Carter v. State, 49094

CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Mississippi
Citation334 So.2d 376
Docket NumberNo. 49094,49094
PartiesClarence CARTER v. STATE of Mississippi.
Decision Date25 May 1976

Barry H. Powell, Luke Dove, Jackson, for appellant.

A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen., by Vera Madel Speakes, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before PATTERSON, ROBERTSON and BROOM, JJ.

BROOM, Justice:

Without youth court certification, a fifteen year old juvenile (appellant Carter), was convicted of armed robbery under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-79 (Supp.1975). Trial was in the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County where appellant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years on the county farm. 1 After sentence, appellant moved to vacate the conviction asserting that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction absent a youth court certification order. From the order overruling the motion to vacate the conviction, this appeal is taken. We affirm.

Placed squarely before us for interpretation is Mississippi Code § 43-21-31 (1972), giving circuit courts 'exclusive jurisdiction' of juveniles 'charged with any crime . . . punishable by life imprisonment or death.' Appellant argues that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction because the crime charged (armed robbery) is not punishable by 'both life imprisonment and death,' and also because the crime is alternatively punishable by a period of imprisonment of 'less than life.'

We recognize the general rule of construction that statutory exceptions are to be strictly or narrowly construed in favor of the accused. Given a strict construction, the statute which confers exclusive jurisdiction upon circuit courts, § 43-21-31 is of no avail to appellant here because the statute is clearly applicable to offenses punishable by 'life imprisonment or death.' The statute does not say and cannot logically be construed to mean that the punishment must be 'by both life imprisonment and death' (emphasis added), as argued in appellant's brief. It is to be noted that language of the statute does not limit its application to a 'capital offense' as used in Section Twenty-nine of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890. 1A Indeed the statute now under consideration does not at any place contain any phrase such as 'capital case' or 'capital offense.' By clear and unambiguous language, § 43-21-31 simply confers upon circuit courts exclusive jurisdiction if the crime charged is 'punishable by life imprisonment,' or 'death.'

The appellant also states his argument another way elsewhere in his brief, as follows:

Since armed robbery is no longer punishable by life imprisonment or death, but only by life imprisonment, it does not fall within the Youth Court exceptions set forth in section 43-21-31.

He cites several cases as authority for his argument that this Court has heretofore interpreted § 43-21-31 'to except from the general jurisdiction of the Youth Court only capital crimes, crimes punishable by death.' Examination of the cases including Smith v. State, 22. So.2d 551 (Miss.1969), and Ratcliff v. State, 234 Miss. 724, 107 So.2d 728 (1958), does not reveal that we ever held that a crime punishable by a life sentence was not within the purview of the statute. Grant v. State, 305 So.2d 351 (Miss.1974).

Cases from other jurisdictions are cited as authority for the argument that the phrase 'punishable by sentence of death or life imprisonment' (language taken from a Missouri case) embraces only those offenses having as 'sole alternatives' punishment of life imprisonment or death, and does not embrace offenses carrying possible sentences of less than life imprisonment as a minimum sentence. Such holdings do not reflect sound reasoning when applied to our jurisprudence including our statutes and their history. In construing § 43-21-31, one must keep in mind that when the Youth Court Act, Mississippi Code Annotated sections 43-21-1 through 43-21-55 (1972), including § 43-21-31, was enacted in 1946, the 'sole alternatives' of punishment on an indictment charging murder, armed robbery, or forcible rape were not simply life imprisonment or death. At that time Mississippi law permitted an accused person charged with an offense punishable by death to be found guilty of a lesser included offense for which permissible punishment was less than life imprisonment. For example, long before 1946 (and afterward) defendants prosecuted for murder (punishable by life imprisonment or death) were sometimes found guilty of the lesser included crime of manslaughter, and sentenced to pay a mere cash fine or suffer...

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12 cases
  • McGlasten v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 4 Noviembre 2021
    ...v. State , 456 So. 2d 743, 745 (Miss. 1984) (emphasis added) (citing State v. Russell , 358 So. 2d 409 (Miss. 1978) ; Carter v. State , 334 So. 2d 376 (Miss. 1976) ; Walton v. State , 219 Miss. 72, 68 So. 2d 87 (1953) ; Terry v. State , 172 Miss. 303, 160 So. 574 (1935) ). This "is bedrock ......
  • Illinois Central R. Co. v. Fordice
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi
    • 30 Septiembre 1997
    ...plain language against the state. McLamb v. State, 456 So.2d 743 (Miss.1984); State v. Russell, 358 So.2d 409 (Miss.1978); Carter v. State, 334 So.2d 376 (Miss.1976); Walton v. State, 219 Miss. 72, 68 So.2d 87 (1953). Applying a strict interpretation of the plain language of § 63-11-8, the ......
  • McGlasten v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 4 Noviembre 2021
    ...McLamb v. State, 456 So.2d 743, 745 (Miss. 1984) (emphasis added) (citing State v. Russell, 358 So.2d 409 (Miss. 1978); Carter v. State, 334 So.2d 376 (Miss. 1976); Walton v. State, 219 Miss. 72, 68 So.2d 87 (1953); Terry v. State, 172 Miss. 303, 160 So. 574 (1935)). This "is bedrock law in......
  • Holly v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 8 Febrero 1996
    ...or life imprisonment. Johnson v. State, 512 So.2d 1246, 1250 (Miss.1987); Winters v. State, 473 So.2d 452 (Miss.1985); Carter v. State, 334 So.2d 376 (Miss.1976). Mississippi law clearly prohibits the execution of a juvenile who committed an offense while under the age of thirteen since he ......
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