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Jenkins v. State10/14/2004
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI
DISTRICT ATTORNEY: FORREST ALLGOOD
NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART - 10/14/2004
EN BANC.
. Following the revocation of his probation for a prior conviction, Shannon Jenkins was housed in a county jail and enjoyed trustee status while he awaited transfer to the state penitentiary. Jenkins escaped by walking away from jail and was charged with escape. Jenkins was tried and convicted of escape and sentenced to serve five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, to run consecutively to any other sentences. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court finding that Jenkins was sufficiently put on notice that he was charged with felony escape. Jenkins v. State, 2003 WL 22846050 (MisS.Ct. App. 2003).
. This Court granted certiorari. Our precedent case law holds that where the indictment fails to specify which of two applicable statutes is being charged, then the defendant must be sentenced under the statute which provides the lesser punishment.
. We find that Jenkins's indictment failed to specify which of the two escape statutes applied. Thus Jenkins is entitled to be sentenced under the then applicable statute which is no more than six months.
FACTS
. The Court of Appeals's opinion included the following factual background:
On February 4, 1994, Jenkins pled guilty to vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to a term of ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Jenkins' sentence was suspended and he was placed on probation.
In April 1999, the State sought to revoke Jenkins' suspended sentence because he had been convicted of DUI and distribution of marijuana while on probation. On April 20, 1999, the trial judge entered an order revoking the suspended sentence.
Following the revocation of his probation, Jenkins was being held in the county jail awaiting transportation to the penitentiary to serve his sentence on the vehicular manslaughter conviction. On May 16, 1999, at 5:00 a.m. roll call, it was discovered that Jenkins was missing from the jail. In April of 2000, Jenkins was located in Texas, where he was taken into custody. In November 2000, he was returned to Oktibbeha County to stand trial on the charge of escape.
On September 17, 2001, Jenkins acting pro se, filed a motion for a speedy trial. However, this motion was not presented to the trial court until the day of trial, February 1, 2002. The trial court ruled that Jenkins' Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial had not been violated.
On February 1, 2002, immediately prior to trial, Jenkins' attorney presented a motion to quash the indictment saying that it failed to allege that Jenkins had been sentenced to the Mississippi Department of Corrections, and that he had used force or violence to escape. The trial court determined that the indictment was sufficient as a matter of law and denied the motion. Upon the denial of that motion, Jenkins' attorney presented a motion which asked the trial court to determine which specific statute was relied upon as a basis for the indictment. This motion was also denied. Thereafter, the trial of this matter proceeded.
Chief Deputy George Carrithers testified that Jenkins was held in the new Oktibbeha County Jail pending the revocation hearing. He was made a trustee, but only allowed to move within the jail itself. Carrithers testified that in March 1999, Jenkins, at the request of his stepfather, was moved from the new jail and housed in the old jail across the street. Ca
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