Case Name: Kelvin DYCUS a/k/a Kevin Dycus v. STATE of Mississippi
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2005-09-15
Citations: 910 So. 2d 1100
Docket Number: No. 1998-DP-01094-SCT
Parties: Kelvin DYCUS a/k/a Kevin Dycus v. STATE of Mississippi.
Judges: SMITH, C.J., WALLER AND COBB, P.J., CARLSON AND DICKINSON, JJ., CONCUR. EASLEY, J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY. RANDOLPH, J., SPECIALLY CONCURS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY SMITH, C.J., WALLER AND COBB, P.JJ., EASLEY AND CARLSON, JJ. DIAZ, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 910
Pages: 1100–1103

Head Matter:
Kelvin DYCUS a/k/a Kevin Dycus v. STATE of Mississippi.
No. 1998-DP-01094-SCT.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Sept. 15, 2005.
Raymond L. Wong, Cleveland, Robert McDuff, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.
Office of the Attorney General, by Judy T. Martin, Marvin L. White, attorneys for appellee.

Opinion:
GRAVES, Justice,
for the Court.
¶ 1. This case is before the Court on remand from the United States Supreme Court. Dycus v. Mississippi — U.S. -, 125 S.Ct. 1589, 161 L.Ed.2d 271 (2005). Kelvin Dycus and his brother Jason Dycus were arrested for the 1996 murder and robbery of 76-year-old Mary Pittman. At the time of the murder, Kelvin Dycus was 17 years old, and his brother was 15 years old. A jury convicted Kelvin Dycus of capital murder and sentenced him to death. The jury also convicted Dycus of auto theft for which he was sentenced to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. This Court affirmed both convictions and sentences. Dycus v. State, 875 So.2d 140 (Miss.2004). The United States Supreme Court subsequently held that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution forbid the imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed. Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. -, 125 S.Ct. 1183, 1200, 161 L.Ed.2d 1, 28 (2005). The United States Supreme Court thereafter vacated the judgment of this Court and remanded this case for further consideration in light of its decision in Roper. This Court called for supplemental briefs from the parties, and both sides concur that Dycus must be resentenced to life in prison without parole.
¶ 2. This Court has considered this case further in light of Roper. Roper requires that Dyeus's death sentence be vacated and this case remanded for resentencing. However, Roper does not affect the remainder of this Court's prior opinion and judgment. Accordingly, this Court now reaffirms the convictions of Kelvin Dycus for capital murder and auto theft and his sentence for auto theft and hereby reinstates and adopts its prior opinion in its entirety except to the extent it addresses the issues relating to the death sentence. As required by the United States Supreme Court in Roper, this Court hereby vacates the death sentence of Kelvin Dycus and remands this case to the Circuit Court of Bolivar County for resentencing of Kelvin Dycus on Count I to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole.
¶ 3. COUNT I: CONVICTION OF CAPITAL MURDER AFFIRMED. SENTENCE OF DEATH BY LETHAL INJECTION, VACATED AND CASE REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE.
COUNT II: CONVICTION OF UNLAWFUL THEFT OF AN AUTOMOBILE AND SENTENCE OF FIVE (5) YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, AFFIRMED.
SMITH, C.J., WALLER AND COBB, P.J., CARLSON AND DICKINSON, JJ., CONCUR. EASLEY, J., CONCURS IN RESULT ONLY. RANDOLPH, J., SPECIALLY CONCURS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY SMITH, C.J., WALLER AND COBB, P.JJ., EASLEY AND CARLSON, JJ. DIAZ, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.