Case Name: Robert Earl MAY, Jr., Alias Bubba v. STATE of Mississippi
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1983-08-10
Citations: 435 So. 2d 1181
Docket Number: No. 53707
Parties: Robert Earl MAY, Jr., Alias Bubba v. STATE of Mississippi.
Judges: PATTERSON, C.J., WALKER and BROOM, P.JJ., and BOWLING and PRATHER, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 435
Pages: 1181–1189

Head Matter:
Robert Earl MAY, Jr., Alias Bubba v. STATE of Mississippi.
No. 53707.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Aug. 10, 1983.
Ronald Reid Welch, Jackson, for appellant.
Bill Allain, Atty. Gen. by Billy L. Gore, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Opinion:
ROY NOBLE LEE,
Justice, for the Court:
This is the second appeal of Robert Earl May, Jr. (Bubba May) from a sentence of twelve (12) years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections for armed robbery. On the present appeal, May presents the following contentions:
I. Sentence to 12 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections is not "in the best interests of the child and the public welfare; and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment as applied to Robert Earl "Bubba" May, Jr.
II. Renewed sentence of twelve years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary, Department of Corrections, constitutes an abuse of discretion, a failure to follow the mandate of this Court and the law of this case, a violation of statutory law, and denies appellant equal protection and due process of the laws of this State and of the United States of America.
May was bom April 9, 1964. On December 26, 1978, at the age of 14 years, he and three other black males, ages 17, 18 and 25 years, one of whom was armed with a shotgun, committed a robbery in Lincoln County, Mississippi. Upon indictment and arraignment, all four entered pleas of guilty and each was sentenced to twelve (12) years in the custody of the Department of Corrections. Public criticism resulted from May's sentence, due to his age, and the court granted his motion to withdraw the guilty plea and entered a plea of not guilty for him. After a trial on the merits, appellant was found guilty by a jury and again was sentenced by the court to twelve years.
That conviction and sentence were appealed to this Court and the judgment of conviction was affirmed, but the case was remanded to the lower court for hearing further evidence of extenuation or mitigation at the sentencing phase, since the record then before us did not indicate the judge's knowledge of the alternatives mentioned in the sentencing hearing. There was no way for this Court to determine what the trial judge considered. In remanding the case, we said:
We think the Legislature, in providing alternative methods of sentencing of minors, intended in cases involving special circumstances surrounding a minor defendant, that the trial judge consider seriously' those alternatives enumerated in the statute and that the presence or absence of facilities for care of a minor offender be considered in mitigation of the punishment provided by statute. In our opinion, in addition to his consideration of the expert testimony, which became a part of the record on the sentencing phase, the trial judge should have placed in the record the sources and facts of his study and should have permitted appellant's counsel to introduce evidence of the presence or absence of facilities at Mississippi State Penitentiary for care of the appellant, and the availability of other institutions or facilities which could be utilized by appellant. Therefore, we remand the cause to the lower court for hearing further evidence of extenuation or mitigation and for sentencing not inconsistent with this opinion. (Emphasis supplied) [398 So.2d at 1340].
The record presently before us indicates that May's counsel introduced extensive evidence, exhibits and documents bearing upon the matter of extenuation and mitigation of the sentence; that the trial judge had full and complete knowledge of the facts and circumstances surrounding appellant and of the alternatives available to him in imposing sentence; and that he seriously considered them. Excerpts from his finding and opinion follow:
So the Court is aware that there are some facilities within the State of Mississippi. There are public and private elementary and secondary schools in the county of the defendant's residence and throughout the State of Mississippi. The Court is aware that there are two State supported training schools located at Columbia and at Oakley, under the jurisdiction of the Department of Youth Services in Mississippi, and the Judge has visited each and observed their limited facilities. The Court is aware of the regional mental health services: the State Hospital at Whitfield; East Mississippi at Meridian, and the Ellisville State School at Ellis-ville, Mississippi; the North Mississippi Retardation Center at Oxford, and the Hudspeth Retardation Center at Whitfield. Each serves useful purposes and provides special facilities and treatment for those in their care.
The Court is aware that under the provisions of Section 43-21-159(3) of the Mississippi Code of 1972 as amended, known as the Youth Court Law, alternative sanctions are provided wherein it is provided that if any child shall be convicted by a Circuit Court, the Trial Judge, if he deems it for the best interest of such child and the public welfare, may, in his discretion and in lieu of other statutory punishment, commit such child to any state institution now or hereafter established for delinquents, or may commit such child to the county jail for any term not in excess of one year, or he may suspend sentence and release on probation under such terms and conditions as he may prescribe, and said Court shall have the power to change the custody of such child and terminate jurisdiction over said child in the same manner as is provided in that Chapter for the Youth Court.
This Court is aware the state institutions established for delinquents are at Columbia, Mississippi and at Oakley, and are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Youth Services. Section 41-21-605 of the Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended, being also a part of the Youth Court Law, provides that the training school may retain jurisdiction of the child until the child's 20th birthday but for no longer. The superintendent of a state training school may parole a child at any time he may deem it in the best interest and welfare of such child. The Court is aware of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquent Prevention Act and the Congressional passage of the 1980 Amendment thereto, with reference to removal of juvenile offenders from adult jails within 7 years.
