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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI NO. 96-CA-00123-SCT PINKEY WHITFIELD A/K/A PINKY WHITFIELD A/K/A PENKEY B. WHITFIELD v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI THIS OPINION IS NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION AND MAY NOT BE CITED, PURSUANT TO M.R.A.P. 35-A DATE OF JUDGMENT: TRIAL JUDGE: COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: DISTRICT ATTORNEY: NATURE OF THE CASE: DISPOSITION: MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED: MANDATE ISSUED: 11/21/95 HON. R. KENNETH COLEMAN CHICKASAW COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT PRO SE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: W. GLENN WATTS LARRY L. LITTLE CIVIL - POST CONVICTION RELIEF REVERSED AND REMANDED - 10/9/97 10/30/97

BEFORE SULLIVAN, P.J., PITTMAN AND BANKS, JJ. PITTMAN, JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE This case involves an appeal from a Chickasaw County Circuit Court Order denying post-conviction relief to Pinkey Whitfield without an evidentiary hearing. Whitfield pled guilty to three charges of the sale of a controlled substance, to-wit cocaine, on December 7, 1993. Her guilty pleas were accepted and she was sentenced at that time to a term of thirty years on each of the charges, to run concurrently. Whitfield filed a petition to vacate and set aside the convictions on January 11, 1995. From the denial of this post-conviction relief, Whitfield appeals. STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

On December 16, 1993, Chickasaw County Attorney, John A. Gregory, filed three separate criminal informations charging Pinkey Whitfield with the sale of a controlled substance, cocaine. On December 17, 1993, Whitfield petitioned the circuit court of Chickasaw County to allow her to plead guilty to the aforementioned charges. The court, after thoroughly questioning Whitfield, determined that she was aware of the consequences of entering a plea of guilty and that she was doing so freely and voluntarily. It was the "observation of the Court of the defendant as she [stood] before the bench that she's very capable, very competent to have considered this matter, and to have reached the decision to offer a plea of guilty." Subsequent to the court accepting the guilty pleas, Whitfield signed and filed a wavier of indictment on December 23, 1993. On January 11, 1995, Whitfield filed her "Petition to Vacate and Set Aside Conviction." In her petition, she asked the court to vacate and set aside her convictions alleging that the convictions were unconstitutional based upon ineffective assistance of counsel. She alleged that "counsel for the petitioner was ineffective, in that he [petitioner's counsel] allowed the petitioner to plead guilty without a formal indictment, which clearly violated the petitioner's 5th amendment rights. Moreover, by the petitioner's guilty plea, it violated her 14th amendment rights to due process of the law." After examining Whitfield's petition, the court found that it is manifest that Pinkey Whitfield is not entitled to any relief and that the petition for post-conviction relief should be dismissed. The Court dismissed the petition pursuant to Section 99-39-11(2) of Miss. Code Ann. (1972). That section states: If it plainly appears from the face of the motion, any annexed exhibits and the prior proceedings in the case that the movant is not entitled to any relief, the judge may make an order for its dismissal and cause the prisoner to be notified. Miss. Code. Ann.

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