Opinion ID: 1678008
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Whether the court sentencing Shorty to 30 years without relying on actuarial tables or considering his mental illness as mitigating constitutes plain error.

Text: ¶ 32. Shorty was 38 years old at the time of sentencing. The judge did not have the actuarial tables of life expectancy before him at the time of sentencing. He stated that I don't know how long it's been since we've had a modern, up-to-date one, but I'm going to say [the life expectancy of a black male is] 68 or 69. I think an appropriate sentence given the past record is 30 years. ¶ 33. This issue is procedurally barred, as Shorty's trial counsel failed to object to it at the sentencing hearing. A contemporaneous objection must be made at trial in order to preserve an issue for appeal. Smith v. State, 530 So.2d 155, 162 (Miss.1988). Because no objection was made to the sentencing at trial, Shorty is precluded from raising it for the first time here. ¶ 34. Shorty asks this court to consider this issue under the doctrine of plain error. To constitute plain error, the trial court must have deviated from a legal rule, the error must be plain, clear or obvious, and the error must have prejudiced the outcome of the trial. Grubb v. State, 584 So.2d at 789; Porter v. State, 749 So.2d at 260-61. As discussed below, Shorty has failed to show any error, much less plain error. ¶ 35. Shorty argues that only a jury may impose a life sentence pursuant to the robbery statute, Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-79 (1999). He claims that the court committed reversible error in not relying on the actuarial tables and that the sentence of thirty years amounts to an improper life sentence in this case. ¶ 36. This Court has held that section 97-3-79 presupposes, absent a jury recommendation of life imprisonment, that the judge will sentence the defendant to a definite term reasonably expected to be less than life. Stewart v. State, 372 So.2d 257, 258-59 (Miss.1979) (75-year sentence amounted to a sentence of life, so that case was remanded for resentencing). Shorty has provided no evidence that the 30-year sentence imposed is the equivalent of a life sentence. ¶ 37. In doing so, Shorty has provided this Court with nothing but his own musings. He has not provided this Court with expert affidavits to substantiate the claim that Shorty has a lower-than-average life expectancy, or anything else that may qualify as evidence. Nor has he shown that the judge's estimation of the life expectancy of a black male was incorrect. ¶ 38. We have previously held that [s]entencing is within the complete discretion of the trial court and not subject to appellate review if it is within the limits prescribed by statute. Hoops v. State, 681 So.2d 521, 533 (Miss.1996). Section 97-3-79 requires a court to sentence a defendant convicted of armed robbery to not less than three years, but less than life. As a general rule, sentencing is purely a matter of trial court discretion so long as the sentence imposed lies within the statutory limits. Wallace v. State, 607 So.2d 1184, 1188 (Miss.1992). Shorty has failed to show that his sentence is beyond the limits of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-79, and in any event he is procedurally barred from raising it at this time.