Case Name: Clenard CASTON, Appellant v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee
Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2007-02-13
Citations: 949 So. 2d 852
Docket Number: No. 2005-CP-01398-COA
Parties: Clenard CASTON, Appellant v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.
Judges: CHANDLER, BARNES, ISHEE AND CARLTON, JJ„ CONCUR. GRIFFIS, J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY. ROBERTS, J., CONCURS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION, JOINED BY GRIFFIS AND BARNES, JJ. LEE, P.J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION, JOINED BY KING, C.J. IRVING, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 949
Pages: 852–866

Head Matter:
Clenard CASTON, Appellant v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.
No. 2005-CP-01398-COA.
Court of Appeals of Mississippi.
Feb. 13, 2007.
Clenard Caston, Appellant, pro se.
Office of the Attorney General by Deirdre McCrory, attorney for appellee.

Opinion:
MYERS, P.J.,
for the Court.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶ 1. On August 21, 2002, in the Pike County Circuit Court, Clenard Caston entered a guilty plea to one count of vehicular homicide (count one) and two counts of aggravated assault (counts two and three). Caston was sentenced to serve a term of twenty-five years on the vehicular homicide count and twenty years on each of the two aggravated assault counts. The sentences in all three counts were ordered to run consecutively. The trial court ordered Caston into the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections to serve twelve and one-half years on count one and ten years on each of counts two and three, with the remaining twelve and one-half years on count one and ten years on each of counts two and three to be served under post-release supervision. Caston was also ordered to complete an alcohol and drug rehabilitation program and to pay a $5,000 fíne, restitution, attorneys' fees and court costs.
¶ 2. Caston filed a motion for post-conviction relief, seeking to have his judgment and sentence vacated; however, the trial court denied Caston's motion. Aggrieved, Caston now appeals to this Court arguing that the circuit court erred in denying his motion for post-conviction relief. On appeal, Caston raises the following issues:
I. NECESSITY OF AN EVIDEN-TIARY HEARING
II. DEFECTIVE INDICTMENT
III. INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL
IV. INVOLUNTARY PLEA
¶ 3. Finding no error, we affirm the denial of Caston's petition for post-conviction relief.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 4. A trial court's denial of post-conviction relief will not be reversed absent a finding that the trial court's decision was clearly erroneous; however, questions of law are reviewed de novo. Buck v. State, 838 So.2d 256, 258(116) (Miss.2003). Under article 3, section 27 of the Mississippi Constitution and pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-7-1 (Rev. 2006), the circuit court obtains subject matter jurisdiction over a criminal offense when the defendant is served with an indictment issued by the grand jury. When an indictment is challenged as defective, the jurisdiction, of the circuit court to hear the matter and impose a sentence is called into question. The decision of whether a circuit court had proper jurisdiction to hear a particular matter is a question of law and is, therefore, reviewed de novo. Jensen v. State, 798 So.2d 383, 385(¶ 6) (Miss.2001).
DISCUSSION
I. NECESSITY OF AN EVIDEN-TIARY HEARING
¶ 5. Caston asserts that the circuit court erred in denying his motion to vacate the judgment and sentence without first holding an evidentiary hearing on the issues of (1) defective indictment, (2) inef fective assistance of counsel, and (3) involuntary plea. In order to have obtained the right to an evidentiary hearing on the merits of his defective indictment, ineffective assistance of counsel, and involuntary plea claims, Caston was required to establish a prima facie case of each allegation in his motion to the circuit court. Robertson v. State, 669 So.2d 11, 13 (Miss.1996). When a motion for post-conviction relief is filed, the trial judge is obligated to review the motion, all files, records, transcripts, and correspondence relating to the judgment. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-11(1) (Rev.2000); Cole v. State, 608 So.2d 1313, 1325 (Miss. 1992). If upon such review it is clear that there is no entitlement to relief, the judge may enter an order dismissing the action. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-11(2) (Rev.2000); Cole, 608 So.2d at 1324. "We adhere to the principle that a post-conviction relief petition which meets basic pleading requirements is sufficient to mandate an evi-dentiary hearing unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Robertson, 669 So.2d at 13 (quoting Harveston v. State, 597 So.2d 641, 643 (Miss.1992)). A post-conviction claim for relief is properly dismissed without the benefit of an evidentia-ry hearing where it is manifestly without merit. Id. (citing Sanders v. State, 440 So.2d 278, 284 (Miss.1983)). Therefore, our review of the circuit court's decision to deny Caston's motion to vacate the judgment and sentence without first holding an evidentiary hearing is dependent upon whether Caston supported his various claims with a prima facie case, made upon the face of his petition, or whether the court correctly determined that Caston had produced no set of facts in support of his claim that would entitle him to relief.
