White v. State

311 So.3d 1278

Steven W. WHITE a/k/a Steven Wayne White, Appellant

v.STATE of Mississippi, Appellee

NO. 2020-CP-00537-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

February 23, 2021

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: STEVEN W. WHITE (PRO SE)

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: MICHAEL DEWAYNE WILSON SR.

BEFORE WILSON, P.J., LAWRENCE AND McCARTY, JJ.

WILSON, P.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Steven White appeals from the denial of a motion for post-conviction relief. White alleges that the circuit court improperly revoked five years of his post-release supervision (PRS) for his failure to report to his probation officer. For the reasons discussed below, we agree that White's revocation was improper. Therefore, we reverse and render the judgment of the circuit court and order that White be released and returned to PRS.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2. On December 20, 2017, White pled guilty to possession of less than ten grams of methamphetamine with intent to sell. The DeSoto County Circuit Court sentenced him to time served (sixty-seven days) and seven years of PRS, with five years of reporting and two years non-reporting. See Miss. Code Ann. § 47-7-34 (Rev. 2015) (authorizing a term of PRS following a term of incarceration).

¶3. On January 30, 2018, White's probation officer filed a petition to revoke White's PRS, alleging that White had never reported for intake. The petition alleged,

[White] contacted the [probation] office on 12/21/17 advising that he was in Memphis, TN at a Rehabilitation Center called Capps.¹ [White's probation officer] advised [White] that he was supposed to report upon being released for intake. [White] stated that he had an addiction and he checked into rehab to get help. [White] also stated that he has no transportation and no phone to be reached at and that he would report as soon as possible. Failure to report letter mailed on 1/3/2018. The letter was returned to the office with a note that states the address is no longer good.

¶4. The docket in White's criminal case indicates that the court issued a warrant for his arrest on January 31, 2018, and that the warrant was executed and returned on August 31, 2018. White waived his right to a preliminary revocation hearing. His waiver was dated August 5, 2018, and filed on September 7, 2018. The court held a brief revocation hearing on September 13, 2018. At the outset of the hearing, Probation Officer Brad Benton stated,

Your Honor, this is Agent Johnson's case, and I spoke with her about it, and she stated that Mr. White is homeless.

And I spoke with Mr. White before court, and Mr. White wants to get some rehab. He's got a drug addiction, and he wants help with it.

When I talked to Agent Johnson she really didn't know what to do with him because he is homeless. He doesn't have transportation. He doesn't have a way to report. So she said she didn't know if it would be better for him to be in prison and locked up or for him to be in some kind of program.

So after talking with Mr. White today, I think for Mr. White's best interests, if we could place him in a technical violation center in a rehab program and have him stay as long as he can since he has nowhere else to go until he completes the program. That would probably be in his best interest.

White told the court he agreed with Benton's recommendation, and the court accepted the recommendation. The court entered an order finding that White had violated the terms of his PRS by "fail[ing] to report as scheduled for intake." The court revoked 180 days of White's PRS, ordered him to complete a drug rehabilitation program while incarcerated at a technical violation center (TVC), and directed that he would be released from the TVC upon completion of the program or after 180 days, whichever occurred first.

¶5. On February 4, 2019, the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) filed a notice that White would be released on February 24, 2019. The notice stated that White was "being released due to Completion of Technical Violation Center."

¶6. On March 6, 2019, White's probation officer filed a petition to revoke White's PRS. The petition alleged that White had "failed to report to the Hernando Probation Office for supervision upon being released" from the TVC on February 25, 2019. The docket in White's criminal case indicates that the court issued a warrant for White's arrest on March 7, 2019, and that the warrant was executed and returned on September 9, 2019. White waived his right to a preliminary revocation hearing. His waiver was dated and filed on September 10, 2019. The court held a brief revocation hearing on October 11, 2019, which proceeded as follows:²

The Court: I signed an order on September the 13th, 2018, revoking 180 days of your [PRS] because you failed to report for your intake. You were to complete the drug rehabilitation program while you were incarcerated at the [TVC], and you were to be released upon completion of the drug rehab or the 180 days, whichever should first occur. It looks like on the 6th day of March, 2019, [Probation Officer Johnson] filed an affidavit saying that you failed to report to the [MDOC] after being released from the [TVC]. And a petition was filed on March the 6th, 2019, to revoke your probation. A warrant was issued for your arrest with those allegations. Are you ready to proceed today, sir?

