29/2000
HON. JAMES E. GRAVES, JR.
HINDS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
ALBERT EDMOND (PRO SE)
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: W. GLENN WATTS
ELEANOR JOHNSON PETERSON
CIVIL - POST-CONVICTION RELIEF
POST-CONVICTION RELIEF DENIED
AFFIRMED - 03/18/2003
BEFORE SOUTHWICK, P.J., LEE AND MYERS, JJ.
SOUTHWICK, P.J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1.
Albert Edmond was convicted of forcible rape and sentenced to life in prison in 1976. In June
2000, Edmond filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus. The lower court characterized Edmond's petition
as a motion for post-conviction relief and found that Edmond was time-barred from proceeding. Edmond
appeals. Since we agree with the trial court, we affirm.
DISCUSSION
¶2.
The crux of Edmond's argument is that his petition was incorrectly decided under Mississippi's
post-conviction proceedings statutory scheme. Miss. Code Ann. §§ 99-39-1 through 99-39-27 (Rev.
2000). The lower court noted that though “petitioner has styled this matter as a ‘Writ of Habeas Corpus,’
the subject matter alleges that petitioner's conviction is based upon a defective indictment. Thus, this
petition should be treated as a matter for post conviction relief."
¶3.
Regardless of label, matters cognizable under the post-conviction relief statutes should be decided
under those rules and limitations.
[P]urely collateral post-conviction remedies attacking a judgment of conviction or sentence
should be sought under authority of the Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act since that
Act, in the pure post- conviction collateral relief sense, is arguably "post-conviction habeas
corpus renamed." See Bell, Habeas Corpus: The "Great Writ" in Mississippi State
Courts, 58 Miss.L.J. 25, 28 (1988). Arguments over nomenclature should be avoided
so long as the Act affords the relief formerly available by habeas corpus in this limited
context. Id.
Walker v. State, 555 So. 2d 738, 740 (Miss. 1990). Edmond's substantive claim attacking the underlying
indictment was properly construed by the trial court as a "purely collateral post-conviction remedy" and
is therefore governed by the Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act. Miss. Code Ann. §§ 99-39-1
through 99-39-27 (Rev. 2000).
¶4.
The problem for Edmond, then, is the applicable statutory time restraints for motions under this
post-conviction relief regime. Inmates have three years "after the time in which the prisoner's direct appeal
is ruled upon by the Supreme Court of Mississippi . . . ." in which to file their petitions. Miss. Code Ann.
§ 99-39-5(2) (Rev. 2000). The affirmance of Edmond's conviction occurred in 1975. Edmond v. State,
312 So. 2d 702 (Miss. 1975). When a conviction such as Edmond’s predates the adoption of the postconviction relief statues in 1984, the inmate had three years in which to file their petition for relief. Odom
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v. State, 483 So. 2d 343, 344 (Miss. 1986). Therefore, Edmond's last opportunity to seek postconviction remedies ended in 1987.
¶5.
Furthermore, even a finding by the circuit court that Edmond's claim was a true writ of habeas
corpus would not have cured his untimeliness. The three year statute of limitations does not cause a
suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. Cole v. State, 608 So. 2d 1313, 1318-20 (Miss. 1992), cert.
denied 508 U.S. 962 (1993). What the post-conviction relief statutes provide is a procedural mechanism
within which to bring claims recognizable under a variety of writs. The legislature may impose reasonable
limitations upon the exercise of constitutional rights. Id. Among the reasons that these limits are reasonable
is that exceptions to the three year statutory bar exist, but none of them have been shown to apply here.
Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-5 (2) (Rev. 2000).
¶6.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF HINDS COUNTY DENYING POSTCONVICTION RELIEF IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED
TO HINDS COUNTY.
McMILLIN, C.J., KING, P.J., BRIDGES, THOMAS, LEE, IRVING, MYERS,
CHANDLER AND GRIFFIS, JJ., CONCUR.
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