Crockett v. State

• Citation: 334 So.3d 1232
• Decision Date: 08 March 2022
• Docket Number: 2021-CP-00022-COA
• Parties: Kendrick CROCKETT, Appellant v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee
• Court: Court of Appeals of Mississippi

334 So.3d 1232

Kendrick CROCKETT, Appellant

v.STATE of Mississippi, Appellee

NO. 2021-CP-00022-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 8, 2022

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: KENDRICK CROCKETT (PRO SE)

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: ASHLEY LAUREN SULSER

BEFORE CARLTON, P.J., GREENLEE AND McDONALD, JJ.

McDONALD, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. In November 2011, Kendrick Crockett pled guilty to two counts of forcible rape, two counts of sexual battery, and one count of house burglary in the Hinds County Circuit Court. The circuit court sentenced Crockett to serve thirty years’ imprisonment for each rape conviction, thirty years’ imprisonment for each sexual battery conviction, and ten years’ imprisonment for house burglary, all in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). Crockett's sentences were set to run concurrently, and none of his time was suspended. Crockett filed a pro se motion for post-conviction collateral relief (PCR) in May 2018, arguing that his pleas were involuntary. He requested an evidentiary hearing in both the PCR motion and a separate motion. The circuit court summarily denied the PCR motion and the motion for an evidentiary hearing. Crockett now appeals from only the circuit court's order denying his PCR motion, which also included a request for an evidentiary hearing. Finding no error, we affirm the circuit court's denial of Crockett's PCR motion.

Statement of the Facts and Procedural History

¶2. On February 27, 2009, a Hinds County grand jury indicted Crockett on two counts of forcible rape in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-65(4)(a) (Supp. 2007); one count of kidnapping in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-53 (Rev. 2011); two counts of sexual battery in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-95(1)(a) (Rev. 2006); one count of house burglary in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-17-23 (Rev. 2006); one count of motor vehicle theft in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-17-42(1) (Supp. 2007); and armed robbery in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-79 (Rev. 2006).¹ Crockett was fifteen years old at the time of his crimes.

¶3. Two and a half years later, when he was eighteen, Crockett filed a sworn petition to enter a guilty plea on November 2, 2011, to the two counts of forcible rape, the two counts of sexual battery, and the one count of house burglary. In his petition, Crockett said that his attorney had fully informed him of the charges in the indictment and had advised him of the possible defenses. Additionally, his attorney had informed him of the minimum and maximum punishments for those offenses charged in the indictment. In his petition, Crockett also stated that he understood he could plead not guilty and that he understood he was waiving his Constitutional rights.²

¶4. In the petition, Crockett stated that he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol or suffering from any mental disease at the time of the crimes or at the time he signed his petition. He also said in his petition that no officer or agent of any branch of government or any other person had induced him to plead guilty; no individual had threatened, mentally or physically forced, intimidated, or coerced him in any manner to plead guilty; and his guilty plea was freely and voluntarily made on his own accord. Finally, Crockett said that his attorney had counseled and assisted him in making his own decision and that he was satisfied with the advice that his attorney provided.

¶5. At his plea hearing, which was held on the same day that he executed the sworn petition, Crockett again acknowledged that he knowingly and voluntarily waived his rights. The State presented the facts about each crime as follows: on June 17, 2008, Crockett engaged in forcible sexual intercourse with Jane Smith³ without her consent. Crockett and two of his friends took her parked car at gunpoint and told her male passenger to walk across a ball field. They then forced Jane into their vehicle and took her to an abandoned house. There, Crockett and his friends continued to hold the victim at gunpoint and forced her to perform multiple sexual acts at an abandoned house. A week later, on June 24, 2008, Crockett and the two men engaged in forcible sexual intercourse with Ann Jones without her consent. They broke into her home, forced her to perform sexual acts in the presence of her minor children, and robbed her. Crockett's DNA was identified in the rape kits performed on both Jane and Ann. At the plea hearing, Crockett stated on the record that these facts were accurate. In its presentation, the State also explained the elements of each crime. Crockett then stated that he knowingly and voluntarily pleaded guilty to all charges. The circuit court accepted Crockett's pleas of guilty.

