Dillon v. State , 2009–CP–01228–COA.
| Decision Date | 01 December 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 2009–CP–01228–COA.,2009–CP–01228–COA. |
| Parties | Lawanda DILLON, Appellant v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee. |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Lawanda Dillon, Appellant, pro se.
Office of the Attorney General by Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, Jackson, attorney for appellee.
Before MYERS, P.J., GRIFFIS and BARNES, JJ.
BARNES, J., for the Court:
¶ 1. On June 20, 2008, Lawanda Dillon pleaded guilty in the Lincoln County Circuit Court to manslaughter and was sentenced to twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), with six years suspended and five years of post-release supervision. The circuit court denied Dillon's subsequent motion for post-conviction relief, and she now appeals. Finding no error, we affirm.
SUMMARY OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶ 2. On November 17, 2006, Dillon was fighting with Boris Jackson, her boyfriend. This was not the couple's first altercation; Jackson was frequently controlling and abusive toward Dillon. Jackson grabbed Dillon, choked her, and yelled at Dillon's daughter. Jackson released Dillon, verbally threatened her, and shut himself in the bedroom. Dillon left her house and went to the nearest police station to obtain assistance. A police officer accompanied Dillon back home, but Jackson had already left the home on foot to go to his sister's house. Fearing that Jackson might return, Dillon put her three children, all from prior relationships, into her vehicle and proceeded to leave the home. She claimed that she was on her way to her aunt's house.
¶ 3. However, while driving down the road, Dillon encountered Jackson walking, and she stopped the car to talk to him. She claims that he threw a brick through the car's window on the passenger side, causing the glass to shatter onto her daughter who was seated there.1 As she drove away, Dillon hit Jackson with her car and ran into a stop sign. Dillon then backed her car up and ran over Jackson a second time. She claimed that she never saw him. Yet a witness later told law enforcement that Dillon's car came onto the grass where Jackson was walking and that Dillon's actions looked deliberate. Another witness told the police that she heard a window break and a voice say: “Go on, you have hit me one time.” A third witness saw Dillon's car hit Jackson the second time, and the State claimed at the sentencing hearing that the witness would have testified that “it looked deliberate to her.” Dillon left the scene of the accident, and Jackson died as a result of his injuries. Dillon turned herself in to the police a few hours later.
¶ 4. On April 5, 2007, a Lincoln County grand jury indicted Dillon on a charge of murder. In response to a motion submitted by Dillon's counsel, the circuit court ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Dillon on May 12, 2008. At a hearing on June 17, 2008, Dillon pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter, and the indictment was amended to reflect this change. On June 20, 2008, a sentencing hearing was held, with testimony given on behalf of both Dillon and the victim, Jackson. The circuit court sentenced Dillon to twenty years in the custody of the MDOC, with six years suspended and five years of post-release supervision.
¶ 5. Dillon filed a motion for post-conviction relief on February 1, 2009, which the circuit court denied. She now appeals the denial of her motion. Finding no error, we affirm.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 6. We will not disturb a circuit court's denial of a motion for post-conviction relief unless the court's findings “are found to be clearly erroneous.” Jordan v. State, 21 So.3d 697, 700 (¶ 6) (Miss.Ct.App.2009) (quoting Brown v. State, 731 So.2d 595, 598 (¶ 6) (Miss.1999)). “However, where questions of law are raised, the applicable standard of review is de novo.” Id.
¶ 7. A guilty plea is considered binding only if it is entered voluntarily and intelligently. Elliott v. State, 41 So.3d 701, 705 (¶ 11) (Miss.Ct.App.2009) (citing Myers v. State, 583 So.2d 174, 177 (Miss.1991)). In our determination of whether a guilty plea is voluntarily given, we look to whether “the defendant knows what the elements are of the charge against him including an understanding of the charge and its relation to him, what effect the plea will have, and what the possible sentence might be because of his plea.” Id. at 705 (¶ 11) (quoting Wilson v. State, 577 So.2d 394, 397 (Miss.1991)). However, if a guilty plea is “induced by fear, violence, deception, or improper inducements[,]” it will not be considered voluntary. Wilbanks v. State, 14 So.3d 752, 755 (¶ 6) (Miss.Ct.App.2009) (quoting URCCC 8.04(A)(3)).
