Opinion ID: 1908339
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: conclusion

Text: ¶81. The majority's decision is nothing more than a futile attempt to provide a substitute for justice. There is no substitute for justice. The only just result here is finding that a man who pleaded guilty to armed robbery and rape in 1978, served his sentence and was released from prison eight years before the passage of a statute, should not now be sentenced to serve the remainder of his natural life in prison for failing to comply with that statute. The majority opinion defies logic, reason and justice. It could not be any clearer that, not only was Garrison denied due process, but the trial court's decision is an ex post facto application of the statute. Yet a majority of this Court refuses to apply that age-old doctrine in this case. There is no jurisprudence which supports the majority's unprecedented, unjust and unfair decision. ¶ 82. Because the Mississippi Sex Offenders Registration Law is an unconstitutional ex post facto law when applied to Garrison and because the failure to provide proper notice resulted in a denial of his constitutional right to due process, I would find that the trial court erred in denying Garrison's JNOV motion, and I would reverse his conviction and sentence and render judgment discharging Garrison. Therefore, I respectfully concur in part and dissent in part. DIAZ, J., JOINS THIS OPINION. DICKINSON, J., JOINS THIS OPINION IN PART.