Chancellor v. State
Chancellor v. State
Opinion
¶ 1. William Chancellor, pro se, appeals an order of the Circuit Court of Hinds County, Mississippi denying his petition for post-conviction relief. Aggrieved, Chancellor perfected this appeal, raising the following issues as error:
I. THE LOWER COURT COMMITTED MANIFEST ERROR IN DISMISSING CHANCELLOR'S MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF.
¶ 3. Thereafter, Chancellor was tried and convicted of armed robbery which occurred on May 31, 1995. Utilizing his prior conviction of receiving stolen goods to enhance his sentence, the trial court sentenced Chancellor as an habitual offender to a term of life imprisonment.
¶ 4. Because his conviction of receiving stolen goods was utilized to enhance his sentence for armed robbery, Chancellor filed a motion for post-conviction relief on June 20, 2000, seeking to set aside the judgment entered on February 1, 1990. The lower court dismissed this motion citing the statutory time bar limitation as set out in Miss. Code Ann. §
I. DID THE LOWER COURT COMMIT MANIFEST ERROR IN DISMISSING CHANCELLOR'S MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF?
¶ 6. It is clear that Chancellor's motion for post-conviction relief was time barred *Page 702
by the three year statute of limitations imposed by Miss. Code Ann. §
¶ 7. Chancellor accurately cites Miss. Code Ann. §
¶ 8. While this argument is well crafted, we find it humorous that Chancellor asserts that he should have served more time for the receiving stolen goods offense. Chancellor benefited from the lenience of the lower court judge and would now like to argue that such leniency was a violation of his fundamental rights. If the error in sentencing Chancellor for receiving stolen goods is, in fact, an error at all, it is a harmless error rather than a fundamental one, and an error we might add that benefited Chancellor. The law that states that there is a fundamental right to be free from an illegal sentence is interpreted to apply to sentences which cause the defendant to endure an undue burden rather than the luxury of a lesser sentence.
¶ 9. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF HINDS COUNTY DENYINGPOST-CONVICTION RELIEF IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL AREASSESSED TO HINDS COUNTY.
McMILLIN, C.J., KING AND SOUTHWICK, P. JJ., BRIDGES, LEE, MYERS ANDCHANDLER, JJ., CONCUR. IRVING, J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY. BRANTLEY, J.,NOT PARTICIPATING.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- William Chancellor A/K/A Michael Paige A/K/A Michael Jones v. State of Mississippi
- Cited By
- 20 cases
- Status
- Published