Case Title: Evans v. State

Citation: 485 So. 2d 276

Docket Number: 

State: mississippi

Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Date: 1986-02-19T00:00:00Z

Document:
485 So. 2d 276 (1986) Connie Ray EVANS v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 53754. Supreme Court of Mississippi. February 19, 1986. *277 Shirley E. Payne, Horn & Payne, Jackson, for appellant. Edwin Lloyd Pittman, Atty. Gen. by Amy D. Whitten, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. En Banc. ON APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO FILE MOTION TO VACATE, OR SET ASIDE, JUDGMENT AND SENTENCE ROY NOBLE LEE, Presiding Justice, for the Court: Petitioner Connie Ray Evans was indicted for the capital murder of Arun Pahwa on April 8, 1981, during an armed robbery of a convenience store in Jackson, Mississippi. He entered a guilty plea to the capital murder on October 12, 1981, and was tried on the issue of sentence and punishment. On October 13, 1981, a jury sentenced petitioner to death and a mandatory appeal to the Supreme Court of Mississippi followed. In a written opinion dated November 3, 1982, Evans v. State, 422 So. 2d 737 (Miss. 1982), the Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed the sentence and petition for rehearing was denied December 15, 1982. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari on May 16, 1983, and denied a rehearing. Evans v. Mississippi, 461 U.S. 939, 103 S. Ct. 2111, 77 L. Ed. 2d 314 (1983). On July 1, 1983, petitioner filed an Application for Leave to File a Petition for Writ of Error Coram Nobis pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated § 99-35-145 (repealed April 17, 1984, Ch. 378, Miss. Laws 1984) with the Mississippi Supreme Court. On November 30, 1983, we rendered a written opinion denying the application and holding that the claims raised on direct appeal were res adjudicata and that others were procedurally barred. Evans v. State, 441 So. 2d 520 (Miss. 1983). Rehearing was denied on January 25, 1984. Petitioner sought a stay of execution pending review by the United States Supreme Court from the denial of coram nobis relief. The application was denied by the United States Supreme Court on June 25, 1984. Evans v. Mississippi, 467 U.S. 1264, 104 S. Ct. 3558, 82 L. Ed. 2d 860 (1984). On February 4, 1984, petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the *278 United States District Court, Southern District of Mississippi [Evans v. Morris Thigpen, Commissioner, et al., Civil Action No. J84-0090(L)]. The petition is presently pending in said court. The present application before us was filed in this Court on July 12, 1985, and presents two claims, viz, ineffective assistance of trial counsel and prejudicial jury selection prohibited by Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202, 85 S. Ct. 824, 13 L. Ed. 2d 759 (1965) and cases following Swain. Those claims were not raised in any proceeding prior to the present application. The respondent (State) contends that the petitioner has not adequately explained his failure to present such issues in a timely and diligent manner and that for procedural failure and substantive causes, the application should be dismissed. Petitioner seeks to vacate or set aside his judgment of conviction and sentence of death under the Mississippi Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act, Mississippi *280 Code Annotated §§ 99-39-1, et seq. (Supp. 1985). Recognizing that there must be finality and an end at some reasonable time to litigation in criminal cases, the legislature adopted the act Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-3(1) (Supp. 1985). The act further provides: Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-3(2) (Supp. 1985). Section 99-39-21, important to the pending application, follows: Subsections (4), (5) and (6) are particularly significant to the issues before the Court. Realistically, the act is a codification of the law existing in Mississippi for many years. Claims A and B, supra, relate to the assertion by petitioner that he was denied effective assistance of counsel during his trial. In Read v. State, 430 So. 2d 832 (Miss. 1983), this Court, in noting that claims of insufficient representation of counsel may be waived, said: 430 So. 2d at 838. Petitioner had the opportunity to raise the question of ineffective assistance of counsel in his application for leave to file a petition for writ of error coram nobis on July 1, 1983. Although petitioner was represented by counsel different from trial counsel, the claim of ineffective assistance *281 was not