William R. Edmonson, Jr. v. State of Mississippi
William R. Edmonson, Jr. v. State of Mississippi
Opinion
¶ 1. William R. Edmonson, Jr., filed a post-conviction-relief (PCR) motion claiming that the Lowndes County Circuit Court improperly revoked his post-release supervision (PRS) and imposed the remainder of his two previously suspended consecutive five-year sentences for uttering forgeries. More specifically, he argued that he was denied due process because he had ineffective assistance of counsel, and his sentences exceeded statutory guidelines. The circuit court summarily dismissed the PCR motion without the necessity of a hearing. On appeal, Edmonson does not reiterate his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. Therefore, it is not before this Court. As to all other claims, we find no error and affirm the circuit court's judgment summarily dismissing Edmonson's PCR motion.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
¶ 2. On May 24, 2006, Edmonson pled guilty to two counts of uttering a forgery. 1 On both counts, he was sentenced to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), followed by five years of PRS. The sentences were ordered to run consecutively, for a total of ten years of incarceration, followed by ten years of PRS.
¶ 3. In September 2015, Edmonson's PRS was revoked because he had violated several conditions of his PRS: he was arrested and charged with grand larceny, he had tested positive for illegal drugs, he had failed to pay required supervision fees to MDOC, and he had failed to pay court-ordered restitution and fines. The circuit court then ordered him to serve the remainder of his two sentences, ten years in total, with credit for time served awaiting revocation.
¶ 4. On October 18, 2016, Edmonson filed a PCR motion. Relevant to this appeal, Edmonson argued that (1) the circuit court lacked authority to impose a period of imprisonment greater than ninety days for his first technical violation of his PRS, (2) he was unconstitutionally held in excess of the statutory time period to conduct a revocation hearing, and (3) a discrepancy existed between his written revocation sentence and the sentence orally imposed at his revocation hearing. The circuit court summarily dismissed Edmonson's PCR motion. Edmonson appeals.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 5. We review the denial of a PCR motion for abuse of discretion, meaning "this Court will not disturb the factual findings of a trial court in denying the [motion] unless such findings are clearly erroneous."
Rowland v. State
,
DISCUSSION
¶ 6. On appeal, Edmonson argues that he is entitled to relief for several reasons. First, he asserts that the circuit court lacked the authority to impose a period of imprisonment greater than ninety days for his first technical violation.
See
I. Sentence Revocation
¶ 7. First, Edmonson argues that the circuit court lacked authority to impose a period of imprisonment greater than ninety days for his first technical violation.
See
¶ 8. Section 47-7-37(5)(a) provides a circuit court with authority to revoke PRS and impose a period of imprisonment.
Atwood v. State
,
If the court revokes probation for a technical violation, the court shall impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution center not to exceed ninety (90) days for the first technical violation and not to exceed one hundred twenty (120) days for the second technical violation. For the third technical violation, the court may impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days or the court may impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence. For the fourth and any subsequent technical violation, the court may impose up to the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence.
¶ 9. Recently, this Court addressed technical violations as they pertain to section 47-7-37 in
Cobbert v. State
,
¶ 10. We reasoned that during his first revocation hearing, it was established that Cobbert had committed three technical violations: he failed to report to his parole officer, he failed to pay required fees, and he failed to pay court costs.
¶ 11. In the present case, the circuit court found Edmonson had violated four conditions of his PRS: (1) he was arrested and charged with grand larceny, (2) he tested positive for illegal drugs, (3) he failed to pay required supervision fees to MDOC, and (4) he failed to pay court-ordered restitution and fines. Edmonson does not deny that he committed such violations, but rather argues that his charge of grand larceny cannot be used to revoke his PRS because the charge was ultimately dropped. However, the record is void of any information regarding the disposition
of this charge. Further, the outcome of this charge is not important to our analysis because, pursuant to
Cobbert
and
Walker
, Edmonson still committed three "technical violations," and therefore "the court [could] impose a period of imprisonment to be served in either a technical violation center or a restitution center for up to one hundred eighty (180) days
or the court [could] impose the remainder of the suspended portion of the sentence
."
