Mississippi: Supreme Court citation practice | Citation rule(s)


Examples from Nichols v. State, 2000-KA-00807-SCT, 826 So. 2d 1288 (Miss. 2002)

. . . .

¶ 9. Nichols argues that the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing him to the maximum sentence authorized by Miss. Code Ann. § 97-17-33. In addition, he claims that the trial judge relied upon incorrect information that he was guilty of prior felony convictions. Further, Nichols asserts that the excessive and disproportionate sentence was a violation of the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

¶ 10. "Sentencing is within the complete discretion of the trial court and not subject to appellate review if it is within the limits prescribed by statute." Wall v. State, 718 So. 2d 1107, 1114 (Miss. 1998)(quoting Hoops v. State, 681 So. 2d 521, 537 (Miss. 1996)). Accord, Berry v. State, 722 So. 2d 706. 707 (Miss. 1998). In Fleming v. State, 604 So. 2d 280, 302 (Miss. 1992), this Court held that the general rule in Mississippi is that a sentence that does not exceed the maximum term allowed by the statute cannot be disturbed on appeal. However, this Court will review a sentence that allegedly imposed a penalty that is disproportionate to the crime. Id.

. . . .

Miss. R. App. P. 28(e), http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/rules/msrulesofcourt/rules_of_appellate_procedure.pdf.

RULE 28. BRIEFS

. . . .

(e) References in Briefs to the Record and Citations. All briefs shall be keyed by reference to page numbers (1) to the record excerpts filed pursuant to Rule 30 of these Rules, and (2) to the record itself.

(1) From and after July 1, 1997, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals shall assign paragraph numbers to the paragraphs in all published opinions. The paragraph numbers shall begin at the first paragraph of the text of the majority opinion and shall continue sequentially throughout the majority opinion and any concurring or dissenting opinions in the order that the opinions are arranged by the Court.

(2) All Mississippi cases shall be cited to either:

(i) the Southern Reporter and, in cases decided prior to 1967, the official Mississippi Reports (e.g., Smith v. Jones, 699 So.2d 100 (Miss. 1997)); or
(ii) for cases decided from and after July 1, 1997, the case numbers as assigned by the Clerk's Office (e.g., Smith v. Jones, 95-KA-01234-SCT (Miss. 1997)).

(3) Quotations from cases and authorities appearing in the text of the brief shall be cited in one of the following ways:

(i) preceded or followed by a reference to the book and page in the Southern Reporter and/or the Mississippi Reports where the quotation appears (e.g., Smith v. Jones, 699 So.2d 100, 102 (Miss. 1997)); or
(ii) in cases decided from and after July 1, 1997, preceded or followed by a reference to the case number assigned by the Clerk's Office and paragraph number where the quotation appears (e.g., Smith v. Jones, 95-KA-01234-SCT (¶1) (Miss. 1997)); or
(iii) in cases decided from and after July 1, 1997, preceded or followed by a reference to the book and paragraph number in the Southern Reporter where the quotation appears (e.g., Smith v. Jones, 699 So.2d 100 (¶1) (Miss. 1997)); or
(iv) in cases decided prior to July 1, 1997, preceded or followed by a reference to the case number assigned by the Clerk's Office and paragraph number where the quotation appears when the case is added to the Court's Internet web site in the new format, i.e., with paragraph numbers (e.g., Smith v. Jones, 93-CA-05678-SCT (¶1) (Miss. 1995)); or
(v) preceded or followed by a parallel citation using both the book citation and the case number citation.