Opinion ID: 1826525
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Wigginton v. State

Text: Judge Russell argues that this Court's decision in Wigginton v. State, 668 So.2d 763 (Miss. 1996) provides authority for his actions. Judge Russell interprets Wigginton to stand for he proposition that a circuit judge has jurisdiction over a sentence, despite the fact that the 180 days described in § 47-7-47 has expired. Further, Judge Russell invites this Court to clarify the conflict between Wigginton and earlier cases which suggest that a circuit judge has no such authority after the defendant has been sentenced. See Denton v. Maples, 394 So.2d 895 (Miss. 1981); Harrigill v. State, 403 So.2d 867 (Miss. 1981).. A close review of Wigginton and our prior cases reveals no conflict. In Wigginton, we were called upon to consider the plight of Bryan Scott Wigginton, an inmate originally sentenced pursuant to § 47-7-47. At the time of sentencing, the circuit judge reserved the right to review Wigginton's sentence for a period not exceeding 180-days, and upon the recommendation of MDOC, Wigginton was placed in the Regimented Inmate Discipline (RID) Program. Wigginton was involved in an altercation and placed into general population. At a hearing held before the circuit judge, the matter of Wigginton's removal from the RID program was brought to the attention of the court. After taking the matter under advisement, the trial judge concluded that he had no authority to review the procedure of the Mississippi Department of Corrections when a state prisoner feels that his rights have been violated or he or she has not been afforded due process. Wigginton at 764. This Court held the circuit judge clearly has the authority to inquire into Wigginton's sentence, and see if there was any basis at all for Wigginton's removal from the program, and it remains discretionary with the circuit judge to determine whether or not Wigginton's sentence should be reviewed. Id. at 765. There are obvious distinctions between Wigginton and the cases under consideration. Foremost, the trial judge in Wigginton complied with § 47-7-47 at the time of the original sentencing when Wigginton was committed to the RID program. Moreover, we did not hold in Wigginton that the circuit judge could release Wigginton, but rather that the judge could review Wigginton's removal from the RID program to ascertain whether or not his due process rights had been violated by MDOC. The situation in Wigginton is clearly different than what we are faced with today. Here, Judge Russell used nunc pro tunc orders to suspend sentences and place prisoners on probation after the time of the original sentencing. In Wigginton we simply held that the trial judge who had initially committed a prisoner to the RID program could review the prisoner's expulsion from that program in order to ascertain whether there was any basis for removal. Judge Russell also argues that Wigginton indicates that there is no 180-day time limitation on the right to review the sentence of an individual sentenced under § 47-7-47. We did not so hold. Rather, we stated that the circuit judge retained discretion as to whether or not to review Wigginton's removal from the RID program when that judge had initially sentenced Wigginton to shock probation/RID. We did not hold that a judge has unbridled discretion to review and suspend sentences regardless of the time limitations. To adopt this construction would be in direct conflict with § 47-7-47.