Edmond Quintezes Mosley v. State of Mississippi
150 So. 3d 127
| Miss. Ct. App. | 2014Background
- Edmond Quintezes Mosley was indicted on seven felonies (including two armed-robbery charges in causes 155-11 and 157-11) and charged as a habitual offender.
- As part of a plea deal the State dismissed five indictments; on August 22, 2011 Mosley pled guilty to two armed-robbery counts and received concurrent forty-year sentences.
- Mosley filed a motion to vacate his guilty pleas (treated as a PCR petition), alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, involuntariness of the pleas, lack of factual basis, and that he was misinformed about parole eligibility; the trial court denied relief and Mosley appealed.
- The trial court’s plea colloquy informed Mosley of the charges, constitutional rights waived by a plea, the potential sentence range, and the plea agreement to dismiss five other indictments; Mosley affirmed understanding the rights and facts.
- The court later acknowledged the plea petition violated the UPCCRA one-judgment-per-motion rule but reached the merits and found counsel adequate, the pleas voluntary and factually supported, and any parole misinformation harmless given the plea incentives.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ineffective assistance of counsel | Mosley: counsel coerced/advised him to plead guilty and crossed the line; would have gone to trial but for counsel | State: counsel properly advised Mosley of risks (including potential life exposure) and plea benefits; no deficient performance or prejudice | Denied — counsel not shown deficient; no prejudice demonstrated |
| Voluntariness of plea | Mosley: intended to proceed to trial and expected a lesser sentence; plea was not voluntary | State: plea colloquy shows Mosley knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived rights and accepted the plea | Denied — plea was voluntary and intelligent |
| Factual basis for plea | Mosley: no adequate factual basis in the record; claimed not principal actor | State: indictment plus plea colloquy supplied factual basis; liability as accessory suffices | Denied — adequate factual basis; accessory liability addressed |
| Evidentiary hearing re: parole misinformation | Mosley: trial court misinformed him about parole/day-for-day eligibility; warrants hearing | State: parole is legislative grace; judge’s erroneous comment is not necessarily fatal and here plea incentives (dismissal of five indictments, avoidance of habitual enhancement) motivated plea | Denied — misinformation harmless error given plea incentives; no evidentiary hearing required |
Key Cases Cited
- Purnell v. State, 126 So. 3d 949 (Miss. Ct. App.) (standard of review for PCR denials)
- Rigdon v. State, 126 So. 3d 931 (Miss. Ct. App.) (UPCCRA one-judgment rule requires separate PCRs per cause)
- Hannah v. State, 943 So. 2d 20 (Miss.) (requirements for plea advisement and waiver of rights)
- Porter v. State, 126 So. 3d 68 (Miss. Ct. App.) (factual-basis requirement for guilty pleas)
- Thomas v. State, 881 So. 2d 912 (Miss. Ct. App.) (parole eligibility is legislative grace and not always a plea consequence)
- Sykes v. State, 624 So. 2d 500 (Miss.) (harmless-error rule when court fails to advise defendant of mandatory sentencing requirements)