Aaron FINLEY, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.
Court of Appeals of Mississippi.
*426 Aaron Finley, appellant, pro se.
*427 Office of the Attorney General by Jean Smith Vaughan, Attorney for Appellee.
BEFORE SOUTHWICK, P.J., COLEMAN AND THOMAS, JJ.
SOUTHWICK, J., for the Court:
¶ 1. Aaron Finley pled guilty to thе unlawful sale of a controlled substance. Two years later he sought relief under the Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act, arguing that both his statutory and constitutional rights to a speedy trial were viоlated and that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. The Copiah County Circuit Cоurt denied any relief and he appeals. We affirm.
DISCUSSION
¶ 2. On February 13, 1995, Aaron Finley pled guilty to the August 26, 1993 sale of crack cocaine. He was sentenced to serve eight years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. On August 1, 1997, Finley filed for post-conviction relief. The Copiah County Circuit Court dеtermined that the allegations were insufficient to require a hearing and entered an order on Sеptember 24, 1997 denying any relief. We review each claim that was made.
I. Speedy trial
¶ 3. Finley alleged that both his statutоry and constitutional rights to a speedy trial were violated. The circuit judge rejected these assertions, reasoning that "[t]he Defendant has waived his right to assert a speedy trial by not timely bringing the motion bеfore the Court." By "timely," we infer that the trial court was referring to the need to complain about speedy trial issues before pleading guilty, as otherwise those arguments are waived. Anderson v. State,
¶ 4. Finley waived arguments regarding speedy trial.
II. Ineffective assistance of counsel
¶ 5. A claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is judged by the standard in Strickland v. Washington,
¶ 6. Finley complains that he was denied effective assistancе of counsel due to his attorney's failure to investigate fully the case against him and to interview witnesses. However, the majority of Finley's brief is devoted to rehashing his speedy trial arguments. He may not assert а right which he has waived by characterizing it as an ineffective assistance of counsel argument.
¶ 7. As fоr his attorney's failure to investigate and interview witnesses, Finley fails to allege that the asserted errors of his attorney proximately resulted in his guilty plea and, but for these errors, he would not have entered the plea. Finley *428 fails to identify what other witnesses should have been interviewed and what their testimony might hаve been. "Where a motion for post-conviction relief makes no showing that interviewing additional witnesses would have produced a different outcome, the movant has failed to make out a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel." Foster v. State,
¶ 8. Finley's final contеntion is that his attorney failed to discuss the State's discovery with him. He does not allege how this prejudiced him. "[I]n order to sustain summary dismissal, of the ineffective assistance of counsel claim, under Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-11(2) (Supp.1998), the allegation must be alleged with specificity. [The movant] must specifically allege facts showing that effective assistance of counsel was not in fact rendered, and he must allege with specificity the fact that but for such purported actions by ineffective counsel, the results of the triаl court decision would have been different." Ford v. State,
¶ 9. Finally, we note Finley's own previously assеrted satisfaction with his attorney. At the hearing on Finley's petition to enter a guilty plea, the circuit judge asked Finley whether he was satisfied with "the time and the advice and the help and so forth" that his attornеy had given him. Finley responded affirmatively. He further recognized that his attorney was a "good lawyer" who had "done everything that [he] wanted [him] to do." "Solemn declarations in open court [by a defendant] carry a strong presumption of verity." Roland,
¶ 10. To merit an evidentiary hearing on the issue of ineffective аssistance of counsel, a defendant's allegations of counsel's performance must raise "sufficient questions of fact on the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel." Id. The circuit judge correctly found that the allegations in Finley's petition failed to rise to the level necessary to warrant an evidentiary hearing.
¶ 11. THE JUDGMENT OF THE COPIAH COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT DENYING POST-CONVICTION RELIEF IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE TAXED TO COPIAH COUNTY.
McMILLIN, C.J., KING, P.J., BRIDGES, COLEMAN, DIAZ, IRVING, LEE, PAYNE, AND THOMAS, JJ., CONCUR.
