Willie v. State
| Docket Number: | 2002-KA-01846-SCT Linked Case(s): 2002-KA-01846-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 05-06-2004 Opinion Author: Graves, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Capital murder - Habitual offender status - Prior convictions Judge(s) Concurring: Smith, C.J., Easley and Carlson, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Diaz and Randolph, JJ. Dissenting Author : Cobb, P.J. Dissenting Author : Dickinson, J. Dissent Joined By : Waller, P.J. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 10-07-2002 Appealed from: Oktibbeha County Circuit Court Judge: Robert G. Evans Disposition: Appellant was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. District Attorney: Forrest Allgood Case Number: 11,694 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Michael Warren Willie |
MARK G. WILLIAMSON
PEARSON LIDDELL, JR. |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: SCOTT STUART |
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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: | Capital murder - Habitual offender status - Prior convictions |
| Summary of the Facts: | Michael Willie was convicted of capital murder while in the commission of a robbery in January 1989 and sentenced to death. He appealed, and the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but reversed and remanded for a new trial on the sentencing. On remand, the State reindicted Willie, and he plead guilty, accepting the sentence of life in prison without parole. Willie challenged the sentence in a post-conviction relief action. The Supreme Court remanded the case for a new sentencing hearing. On remand, the circuit court entered an order amending the original indictment to charge Willie as a habitual offender and found that Willie was an habitual offender and sentenced him to serve a term of life without the possibility of parole. Willie appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Willie argues that at the time of his conviction for capital murder, he only had one of the two convictions which were later used to charge him as a habitual offender. The State acknowledges that when Willie was sentenced the first time, he only had one prior felony because the burglary charge had not yet been adjudicated but contends that at the time Willie was resentenced per the Supreme Court’s instructions, he did have two prior convictions because the burglary charge had been adjudicated. A defendant who has been convicted of one violent crime at the time he is sentenced for a second crime of violence clearly comes within the purviews of the statute, even though his sentence of the first conviction was not adjudged until after the second was committed. Willie committed two felonies before he was convicted of capital murder. Therefore, he was eligible to be sentenced as a habitual offender despite the fact that the two previous felonies were not adjudicated at the time Willie was convicted of the third felony. |
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