Carter v. State
Citation | 313 So.3d 495 |
Decision Date | 14 April 2020 |
Docket Number | NO. 2019-CP-00133-COA,2019-CP-00133-COA |
Court | Court of Appeals of Mississippi |
Parties | Cedric CARTER Appellant v. STATE of Mississippi Appellee |
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: CEDRIC CARTER (PRO SE)
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: MATTHEW WYATT WALTON
BEFORE BARNES, C.J., WESTBROOKS AND C. WILSON, JJ.
WESTBROOKS, J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1. Cedric Carter pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to serve forty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). Appearing pro se, Carter now appeals from the circuit court's denial of his motion for post-conviction collateral relief (PCR). After reviewing the record, we affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶2. On September 25, 2017, a Noxubee County grand jury indicted Carter for one count of first-degree murder (Count I) in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-19 (Supp. 2016) and one count of aggravated assault (Count II) in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-7 (Supp. 2016). Carter was accused of killing Kentrell Sherrod and shooting Deangelo Martin.
¶3. On March 26, 2018, Carter submitted a "Petition to Enter a Guilty Plea" to the circuit court and pled guilty to Count I's lesser-included offense of second-degree murder. The charge in Count II (for aggravated assault) was dismissed on the State's motion. The court accepted Carter's guilty plea. On March 29, 2018, the court sentenced him to serve forty years in the custody of the MDOC at the conclusion of a sentencing hearing.
¶4. On August 10, 2018, Carter filed a letter with the circuit court requesting reconsideration of his sentence, which the court denied in an order entered on August 15, 2018. Carter also filed a PCR motion with the circuit court challenging his indictment and guilty plea. After reviewing the record, the court entered an order denying Carter's PCR motion on December 18, 2018, without holding an evidentiary hearing. The current appeal arises from that denial.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶5. "We review the dismissal or denial of a PCR motion for abuse of discretion." West v. State , 226 So. 3d 1238, 1239 (¶3) (Miss. Ct. App. 2017) (quoting Hughes v. State , 106 So. 3d 836, 838 (¶4) (Miss. Ct. App. 2012) ). "[W]hen reviewing a trial court's denial or dismissal of a PCR motion, we will only disturb the trial court's decision if it is clearly erroneous; however, we review the trial court's legal conclusions under a de novo standard of review." Id . (quoting Adams v. State , 201 So. 3d 521, 523 (¶4) (Miss. Ct. App. 2016) ).
DISCUSSION
¶6. Carter alleges that the circuit court accepted his guilty plea absent a factual basis and thereby violated his due process rights. Carter argues that because he did not personally provide the court with a detailed account of his crime during the plea hearing, the plea should be invalidated. However, the record does not support his contentions.
¶7. At his hearing, Carter engaged in a lengthy plea colloquy with the court and the State that included the following portion:
(Emphasis added).
¶8. This Court has addressed the varying ways to establish a sufficient factual basis for the purpose of accepting a defendant's guilty plea:
A factual basis for a guilty plea has been found when third parties discuss the evidence against a defendant. For example, there may be a sufficient factual basis to support a defendant's guilty plea when both a defendant and an investigator for the prosecution testify to factual matters during a guilty-plea hearing. Similarly, a prosecutor's "concise statement of facts to establish the crime, the investigation, and the apprehension of" a defendant during a guilty-plea hearing has been found to aid in establishing a sufficient factual basis to support a guilty plea. Reynolds v. State , 521 So. 2d 914, 917 (Miss. 1988). A defense attorney's "lengthy recitation of the evidence against" a defendant during a guilty plea may also establish a sufficient factual basis to support a guilty plea.
Palmer v. State , 140 So. 3d 448, 455 (¶18) (Miss. Ct. App. 2014) (other citations omitted).
¶9. Here, based on Carter's own admission and the State's presentation of the facts surrounding the murder, we find that the circuit court had an ample factual basis to accept Carter's guilty plea. This claim is without merit.
¶10. Carter raises various issues with his indictment, arguing that a multitude of alleged errors rendered it defective.
¶11. We first note that "[t]his Court does not consider moot questions." Guyse v. State , 282 So. 3d 1287, 1289 (¶5) (Miss. Ct. App. 2019) (citing Bradley v. State , 355 So. 2d 675, 676 (Miss. 1978) ). "So long as the judgment on the merits would be of no practical benefit to the plaintiff or detriment to the defendant, the case is moot." Id . (citing Beals v. State , 139 So. 3d 776, 777 (¶7) (Miss. Ct. App. 2014) ). The court's dismissal of Count II (aggravated assault) rendered any alleged indictment defects related to that charge moot. As a result, we will not address the merits of those claims.
¶12. Further, with the exception of "an indictment's failure to charge an essential element of the crime" and "lack of subject matter jurisdiction," Carter's guilty plea "waive[d] all other defects or insufficiencies in the indictment." Alford v. State , 185 So. 3d 429, 431 (¶6) (Miss. Ct. App. 2016) (quoting Joiner v. State , 61 So. 3d 156, 159 (¶7) (Miss. 2011) ). Accordingly, we will only address the merits of Carter's excepted claims.
(Emphasis added). "It has long been the case law of this state that malice aforethought, premeditated design, and deliberate design all mean the same thing." Tran v. State , 681 So. 2d 514, 517 (Miss. 1996) (quoting Windham v. State , 602 So. 2d 798, 801 (Miss.1992) (quoting Johnson v. State , 475 So. 2d 1136, 1139 (Miss.1985) )); see also Dye v. State , 127 Miss. 492, 90 So. 180, 181 (1922) ; Hawthorne v. State , 58 Miss. 778, 783-90 (1881) ; McDaniel v. State , 16 Miss. 401, 414-20 (1847). "Definitionally, we regard ‘malice aforethought’ and ‘deliberate design’ as synonymous." Tran , 681 So. 2d at 517 (quoting Blanks v. State , 542 So. 2d 222, 227 (Miss.1989) ). Carter's argument is meritless.
¶14. Carter also complains that his indictment failed to state the manner by which he caused Sherrod's death, and thus failed to list an essential element of the murder charge.
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Caston v. State
...face of the motion, any annexed exhibits and the prior proceedings in the case that the movant is not entitled to any relief.’ " Carter v. State , 313 So. 3d 495, 499 (¶18) (Miss. Ct. App. 2020) (quoting Kennedy v. State , 181 So. 3d 299, 301 (¶9) (Miss. Ct. App. 2015) ); accord Miss. Code ......