Opinion ID: 1557127
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Whether Parker's Trial Counsel Rendered Ineffective Assistance.

Text: ¶ 35. Next, Parker avers that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel. Parker assigns the following errors on direct appeal: (1) trial counsel failed to object to the trial court's illegal sentence of life without parole; (2) trial counsel failed to defend Parker against double jeopardy; (3) trial counsel failed to file a motion for a new trial; and (4) trial counsel failed to raise the issue of competency before the trial court. ¶ 36. This Court has addressed the proper procedures for reviewing claims for ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal. See Read v. State, 430 So.2d 832, 841-842 (Miss.1983). Generally, ineffective assistance claims are more appropriately brought during post-conviction proceedings. Archer v. State, 986 So.2d 951, 955 (Miss.2008). This is because on direct appeal the Court is limited to the trial court record in its review of the claim. Id. Where the record lacks sufficient evidence to adequately address the claim, this Court should deny relief, preserving the defendant's right to argue the issue through a post-conviction-relief petition. Id. (citing Wilcher v. State, 863 So.2d 776, 825 (Miss.2003)). This Court may, however, address an ineffectiveness claim on direct appeal if the presented issues are based on facts fully apparent from the record. Id.; Miss. R.App. P. 22(b). [6] Since the facts and issues are apparent from the record, we will address the merits of Parker's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. ¶ 37. The substantive standard of review for an ineffective-assistance claim is a well-settled, two-pronged principle of law. In order to prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must prove that his attorney's performance was deficient, and that the deficiency was so substantial as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-696, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); Wilcher v. State, 479 So.2d 710, 713 (Miss. 1985); Stringer v. State, 454 So.2d 468, 477 (Miss.1984). This Court looks at the totality of circumstances to determine whether counsel's efforts were both deficient and prejudicial. Carney v. State, 525 So.2d 776, 780 (Miss.1988); Read v. State, 430 So.2d 832, 839 (Miss.1983). Judicial scrutiny of counsel's performance [is] highly deferential. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052. There is a strong but rebuttable presumption that counsel's conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance. Carney, 525 So.2d at 780; Gilliard v. State, 462 So.2d 710, 714 (Miss.1985). Only where it is reasonably probable that but for the attorney's errors, the outcome of the trial would have been different, will we find that counsel's performance was deficient. Dickey v. State, 662 So.2d 1106, 1109 (Miss.1995); Reed v. State, 536 So.2d 1336, 1339 (Miss.1988). Holly v. State, 716 So.2d 979, 989 (Miss. 1998). ¶ 38. Furthermore, the appellant bears the burden of proving that counsel's performance was deficient and prejudicial. Branch v. State, 882 So.2d 36, 52 (Miss.2004) (citing Hansen v. State, 649 So.2d 1256, 1258 (Miss.1994)). Additionally, there is no constitutional right to errorless counsel. Id. (citing Stack v. State, 860 So.2d 687, 696 (Miss.2003)); Cabello v. State, 524 So.2d 313, 315 (Miss.1988); Mohr v. State, 584 So.2d 426, 430 (Miss. 1991) (Court held that the right to effective counsel does not entitle defendant to have an attorney who makes no mistakes at trial; defendant merely has right to have competent counsel).
¶ 39. First, Parker argues that he was constitutionally denied effective assistance of counsel, because his trial counsel failed to object to the trial court's imposition of an illegal sentence. Parker believes that his trial counsel should have objected to this error by the trial court, and, because he did not, that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. ¶ 40. Generally, the decision to make certain objections falls within the realm of trial strategy and is not grounds for a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Spicer v. State, 973 So.2d 184, 203 (Miss.2007). In the instant case, however, we cannot say that trial counsel's failure to object falls within the realm of trial strategy, as Parker's trial counsel should have objected to such error by the trial court. ¶ 41. Nevertheless, Parker fails to show on appeal how such conduct by the trial counsel prejudiced his case. Despite there being no objection by Parker's trial counsel, this Court reviewed this issue under the plain-error doctrine; we therefore direct that Parker shall be sentenced properly on remand.
