Opinion ID: 2537152
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Means's banishment

Text: ¶ 25. The only place in the record before us where the trial court appeared to address the Cobb factors was in the sentencing order. The order stated, in pertinent part, that: IT IS FURTHER ADJUDICATED AND THE COURT SO FINDS that the banishment provision herein bears a reasonable relationship to the purposes of the suspended sentence or probation, that the ends of justice and the best interest of the public and the Defendant will be served by such banishment during the period of the suspended sentence, that the banishment provision of the suspended sentence does not violate the public policy of the State of Mississippi, that the banishment provision of the suspended sentence herein does not defeat the rehabilitative purpose of the probation and/or suspended sentence, and such provision does not violate the Defendant's rights under the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. This is nearly a verbatim recitation of the Cobb factors, as incorporated into this Court's opinion in McCreary. See McCreary, 582 So.2d at 427. Based on this adjudication, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court followed Cobb 's instruction, and concluded that we cannot find that the trial court erred in fashioning this form of punishment as part of Means's sentence. Means, 43 So.3d at 464. We disagree. ¶ 26. During the sentencing proceedings in Cobb, the circuit judge expressly considered the facts and circumstances regarding Cobb's situation, character, and offense, and in light of those facts, how best to achieve his intended rehabilitation, serve the ends of justice, and protect the rights and interests of Cobb and the public. And the decision banishing Cobb from Stone County for five years explained how the banishment addressed those considerations. Cobb, 437 So.2d at 1219-21. Therefore, in fashioning a proper banishment condition, the sentencing judge cannot simply recite the Cobb factors and state that they have been complied with. Following Cobb 's example, the judge must articulate, on the record, the reasons for and benefits of the banishment. This is because the judge may not restrict the defendant's personal liberty of free movement without following the due process which Cobb, McCreary, and Mackey established. ¶ 27. Here, while the trial judge's order of conviction stated that he had adjudicated all the Cobb factors in Means's case, the record before us does not support this. The sentencing order did not set forth any specific facts or circumstances regarding Means's situation, character, or offense, or any reasons why the banishment may help to achieve his intended rehabilitation, serve the ends of justice, or protect the rights and interests of Means and the public, under Cobb and McCreary. Further, although Means designated all pertinent transcripts in his Designation of Record on Appeal, the record does not include the transcript of the plea and/or sentencing hearing, during which the specific facts and circumstances supporting Means's banishment, if any, would have been addressed. And finally, Means's present PCR motion was dismissed without an evidentiary hearing, during which the reasons and benefits addressed at the sentencing hearing, if any, likely would have been discussed. ¶ 28. We are simply unable to determine from the record before us whether the sentencing judge examined, on the record, any specific facts or circumstances of Means's case relevant to the Cobb factors to support the banishment. So we are not satisfied from this record as made and presented that Means's banishment was appropriate under Cobb and McCreary. Cobb, 437 So.2d at 1219-21; McCreary, 582 So.2d at 427. As the appellant, however, Means is responsible for designating the record pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Appellate Procedure 10(b) in a manner sufficient to allow this Court to review his asserted issues. Cossitt v. Alfa Ins. Corp., 726 So.2d 132, 135 (Miss.1998). And in the absence of anything in the record to the contrary, such as a transcript, we must presume that the trial court acted properly. Moawad v. State, 531 So.2d 632, 635 (Miss.1988). See also Vinson v. Johnson, 493 So.2d 947, 949 (Miss.1986) (citing Fontaine v. Pickle, 254 So.2d 769 (Miss.1971); Walker v. Jones County Cmty. Hosp., 253 So.2d 385 (Miss.1971); Harvey v. Dunaway Bros., 232 Miss. 89, 98 So.2d 143 (1957)). ¶ 29. But it is the absence itself of record support for Means's banishment which requires additional review. Means's sentence was the result of a negotiated plea agreement. And we cannot tell from the record before us whether a plea hearing or sentencing hearing was held, and hence, whether a transcript even exists that could shed some light on the justification, if any, for Means's banishment. This Court only recently imposed an affirmative duty on the trial judge to analyze the Cobb factors on the record before banishing the defendant. See Mackey, 37 So.3d at 1166-67. So there may be, in fact, some reasons for and benefits of Means's banishment under Cobb and McCreary, but they do not appear in the scant PCR record before us. And since no hearing was held on Means's present PCR motion, the trial court has not had an opportunity, in this PCR proceeding, to pass on the propriety of Means's banishment under Cobb and McCreary. That court should be given the opportunity before this Court rules on it. ¶ 30. Means's PCR motion should have been excepted from the procedural bars, and the trial court erred in summarily dismissing the motion. Therefore, we must remand this case to the trial court to review the record as it existed at the time of Means's sentencing to determine if it contains the requisite reasons for and benefits of Means's banishment under Cobb and McCreary. If the record as previously madewhich may include the transcript of Means's plea and/or sentencing proceedingsreveals that no such reasons exist, or that the sentencing judge did not address the Cobb considerations as they relate to Means, then Means's banishment violated his due-process rights, and the revocation of the suspension of Means's sentence (for violating the banishment) was unlawful. If, upon review of the record, the trial court reaches this conclusion, the trial court shall vacate the revocation and reinstate the original, suspended sentence with all the conditions except the banishment.