James Earnest Watts v. State of Mississippi

IRVING, P.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. James Earnest Watts appeals the judgment of the Marion County Circuit Court, denying his motion for modification of his sentence. 1

FACTS

¶ 2. On April 19, 1994, the grand jury of Marion County indicted Watts for killing Vanessa Nicole Lumpkin, a female child under the age of twelve years old, while in the commission of sexual battery in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-19(2)(e) (Supp. 2018). In August 1996, a jury convicted Watts of capital murder and decided that he should receive the death penalty. Watts appealed; the Mississippi Supreme…