Title: Hentz v. State

State: mississippi

Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court

Document:

503 So. 2d 262 (1987) Larry S. HENTZ v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 56375. Supreme Court of Mississippi. February 18, 1987. *263 Richard J. Lee, Wilroy, Lee & Scott, Hernando, for appellant. Edwin Lloyd Pittman, Atty. Gen. by Leyser Q. Morris, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. Before ROY NOBLE LEE, P.J., and ROBERTSON and ANDERSON, JJ. ROY NOBLE LEE, Presiding Justice, for the Court: Larry S. Hentz has appealed to this Court from a judgment of the Circuit Court, Tate County, Mississippi, dismissing his motion to set aside a plea of guilty to the crime of murder less than capital and sentence to serve life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The sole question presented is whether or not the lower court erred in dismissing appellant's motion and in failing to hold an evidentiary hearing on the motion. The record consists of the motion to set aside guilty plea, together with the guilty plea and copy of an indictment returned by the Grand Jury of DeSoto County, Mississippi, charging appellant with perjury, both exhibited to the motion, and the order of the Circuit Court of Tate County dismissing the motion. Appellant entered a plea of guilty on November 18, 1983, to the crime of murder, pursuant to a written plea bargain agreement with Robert L. Williams, Assistant District Attorney. Pertinent parts of the plea bargain agreement provided: Appellant contends that he was always willing to testify truthfully in the trial of Cecilia Ann Williamson, but that he was not called by the district attorney to testify in the case; and that, subsequently, he was tried and convicted of receiving stolen property in Lafayette County and was indicted in DeSoto County for the crime of subornation of perjury. He further contends that the State violated the plea agreement by not calling him to testify in the trial of Cecilia Ann Williamson and that the plea of guilty to murder and sentence should be vacated and set aside. The lower court dismissed the motion for the following reasons: The motion to set aside plea was filed pursuant to the Mississippi Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act, Mississippi Code Annotated § 99-39-1, et seq. (Supp. 1986). The State contends that the motion was insufficient under § 99-39-9(1)(e). Section 99-39-11(2) states: We refer again to the lower court's third ground for dismissal which states: In Hentz v. State, 496 So. 2d 668 (Miss. 1986), in affirming the lower court's charges of contempt for failing to answer questions regarding this murder to which appellant had previously pleaded guilty pursuant to the plea bargain agreement, the Court said: 496 So. 2d at 672. (Emphasis added) In Salter v. State, 387 So. 2d 81 (Miss. 1980), the Court specifically enforced an *265 agreement in which the lower court had accepted a plea of guilty. In Salter, the prosecutor had promised to drop other charges in exchange for a guilty plea. This Court reversed the appellant's convictions based on those other charges, holding that the State was bound by the court-accepted agreement. Salter, 387 So. 2d at 83. This same reasoning was accepted in Allen v. State, 465 So. 2d 1088 (Miss. 1985), with the controlling caveat that, for the agreement to be enforceable, the guilty plea pursuant to the agreement must first be accepted by the court. Regardless of whether or not the State violated the plea bargain agreement subsequent to entry of the guilty plea by appellant, such violation would not require setting aside the sentence and guilty plea. Action for relief, if warranted, should be directed to those causes in Lafayette County and DeSoto County. The judgment of the lower court is affirmed. AFFIRMED. WALKER, C.J., HAWKINS, P.J., and DAN M. LEE, PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN, ANDERSON and GRIFFIN, JJ., concur.