Harris v. State
| Docket Number: | 2010-CT-00676-SCT Linked Case(s): 2010-KA-00676-COA ; 2010-KA-00676-COA ; 2010-CT-00676-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 10-18-2012 Opinion Author: Dickinson, P.J. Holding: Affirmed in part, reversed in part, vacated and remanded. |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 10-04-2011 Opinion Author: Irving, P.J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Aggravated assault & Felon in possession of deadly weapon - Illegal sentence - Section 97-37-37(2) - Section 97-3-7(2) - Section 99-19-81 - Greater minimum sentence Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Carlson, P.J., Randolph, Lamar, Chandler and Pierce, JJ. Judge(s) Concurring Separately: Kitchens, J., Concurs With Separate Written Opinion Joined by Waller, C.J. Non Participating Judge(s): King, J. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY Writ of Certiorari: yes Appealed from Court of Appeals |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 04-21-2010 Appealed from: Washington County Circuit Court Judge: Richard A. Smith Disposition: CONVICTED OF COUNT I, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, AND SENTENCED AS A HABITUAL OFFENDER TO TWENTY YEARS AND TO TEN YEARS AS AN ENHANCED PENALTY PURSUANT TO MISSISSIPPI CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 97-37-37(2) (SUPP. 2011), WITH THE TENYEARS’ ENHANCED PENALTY TO RUN CONSECUTIVELY TO THE SENTENCE IN COUNT I; AND COUNT II, POSSESSION OF A FIREARM BY A CONVICTED FELON, AND SENTENCED AS A HABITUAL OFFENDER TO TEN YEARS, WITH THE SENTENCE IN COUNT II TO RUN CONSECUTIVELY TO THE TEN-YEARS’ ENHANCED PENALTY, ALL IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, WITHOUT ELIGIBILITY FOR PAROLE OR PROBATION District Attorney: Willie Dewayne Richardson Case Number: 2009-0075 |
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| Note: | The Supreme Court found that because the minimum sentence available for Harris's habitual status exceeded ten years, it vacated Harris’s sentences and reversed and remanded to the Circuit Court for re-sentencing in consideration of the holding that Miss. Code Ann. Sec. 97-37-37(2) did not apply. The original Court of Appeals opinion can be found at http://courts.ms.gov/Images/Opinions/CO72646.pdf | |
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Charles Harris |
OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER: HUNTER N. AIKENS
LESLIE S. LEE
GEORGE T. HOLMES |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: BILLY L. GORE SCOTT STUART |
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| Topic: | Aggravated assault & Felon in possession of deadly weapon - Illegal sentence - Section 97-37-37(2) - Section 97-3-7(2) - Section 99-19-81 - Greater minimum sentence |
| Summary of the Facts: | Charles Harris was convicted of aggravated assault and of being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to twenty years for aggravated assault – the maximum for a habitual offender – and ten years for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In addition, the trial judge sentenced Harris to an additional ten years for using a firearm as a convicted felon during the commission of another felony. Harris appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Harris argues that his additional, ten-year sentence imposed under section 97-37-37(2), the firearm-enhancement statute, is illegal, because that statute does not apply if another provision of law provides a minimum sentence of more than ten years. Harris was convicted for aggravated assault under section 97-3-7(2) which imposes a maximum twenty year sentence. Harris was sentenced as a habitual offender under section 99-19-81, which required the trial court to sentence him to the full twenty-years. Section 97-37-37(2) places a mandatory ten-year, additional sentence on “any convicted felon who uses or displays a firearm during the commission of any felony.” But the statute makes an exception “to the extent that a greater minimum sentence is otherwise provided by any other provision of law.” Here, Harris qualified as a habitual offender under section 99-19-81, which required that Harris be sentenced to the maximum sentence of twenty years for aggravated assault. Thus, Section 99-19-81 provided a “greater minimum sentence,” and the trial court erred by sentencing Harris under section 97-37-37(2). |
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