Scruggs v. State
| Docket Number: | 2011-CP-01260-COA Linked Case(s): 2011-CP-01260-COA ; 2011-CT-01260-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 05-15-2012 Opinion Author: Fair, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Post-conviction relief - Time bar - Section 99-39-5(2) - Factual basis - Voluntariness of plea Judge(s) Concurring: Lee, C.J., Irving and Griffis, P.JJ., Barnes, Ishee, Roberts, Carlton, Maxwell and Russell, JJ. Procedural History: PCR Nature of the Case: PCR |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 07-12-2011 Appealed from: DeSoto County Circuit Court Judge: Robert P. Chamberlin Disposition: MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF DISMISSED Case Number: CV2009-263CD |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Ricky Scruggs a/k/a Rickey Scruggs |
PRO SE |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: BILLY L. GORE | ||
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 - Time bar - Section 99-39-5(2) - Factual basis - Voluntariness of plea |
| Summary of the Facts: | Ricky Scruggs pled guilty to murder. He filed a motion for post-conviction relief, which the circuit court dismissed without an evidentiary hearing. Scruggs appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Issue 1: Time bar The State argues that Scruggs’s PCR motion is time-barred. Generally, when a conviction results from a guilty plea, Mississippi law allows three years for the filing of a PCR motion. The limitations period begins to run with the entry of the judgment of conviction. Scruggs’s conviction was entered on August 31, 2006. His PCR motion was not filed until September 25, 2009. Although this is outside the three-year statute of limitations, under the prison mailbox rule, a pro se prisoner's motion is considered filed when he delivers the papers to prison authorities for mailing. The record is silent on when that occurred in this case. Since the State is the movant in a request to dismiss on appeal, it bears the burden of proving the prisoner did not deliver his motion on time. The State has not met its burden. Thus, Scruggs’s motion has not been shown to be time-barred under section 99-39-5(2). Issue 2: Factual basis Scruggs argues that the circuit court did not have a sufficient factual basis to accept his guilty plea. Before the court may accept the plea, the court must have before it substantial evidence that the accused did commit the legally defined offense to which he is offering the plea. Here, the record reveals a clear factual basis for the guilty plea. Scruggs pleaded guilty after his capital murder trial had proceeded beyond the State’s case-in-chief. During the trial, the State presented Scruggs’s confession to police officers and two recorded conversations between Scruggs and members of his family. In the statement and recordings, Scruggs gave varying accounts of his participation in the robbery and murder of the victim. Two witnesses also corroborated Scruggs’s confession. Issue 3: Voluntariness of plea Scruggs argues that the trial judge failed to inform him of the elements of the offense of murder. A plea is considered voluntary and intelligent if the defendant is advised about the nature of the charge against him and the consequences of the entry of the plea. Scruggs is correct that the trial judge did not inform him of the elements of the offense. However, the record contains a petition to enter a guilty plea executed by Scruggs and one of his defense attorneys. In the petition, Scruggs and his attorney stated under oath that Scruggs had been informed of the nature of the charges and the elements of the offense. During the plea colloquy, the judge asked Scruggs whether he had reviewed the plea petition and whether it was truthful; Scruggs responded to both questions in the affirmative. Thus, this issue is without merit. |
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