Jackson v. State


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Docket Number: 2008-CT-00074-SCT
Linked Case(s): 2008-CP-00074-COA ; 2008-CP-00074-COA ; 2008-CT-00074-SCT ; 2008-CT-00074-SCT

Supreme Court: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 07-28-2011
Opinion Author: Waller, C.J.
Holding: Reversed and remanded.

Additional Case Information: Topic: Post-conviction relief - Jurisdiction - Section 99-39-5 -Section 99-39-25 - Successive writ - Section 99-39-23(6)
Judge(s) Concurring: Carlson, P.J., Randolph, Lamar, Kitchens, Chandler and Pierce, JJ.
Non Participating Judge(s): King, J.
Concur in Part, Concur in Result 1: Dickinson, P.J., Concurs in Part and in Result Without Separate Written Opinion
Procedural History: PCR
Nature of the Case: PCR

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 12-04-2007
Appealed from: Warren County Circuit Court
Judge: Isadore Patrick, Jr.
Disposition: MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF DISMISSED
Case Number: 07,02231CI

Note: The motion for rehearing filed by the State is granted. The previous opinion is withdrawn, and this opinion is substituted therefor. Motion for Denial of Motion for Rehearing and Issuance of Mandate is dismissed as moot. The supreme court found that it was without jurisdiction to entertain Appellant's 1999, 2002, and 2004 PCR petitions and found that the 2007 petition should first be entertained by the trial court.

  Party Name: Attorney Name:   Brief(s) Available:
Appellant: Robert H. Jackson




PRO SE DAVID McCARTY



 
  • Supplemental Brief

  • Appellee: State of Mississippi OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: JOHN R. HENRY, JR.  

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    Topic: Post-conviction relief - Jurisdiction - Section 99-39-5 -Section 99-39-25 - Successive writ - Section 99-39-23(6)

    Summary of the Facts: The motion for rehearing filed by the State is granted. This opinion is substituted for the original opinion. Since his 1979 conviction for capital murder, Robert Jackson has filed multiple, unsuccessful motions and applications for post-conviction relief. The trial court dismissed Jackson’s most recent motion, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.

    Summary of Opinion Analysis: Issue 1: Jurisdiction Section 99-39-5 provides that any person sentenced by a court of record of the State of Mississippi may file a motion to vacate, set aside or correct the judgment or sentence based on several applicable criteria. Where there has been no direct appeal of his conviction or sentence, the prisoner must file this PCR motion, sometimes called a “PCR petition,” as an original civil action in the trial court. But if the prisoner’s conviction and sentence were directly appealed, and either the conviction was affirmed or the appeal dismissed by the Court, then he must file an application in the Supreme Court for leave to proceed in the trial court and include the proposed PCR motion with his application. Because Jackson pled guilty in 1979, a direct appeal of his conviction was not permitted. Because there has been no direct appeal of his conviction or sentence, Jackson must file his PCR motions in the trial court. Jackson’s original, 1986 “motion to vacate” and his PCR filings in 1993 and 2007 were properly filed PCR motions. But Jackson incorrectly filed three applications for leave to proceed in the trial court (i.e., to get permission to file new PCR motions in the trial court), in 1999, 2002, and 2004. The Supreme Court denied all three applications, finding them to be impermissible successive writs under section 99-39-27(9). The Court did not make a final determination going to the merits of the underlying conviction and sentence. Nonetheless, the Court had, in fact, exercised jurisdiction over Jackson’s PCR proceedings, and there is general language in our prior cases to the effect that the court to last exercise jurisdiction in the case has exclusive, original jurisdiction over the post-conviction petition. The Supreme Court was without jurisdiction to consider Jackson’s 1999, 2002, and 2004 applications for leave to proceed in the trial court, because Jackson’s conviction and sentence were never directly appealed. The only way in which the Court properly could have considered Jackson’s PCR filings would have been if Jackson had first presented his PCR motion to the trial court, that court had denied relief, and Jackson had appealed that decision to the Supreme Court pursuant to section 99-39-25. Put simply, the fatal flaw in Jackson’s 1999, 2002, and 2004 applications was not that they were successive writs, but that they were filed in the wrong court. So the Supreme Court improperly exercised jurisdiction and denied Jackson’s applications. The Court should have merely dismissed the applications without prejudice for being filed in the wrong court and directed Jackson to file his PCR motions in the trial court. Therefore, the denials of Jackson’s 1999, 2002, and 2004 applications are vacated and set aside. The Warren County Circuit Court should exercise initial jurisdiction over Jackson’s PCR proceedings. Issue 2: Successive writ Based on the Supreme Court’s dispositions of Jackson’s 2002 and 2004 applications, the circuit court dismissed Jackson’s 2007 PCR motion, finding it to be barred as a successive writ pursuant to section 99-39-23(6), and the Court of Appeals agreed. Since the denials of Jackson’s 2002 and 2004 applications have been vacated, the trial court’s dismissal of Jackson’s motion under the successive-writ bar is reversed.


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