raised. We now look to see whether or not petitioner has satisfied the requirements of "cause" and "prejudice" in § 99-39-21(4) and (5), and whether petitioner is deemed to have waived address of the issue of ineffective assistance, since he has failed to raise the question when the opportunity presented itself. Petitioner contends that his guilty plea was involuntarily entered due to improper advice from his trial attorney and that such attorney (1) failed to follow up on a second mental examination, (2) based his advice to plead guilty on an incorrect understanding of appliable law, and (3) failed to determine whether petitioner understood his rights prior to entry of the guilty plea. Again, it is significant that petitioner makes no attempt at blame for the failure to raise these claims during a period of four years since petitioner was sentenced to death. We are of the opinion that the "cause" provision in Subsection (4) has not been met. However, assuming arguendo, that the effective assistance claims were properly preserved, we consider whether the claims have merit when viewed in the light of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674 (1984). The case provides a two-pronged test as to whether or not counsel's performance satisfies constitutional requirements. 466 U.S. at ___, 104 S. Ct. at 2064, 80 L. Ed. 2d at 693. See also Nealy v. Cabana, 764 F.2d 1173 (5th Cir.1985); Mitchell v. Kemp, 762 F.2d 886, 888 (11th Cir.1985); Griffin v. Wainwright, 760 F.2d 1505, 1510 (11th Cir.1985); Messer v. Kemp, 760 F.2d 1080, 1088 (11th Cir.1985); United States v. DiMatteo, 759 F.2d 831, 833 (11th Cir.1985); Beans v. Black, 757 F.2d 933 (8th Cir.1985); Burger v. Kemp, 753 F.2d 930, 933 (11th Cir.1985); Turner v. Bass, 753 F.2d 342, 348-9 (4th Cir.1985); Briley v. Bass, 750 F.2d 1238 (4th Cir.1984); King v. Strickland, 748 F.2d 1462, 1463 (11th Cir.1984); Green v. Zant, 738 F.2d 1529, 1535-37 (11th Cir.1984); Solomon v. Kemp, 735 F.2d 395, 402 (11th Cir.1984). We consider the strength of the evidence supporting this verdict. Ricalday v. Procunier, 736 F.2d 203 (5th Cir.1984); Messer v. Kemp, supra. Also, we are mindful that a verdict of guilty supported by confessions and direct evidence comes out more strongly against a claim of ineffectiveness of counsel. In Strickland v. Washington, supra, the Court said: *282 466 U.S. at ___, 104 S. Ct. at 2065-66, 80 L. Ed. 2d at 694-95. In discussing errors claimed to have occurred during the sentencing phase, the Eleventh Circuit wrote in Mitchell v. Kemp, supra, the following: 762 F.2d at 889. We have carefully considered the claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and their component parts, as set forth in Claims A and B, singly and collectively, and we are of the opinion that the first prong of the Strickland test, i.e., showing of an identifiable lapse in representation, has not been met in this application. Further, trial counsel's interpretation of existing law when the guilty plea was entered was not contrary to law and precedent at the time. Also, the record indicates that the plea of guilty was voluntary at the time of its entry. The claim that trial counsel failed to adequately investigate and present evidence in mitigation of the crime has no real support that other evidence would have been available, and petitioner fails to make a prima facie case in that regard. We are of the opinion that petitioner failed to meet the second prong of the Strickland v. Washington test in showing an adverse impact on the fairness of his trial as a result of the alleged deficient performance of trial counsel. The Mississippi Supreme Court has repeatedly followed Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202, 85 S. Ct. 824, 13 L. Ed. 2d 759 (1965), and most recently in Johnson v. State, 476 So. 2d 1195 (Miss. 1985).[2] In his presentation of this claim, petitioner admits that (1) the jury was composed of eight white persons and four black persons, and (2) the district attorney did not exercise all of the State's peremptory challenges to strike black persons from the jury. This case has been in litigation since petitioner entered a plea of guilty on October 12, 1981, on which date the sentencing jury was empaneled and the issue of sentence was tried and the death penalty imposed by the jury. More than four (4) years have elapsed, and at least three different sets of counsel have worked on the case. Throughout all this litigation, including an application for leave to file a petition for writ of error coram nobis on July 1, 1983, the application attempts to raise the question for the first time. We are of the opinion that under the Post-Conviction Relief Act and case law of this state, the claim is barred. APPLICATION TO VACATE JUDGMENT AND SENTENCE DENIED. PATTERSON, C.J., WALKER, P.J., and HAWKINS, DAN M. LEE, PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN and ANDERSON, JJ., concur. ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE CHANCERY COURT OF THE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF HINDS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI ROY NOBLE LEE, Presiding Justice, for the Court: Petitioner Connie Ray Evans has filed a petition for certiorari, seeking to bring to *283 this Court the record of proceedings filed by him in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, entitled "Motion for Deposition before Action or Pending Appeal." On July 6, 1984, the lower court denied the motion, being of the opinion that it was without jurisdiction under Chapter 378, Mississippi Laws 1984, and Rule 81, Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, to entertain such an action, and further, that the petitioner failed to make an adequate showing that he could not commence the anticipated post-conviction collateral proceeding at the present time nor had he shown that the purpose of the petition was actually to perpetuate testimony rather than to merely obtain discovery. In addition, the petitioner filed a motion to consolidate this Misc. No. 1931 with No. 53,754, the Application for Leave to File Motion to Vacate, or Set Aside, Judgment and Sentence. We do not consolidate the two causes, but now proceed to a consideration of the petition for writ of certiorari. The post-conviction relief act provides that all post-conviction petitions are to be filed in the court which last exercised jurisdiction in the case. Mississippi Code Annotated § 99-39-7 (Supp. 1985), and § 99-35-145 (Supp. 1984) and Uniform Circuit Court Criminal Rule 8.07. Therefore, jurisdiction is vested in the Mississippi Supreme Court rather than a lower court. Cannady v. State, 455 So. 2d 713 (Miss. 1984); Johnson v. State, 394 So. 2d 319 (Miss. 1981). This Court has not granted petitioner's request to proceed in the lower circuit court, and, on the other hand, has denied the Application for Leave to File Motion to Vacate, or Set Aside, Judgment and Sentence, in the opinion preceding this discussion. Petitioner, in the chancery court proceeding, relied upon Rule 27, Miss.Rules Civ. Proc., which provides in part, the following: See Miss. Code Ann. § 13-1-227 (1972). In Arizona v. California, 292 U.S. 341, 54 S. Ct. 735, 78 L. Ed. 1298 (1934), discussing application of the rule, the United States Supreme Court said: 292 U.S. at 347-349, 54 S. Ct. at 737-38, 78 L. Ed. 2d 1300-1301. *284 Reasons for denying motions under Rule 27 include (1) that no adequate showing was made that the petitioner could not commence the anticipated action at the present time; [In Re Sims, 389 F.2d 148 (5th Cir.1967); Application of Carson, 22 F.R.D. 64 (E.D.Ill. 1957); Petition of Johanson Glove Co., 7 F.R.D. 156 (E.D.N.Y. 1945)]; and (2) that the purpose of the petition was to obtain discovery rather than to perpetuate testimony [In Re Sims, supra; Petition of Exstein, 3 F.R.D. 242 (S.D.N.Y. 1942); Petition of Ferkauf, 3 F.R.D. 89 (S.D.N.Y. 1943)]. Both of those reasons were obvious in the motion filed in the Chancery Court of Hinds County. Petitioner filed his application for post-conviction relief contemporaneously with his petition for writ of certiorari. We are of the opinion that the petition for writ of certiorari should be, and it is, denied, and the petition for writ of certiorari is dismissed. PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI DENIED AND DISMISSED. PATTERSON, C.J., WALKER, P.J., and HAWKINS, DAN M. LEE, PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN and ANDERSON, JJ., concur. [1] Edwards v. Thigpen, Civil Action No. J83-0566(B), U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi. [2] In Batson v. Kentucky, ___ U.S. ___, 105 S. Ct. 2111, 85 L. Ed. 2d 476 (1985), the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to re-examine Swain v. Alabama, supra. See also McCrary v. New York, 461 U.S. 961, 103 S. Ct. 2438, 77 L. Ed. 2d 1322 (1983); McCray v. Abrams, 750 F.2d 1113 (2d Cir.1984); People v. Wheeler, 22 Cal. 3d 258, 148 Cal. Rptr. 890, 583 P.2d 748 (1978); Commonwealth v. Soares, 377 Mass. 461, 387 N.E.2d 499 (1979); State v. Neil, 457 So. 2d 481 (Fla. 1984); People v. Mack, 105 Ill. 2d 103, 85 Ill.Dec. 281, 473 N.E.2d 880 (1984); State v. Crespin, 94 N.M. 486, 612 P.2d 716 (N.M.Ct.App. 1984).