Opinion ID: 1771774
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 53

Heading: whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's challenges to mississippi's death penalty?

Text: ś 131. Puckett's final assignment of error alleges Mississippi's death penalty statute is unconstitutional. Specifically, Puckett maintains [t]he Mississippi death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment for all of the reasons set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972). Puckett also cites [t]he American Bar Associations' recent call for a moratorium on the death penalty in support of his argument. ś 132. However, as the State correctly points out, [n]either Furman nor the American Bar Association is controlling or even persuasive authority. Mississippi's death penalty statutes have been reviewed and upheld as constitutional in light of Furman as well as later United States Supreme Court cases. See Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed.2d 859 (1976); Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242, 96 S.Ct. 2960, 49 L.Ed.2d 913 (1976); Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262, 96 S.Ct. 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929 (1976); Johnson v. State, 476 So.2d 1195, 1201 (Miss. 1985); Billiot v. State, 454 So.2d 445, 464 (Miss.1984); Williams v. State, 445 So.2d 798, 809 (Miss.1984); Edwards v. State, 441 So.2d 84, 90 (Miss.1983); Smith v. State, 419 So.2d 563, 566 (Miss.1982); Bullock v. State, 391 So.2d 601, 611 (Miss. 1980); Coleman v. State, 378 So.2d 640, 647 (Miss.1979); Washington v. State, 361 So.2d 61, 66 (Miss.1978); Gray v. State, 351 So.2d 1342, 1344 (Miss.1977); Jackson v. State, 337 So.2d 1242, 1249 (Miss.1976). ś 133. Puckett also alleges the death penalty should not be available in the case at bar, due to his age at the time of the offense. Puckett was eighteen (18) years old when he took Rhonda Griffis' life. Puckett was nineteen (19) at the time of his trial. As this Court stated in Foster v. State, 639 So.2d 1263, 1296 (Miss.1994), [t]he capital murder statutes in this state include age as a mitigating factor to be considered by a jury. Furthermore, this Court's holding in Blue v. State, 674 So.2d 1184 (Miss.1996) is dispositive of this issue, wherein the Court stated, In the instant case, Blue was seventeen years old when he allegedly committed capital murder. As in Foster, once again we hold that although the Mississippi statutory scheme does in fact lack age specificity, there is a very strong statutory inference that the death penalty cannot be imposed on an individual who is under thirteen years of age. More importantly, no constitutional quagmires exist, because Blue committed his crime at an age where it is sufficiently clear that no national consensus forbids the imposition of capital punishment. Wilkins v. Missouri, 492 U.S. 361, 380-81, 109 S.Ct. 2969, 2981, 106 L.Ed.2d 306 (1989) (emphasis added); Stanford [v. Kentucky], 492 U.S. 361, 370-73, 109 S.Ct. 2969, 2975-77, 106 L.Ed.2d 306 (1989). See also Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815, 108 S.Ct. 2687, 101 L.Ed.2d 702.... Blue, 674 So.2d at 1231. Based on this Court's previous holdings, at the age of eighteen (18), Puckett was an adult and clearly eligible for the death penalty. Accordingly, this assignment of error is without merit.