Jefferson v. State

MAXWELL, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. In 2009, the Mississippi Legislature created a statutory right to compensation by the State for “innocent people” wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. The following year, Dennis Jefferson petitioned for statutory compensation. Jefferson claimed he was entitled to compensation because this court reversed his burglary conviction in 2008 and, under the direct-remand rule, remanded his case to the circuit court for resentencing for the lesser-included crime of willful trespass. Because the Legislature did not expressly provide for compensation when reversal of a…