Rice v. State
| Docket Number: | 2009-CP-00047-COA | |
| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 02-16-2010 Opinion Author: Irving, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Adminstrative remedies - Trusty status - Section 47-7-3(2) - Ex post facto law Judge(s) Concurring: King, C.J., Lee and Myers, P.JJ., Griffis, Barnes, Ishee, Roberts, Carlton and Maxwell, JJ. Procedural History: Admin or Agency Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - STATE BOARDS AND AGENCIES |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 12-03-2008 Appealed from: SUNFLOWER COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: Betty W. Sanders Disposition: AFFIRMED DECISION OF MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS’S ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDY PROGRAM TO DENY TRUSTY STATUS Case Number: 2008-0070-M |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | JERRY RICE |
PRO SE |
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| Appellee: | STATE OF MISSISSIPPI | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: JANE L. MAPP | ||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Adminstrative remedies - Trusty status - Section 47-7-3(2) - Ex post facto law |
| Summary of the Facts: | In 1992, Jerry Rice was convicted of aggravated assault and was sentenced to twelve years’ confinement. The following year, pursuant to a plea agreement, he entered a guilty plea to charges of kidnaping and capital murder. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Rice was given a life sentence for the capital murder and a sentence of thirty years for the kidnaping. The orders sentencing Rice stated that the capital murder sentence would run consecutively to Rice’s 1992 sentence, and that the kidnaping sentence would run consecutively to the capital murder sentence. Rice filed a complaint with the MDOC’s Administrative Remedy Program in early 2008, seeking to be placed into trusty status. The ARP administrator stated that the MDOC’s records showed that Rice was not eligible for trusty status. Rice then filed a document in circuit court styled “Motion to Show Cause,” which was treated by the circuit court as an appeal from the ARP’s opinion. The court upheld the decision of the MDOC denying Rice trusty status. Rice appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Even if Rice were granted trusty status, he could not use any earned trusty time to reduce the time that he must serve before becoming eligible for parole. Since April 2004, the MDOC, pursuant to section 47-7-3(2), has stopped applying trusty time to reduce an offender’s parole eligibility date. Furthermore, MDOC’s decision to change its application of the trusty-time policy is not an ex post facto application of the law as to Rice. Administrative correction of a prior misinterpretation of parole laws does not violate the ex post facto clause of the United States or Mississippi Constitutions even if it caused the offender to serve more time on his sentence. Rice argues that he should be able to enter trusty status and earn time with which to reduce the amount of time that he must serve before becoming eligible for parole. There is no merit to this contention. According to his sentencing order, Rice should serve his capital murder sentence before his kidnaping sentence; in short, Rice should currently be serving time for his capital murder conviction rather than his kidnaping conviction. Rice’s capital murder conviction makes him ineligible for the privilege of entering trusty status. In addition, Rice was discharged from trusty status due to an unspecified rule violation which likely made him ineligible for trusty status. |
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