Opinion ID: 1560913
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Material and collateral consequences

Text: ¶ 9. The decision to plead guilty has consequences. Some are material, and some are collateral. Material consequences are those of which a defendant must be aware in order to knowingly and intelligently waive the numerous substantive and procedural rights guaranteed by the constitution to a defendant in a criminal case. A defendant must be fully informed of the material  or direct  consequences prior to entering a plea of guilty; conversely, there is no requirement that a defendant be informed of the collateral consequences. [3] ¶ 10. For instance, upon conviction of certain crimes, [4] a person loses the privilege to vote. And supervised probation  which accompanies most felony sentences  will result in substantial personal restrictions and reporting requirements. Furthermore, and more on point here, conviction of a felony carries with it a certain societal stigma. Some organizations, employers, and clubs restrict membership and employment to persons who have never been convicted of a felony. Our system of justice does not expect  and the Constitution does not require  our trial judges to inform defendants of these or other collateral consequences of pleading guilty to a felony. ¶ 11. We decide today, as an issue of first impression in Mississippi, whether the requirement to register as a sex offender is a material or collateral consequence of a guilty plea. After due consideration, we find that the requirement to register as a sex offender is a collateral consequence of a guilty plea, and the trial court will not be put in error for failing to advise Magyar of the registration requirements before accepting his guilty plea. Although we do not recognize the law of other states as controlling precedent, our decision today is nevertheless aided by the viewpoint of virtually every other jurisdiction to address the question. [5]