Stokes v. State
| Docket Number: | 2010-CP-00908-COA Linked Case(s): 2010-CT-00908-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 07-19-2011 Opinion Author: Roberts, J. Holding: APPEAL DISMISSED |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Post-conviction relief - Timeliness of appeal - M.R.A.P. 4(a) - M.R.A.P. 2(a)(1) & (c) Judge(s) Concurring: Lee, C.J., Irving and Griffis, P.JJ., Myers, Barnes, Ishee, Carlton, Maxwell and Russell, JJ. Procedural History: PCR Nature of the Case: PCR |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 03-02-2010 Appealed from: Madison County Circuit Court Judge: Samac Richardson Disposition: MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF DENIED Case Number: CI2010-0022-R |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Derrick Stokes |
PRO SE |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: JOHN R. HENRY JR. | ||
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: | Post-conviction relief - Timeliness of appeal - M.R.A.P. 4(a) - M.R.A.P. 2(a)(1) & (c) |
| Summary of the Facts: | Derrick Stokes pled guilty to exploitation of a child and gratification of lust. He was sentenced to fifteen years for one charge and to ten years, with five years suspended, five years to serve, and five years on post-release supervision, for the second charge. Stokes filed a motion for post-conviction relief which was denied. He appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The record indicates that the circuit court denied Stokes’s motion on March 5, 2010. Pursuant to M.R.A.P. 4(a), Stokes had thirty days to appeal the circuit court’s decision. Stokes concedes that he was required to file a notice of appeal on or before April 5, 2010. However, the record indicates that Stokes’s notice of appeal was filed on June 4, 2010. Stokes argues that his appeal is rendered timely by application of the “prison-mailbox rule.” Under the prison- mailbox rule, a pro se prisoner's motion for post-conviction relief is delivered for filing when the prisoner delivers the papers to prison authorities for mailing. There is simply no evidence that Stokes delivered his notice of appeal to prison authorities for mailing on or before April 5, 2010. M.R.A.P. 2(a)(1) provides that an appeal shall be dismissed if the notice of appeal was not timely filed pursuant to M.R.A.P. 4 or 5. Under M.R.A.P. 2(c), appellate courts do have the authority to grant a criminal defendant such an appeal if failure to perfect the appeal was through no fault of his own and if justice demands. However, Stokes does not raise any justification for his failure to file his notice of appeal timely. |
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