Opinion ID: 1568022
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether the Trial Court Sentence for Kidnapping Exceeded the Statutory Maximum Penalty.

Text: ¶ 14. Nelson argues that the trial court imposed a sentence that exceeded the statutory maximum penalty for kidnapping. The jury found Nelson guilty of kidnapping. However, the jury did not impose a life sentence. ¶ 15. Mississippi Code Annotated Section 97-3-53 states: Any person who, without lawful authority and with or without intent to secretly confine, shall forcibly seize and confine any other person, or shall inveigle or kidnap any other person with intent to cause such person to be confined or imprisoned against his or her will, or without lawful authority shall forcibly seize, inveigle or kidnap any child under the age of sixteen (16) years against the will of the parents or guardian or person having the lawful custody of the child, upon conviction shall be imprisoned for life in the custody of the Department of Corrections if the punishment is so fixed by the jury in its verdict. If the jury fails to agree on fixing the penalty at imprisonment for life, the court shall fix the penalty at not less than one (1) year nor more than thirty (30) years in the custody of the Department of Corrections. This section shall not be held to repeal, modify or amend any other criminal statute of this state. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-53 (Rev.2006) (emphasis added). ¶ 16. The record reflects that Judge Gordon based the forty-year kidnapping sentence on a mortality table which indicated the expected life span for someone Nelson's age. He stated that I must sentence you to a term of years less than your reasonable life expectancy. Nelson made no objection to his sentence. Further, Nelson failed to raise this issue in his motion for new trial. ¶ 17. Notwithstanding Nelson's failure to object or raise the sentencing issue in his motion for new trial, the language of the statute states that If the jury fails to agree on fixing the penalty at imprisonment for life, the court shall fix the penalty at not less than one (1) year nor more than thirty (30) years in the custody of the Department of Corrections. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-53 (Rev.2006). The jury did not impose a life sentence. Therefore, the statute permitted the trial court to impose a sentence of not less than one year nor more than thirty years. The trial court imposed a sentence of forty years, which exceeded the statutory maximum. We find that Nelson should be resentenced in accordance with Mississippi Code Section 97-3-53 on his kidnapping conviction only.