Andre J. Jones v. State of Mississippi
Andre J. Jones v. State of Mississippi
Opinion
¶ 1. A Jones County jury found Andre Jones guilty of murder, and the circuit court sentenced Jones to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The Mississippi Supreme Court confirmed Jones's conviction and sentence in
Jones v. State
,
¶ 2. Nine years after his conviction, Jones filed a "Motion for Production of Biological Evidence" with the circuit court on October 6, 2017, and requested the State produce: (1) inventory of biological evidence preserved in connection with his criminal case; (2) any results of reports or scientific tests or experiments connected with that evidence; and (3) certified copies of any results from the testing, analysis, or comparison of any biological evidence. The circuit court considered Jones's motion to be a PCR motion. Because the supreme court affirmed Jones's conviction on direct appeal, and Jones failed to obtain leave to file a PCR motion, the circuit court found it lacked jurisdiction to consider Jones's motion. The circuit court therefore dismissed the motion.
¶ 3. On appeal, Jones asserts the circuit court erred (1) in treating his motion as a PCR filing and (2) by dismissing his motion for lack of jurisdiction. Finding no error, we affirm the circuit court's dismissal of Jones's motion.
*696 STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 4. We decline to reverse a circuit court's dismissal of a PCR motion unless the circuit court's decision was clearly erroneous.
Thompson v. State
,
DISCUSSION
¶ 5. Jones filed a motion with the circuit court for the production of biological evidence that was used in connection with his conviction. He is not challenging his conviction or sentence, just the dismissal of his motion for production. The supreme court has held that "pleadings cognizable under the Uniform Post Conviction Collateral Relief Act [ (UPCCRA) ] will be treated as ... motions for [PCR] that are subject to the procedural rules promulgated therein, regardless of how the plaintiff has denominated or characterized the pleadings."
May v. State
,
¶ 6. Further, Jones did not have permission from the supreme court to file his current motion. Under Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-7 (Rev. 2015), a prisoner cannot file a PCR motion without permission from the supreme court if that prisoner's conviction has previously been affirmed by the court on appeal. Additionally, a circuit court lacks jurisdiction if the petitioner fails to request the supreme court's permission to file a PCR motion.
Cortez v. State
,
¶ 7. There are circumstances under which a prisoner may be entitled to certain transcripts and documentation. Under the UPCCRA, a prisoner, who shows good cause and with the discretion of the circuit court, may be entitled to trial transcripts and other documents if he filed a proper motion that "withstood summary dismissal."
Fleming v. State
,
*697 [N]othing in the [UPCCRA] or elsewhere gives a prisoner the right to institute an independent, original action for a free transcript or other documents, and then if dissatisfied with the trial court's ruling, to directly appeal that ruling to this court as a separate and independent action.
CONCLUSION
¶ 8. The circuit court correctly interpreted Jones's motion as a PCR motion and dismissed it. Even though Jones states he is not filing a PCR motion or challenging his conviction or sentence, as a prisoner he is not entitled to the production of documents through an independent civil action separate from a direct appeal or a PCR motion. Further, the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to consider Jones's motion because he never sought the supreme court's permission to file such relief. We therefore affirm the circuit court's dismissal of Jones's motion for production of biological evidence.
¶ 9. AFFIRMED.
LEE, C.J., IRVING AND GRIFFIS, P.JJ., CARLTON, FAIR, WILSON, GREENLEE AND WESTBROOKS, JJ., CONCUR. BARNES. J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY WITHOUT SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.