Jimmy Culbert v. State of Mississippi
Jimmy Culbert v. State of Mississippi
Opinion
¶ 1. On September 10, 1997, Jimmy Culbert pled guilty to kidnaping and sexual battery. He was sentenced to six years for the kidnaping charge and thirty years for the sexual battery charge, to run consecutively. The record contains a copy of the transcript of the plea-qualification hearing. During the hearing, Culbert testified that his pleas were freely and voluntarily entered with a full awareness and understanding of his rights.
¶ 2. In 1999, he began filing petitions for relief from the conviction and sentence. His fifth petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) is now before the Court. We affirm its summary dismissal.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 3. "When reviewing a trial court's denial or dismissal of a motion for PCR, we will only disturb the trial court's factual findings if they are clearly erroneous; however, we review ... legal conclusions under a de novo standard of review."
Chapman v. State
,
DISCUSSION
¶ 4. Culbert claims that his sentence was illegal since he did not benefit from the amended statute that followed his crime but preceded his sentencing. Under the Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act (UPCCRA), a motion for relief following a guilty plea is untimely unless filed within three years after entry of the judgment of conviction.
Watts v. State
,
¶ 5. "[E]rrors affecting fundamental constitutional rights are excepted from the procedural bars of the UPCCRA."
Rowland v. State
,
¶ 6. Culbert has failed to provide any legitimate reason that the successive-writ bar or time-bar should not apply, nor do we find any. Procedural bars notwithstanding, the trial judge correctly held that
Daniels v. State
,
¶ 7. AFFIRMED.
LEE, C.J., IRVING AND GRIFFIS, P.JJ., BARNES, CARLTON, WILSON, GREENLEE, WESTBROOKS AND TINDELL, JJ., CONCUR.
Daniels
held that, when a statute is amended before sentencing and provides for a lesser penalty, the lesser penalty must be imposed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.