Armed Robbery is a very serious offense as evidenced by the penalties provided by the Legislature, and should not be depreciated by like sentences or sympathy for the offender. The seriousness of the offense is not based on the status of the person who commits the offense or the status of the victim, nor on the amount taken. The Trial Judge must determine under the Youth Court Law whether it is deemed in the best interest of the defendant and the public welfare to sentence the defendant to a state institution for delinquents or to the county jail for any term not in excess of one year, or to suspend the sentence and release on probation.
This Court does not find and does not deem that it is in the best interest of the public welfare to sentence this defendant to a state institution for delinquents or to the county jail or to suspend the sentence and release on probation, and hereby specifically finds.
In determining the sentence, the Court has considered not only the aspect of Parchman for the commission of the unlawful act, but the need for personal deterrence, that is, placing the defendant in custody for a term to prevent his repetition of the offense for the time in custody. The aspect of public deterrence has been considered, that is, to deter other persons from the commission of the same or similar offenses. The Court has also considered the need and time for rehabilitation so that the defendant may realize that he has done wrong and can become trained in more productive and lawful work. The Court has also considered other sentences in this and other districts of the State of Mississippi for the offense of armed robbery. Other defendants, black and white of approximately your present age of 17, have received the same or greater terms of sentence upon conviction of the offense of armed robbery.
No one connected with this Court bears any ill will toward you, Robert Earl May, but we cannot condone what you did. Bring the defendant around to be sentenced.
Under the assignments of error, May contends that the sentence to twelve years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections is not in the best interest of May and the public welfare and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment as applied to him. He also contends that the trial court abused its discretion in imposing sentence, violated statutory law, denied equal protection and due process under the laws of Mississippi and the United States, and failed to follow the mandate of this Court in imposing sentence.
The lower court found on the sentencing hearing involved here that it was not in the best interest of the public welfare to sentence appellant to a state institution for delinquents, or to the county jail, or to suspend the sentence and release him on probation. He also compared May's sentence to sentences of other young persons convicted of crime.
We stated in May v. State, supra, at 1337, citing Mississippi decisions, that this Court has held in many cases the imposition of sentence is within the sound discretion of the trial court and that we will not review the sentence so imposed, if it is within the prescribed limits of the statute. See Mansell v. State, 403 So.2d 871 (Miss.1981); Henderson v. State, 402 So.2d 325 (Miss.1981); Yazzie v. State, 366 So.2d 240 (Miss.1979); and Ainsworth v. State, 304 So.2d 656 (Miss.1975).
Those cases also stand for the proposition that such a sentence is not violative of statutory law or constitutional prohibitions. See White v. State, 374 So.2d 843 (Miss.1979) and Upshaw v. State, 350 So.2d 1358 (Miss.1977).
The real thrust of the appeal is whether or not this Court mandated the lower court to impose a sentence less than twelve years. The cause was remanded to the lower court "for hearing further evidence of extenuation or mitigation and for sentencing not inconsistent with this opinion," since no complete record was made at the first hearing. We did not mandate the lower court to reduce or modify the sentence.
It is uncontradicted that in the present case, a record was made of everything desired by the State and May and that the lower court seriously considered them. The trial judge presiding at the hearing has wide experience in such cases; he observed and heard the appellant, together with his witnesses, from the time of indictment through proceedings extending over a period of four years; and, from all the evidence, and his knowledge of the ap-' pellant, it was his judgment that, the sentence of twelve years should be imposed. Under the law, as enacted by the Mississippi Legislature, construed by this Court, and now established precedent, we cannot say that the lower court committed reversible error in imposing the same sentence of twelve years.
The appellant was 14 years old when sentence was first imposed, and was 4 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 80 pounds. He is now 19 years old (April 9,1964), is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs approximately 132 pounds. According to the record, he is neither the youngest nor the smallest person sentenced to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Leatherwood was 17, Tokman was 18 and Bell was 18 when they were sentenced to' death for capital murder, and the sentences were affirmed by a majority of this Court.
Therefore, for the reasons stated, the judgment of the lower court is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
PATTERSON, C.J., WALKER and BROOM, P.JJ., and BOWLING and PRATHER, JJ., concur.
DAN M. LEE, J., specially concurs.
ROBERTSON and HAWKINS, JJ., dissent.
HAWKINS, J., concurs in dissent.
. May v. State, 398 So.2d 1331 (Miss.1981).
. Life sentence without eligibility for parole, imposed upon a 16-year-old youth convicted of armed robbery, was not cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment rights.
. Honorable Joe N. Pigott.
. Leatherwood v. State, 435 So.2d 645 (Miss.1983); Tokman v. State, 435 So.2d 664 (Miss. 1983); and Bell v. State, 360 So.2d 1206 (Miss.1978).