Opinion ID: 1097950
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the trial court failed to make an adequate inquiry into petitioner's competence at the time of trial.

Text: This claim was presented as an alleged trial error in the appellant's original appeal to this Court and a final disposition was made thereof. See Wheat v. State, 420 So.2d 229 (Miss. 1982). The opinion, based on the entire record before the Court, fully discussed the proceedings had in the lower court and the opinion fully explained the Court's decision on the question involved in Claim A. It should be noted that appellant did not file a Petition for Rehearing of the Court's opinion and final decision within fifteen days after said final order, as permitted by Mississippi Supreme Court Rule 14. We therefore hold that all matters propounded in Petitioner's Claim A were decided on direct appeal to this Court and are therefore barred from re-litigation as requested by appellant. This decision is completely in conformity with the record in the cause and this Court's final opinion. Edwards v. Thigpen, decided March 23, 1983, and not yet reported; Callahan v. State, 426 So.2d 801 (Miss. 1983); Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977); Henry v. Wainwright, 686 F.2d 311 (5th Cir.1982); Engle v. Isaac, 456 U.S. 107, 102 S.Ct. 1558, 71 L.Ed.2d 783 (1982). Appellant contends in his motion that he is presenting new evidence on appellant's prior mental condition that was unknown by his attorneys at the trial. The motion filed by appellant's court-appointed attorneys during the course of the trial for the death of Mrs. Mayer recited that, in addition to other reasons, the motion for mental examination was being filed because of the past medical history of the defendant. [Supp.Rec.V.I, p. 47] Furthermore, the affidavit of Earl B. Stegall and John F. Hester, court-appointed trial attorneys for appellant, which affidavit is attached to the brief of appellees herein, states that the office of the district attorney had made the medical records of appellant available to them. Their use was refused by appellant. A reading of the opinion Wheat v. State, supra , shows that this fact was taken into consideration in the final decision, from which a petition for rehearing was not requested. As set out in the opinion in Wheat v. State, supra , the trial court ordered a mental examination of appellant pursuant to the allegations of the motion containing the above quoted language. As stated in this Court's opinion, appellant refused to have the examination after receiving a life sentence from the jury.