¶ 42. Next, Parker argues ineffective assistance based on the trial counsel's failure to defend Parker against double jeopardy. Parker avers that he was convicted of capital murder, and that this, along with his conviction for possession of a firearm on school property, somehow implicates the Double Jeopardy Clause of the federal and state constitutions. As discussed above, we find this argument to be without merit. ¶ 43. The record is clear that Parker was charged with and convicted of deliberate-design murder, as evinced by the language in the indictment and the jury instructions. Therefore, Parker's possession of a firearm on school property was not a lesser-included offense, because Parker was not charged with or convicted of capital murder. Parker was charged with and convicted of three separate crimes that required different facts and different elements of proof. See Miss.Code Ann. §§ 97-3-19, 97-3-7(2)(b) and 97-37-17 (Rev. 2006). Thus, Parker was not subjected to double jeopardy, and failing to defend against such in this case does not constitute deficient performance under prong one of Strickland.
¶ 44. Parker also argues that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to raise the issue of competency at trial. The record is devoid of any evidence to show that the trial court had reasonable grounds to order a mental examination pursuant to Mississippi Uniform Circuit and County Court Rule 9.06. Because the record lacks any evidence that would suggest Parker was incompetent, we cannot conclude that Parker's counsel acted ineffectively under this assignment of error. See Jordan v. State, 995 So.2d 94, 110 (Miss.2008) (citing Conley v. State, 790 So.2d 773, 784 (Miss.2001)); Miss. R.App. P. 28(a)(6).
¶ 45. Finally, Parker argues that trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to make a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or, in the alternative, a new trial. In fact, the record lacks any post-trial motions except for Parker's notice of appeal. ¶ 46. In Holland v. State , this Court dealt with whether a lawyer's failure to make any post-trial motions constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. Holland v. State, 656 So.2d 1192 (Miss.1995). The trial lawyer in Holland failed to make any post-trial motions, to move for a directed verdict, or even to ask for a peremptory instruction. Id. at 1197. On appeal, the Court found that the lawyer's performance amounted to ineffective assistance of counsel because the omissions (1) deprived the trial judge of the of the opportunity to reexamine possible errors at trial which (2) deprived Holland of a fair trial. Id. (following the Strickland standard). ¶ 47. In Simon v. State, this Court distinguished Holland somewhat by stating that, [I]n Holland this Court was concerned with the fact that the trial counsel had completely failed to give the trial court the opportunity to review the sufficiency of the evidence at the end of the trial. Simon, 857 So.2d 668, 690 (Miss. 2003) (citing Holland v. State, 656 So.2d at 1197) (emphasis added). In Simon, trial counsel failed to move for a directed verdict at the close of all evidence, but did file a motion for JNOV, or, in the alternative, a new trial. Id. The Simon Court found that trial counsel's conduct did not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. Id. In the instant case, Parker moved for a directed verdict both at the close of the State's case-in-chief and again at the end of the trial. Thus, the trial judge had two opportunities to review the legal sufficiency of the evidence, as previously discussed in Issue IV. ¶ 48. We note, however, that [I]n a criminal proceeding, motions for a directed verdict [and JNOV] challenge the legal sufficiency of the evidence supporting the guilty verdict. Croft v. State, 992 So.2d 1151, 1157 (Miss.2008). Here, the trial court had an opportunity to review the legal sufficiency of the evidence, but did not have an opportunity to review the weight of the evidence, as Parker's counsel failed to file a motion for a new trial. Stewart v. State, 909 So.2d 52, 56 (Miss. 2005) (citing Sheffield v. State, 749 So.2d 123, 127 (Miss.1999)) (outlining the standard of review for motions for a new trial). Thus, if the rules from Holland and Simon are applied to this case, the failure to file a motion for a new trial constituted a deficient performance under prong one of Strickland, since the trial judge did not have an opportunity to reconsider whether the verdict was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. However, Parker's argument must also satisfy prong two under Strickland. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). ¶ 49. Even though the trial counsel's failure to move for a new trial constituted deficient performance, Parker fails to show how such deficiency prejudiced his case. Specifically, Parker failed to show how the filing of a motion for JNOV or, in the alternative, a new trial would have changed the outcome of the proceedings. There was no reasonable probability that the trial judge would have granted the motion for a new trial had he been afforded a second chance to review the evidence, as two eyewitnesses testified at trial to seeing Parker use a gun on school property to injure Justin Moore and to kill Jarvis Moore. The evidence in the record overwhelmingly supports the verdict. Further, Parker bears the burden of proving ineffective assistance of counsel, and without showing how trial counsel's failure to make a post-trial motion prejudiced the outcome of his case, he simply does not meet that burden. Thus, this issue is without merit.