¶6. On November 16, 2011, the circuit court held Crockett's sentencing hearing. Both victims appeared at the hearing and gave their victims’ impact statements. Jane testified that her life had been changed forever, that she was paranoid, and that she could not go outside or be in a house by herself. Ann testified that she was in her bed with her three-year-old child and five-year-old child when she was awoken by Crockett's cigarette lighter. Crockett took Ann from her bed at gunpoint into a "front room" where two other men were present. After the men forced Ann to perform sexual acts, Ann testified that the men took her to her children's room because the children were still in her bedroom. She was able to get their gun and attempted to fire it to defend herself, but the gun would not fire. The men proceeded to rape Ann in front of one of the children who had woken. Crockett and the other two men locked Ann and her children in the closet while they robbed her house. She testified that she still had nightmares and paranoia, that her children were traumatized, and that she never wanted them out of her sight.

¶7. The circuit court sentenced Crockett to thirty years’ imprisonment for each rape conviction, thirty years’ imprisonment for each sexual battery conviction, and ten years’ imprisonment for the house-burglary conviction. Crockett's sentences were set to run concurrently and be served in the custody of the MDOC. None of his time was suspended.

¶8. More than six and a half years later, on May 18, 2018, Crockett filed a pro se PCR motion, arguing that his guilty pleas were involuntary and that he had been denied due process. Specifically, Crockett argued that he was not competent to understand the waiver of his constitutional rights when he pled guilty because he was only fifteen years old at the time when he committed the crimes and only had an eighth-grade education.⁴ Crockett requested that an evidentiary hearing be held on the PCR motion to address the circumstances surrounding his guilty plea.

¶9. Crockett also filed a pro se motion for an evidentiary hearing on the PCR or motion in the alternative, an entry of judgment, granting the requested relief. In the motion, Crockett said that he was only fifteen when the crimes were committed and that he was improperly interrogated and coerced by several officers and his attorney to plead guilty. He attached a transcript of his interrogation by Officer Christopher Watkins and Officer Felix Hodge of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department on the night of his arrest. During the interrogation, Crockett denied any wrongdoing.

¶10. The State did not respond to Crockett's PCR motion. On September 25, 2020, the circuit court ordered the district attorney to file an answer to Crockett's PCR motion within thirty days of the order. After the State still had not responded, the circuit court issued an amended order requiring a response by November 6, 2020. The State filed a response to Crockett's PCR motion on November 13, 2020, generally denying Crockett's claims. The State argued that the circuit court should deny both Crockett's PCR motion and his request for an evidentiary hearing because both motions were without merit.

¶11. The circuit court summarily denied Crockett's motions on December 14, 2020. The court found that Crockett's PCR motion was time-barred by the three-year statute of limitations. Additionally, the circuit court ruled that Crockett had not met the burden of proof needed to show that his plea was involuntary and that he had not sufficiently proved that an evidentiary hearing was necessary.

¶12. On January 4, 2021, Crockett appealed from only the circuit court's order denying his PCR motion, which also included a request for an evidentiary hearing.

Standard of Review

¶13. Unless a circuit court's decision was clearly erroneous or an abuse of its discretion, the circuit court's denial or dismissal of a PCR motion will not be reversed. Creppel v. State , 305 So. 3d 1245, 1250 (¶10) (Miss. Ct. App. 2020). When reviewing issues of law, the proper standard of review is de novo. Id .

Discussion

Whether the circuit court erred by denying Crockett's PCR motion.

¶14. Unless a statutory exception is applicable, a PCR motion must be made, in the case of a guilty plea, within three years after entry of the judgment of conviction. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-5(2) (Rev. 2020). The statutory exceptions include (1) an intervening decision of either the United States Supreme Court or the Mississippi Supreme Court; (2) new evidence not reasonably discoverable at trial; or (3) an expired sentence or an unlawful revocation of parole, probation, or conditional release. Id . § 99-39-5(2)(a)(i), (b).

¶15. Violations of four types of fundamental constitutional rights also survive PCR procedural time-bars: "(1) the right against double jeopardy; (2) the right to be free from an illegal sentence; (3) the right to due process at sentencing; and (4) the right not to be subject to ex post facto laws." Putnam v. State , 212 So. 3d 86, 92 (¶16) (Miss. Ct. App. 2016). Ineffective assistance of counsel can constitute an...