Wiley v. State
Decision Date | 03 June 1999 |
Docket Number | No. 98-DR-00588-SCT.,98-DR-00588-SCT. |
Citation | 750 So.2d 1193 |
Parties | William L. WILEY v. STATE of Mississippi. |
Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Robert B. McDuff, Jackson, Timothy Hester, Brian P. Miller, Anthony R. Picarello, Jr., Attorneys for Appellant.
Office of the Attorney General by Marvin L. White, Jr., Attorney for Appellee.
EN BANC.
I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE
¶ 1. This post-conviction relief (PCR) case arises from the 1981 capital murder of a storeowner in the Mineral Wells community of DeSoto County. During the past seventeen years, the petitioner, William L. Wiley, has been sentenced to death three times.
¶ 2. Wiley was originally tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in February, 1982. On direct appeal, this Court affirmed Wiley's conviction. However, the case was remanded for resentencing, due to comments by the prosecutor regarding the reviewability of the sentencing jury's decision. See Wiley v. State, 449 So.2d 756 (Miss.1984) (Wiley I)
.
¶ 3. Wiley's second sentencing trial was held in June, 1984. The jury again sentenced Wiley to death, and that decision was affirmed by this Court. Wiley v. State, 484 So.2d 339 (Miss.1986) (Wiley II), cert. denied Wiley v. Mississippi, 479 U.S. 906, 107 S.Ct. 304, 93 L.Ed.2d 278 (1986), overruled by Willie v. State, 585 So.2d 660 (Miss.1991)
. Wiley's subsequent request for post-conviction relief was denied. Wiley v. State, 517 So.2d 1373 (Miss. 1987) (Wiley III), cert. denied Wiley v. Mississippi, 486 U.S. 1036, 108 S.Ct. 2024, 100 L.Ed.2d 610 (1988).
¶ 4. Wiley then filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Via an unpublished memorandum, that court denied Wiley's petition.
¶ 5. Wiley next appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. That court held that Wiley's death sentence was improper because the sentencing jury was incorrectly instructed regarding the "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" aggravating circumstance, pursuant to the United States Supreme Court decisions in Clemons v. Mississippi, 494 U.S. 738, 110 S.Ct. 1441, 108 L.Ed.2d 725 (1990) and Maynard v. Cartwright, 486 U.S. 356, 108 S.Ct. 1853, 100 L.Ed.2d 372 (1988). Wiley v. Puckett, 969 F.2d 86, 105-106 (5th Cir.1992) (Wiley IV). The Fifth Circuit instructed the District Court to issue a writ of habeas corpus unless the State of Mississippi initiated appropriate proceedings within a reasonable time. Id.
¶ 6. Wiley then filed with this Court a motion and application for life sentence, or, in the alternative, for a new sentencing hearing. In October, 1993, this Court ordered a new sentencing hearing for Wiley. Wiley v. State, 635 So.2d 802 (Miss.1993) (Wiley V).
¶ 7. In February, 1995, Wiley was sentenced, once again, to death. This Court affirmed that sentence in February, 1997. Wiley v. State, 691 So.2d 959 (Miss.1997) (Wiley VI), rehearing denied Wiley v. State, 693 So.2d 384 (Miss.1997) (, )cert. denied Wiley v. Mississippi, 522 U.S. 886, 118 S.Ct. 219, 139 L.Ed.2d 153 (1997).
¶ 8. On April 17, 1998, Wiley filed an "Application for Leave to File Motion to Vacate Death Sentence" with this Court. On July 1, 1998, Wiley filed an "Amended and Restated Application for Leave to File Motion to Vacate Death Sentence", in which he raises the following issues for consideration by this Court:
A. Whether Wiley was denied his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel at his sentencing?
B. Whether Wiley was denied his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel on appeal of his sentencing trial?
C. Whether Wiley was denied his constitutional right to a fair trial?
D. Whether the cumulation of error in the case requires reversal?
¶ 9. This Court finds that these issues are without merit. Accordingly, Wiley's motion to vacate sentence, or, alternatively for leave to file in the trial court, is denied.
II. LEGAL ANALYSIS
¶ 10. Pursuant to statute:
Where a conviction and sentence have been appealed to this Court and affirmed, or the appeal dismissed, an application under the [Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act] must be filed in this Court. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-7 (1994). This Court may grant or deny any or all relief requested in the application or allow the filing of the motion in the trial court. § 99-39-27(7)(a) & (b)(Supp.1997).
Jackson v. State, 732 So.2d 187, 189 (Miss. 1999). Mississippi Code Annotated Section 99-39-21 sets forth the procedural bars and the burden of proof that the PCR petitioner must overcome:
Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-21 (1994). Wiley presents several issues to be reviewed, pursuant to these statutory guidelines.
¶ 11. Wiley first claims that he was denied effective assistance of counsel at trial.1
Hodgin v. State, 702 So.2d 113, 116-17 (Miss.1997).
¶ 12. In order to prevail on an...
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