II. Excessive Detention
¶ 12. Second, Edmonson argues that his right to due process was violated because he was held in the county jail for sixty-seven days awaiting a revocation hearing. He asserts that his detention is in violation of section 47-7-37(3), which reads in part that "[i]f the revocation hearing is not held within twenty-one (21) days, the probationer shall be released from custody and returned to probation status." While we acknowledge that Edmonson has a statutory right to a timely revocation hearing, his failure to file a habeas corpus petition or any motion for relief with the court at the time of his imprisonment procedurally bars this Court from considering the issue.
¶ 13. Generally, when a person believes he has been illegally detained or confined, he may file a habeas corpus petition at the time of imprisonment.
¶ 14. In order to receive relief from a habeas petition, the petitioner or someone on his behalf must file a sworn petition, in writing, describing the circumstances and facts of the alleged illegal restraint or detention and state the grounds for relief.
¶ 15. In the present case, Edmonson asserts that he should have been released from custody and placed back on probation status because he was illegally held for sixty-seven days awaiting his revocation hearing. However, while he was detained in both Newton and Lowndes counties, 3 Edmonson never sought any relief from either circuit court. To properly preserve this error on appeal, Edmonson should have either filed a habeas petition or a "Motion For Relief Pursuant To Section 47-7-37(3)." 4 His failure to do so resulted in the issue never being presented to the circuit court and, therefore, it is procedurally barred on appeal. "A trial judge will not be found in error on a matter not presented to him for decision."
Smiley v. State
,
¶ 16. Edmonson's assignment of error not only fails because he failed to preserve the issue on appeal, but also because he failed to show any supporting proof thereof. "The burden falls upon an appellant to ensure the record contains sufficient evidence to support his assignments of error on appeal."
Underwood v. State
,
¶ 17. While we agree with the circuit court's determination that Edmonson should receive "credit for time served awaiting disposition of the State's petition to revoke," it remains unclear why Edmonson was held-whether it was for the new charge, a violation of his PRS, or both. As a result, this Court is left without the present ability to fairly and adequately assess Edmonson's claim.
III. Discrepancy in Sentencing
¶ 18. Finally, Edmonson argues that the written order sentencing him to a period of ten years' imprisonment contradicted the verbal order the judge gave on the day of his revocation hearing. He asserts that the transcript from the revocation hearing would show that the judge verbally sentenced him to five years of incarceration. However, the record before us today does not contain the transcript of the revocation hearing. 5 Edmonson relies on Rule 30(c) of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure, stating that, because he is an inmate filing an appeal pro se, he is exempt from the requirement to file record excerpts. It is well established throughout Mississippi jurisprudence that an appellant, pro se or not, must provide evidence in the record to support his allegations. 6 Therefore, Edmonson has failed to show that a discrepancy in his sentencing existed.
CONCLUSION
¶ 19. In summary, the circuit court had the authority to impose the remainder of Edmonson's suspended sentence based on violations of his PRS conditions. Further, Edmonson's claim for excessive detention while awaiting a revocation hearing is procedurally barred and lacks support. Likewise, Edmonson's discrepancy-in-sentencing claim lacks support in the record. Therefore, we affirm the circuit court's judgment summarily dismissing Edmonson's PCR motion.
¶ 20. AFFIRMED.
LEE, C.J., IRVING AND GRIFFIS, P.JJ., CARLTON, FAIR, WESTBROOKS AND TINDELL, JJ., CONCUR. BARNES, J., CONCURS IN PART AND IN THE RESULT WITHOUT SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION. WILSON, J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY WITHOUT SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION.
On August 1, 2005, a grand jury indicted Edmonson on five counts of uttering a forgery. Pursuant to his plea deal, Counts 3-5 of the indictment were retired to the files on May 24, 2006.
See also
Edmonson was originally arrested by Newton County Sheriff's Department on charges of grand larceny. He was later transported to Lowndes County, where he was served with a bench warrant and awaited his revocation hearing.
While "Motion For Relief" is not explicitly provided for in the statute, section 47-3-37 statutorily grants sole authority to the circuit court to set conditions of PRS, to hold a revocation hearing, and to revoke PRS.
See
On May 22, 2017, the Mississippi Supreme Court denied Edmonson's request to supplement the record in this case with a transcript of the revocation hearing. Therefore, we are bound by this determination.
See
Bell v. State
,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.