A DeSoto County judge on Tuesday yanked back a long-suspended sentence and ordered 66-year-old Memphis resident Terry Charles Smith to serve 19 years and 223 days in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The move comes after a new indictment in Shelby County and reactivates a sentence tied to a 2008 guilty plea in DeSoto County for sexual battery of a child.
Case details and court action
According to the DeSoto County District Attorney's Office, cited by Darkhorse Press, Smith pleaded guilty in 2008 to sexual battery of a minor under the age of 13. After he was indicted in Shelby County on a separate charge of aggravated sexual battery of a minor, the state petitioned the DeSoto County Circuit Court to revoke his suspended sentence and have him returned to MDOC custody.
Prosecutor's statement
Assistant District Attorney Steven Jubera, who prosecuted the revocation on behalf of the state, told Darkhorse Press that "Child predators cannot escape justice by crossing state lines." He said the court imposed the maximum revocation allowed by law and described the outcome as one that lowers the community risk posed by repeat offenders.
What the law allows
Under Mississippi law, a court may cancel a suspended sentence and require a defendant to serve the previously suspended time, a remedy spelled out in Mississippi Code §99-19-29 and available on Justia. That statute and state case law give judges discretion to "annul and vacate" a suspension when a proper showing establishes that the defendant violated the terms of the suspension.
What happens next
Smith remains under indictment in Shelby County on aggravated sexual battery, and any conviction there could trigger separate proceedings and penalties. DeSoto County prosecutors, who have in recent months sought stiff sentences in child exploitation cases, handled the revocation; for background on the office's approach to similar prosecutions, see local reporting by DeSoto County News.
