Brett Jones v. State of Mississippi, 2015-KA-00899-COA

Brett A. Jones, age 15 at the time, was convicted of deliberate-design murder for stabbing his grandfather multiple times and was sentenced to life without parole.
After Miller v. Alabama, Mississippi courts held juvenile lifewithout-parole sentences require consideration of youth-related mitigating factors; Jones was remanded for a Miller-compliant resentencing hearing.
On remand the circuit court appointed counsel and permitted Jones to present witnesses and evidence about his abusive home life, mental-health issues, schooling, and rehabilitation while incarcerated. Jones presented family testimony and a corrections supervisor; no medical records or expert mental-health testimony was introduced.
The sentencing judge heard testimony, expressly stated he considered the Miller factors (age, family environment, offense circumstances, competency, rehabilitation), found the murder particularly brutal and efforts to conceal it, and concluded Jones was not entitled to parole eligibility.
Jones appealed, raising (1) failure to apply Miller’s presumption and consider each factor, (2) right to a jury at the Miller hearing, (3) entitlement to parole eligibility because he is not irretrievably depraved, and (4) categorical challenge to juvenile life-without-parole. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Jones's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the resentencing judge failed to apply Miller and consider each Miller/Parker factor	Judge omitted Miller's presumption against LWOP and did not address every factor on the record	Judge expressly stated he considered each Miller factor and applied them non-arbitrarily	Affirmed — judge conducted required hearing, considered Miller factors, and findings supported by evidence
Whether Jones was entitled to a jury at the Miller hearing	Jones: constitutional right to jury for resentencing	State: no constitutional or statutory right to jury at a Miller hearing	Affirmed — no right to a jury on resentencing hearing
Whether Jones is entitled to parole eligibility because he is not irretrievably depraved	Jones: his youth, background, mental-health issues, and rehabilitation show he is not irreparably corrupt	State: evidence (brutal stabbing, concealment, lack of compelling mitigating proof) supports denial; burden on offender to prove entitlement	Affirmed — court reasonably found Jones not among the "rarest" irreparably corrupt juveniles
Whether LWOP for all offenders under 18 is categorically prohibited	Jones: constitutional ban for all juvenile LWOP sentences	State: Miller and Mississippi precedent do not categorically bar LWOP for juveniles	Affirmed — no categorical prohibition; Miller requires individualized consideration only

Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012) (Eighth Amendment forbids mandatory life without parole for juveniles; sentencer must consider youth-related mitigators)
Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718 (2016) (Miller announced substantive rule; LWOP disproportionate except for the rare juvenile whose crime reflects irreparable corruption)
Parker v. State, 119 So. 3d 987 (Miss. 2013) (Mississippi requires consideration of Miller factors for juvenile deliberate-design murder sentences)
Jones v. State, 122 So. 3d 698 (Miss. 2013) (remanding Brett Jones for Miller-compliant resentencing)
Hudspeth v. State, 179 So. 3d 1226 (Miss. Ct. App. 2015) (appellate review of Miller-based resentencing is for abuse of discretion)