JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) -- The Mississippi Court of Appeals has denied the appeal of a man charged with the armed robbery of a Noxubee County bank in 2003.
Dennis Scales, 35, was indicted on three counts armed robbery for the May 19, 2003 holdup at the National Bank of Commerce in Brooksville.
Scales and another man faced the counts because they took money for three different tellers during the robbery.
In March of 2004, Scales appeared in court with his attorney with a petition to plead guilty to one count of the indictment.
During questioning, Scales told the court he thought he was signing a document asking for a continuance of his trial and not a document that he was pleading guilty.
His attorney told the court he discussed the plea agreement with his client, and the judge accepted the guilty plea and sentenced Scales to 18 years in prison.
In October of 2008, Scales filed a motion for post conviction relief with the court because of ineffective counsel along with a motion to compel because he had not received transcripts of the court preceedings despite prior request.
The judge said the time to file the motion had passed, but allowed it to continue because of the difficulty the court and Scales were having in getting transcripts.
In March of 2011, the court held the court reporter in contempt of court for not turning over the documents.
In April of 2011, the reporter turned over audio tapes of the trial and the judge ordered another court reporter to complete the transcripts in 20 days and turn them over to the court.
After the transcripts were filed, the judge denied the motion.
On Tuesday, the Mississippi Court of Appeals ruled the fact Scales did not have the transcripts, the documents were not necessary for him to file the PCR motion before the three year deadline to file.
