99-17-20 - Capital murder or other crimes punishable by death. - Mississippi Statutes

§ 99-17-20. Capital murder or other crimes punishable by death.
 

No person shall be tried for capital murder, or any other crime punishable by death as provided by law, unless such offense was specifically cited in the indictment returned against the accused by setting forth the section and subsection number of the Code defining the offense alleged to have been committed by the accused. The judge, in cases where the offense cited in the indictment is punishable by death, may grant an instruction for the state or the defendant which instructs the jury as to their discretion to convict the accused of the commission of an offense not specifically set forth in the indictment returned against the accused. Any conviction of the accused for an offense punishable by death shall not be valid unless the offense for which the accused is convicted shall have been set forth in the indictment by section and subsection number of the Code which defined the offense allegedly committed by the accused. 
 

Sources: Laws,  1974, ch. 576, § 6(3); Laws, 1977, ch. 458, § 10, eff from and after passage (approved April 13, 1977).