II. DEFECTIVE INDICTMENT
¶ 6. Caston argues that the prosecutor's failure to include the word "serious" as a modifier for the phrase "bodily injury," denied him actual notice of whether he was being charged with the felony crime of aggravated assault under Mississippi Code section 97-3-7(2) or the misdemeanor crime of simple assault under Mississippi Code section 97-3-7(1) (Rev.2006). Caston argues that the indictment's ambiguity prevented him from being fully apprised of the charges he was facing, and more precisely, the minimum and maximum penalties that the charges carried, when he entered his guilty plea.
¶ 7. The crux of this case is centered around Caston's argument that the prosecutor's failure to include, in counts two and three of the indictment, the word "serious" as a modifier for the phrase "bodily injury" constitutes a failure to charge a crime under subsection (a) of the aggravated assault statute, Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-7(2) (Rev.2006). In support of his position, Caston cites Hawthorne v. State, 751 So.2d 1090, 1094(¶ 19) (Miss.Ct. App.1999), for the proposition that the absence of the word "serious" from the phrase "serious bodily injury" in the aggravated assault count results in the omission of an essential element of the offense and renders the indictment fatally defec tive. The Hawthorne decision relied heavily on Peterson v. State, 671 So.2d 647, 653 (Miss.1996), in which a five-to-four majority of our supreme court held that an indictment must set forth every essential element of an offense with precision and certainty or every fact which is an element of a prima facie case of guilt.
¶ 8. Justice Pittman, joined by Justices Roberts, Smith, and Mills, penned a fervent dissent to the Peterson majority holding in which he exposed the majority's reliance on cases which were decided prior to the 1979 enactment of the Uniform Rules of Circuit Court, now the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court. Peterson, 671 So.2d at 660 (Pittman, J. dissenting) (quoting Harden v. State, 465 So.2d 321, 324 (Miss.1985)); See Love v. State, 211 Miss. 606, 611, 52 So.2d 470, 472 (1951). The majority of this Court is in agreement with Justice Pittman's dissent that the Peterson majority applied in error the strict standard of review under which the sufficiency of indictments were analyzed prior to the enactment of the Rules. Justice Pittman's dissent went on to reiterate our supreme court's holding in Harden, that since the adoption of the Rules "all questions regarding the sufficiency of indictments have been determined by reference to Rule 2.05," now URCCC 7.06.
¶ 9. Under the Rules, the standard under which the sufficiency of an indictment is analyzed is decidedly less stringent. The post-rules standard requires only that the indictment include the seven enumerated items of Rule 7.06 and provide the defendant with actual notice of the crime charged so that "from a fair reading of the indictment taken as a whole the nature of the charges against the accused are clear." Id. at 661 (quoting Henderson v. State, 445 So.2d 1364, 1368 (Miss.1984)). The Rule makes clear that "[fjormal and technical words are not necessary . if the offense can be substantially described without them." Wilson v. State, 815 So.2d 439, 443(¶ 10) (Miss.Ct. App.2002). This post-rules standard for determining the sufficiency of indictments has, with the exception of the holdings of Peterson and Hawthorne, been repeatedly followed by our supreme court, most recently in Spears v. State, 942 So.2d 772, 774(¶ 9) (Miss.2006), and by this Court, most recently in Wilson, 815 So.2d at 443(¶ 10) (citing Harbin v. State, 478 So.2d 796, 799 (Miss.1985)).