¶ 8. Dillon argues that facing the possibility of a life sentence if she went to trial on the charge of murder “destroyed [her] ability to think and balance the risk and benefits of going to trial.” Thus, she claims that her plea was not voluntarily or intelligently given. We find no merit to this argument. “While a defendant is free to collaterally attack a guilty plea, there is a strong presumption of validity to ‘solemn declarations made in open court.’ ” Id. (citing Hannah v. State, 943 So.2d 20, 25 (¶ 11) (Miss.2006)). At the plea hearing, the circuit court thoroughly explained to Dillon what rights she would be waiving and her possible sentence. Then, when asked if she understood the waiver of rights and possible sentence, Dillon said stated that she did. The circuit court also asked Dillon: “Has anyone threatened, abused, or promised you anything to cause you to want to plead guilty?” Dillon answered, “No, sir.” Thus, we find Dillon's guilty plea was voluntarily and intelligently given.
¶ 9. In her claim for ineffective assistance of counsel, Dillon contends that her defense counsel conspired with the State to assist in securing a guilty plea by using a frivolous indictment for murder. Dillon states that her counsel should have objected to the indictment as “the evidence did not support murder or grounds to indict for such a crime.” Second, she claims that counsel's failure to investigate and interview witnesses, who would have given mitigating circumstances that Dillon was acting in self-defense, was ineffective assistance. Finally, she argues that defense counsel should have submitted a motion for a competency hearing.
¶ 10. To succeed on an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, “a defendant must satisfy the two-pronged test established in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).” Davis v. State, 17 So.3d 1149, 1154 (¶ 25) (Miss.Ct.App.2009) (citing Stringer v. State, 627 So.2d 326, 328 (Miss.1993)). First, a defendant must show that his counsel's performance was deficient; second, he must show that the deficient performance prejudiced his defense. Id. (citing McQuarter v. State, 574 So.2d 685, 687 (Miss.1990)). “In the case of a guilty plea, the second prong of prejudice is shown by proving that the ineffective assistance of counsel affected the outcome of the plea process.” Wilson v. State, 21 So.3d 572, 578 (¶ 16) (Miss.2009) (citing Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 58, 106 S.Ct. 366, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (1985)).
¶ 11. Nothing in the record indicates that the indictment against Dillon was frivolous and meant to coerce a guilty plea for manslaughter from Dillon. It is undisputed that Dillon ran over Jackson multiple times with her car, causing his death. There were witnesses available to testify at trial that Dillon's actions were perceived to be deliberate. The State's reason for agreeing to the lesser charge of manslaughter was not because the evidence did not support a murder charge; rather, it was because the State was concerned that a jury might be partial to Dillon due to the history of abuse that she had suffered from Jackson. At the sentencing hearing, Joey Norton with the District Attorney's Office stated:
The concession to manslaughter in this case was made because of the extreme likelihood that a jury would be willing to excuse the defendant, at least partially, based upon the evidence of past physical abuse by Boris Jackson and the evidence that supported her claim that he had broken out her car window just a minute before she ran over him.
Therefore, we cannot find that defense counsel's failure to object to the indictment constitutes deficient performance.
¶ 12. Next, Dillon claims that counsel did not sufficiently obtain testimony that would have presented the circuit court with mitigating circumstances to her actions. She is referring to the testimonial statements given by her three children, which were submitted with her motion for post-conviction relief. In their statements, they reiterate Dillon's claim that Jackson threw a brick at the car, shattering the window, and that she ran over Jackson “out of defense for herself and her children[.]”
¶ 13. A defense counsel's failure “to interview potential witnesses and make an independent investigation of the facts and circumstances of a case” will not, by itself, “give rise to ineffective assistance of counsel.” Oliver v. State, 20 So.3d 16, 24 (¶ 23) (Miss.Ct.App.2009) (citing Reed v. State, 918 So.2d 776, 778 (¶ 5) (Miss.Ct.App.2005)). “[F]or an attorney's ‘failure to investigate to rise to the level of ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant must state with particularity what the investigation would have revealed and how it would have altered the outcome.’ ” Id. (citing Johnson v. State, 987 So.2d 501, 504 (¶ 15) (Miss.Ct.App.2008)). In other words, Dillon must show that she would not have entered her guilty plea except for the attorney's alleged failure. She has not done so. Dillon claims that this testimony would have provided reasonable doubt for a jury. However, in a document entitled “Know...
To continue reading
Request your trial
- Bradley v. State
-
Malone v. State
...judge is in the best position [to] view the evidence and to 'observe the demeanor and behavior of the defendant.'" Dillon v. State, 75 So.3d 1045, 1051 (¶18) (Miss. Ct. App. 2010) (quoting Richardson v. State, 722 So.2d 481, 486 (¶24) (Miss. 1998)). ¶19. Malone alleges that he was incompete......
- Edwards v. State, 2011–CP–00368–COA.
- Mississippi Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Darby