MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2001 Regular Session

To: Judiciary B

By: Representative Compretta

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-23-93, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THE IMPOSITION OF ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR CONVICTIONS OF SHOPLIFTING VIOLATIONS; TO PROVIDE THAT, WHEN DETERMINING THE IMPOSITION OF A SENTENCE FOR A SECOND, THIRD OR SUBSEQUENT CONVICTION, AN INDICTMENT FOR A SHOPLIFTING VIOLATION SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO ENUMERATE PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS BUT ONLY THAT IT STATE THE NUMBER OF TIMES THAT THE DEFENDANT HAS BEEN CONVICTED AND SENTENCED; TO PROVIDE THAT EVEN IF THE SENTENCE IMPOSED FOR A PREVIOUS VIOLATION DID NOT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THAT THE VIOLATION WAS A SECOND, THIRD OR SUBSEQUENT CONVICTION, THE COURT SHALL CONSIDER ALL PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS WHEN IMPOSING THE SENTENCE FOR A SUBSEQUENT CONVICTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 97-23-93, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

97-23-93. (1) Any person who shall willfully and unlawfully take possession of any merchandise owned or held by and offered or displayed for sale by any merchant, store or other mercantile establishment with the intention and purpose of converting such merchandise to his own use without paying the merchant's stated price therefor shall be guilty of the crime of shoplifting and, upon conviction, shall be punished as is provided in this section.

(2) The requisite intention to convert merchandise without paying the merchant's stated price for the merchandise is presumed, and shall be prima facie evidence thereof, when such person, alone or in concert with another person, willfully:

(a) Conceals the unpurchased merchandise;

(b) Removes or causes the removal of unpurchased merchandise from a store or other mercantile establishment;

(c) Alters, transfers or removes any price-marking, any other marking which aids in determining value affixed to the unpurchased merchandise, or any tag or device used in electronic surveillance of unpurchased merchandise;

(d) Transfers the unpurchased merchandise from one (1) container to another; or

(e) Causes the cash register or other sales recording device to reflect less than the merchant's stated price for the unpurchased merchandise.

(3) Evidence of stated price or ownership of merchandise may include, but is not limited to:

(a) The actual merchandise or the container which held the merchandise alleged to have been shoplifted; or

(b) The content of the price tag or marking from such merchandise; or

(c) Properly identified photographs of such merchandise.

(4) Any merchant or his agent or employee may testify at a trial as to the stated price or ownership of merchandise.

(5) A person convicted of shoplifting merchandise for which the merchant's stated price is less than or equal to Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) shall be punished as follows:

(a) Upon a first shoplifting conviction the defendant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($750.00), or punished by imprisonment not to exceed thirty (30) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(b) Upon a second shoplifting conviction the defendant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or punished by imprisonment not to exceed ninety (90) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(6) Upon a third or subsequent shoplifting conviction the defendant shall be guilty of a felony and fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or imprisoned for a term not exceeding five (5) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(7) A person convicted of shoplifting merchandise for which the merchant's stated price exceeds Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, punished as provided in Section 97-17-41 for the offense of grand larceny.

(8) In determining the number of prior shoplifting convictions for purposes of imposing punishment under this section, the court shall disregard all such convictions occurring more than seven (7) years prior to the shoplifting offense in question. For purposes of determining how to impose the sentence for a second, third or subsequent conviction under this section, the indictment shall not be required to enumerate previous convictions. It shall only be necessary that the indictment state the number of times that the defendant has been convicted and sentenced within the past seven (7) years under this section to determine if an enhanced penalty shall be imposed. Regardless of whether the sentence imposed for a previous violation took into consideration that such violation was a second, third or subsequent conviction, the court, in imposing the sentence for any subsequent conviction, shall consider all previous convictions for purposes of determining the sentence for such subsequent conviction. The amount of fine and imprisonment imposed in previous convictions shall not be considered in calculating offenses to determine a second, third or subsequent violation of this section.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2001.