Title: White v. State

State: mississippi

Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court

Document:

374 So. 2d 225 (1979) Arthur WHITE v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 51376. Supreme Court of Mississippi. August 22, 1979. *226 John R. Poole, Jackson, for appellant. A.F. Summer, Atty. Gen. by Phillip H. Schwartz, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. Before PATTERSON, C.J., and SUGG and WALKER, JJ. SUGG, Justice, for the Court: Arthur White was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County. The only assignment of error is that defendant should have been sentenced under section 97-3-51 Mississippi Code Annotated (1972) instead of section 97-3-53 Mississippi Code Annotated (Supp. 1978). The code sections and the indictment in this case follow: In Brooks v. State, 236 So. 2d 751 (Miss. 1970), we held that the state has the choice of indicting under either section 97-3-51 or section 97-3-53. We are unable to ascertain from the indictment which one of the two sections the defendant was indicted under. We are therefore compelled to apply the rule that, when the facts which constitute a criminal offense may fall under either of two statutes, or when there is substantial doubt as to which of the two is to be applied, the case will be referred to the statute which imposes the lesser punishment. Grillis v. State, 196 Miss. 576, 17 So. 2d 525 (1944). We therefore affirm the conviction and remand for sentence under section 97-3-51 which carries a maximum punishment of ten years imprisonment. If the state desired to seek the greater punishment provided by section 97-3-53, the indictment should have specifically referred to that section of the code. We perceive no reason for the existence of the two statutes and suggest that the legislature should repeal one of the statutes, retain the other, and prescribe such penalty as in its wisdom it deems justified for the punishment of the crime of kidnapping. AFFIRMED AND REMANDED FOR PROPER SENTENCING. PATTERSON, C.J., SMITH and ROBERTSON, P. JJ., and WALKER, BROOM, LEE, BOWLING and COFER, JJ., concur. [1] The name of the party kidnapped is omitted in this opinion to preserve the anonymity of the person kidnapped.