Albert Lee Norwood v. State of Mississippi

MAXWELL, J., for the Court: ¶ 1 Albert Norwood appeals the circuit court’s denial of his request for documents from his guilty plea. Because his document request was not part of a direct appeal or motion for post-conviction relief, we lack jurisdiction. We thus dismiss. Facts and Procedural History ¶ 2 On April 9, 2012, Norwood pled guilty to failing to re-register as a convicted sex offender. 1 The judge sentenced him to serve fours years, with credit for time served. ¶ 3 On October 15, 2013, Norwood mailed a letter to the circuit court asking for various documents from his failure-to-register case. The court treated Nor-wood’s letter as a motion and denied his request, noting he failed to show good cause for free documents. Norwood appealed. 2 ' Discussion ¶ 4 “Jurisdiction is a question of law[,] which this Court reviews de novo.” Bullock v. State, 1 So.3d 941, 942 (¶4) (Miss.Ct.App.2009) (quoting Trustmark Nat’l Bank v. Johnson, 865 So.2d 1148, 1150 (¶ 8) (Miss.2004)). There are two avenues of appeal for a criminal defendant — (1) a direct appeal from the conviction and (2) an appeal from a post-conviction relief (PCR) motion. Shanks v. State, 906 So.2d 760, 761 (¶3) (Miss.Ct.App.2004). Norwood forfeited his right to a direct appeal when he pled guilty. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-35-101 (Supp.2014). So *396 his only available avenue was to bring a PCR motion. Bullock, 1 So.3d at 943 (¶ 5). But he failed to do so. ¶ 5 What he was really doing here was fishing for documents. However, the Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act (UPCCRA) does not give 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 the appellate court as a separate and independent action.” Id. at (¶ 7). ¶ 6 But Norwood does have the option of requesting documents as part of a PCR motion. Id. at (¶ 6). If Norwood files a proper and timely PCR motion — and it withstands summary dismissal under Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-39-11(2) (Supp.2014) — he then “may be entitled to trial transcripts or other relevant documents under the discovery provisions of [section] 99-39-15, upon good cause shown and in the discretion of the trial judge.” Bullock, 1 So.3d at 943 (¶ 6). ¶ 7 We thus dismiss for lack of appellate jurisdiction. ¶ 8 THIS APPEAL IS DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE DUE TO LACK OF JURISDICTION. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO HARRISON COUNTY. LEE, C.J., IRVING AND GRIFFIS, P.JJ., BARNES, ISHEE, ROBERTS, CARLTON, FAIR AND JAMES, JJ., CONCUR. Footnotes [1] Norwood was previously convicted of sexual battery. As a sex offender, Norwood had to register with the responsible agency and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. See Miss. Code Ann. § 45-33-25(1 )(a) (Supp. 2014). Norwood was also required to re-register every ninety days. See Miss.Code Ann. § 45-33-31 (Supp.2014). [2] Norwood raises several issues on appeal that were not raised below, which we decline to address.