White: Yes, sir.

The Court: Ms. Johnson?

Johnson: Judge, you just stated he failed to report within 24 hours upon being released from the [TVC] on February the 25th of 2019. When I spoke with him at the jail, he stated that he was homeless.

He had nowhere to go or whatever. So, I mean, it's clear to see that he's not going to report. He's not able to report. So I want to recommend five years being revoked because this is his third revocation. So once he's done with those five years, then he'll be done with his reporting. I guess.

The Court: What do you think, Mr. White?

White: I'm homeless. Every time I get out, I've got no ID, no birth certificate, nothing, nowhere to go. This is my second violation. You give me six months with the first one, sent me down to do drug treatment. I never got drug treatment. Never even went to TVC. I went to Rankin County and spent my whole time in Rankin County.³

The Court: The Court's going to find that you violated your [PRS] by failing to report; that this is your third violation. The Court will revoke five years of [PRS], give you credit for the time that you've served.

White: Second violation?

The Court: I thought you said it was his third.

Johnson: This is your third revocation.

White: This is the second time I've been here.

Johnson: No. This is the third revocation.

The Court: And be given credit for 36 days served in custody. That will be the sentence of the court.

Officer Johnson was mistaken. The revocation was White's second, not his third. Nonetheless, the court accepted Johnson's representation over White's objection. Following the hearing, the court entered an order revoking five years of White's PRS based on White's "[f]ailure to ... [r]eport within 24 hours of release from ... incarceration."

¶7. On December 20, 2019, White filed a motion for post-conviction relief,⁴ alleging, among other things, that the court had erred by sentencing him to 180 days in a TVC for his first technical violation and by revoking five years of his PRS sentence for his second technical violation.

¶8. On April 28, 2020, the circuit court denied White's motion without holding a hearing or directing the State to respond. The court's order acknowledged that White's PRS had only been revoked twice, not three times. However, the court ruled that it had properly revoked five years of White's PRS pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 47-7-37.1 (Rev. 2015), which provides:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, if a court finds by a preponderance of the evidence, that a probationer or a person under [PRS] has committed a felony or absconded, the court may revoke his probation and impose any or all of the sentence. For purposes of this section, "absconding from supervision" means the failure of a probationer to report to his supervising officer for six (6) or more consecutive months.

The court stated that "White had absconded" both times he was released on PRS, reasoning that because "he never reported, White did not report for six consecutive months." White subsequently filed a notice of appeal.

ANALYSIS

¶9. For multiple reasons, White's revocations were improper. Therefore, we reverse and render the judgment of the circuit court and order White's release on PRS.

¶10. To begin with, the circuit court erred when it revoked five years of White's PRS based on Officer Johnson's representation that the revocation was White's "third revocation." Mississippi Code Annotated section 47-7-37 (Supp. 2019)⁵ provides for the following graduated sanctions for violations of conditions of PRS:

If the court revokes probation for one or more technical violations, the court shall impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a [TVC] or a restitution center not to exceed ninety (90) days for the first revocation and not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days for the second revocation. For the third revocation , the court may impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a [TVC] or a restitution center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days or the court may impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence .

Id. § 47-7-37(5)(a) (emphasis added).⁶ Thus, the court may impose the offender's full remaining suspended sentence for a "third revocation." However, White's PRS had only been revoked twice. Accordingly, the circuit court could not revoke five years of White's PRS on the ground that it was his third revocation.

¶11. In its subsequent order denying White's motion for post-conviction relief, the circuit court recognized that White's PRS had only been revoked twice, but the court justified the revocation on a new ground—that White...