¶ 10. Although the law may have differed in former days, it is clear that our starting point today for determining the validity of an indictment is Rule 7.06 of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court. See Harbin, 478 So.2d at 798-99. Rule 7.06 provides as follows:
The indictment upon which the defendant is to be tried shall be a plain, concise and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged and shall fully notify the defendant of the nature and cause of the accusation. Formal and technical words are not necessary in an indictment, if the offense can be substantially described without them. An indictment shall also include the following:
1. The name of the accused;
2. The date on which the indictment was filed in court;
3. A statement that the prosecution is brought in the name and by the authority of the State of Mississippi;
4. The county and judicial district in which the indictment is brought;
5. The date and, if applicable, the time at which the offense was alleged to have been committed. Failure to state the correct date shall not render the indictment insufficient;
6. The signature of the foreman of the grand jury issuing it; and
7. The words "against the peace and dignity of the state."
The court on motion of the defendant may strike from the indictment any sur-plusage, including unnecessary allegations or aliases.
[Adopted effective May 1, 1995; amended August 26,1999.]
URCCC 7.06.
¶ 11. The indictment against Caston, quoted verbatim, reads as follows:
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI VERSUS CLENARD CASTON CAUSE NUMBER 02-070-KB INDICTMENT FOR THE OFFENSE OF VEHICULAR HOMICIDE AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT (TWO COUNTS)
THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, FOURTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COUNTY OF PIKE
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF SAID COUNTY, JANUARY TERM, 2002
The Grand Jurors of the State of Mississippi, taken from the body of good and lawful citizens of said county, elected, summoned, empaneled, sworn and charged to inquire in and for the body of the county aforesaid, at the term aforesaid of the court aforesaid, in the name and by the authority of the State of Mississippi, upon their oaths present that Clenard Caston, late of county aforesaid, on or about the 3rd day of February, 2002, in Pike County, Mississippi, and within the jurisdiction of this court, did unlawfully and feloniously, while operating a motor vehicle in a negligent manner, cause death of James R. Howell, a human being, at a time when he, the said Clenard Caston, was operating his vehicle under the influence of a drug or controlled substance, the possession of which is unlawful under the Mississippi Controlled Substance Law, contrary to and in violation of Section 63 — 11—80(l)(d) and 63-11-30(5) of the Mississippi Code of 1972, this being count one of the indictment;
COUNT TWO
and that on or about the 3rd day of February, 2002, in Pike County, Mississippi, and within the jurisdiction of this court, the said Clenard Caston did wil-fully, unlawfully and recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, cause bodily injury to James Ross Howell, Jr., contrary to and in violation of Section 97-3-7(2) (a) of the Mississippi Code of 1972, this being count two of the indictment;
COUNT THREE
and that on or about the 3rd day of February, 2002, in Pike County, Mississippi, and within the jurisdiction of this court, the said Clenard Caston did wil-fully, unlawfully and recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, cause bodily injury to Matthew Howell, contrary to and in violation of Section 97-3-7(2) (a) of the Mississippi Code of 1972, this being count three of the indictment; all of said conduct alleged and set fourth in counts one, two, and three of this indictment having been then and there been based on two or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or plan, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Mississippi.
Endorsed: A True Bill
[Signature of the Foreperson j FOREPERSON OF THE GRAND JURY
[Signature of the ADA ] ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY
(emphasis added).
¶ 12. When the indictment against Ca-ston is reviewed under our post-rules standard, it is clear that the indictment is legally sufficient. Each of the enumerated items of Rule 7.06 can be found within the indictment as well as a plain and concise statement of the facts notifying Caston that he is being charged with one count of vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated assault arising out of his unlawful and felonious, negligent and reckless, operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of a controlled substance, on or about February 3, 2002.
