Jeremiah Patton v. State of Mississippi

Jackson, Mississippi criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with capital murder

The trial court summarily dismissed Patton's claim for relief pursuant to Mississippi

Code Annotated section 99-39-11(2) for three reasons. First, as a result of the denial of his

February 23, 2012 PCR motion, the trial court found that Patton's claim for relief was barred

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as a successive motion pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-23(6) (Rev.

2020). Second, the trial court found that Patton's claim was not filed within three years of

his guilty plea and conviction. Therefore, the instant claim was time-barred pursuant to

Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-5(2) (Rev. 2020). Finally, the trial court held that

because the underlying felony in this capital murder case was armed robbery, it was not

necessary to have set out the elements of armed robbery in the indictment. In Batiste v. State,

121 So. 3d 808, 836 (¶43) (Miss. 2013), the supreme court stated:

In capital-murder cases, unless the underlying felony is burglary, "the

underlying felony that elevates the crime to capital murder must be identified

in the indictment along with the section and subsection of the statute under

which the defendant is being charged.” Goff [v. State], 14 So. 3d [625,] 665

[(¶176) (Miss. 2009) (citing Bennett v. State, 933 So. 2d 930, 952 (Miss.

2006)); Miss. Code Ann. § 99-17-20 (Rev. 2007). No further detail is required.

Goff, 14 So. 3d at 665.

(Footnote omitted). The trial court found that Patton's indictment sufficiently charged him

with capital murder, and based upon the face of Patton's PCR motion, he was not entitled to

any relief