Porter v. State
| Docket Number: | 2012-CA-00440-COA Linked Case(s): 2012-CA-00440-COA |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 08-06-2013 Opinion Author: Roberts, J. Holding: Reversed, Rendered and Remanded |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Post-conviction relief - Factual basis for pleas - Section 63-11-30(5) - Causing death in negligent manner - Causing serious bodily harm - Affidavits Judge(s) Concurring: Lee, C.J., Irving and Griffis, P.JJ., Ishee, Fair and James, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Carlton, J. Dissenting Author : Maxwell, J. Concur in Part, Concur in Result 1: Barnes, J., Concurs in Part and in the Result Without Separate Written Opinion Procedural History: Stay for Arbitration Nature of the Case: PCR |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 02-07-2012 Appealed from: Marion County Circuit Court Judge: Prentiss Harrell Disposition: MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF DISMISSED Case Number: 2011-0214H |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Aimee Bracey Porter a/k/a Aimee Porter |
KEVIN DALE CAMP |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: SCOTT STUART |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Post-conviction relief - Factual basis for pleas - Section 63-11-30(5) - Causing death in negligent manner - Causing serious bodily harm - Affidavits |
| Summary of the Facts: | Aimee Porter pled guilty to DUI manslaughter and DUI mayhem. For DUI manslaughter, the circuit court sentenced Porter to twenty years, with fifteen years to serve, followed by five years of post-release supervision. For DUI mayhem, the circuit court sentenced Porter to twenty years, with five years to serve, followed by fifteen years of post-release supervision – five of which were to be reporting post-release supervision. Porter filed a motion for post-conviction relief which the court dismissed. Porter appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Porter argues there was an insufficient factual basis for her guilty pleas. A sufficient factual basis requires an evidentiary foundation in the record which is sufficiently specific to allow the court to determine that the defendant’s conduct was within the ambit of that defined as criminal. A factual basis is not established by the mere fact that a defendant enters a plea of guilty. Porter was indicted for two violations of section 63-11-30(5). There must be a sufficient factual basis that Porter was impaired by controlled substances prior to the accident; was operating a vehicle in Marion County; and performed a negligent act that caused a death and a serious bodily injury. Here, the indictment did not include specific factual details regarding the manner in which Porter was negligent. Count one of the indictment merely accused Porter of causing a death “in a negligent manner.” Count two of the indictment did not even allege that Porter committed a negligent act that caused a serious bodily injury. Also, Porter’s guilty-plea petition did not include sufficient details. During Porter’s guilty-plea hearing, the State did not recite the evidence that it was prepared to present. Porter did not discuss the facts of the accident at all. And although the State attached affidavits to its response to Porter’s PCR motion, and those affidavits indicated that she had been driving erratically before the collision, those affidavits were never discussed before she pled guilty or during her guilty-plea hearing. The State did not introduce those affidavits into the record when Porter pled guilty. The first time those affidavits appear in the record is when the State responded to Porter’s PCR motion, which was more than three years after Porter’s guilty pleas. Those affidavits cannot operate as some form of a nunc pro tunc factual basis to accept Porter’s guilty pleas. Therefore, the circuit court’s decision to dismiss Porter’s PCR motion was clearly erroneous. |
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