Jackson v. StateJackson v. State
McRAE, Justice, for the Court:
¶ 1. The original opinion is withdrawn, and this opinion is substituted therefor. Henry Curtis Jackson, Jr. seeks to have the State provide attorney compensation and reasonаble litigation expenses in his attempt to seek post-conviction relief pursuant to
I.
¶ 2. Henry Curtis Jackson, Jr. was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in the stabbing deaths of four nieces and nephews in Leflore County Circuit Court in 1991. See Jackson v. State, 684 So.2d 1213 (Miss.1996). Jackson was represented by Johnnie Walls at trial and on direct appeal. After Jackson‘s conviction аnd death sentence were affirmed by this Court, Walls failed to file a petition for rehearing on behalf of his client within the allotted time and never moved to withdraw from representing him. Jackson‘s execution was set for August 21, 1996.
¶ 3. On August 6, 1996, another attorney, C. Jackson Williams,1 filed on behalf
¶ 4. Williams has now filed in this Court on behalf of Jackson a Motion for Appointment of Counsel and Payment of Reasonable Litigation Expenses. Williams states that he has raised in the Application issues “that require paid expert assistance and investigation in order to be adequately addressed” and that if supplied with funds he would hirе a forensic psychologist or psychiatrist to review the mental evaluations performed on Jackson before his trial to determine whether insanity was a viable defense, which could lead to a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. See Jackson, 684 So.2d at 1226 (Jackson abandoned insanity defense during guilt phase of trial). Williams finally asks that this Court “appoint, compensate, and pay reasonable litigation expenses of the undersigned, including the expenses of a forensic psychologist and a forensic psychiatrist, to prepare and file a petition for Post-Conviction Relief on his behalf.” This Court ordered that the State respond to the motion, and that response has been filed and considered. We find that Jackson‘s motion should be granted.
II.
¶ 5. A judgment of conviction and sentence of death shall be subject to automatic review by this Court. See
¶ 6. Assuming relief is sought and denied in the United States Supreme Court, the appellant may then apply to this Court for relief under the Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act,
to revise, streamline and clarify the rules and statutes pertaining to post-conviction collateral relief law and procedures, to resolve any conflicts therein and to provide the courts of this state with an exclusive and uniform procedure for the collateral review of convictions and sentences. Specifically, this chapter repeals the stаtutory writ of error coram nobis, supersedes Rule 8.07 of the Mississippi Uniform Criminal Rules of Circuit Court Practice and abolishes the common law writs relating to post-conviction collateral relief, including by way of illustration but not limitation, error coram nobis, error coram vobis, and post-conviсtion habeas corpus, as well as statutory post-conviction habeas corpus. The relief formerly accorded by such writs may be obtained by an appropriate motion under this chapter.
¶ 7. Where a conviction and sentence have been appealed to this Court and affirmed,
¶ 8. The writ of habeas corpus has been a hallmark in the protection of our individual freedoms since being brought to this country by our forefathers from England. It is a civil action brought to test the legalities of confinement and to enforce the civil right of personal liberty. The writ is usually brought by a person who is the subject of a criminal prosecution to enforce his right of liberty. In following the tradition of habeas corpus practice, the Legislature furthеr stated that an application for post-conviction relief “shall be filed as an original civil action in the trial court, except in cases in which the prisoner‘s conviction and sentence have been appealed to the supreme court of Mississippi and there affirmed or the appeal dismissed.”
