Opinion ID: 1094862
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Issues Procedurally Barred

Text: Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-3(2) (1994) provides that [d]irect appeal shall be the principal means of reviewing all criminal convictions and sentences ... The purpose of the remedies contained in the post-conviction relief act is to provide prisoners with a procedure, limited in nature, to review issues or errors which in practical reality could not be or should not have been raised at trial or on direct appeal. § 99-39-3(2). Post-conviction relief does not lie for facts and issues which were litigated at trial or on direct appeal. Similarly, post-conviction relief is not granted upon facts and issues which could or should have been litigated at trial and on appeal. Smith v. State, 434 So.2d 212, 215 n. 2 (Miss. 1983). Moreover, [t]he procedural bars of waiver, different theories, and res judicata and the exception thereto as defined in Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-21(1-5) are applicable in death penalty PCR Applications. Lockett v. State, 614 So.2d 898, 902 (Miss. 1992). In Smith v. State , a death penalty case, this Court opined: We are compelled to note that in the instant case, as is all too often the case in similar post-conviction relief efforts which come before this Court, the petitioner is in actuality merely seeking to relitigate his case. Such is not the proper function of post-conviction relief proceedings in Mississippi. The fair and orderly administration of justice dictates that a person accused of a crime be afforded the opportunity to present his claims before a fair and impartial tribunal. It does not require that he be given multiple opportunities to take a bite at the apple. Likewise, the orderly administration of justice does not require this Court to lead a defendant by the hand through the criminal justice system. It is this Court's responsibility to provide a meaningful opportunity for defendant to raise his claims and have them adjudicated. [emphasis added] 434 So.2d at 220. We turn now to the four claims by Cole that are procedurally barred from consideration in a post-conviction environment.