Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 1-3-4 (2026)
Capital case, capital offense, capital crime, and capital murder
✓ current as of July 2026
The terms "capital case," "capital cases," "capital offense," "capital offenses," and "capital crime" when used in any statute shall denote criminal cases, offenses and crimes punishable by death or imprisonment for life in the state penitentiary. The term "capital murder" when used in any statute shall denote criminal cases, offenses and crimes punishable by death, or imprisonment for life in the state penitentiary.
Laws, 1974, ch. 576, § 1; Laws, 1977, ch. 458, § 6, eff. 4/13/1977.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 48
cases, 1976–2019 · leading case: Ex Parte Dennis, 334 So. 2d 369 (Miss. 1976).
Ex Parte Dennis, 334 So. 2d 369 (Miss. 1976). “The habeas corpus petition was dismissed on the basis of Mississippi Code Annotated section 1-3-4 (Supp. 1975) hereinafter set forth.”
Bennett v. State, 933 So. 2d 930 (Miss. 2006). “Mississippi Code Annotated Section 1-3-4 states; "[t]he term `capital murder' when used in any statute shall denote criminal cases, offenses and crimes punishable by death, or imprisonment for life in the state penitentiary.”
Havard v. State, 928 So. 2d 771 (Miss. 2006). “Miss.Code Ann. § 1-3-4. This issue is without merit.”
Tapper v. State, 47 So. 3d 95 (Miss. 2010). “Therefore, based on the sexual-battery counts, Tapper was on trial for the alleged commission of capital offenses, as defined by Mississippi Code Section 1-3-4 (Rev. 2005). Thus, Tapper was entitled to twelve peremptory challenges.”
Branch v. State, 882 So. 2d 36 (Miss. 2004). “Therefore, Apprendi is inapplicable because unlike Arizona's statutory scheme that required a finding of an aggravating circumstance to make a defendant death eligible, Mississippi's law defines that convictions of certain crimes render the defendant death eligible.”
Edmonds v. State, 955 So. 2d 787 (Miss. 2007). “§ 1-3-4 in light of the Mississippi Constitution, reasoning that, while the legislature could define "capital" by statute as carrying the penalty of death or life imprisonment, this statutory definition did not change the meaning of the word as it was used in § 29 of the State…”
Hodges v. State, 912 So. 2d 730 (Miss. 2005). “Under Miss.Code Ann. § 1-3-4 (Rev.1998), the maximum punishment of a person convicted of capital murder is death.”
Glasper v. State, 914 So. 2d 708 (Miss. 2005). “Miss.Code Ann. § 1-3-4 (Rev.2005). Glasper's case was tried as a death penalty case; however, since the jury could not unanimously agree on the punishment upon his conviction of capital murder, the trial judge sentenced Glasper to a term of life imprisonment as required by…”
Leatherwood v. State, 548 So. 2d 389 (Miss. 1989). “1985) Miss. Code Ann. § 1-3-4 (Supp. 1988) provides: *403 The terms "capital case," "capital cases," "capital offense," "capital offenses," and "capital crime" when used in any statute shall denote criminal cases, offenses and crimes punishable by death or imprisonment for life…”
Baker v. State, 930 So. 2d 399 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005). “The detective had told Baker that his brother was implicating him in the sexual abuse; it is hard to understand why Baker would confess to sexual abuse of a child so as to benefit his brother while his brother was, allegedly, implicating him, or moreover, how the admission would…”
Taggart v. State, 957 So. 2d 981 (Miss. 2007). “[5] For kidnapping, the sentencing judge has the authority to impose a penitentiary sentence of not less than one year, nor more than thirty years; for rape under section 97-3-65(4)(a), the sentencing judge has the authority to impose a penitentiary sentence "for any term as the…”
Campbell v. State, 749 So. 2d 1208 (Miss. Ct. App. 1999). “Miss.Code Ann. § 1-3-4 (emphasis added). ¶ 10.”
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