¶ 9. Certain issues must often be deferred until the post-conviction stаge, such as the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Our practice has been, in recent appeals, to deny appellate counsel leave to withdraw from capital cases which have reached the post-conviction stage unless the аppellant agrees to proceed pro se or substitute counsel may be found. Obtaining qualified substitute counsel willing to proceed pro bono on this type of specialized, complex and time-consuming litigation is almost impossible. This practice ignores the reality that the state post-conviction stage is particularly important in capital cases, and that having the same counsel represent the condemned in appellate proceedings and post-conviction actions prevents counsel from raising the claim of ineffective assistance of trial or appellate counsel at the post-conviction stage. This practice also ignores the reality that indigent death row inmates are simply not able, on their own, to competently engage in this type of litigation. Applications for post-cоnviction relief often raise issues which require investigation, analysis and presentation of facts outside the appellate record. The inmate is confined, unable to investigate, and often without training in the law or the mental ability to comprehend the requirements of the UPCCRA. The inmate is in еffect denied meaningful access to the courts by lack of funds for this state-provided remedy.
¶ 11. In Murray v. Giarratano, 492 U.S. 1, 109 S.Ct. 2765, 106 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989), Chief Justice Rehnquist, joined by three other justices, found that there was no constitutional right to counsel, provided by the state, in post-conviction proceedings. Justice Kennedy concurred in the judgment, saying that “no prisoner on death row in Virginia has been unable to obtain counsel to represent him in post-conviction proceedings, and Virginia‘s prison system is staffed with institutional lawyers to assist in preparing petitions for post-conviction relief. I am not prepared to say that this scheme violates the Constitution.” Murray, 492 U.S. at 14-15, 109 S.Ct. 2765. In Mississippi, repeatedly, since 1995, death row inmates have been unable to obtain counsel or requisite help from institutional lawyers. The Legislature has been aware of this acute problem. In the 1998 session, it took the first step toward the institution of a statewide public defender system. It is strongly urged that the Legislature proceed toward a solution to this serious problem by enacting the program utilized in Virginia or some other system. We can no longer sit idly by. We therefore grant the motion.
III.
¶ 12. In summary, we find that Henry Curtis Jackson, Jr., as an indigent, is deprived of assistance of counsel and access to the court system in his attempt to obtain state post-conviction relief from his conviction and sentence. We further find that in capital cases, state post-conviction efforts, though collateral, have become part of the death penalty appeal process at the state level. We therefore find that Jackson, as a dеath row inmate, is entitled to appointed and compensated counsel to represent him in his state post-conviction efforts. This matter is remanded to the Leflore County Circuit Court for appointment of counsel for Jackson and consideration of reasonable litigation expenses. Whether appointed counsel may receive litigation expenses in part to hire a forensic psychiatrist or psychologist depends on the nature of the request, and rests in the discretion of the circuit court.
¶ 13. MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL AND PAYMENT OF REASONABLE LITIGATION EXPENSES GRANTED. REMANDED TO THE LEFLORE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL FOR HENRY CURTIS JACKSON, JR., AND CONSIDERATION OF REASONABLE LITIGATION EXPENSES.
PRATHER, C.J., SULLIVAN and PITTMAN, P.JJ., and BANKS, J., CONCUR.
MILLS, J., SPECIALLY CONCURS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., and WALLER, JJ.
SMITH, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
MILLS, Justice, specially concurring:
¶ 14. Representation by counsel in pre-conviction capital proceedings is a fundamental right of the accused guaranteed by this nation‘s constitutional jurisprudence. See Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963). This right has not been extended to post-conviction relief proceedings. See Murray v. Giarratano, 492 U.S. 1, 109 S.Ct. 2765, 106 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989). The majority errs by stating, without authority, that such a right is found in the Mississippi Constitution of 1890. A right to counsel in post-conviction relief proceedings can be found in neither the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution nor the Due Process clauses of the Federal or State Constitutions. Such a post-trial right is constitutionally nonexistent and beyond our judicial ken to legislate on this matter. Howеver,
¶ 15. I would limit thе majority opinion to the issue before us, that being whether an indigent defendant on death row is entitled to counsel when filing post conviction relief actions. I would find this to be a critical stage of the proceedings and would require appointment of counsel, whether paid for by the сounty or the state, before further actions could be taken. I therefore specially concur.
JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., and WALLER, JJ., JOIN THIS OPINION.