Opinion ID: 1956793
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: whether life imprisonment was an excessive sentence.

Text: ¶ 34. Foley challenges the authority of the circuit court to impose a life sentence for the conviction of his crime under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-65(1)(b) (Rev.2000). The State and Foley point to statutory guidelines for sentencing for a statutory rape conviction in § 97-3-65(2)(c). However, the accurate subsection is Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-65(3)(c) (Rev.2000) for statutory rape convictions, and concerning sentencing states that [I]f eighteen (18) years of age or older and convicted under paragraph (1)(b) of this section, to imprisonment for life in the State Penitentiary or such lesser term of imprisonment as the court may determine, but not less than twenty (20) years (emphasis added). It was the intent of the state legislature, Foley argues, that the jury determine his sentence and not the judge. Foley makes reference to § 97-3-79 of the Mississippi Code which covers the crime and sentencing of the commission of a robbery with a deadly weapon. Foley points to the fact that a person convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon is entitled to have the jury decide his sentence. [4] It is obvious from the language in § 97-3-79 that the jury was intended to arrive at a sentence for a convicted defendant. In contrast, though, the Legislature used words indicating judicial discretion would be the determination for crimes of statutory rape in § 97-3-65(2)(c). Foley assertions to the contrary are without merit.