¶ 13. First, the caption at the top of the indictment reads: "INDICTMENT FOR THE OFFENSE OF VEHICULAR HOMICIDE AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT (TWO COUNTS)." As our supreme court has previously held, "Aggravated assault has an easily ascertainable statutory definition;" therefore, the caption provided Caston with reasonable notice of the charges he was facing. Harbin, 478 So.2d at 798 (citing Jones v. State, 461 So.2d 686, 692-94 (Miss.1984)). Second, counts two and three contain the language "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life." This language is found only within the aggravated assault statute, Mississippi Code section 97-3-7(2), and is not contained within the simple assault statute, Mississippi Code section 97-3-7(1). Third and most importantly, counts two and three specifically charge Caston under Mississippi Code section 97-3-7(2)(a), a specific subsection of the code outlining the crime of aggravated assault. In Roberson v. State, 595 So.2d 1310, 1318 (Miss. 1992), our supreme court found that an indictment which had been amended to include the specific subsection under which the accused was being charged sufficiently provided actual notice of that crime. Here, as in the case of Roberson, the inclusion of the specific subsection under which the accused was being charged provided actual notice to the defendant sufficient to satisfy the post-rules standard. Finally, the indictment does not reference the misdemeanor charge of simple assault by title or citation to the code, and there is simply no support for Caston's argument that when he entered his guilty plea, he had no way of knowing whether he was being charged with felony aggravated assault or misdemeanor simple assault.
¶ 14. Based upon our review of the indictment, we find the requirements of Rule 7.06 to have been met, and that Ca-ston was, at a minimum, given fair notice of the crimes with which he was charged. Accordingly, the indictment is sufficient under our post-rales Henderson precedent. This Court's pivotal consideration when considering the validity of an indictment on appeal, "is whether the defendant was prejudiced in the preparation of his defense." Wilson, 815 So.2d at 443(¶ 11) (quoting Gray v. State, 728 So.2d 36 (¶ 171) (Miss.1998)). We do not find that, in this case, the failure to include the word "serious" prejudiced Caston's defense in any way. Caston was represented by competent counsel and entered a plea of guilty to the crimes of vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated assault. According to the written judgment of the circuit court, Caston, at his plea hearing, stated under oath that he understood the charges against him, that he had been advised as to the minimum and maximum penalties carried by the charges, and that he was entering the plea voluntarily because he was guilty and for no other reason. Here, there is no doubt that Caston understood the charges against him and what he was expected to defend. He voluntarily chose to plead guilty to the charges against him, and only after receiving an unsatisfactory sentence does he now seek to challenge the sufficiency of the indictment. We are unpersuaded by Caston's argument, and find this issue is without merit.
III. INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL
IV. INVOLUNTARY PLEA
¶ 15. Caston claims that his counsel provided erroneous advice rising to the level of ineffective assistance of counsel, when his attorney advised him to accept a guilty plea under an indictment which faded to include the word "serious" as a modifier for the phrase bodily injury. He argues that the defective indictment, combined with the erroneous advice of his counsel, rendered his plea involuntary. The validity of these claims are wholly dependent upon a finding by this Court that the indictment against Caston was defective. Since we have already determined that the indictment against Caston was in no way defective, we find both issues raised by Caston meritless.
CONCLUSION
¶ 16. We hold that the circuit judge acted well within his discretion when he dismissed Caston's claim for post-conviction collateral relief, without the benefit of an evidentiary hearing, where it was clear upon the face of the motion that Caston's claims were manifestly without merit. The indictment against Caston was sufficient under Rule 7.06 of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court, his counsel was not deficient, and his plea was voluntary. The judgment of the circuit court is, therefore, affirmed.
¶ 17. THE JUDGMENT OF THE PIKE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT DENYING POST-CONVICTION RELIEF IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO PIKE COUNTY.
CHANDLER, BARNES, ISHEE AND CARLTON, JJ" CONCUR. GRIFFIS, J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY. ROBERTS, J., CONCURS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION, JOINED BY GRIFFIS AND BARNES, JJ. LEE, P.J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION, JOINED BY KING, C.J. IRVING, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION.
. "A person is guilty of simple assault if he (a) attempts to cause or purposely, knowingly, or recklessly causes bodily injury to another; or (b) negligently causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon or other means likely to produce death or serious bodily harm; or (c)attempts by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily harm...."
. "A person is guilty of aggravated assault if he (a) attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another, or causes such injury purposely, knowingly, or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life...."