Kimble v. State
Kimble v. State
Opinion
¶ 1. Junior Lee Kimble appeals the dismissal by the Circuit Court of Lee County of his motion for post-conviction relief. Kimble was indicted on two counts of sexual battery and one count of obstruction of justice. Kimble pleaded guilty to all three charges. He was sentenced to concurrent sentences of twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with ten years suspended on each of the sexual battery charges, followed by five years of post-release supervision. He alleges three errors on appeal, all of which we find to be without merit. Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
(1) Whether the trial court failed to have a factual basisof Kimble's guilt before accepting his guilty plea.
¶ 4. Kimble claims that the trial judge lacked a factual basis of his guilt when the judge accepted his guilty plea. Kimble claims that because he pleaded guilty in a group hearing along with several other defendants, who were unrelated to his case, the judge did not determine whether there was a factual basis for his plea. Kimble said the trial judge did not question him to ascertain whether his actions satisfied the elements of the crime charged. Kimble said that after he pleaded guilty, the trial court found him guilty of the charges without ever inquiring into the truth of the charges against him.
¶ 5. Kimble correctly points out that, before accepting a guilty plea, the trial *Page 1072 judge must determine that the plea is being given voluntarily and intelligently and that there is a factual basis for the plea. URCCC 8.04(A)(3). The trial judge explained, in detail, the rights the defendants would have if they did not plead guilty; and each defendant, including Kimble, responded, in turn, that he understood. The trial judge asked each defendant separately whether his plea was voluntary, and Kimble responded that his plea was voluntary.
¶ 6. It was not necessary for the trial judge to question Kimble about the specifics of his crimes. This Court has held that "a guilty plea by its very nature is an admission of guilt." Drake v. State,
(2) Whether Kimble received ineffective assistance ofcounsel.
¶ 7. Kimble next claims his trial counsel was ineffective for urging him to plead guilty. He claims his counsel told him that if he went to trial and was found guilty, he would be sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus ten years. To support his claim of ineffectiveness of counsel, Kimble attached two affidavits to his motion, one from his mother, Pauline Kimble, and the other from a "lady friend," Grace Matthews. In the affidavits, the women swore that Kimble told them that his lawyer urged him to plead guilty rather than go to trial because, if convicted, he would have to serve two consecutive life sentences plus ten years. Matthews stated in her affidavit that this information from the lawyer "tore Junior's mother up real bad," because Kimble was sixty-three-years old at the time of the charge, and if found guilty, Kimble would face the rest of his life in prison. Kimble claims that, even though he did not want to plead guilty, he felt he had to because of his lawyer's advice.
¶ 8. Kimble also claims that his lawyer was deficient because he allowed Kimble to plead guilty to a faulty indictment, which he claims did not meet the requirements of Mississippi Code Annotated section
¶ 9. To prove ineffective assistance of counsel, Kimble must demonstrate that his *Page 1073
counsel's performance was deficient, and this deficiency prejudiced his defense. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687,
¶ 10. It is true that there are three indictments against Kimble for sexual battery in the record signed only by the assistant district attorney which lack the signature of a grand jury foreman and are not stamped filed by the Lee County Circuit Clerk. The State acknowledges that it does not know how the unsigned and unfiled indictments came to be made a part of the record. The State, citing Garrette v. State,
¶ 11. We find Kimble's argument that his counsel was ineffective because he advised him he would get life sentences if he went to trial to be without merit. His statement about the conversation with the attorney and the affidavits he attached to his pleading contained nothing more than hearsay; that is, he and both women swore about what Kimble was allegedly told by his attorney and about what he supposedly told the women about that conversation. Clearly, this was not enough to satisfy Kimble's burden. As the trial court stated in its order dismissing Kimble's motion: "it is not ineffective assistance for an attorney to advise his client that he recommends a guilty plea over proceeding to trial if it is his reasoned opinion that there is little chance of success at trial." Also, we are mindful that the fact that a defendant pleaded guilty because he feared a harsher sentence otherwise does not render the defendant's plea involuntary. Jones v.State,
(3) Whether the trial court erred by summarily dismissingKimble's motion without conducting an evidentiary hearing.
¶ 12. In support of this alleged error, Kimble makes three arguments. First, he claims that it was plain from the trial court's order that the judge only made a perfunctory consideration of his post-conviction motion. He supports this reasoning by pointing out that the judge referred to Kimble's filing as a "Motion for Reconsideration of Sentence" when in fact his pleading was styled "Motion to Vacate Judgment and Sentence." The trial judge's treatment of Kimble's filings support Kimble's allegation of error on this point. However, when we read the trial *Page 1074
court's complete order and not just its style, we find that each of Kimble's alleged errors was addressed in the order. We find inconsequential the fact that the trial judge denominated Kimble's filing as a "Motion for Reconsideration of Sentence" instead of a "Motion to Vacate Judgment and Sentence." Second, Kimble contends that the court made a perfunctory review of his motion because the order failed to mention the two affidavits which Kimble attached to his motion and only stated, "Petitioner cannot make a valid claim for ineffective assistance if the only proof he has concerning deficient performance of his counsel is his own statement." SeeVielee v. State,
¶ 13. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF LEE COUNTYDENYING POST-CONVICTION RELIEF IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THISAPPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO LEE COUNTY.
KING, C.J., LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., IRVING, CHANDLER, GRIFFIS, BARNES, ISHEE AND ROBERTS, JJ., CONCUR.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.