Holifield v. State

303 So.3d 444

Rickey Lee HOLIFIELD a/k/a Rickey Holifield, Appellant

v.STATE of Mississippi, Appellee

NO. 2019-CP-00840-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

September 8, 2020

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: RICKEY LEE HOLIFIELD (PRO SE)

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: BILLY L. GORE, Jackson

BEFORE CARLTON, P.J., WESTBROOKS AND LAWRENCE, JJ.

LAWRENCE, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. On October 9, 2017, Ricky Holifield pled guilty to the crimes of trafficking methamphetamine (Count I), possession of hydrocodone and acetaminophen (Count II), possession of marijuana (Count III), and possession of alprozalan (Count IV). As a result of his guilty plea to all four counts, Holifield was sentenced to serve a total of twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC).¹ On September 18, 2018, Holifield filed a motion for post-conviction collateral relief (PCR) and asserted the following: (1) violations under the United States Constitution and Mississippi Constitution, (2) a violation of due process, (3) a violation of double jeopardy, (4) ineffective assistance of counsel, and (5) the circuit court's lack of jurisdiction. The circuit court denied Holifield's PCR motion on February 13, 2019. Finding no error, we affirm the circuit court's judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2. Holifield has a history of drug-related convictions that are relevant to the arguments presented in his PCR motion. On August 1, 2016, Holifield was charged in two separate indictments for the following crimes: possession of methamphetamine (as a second drug offender and habitual offender), which allegedly occurred on June 3, 2015; possession of methamphetamine, which allegedly occurred on February 14, 2015; and possession of less than thirty grams of marijuana (as a second drug offender and habitual offender), which allegedly occurred on February 14, 2015. These crimes will be referred to as the 2015 crimes. Holifield allegedly committed four additional crimes on April 22, 2016; he was not indicted for those crimes until August 1, 2017. The four new charges included trafficking methamphetamine (Count I), possession of hydrocodone and acetaminophen (Count II), possession of marijuana (Count III), and possession of alprozalan (Count IV). These crimes will be referred to as the 2016 crimes.

¶3. On October 3, 2016, Holifield entered a guilty plea to the 2015 crimes for which he had already been indicted but not to the 2016 crimes for which he was still awaiting indictment. The circuit court withheld acceptance of his guilty plea pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 41-29-150(d)(1) (Rev. 2013) and placed Holifield on non-adjudicated probation. As an additional condition of his non-adjudicated probation status, Holifield was placed in the Drug Court program. Shortly after entering the Drug Court program, Holifield violated several of the conditions of the program, including failing drug tests and failing to enroll in required treatment programs. After a probation revocation hearing on January 3, 2017, Holifield's non-adjudicated status was revoked, and the trial court accepted his guilty plea relating to the 2015 crimes of possession of methamphetamine and possession methamphetamine and marijuana and sentenced him to serve consecutive terms of eight years and four years in the MDOC's custody.

¶4. On August 1, 2017, Holifield was indicted for the 2016 crimes. As stated, those crimes are alleged to have occurred on or about April 22, 2016.² Holifield pled guilty to the 2016 crimes identified in Counts I through IV on October 9, 2017, and was subsequently sentenced to serve a total of twenty years in the custody of the MDOC to run consecutively to his twelve-year sentence previously ordered for the 2015 crimes. Holifield filed a motion to reduce his sentence with the Mississippi Supreme Court which was dismissed without prejudice on October 10, 2018.

¶5. On September 18, 2018, Holifield filed a PCR motion. Holifield asserted violations of his United States and Mississippi Constitutional rights against double jeopardy as a result of his October 9, 2017 conviction for the 2016 crimes. Holifield alleged that the 2016 crimes were included and disposed of in his October 3, 2016 plea agreement for the 2015 crimes. Further, he alleged that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to impose a sentence for the 2016 crimes because he had already been convicted, sentenced, and was currently serving time for those crimes. Finally, Holifield alleged that he received ineffective assistance of counsel for the 2016 crimes because his counsel failed to offer a defense on his behalf at the hearing and counsel's failure to investigate his previous convictions led to Holifield being prosecuted twice for the same crimes. The circuit court denied Holifield's PCR motion on February 13, 2019. On March 15, 2019, Holifield filed a motion for reconsideration, which the circuit court denied on April 24, 2019. Holifield appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶6. "When reviewing a [circuit] court's decision to deny a [motion] for post-conviction relief this Court will not disturb the trial court's factual findings unless they are found to be clearly erroneous." Brown v. State , 731 So. 2d 595, 598 (¶6) (Miss. 1999) (citing Bank of Miss. v. S. Mem'l Park Inc. , 677 So. 2d 186, 191 (Miss. 1996) ). Questions of law are reviewed de novo. Id .

ANALYSIS

¶7. All of the constitutional violations and deficiencies in procedure that Holifield claimed in his PCR motion stem from his argument that the 2016 crimes were part of the guilty plea he entered on October 3, 2016, and that he was prosecuted and sentenced twice for the same crime. We analyze a double jeopardy violation under the "same-elements" test, which the United States Supreme Court established in Blockburger v. United States , 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). "The Blockburger test instructs us to determine whether each offense contains an element not present in the other; if not, they are labeled the same offense for double-jeopardy purposes, and successive prosecution and/or punishments are constitutionally barred." Graves v. State , 969 So. 2d 845, 847 (¶8) (Miss. 2007) (citing Powell v. State , 806 So. 2d 1069, 1074 (Miss. 2001) ). The Court held, "The applicable rule is that, where the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of a fact which the other does not." Blockburger , 284 U.S. at 304, 52 S.Ct. 180 (emphasis added).

¶8. In this case, the plea transcript from October 3, 2016, clearly indicates that Holifield pled guilty only to the crimes that he was charged as committing on June 3, 2015, and February 14, 2015. The 2016 crimes allegedly occurred on April 22, 2016, and Holifield was not indicted until August 1, 2017. The October 9, 2017 hearing transcript clearly indicates that on that date he pled guilty to the four 2016 crimes and not the 2015 crimes. Further, Holifield entered into his plea agreement for the 2015 crimes on October 3, 2016. He was not indicted for the 2016 crimes until August 1, 2017, approximately nine months later. Finally, it is clear from the circuit court pleadings, orders, and the record made at the time of...