Title 99, Criminal Procedure

Where parties jointly indicted are tried separately, the party not on trial, shall, in all cases, be a competent witness for the party being tried.

In all trials for assault and battery, or for an assault, the defendant may give in evidence, in excuse or justification, any insulting words used by the person on whom the assault or assault and battery was committed, at the time of the commission thereof, toward the defendant, …

No person shall be tried for capital murder, or any other crime punishable by death as provided by law, unless such offense was specifically cited in the indictment returned against the accused by setting forth the section and subsection number of the Code defining the offense al…

Upon the trial of an indictment for bribery, it shall not be necessary to prove the conviction of any offender, for the offense in relation to which any agreement or understanding, prohibited by sections appearing in Title 97, Mississippi Code of 1972, dealing with bribery, shall…

If any person offend against any of the provisions of Sections 97-39-1 to 97-39-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, headed Dueling, such person shall be a competent witness against any other person offending in the same transaction, and may be compelled to appear and give evidence in t…

On the trial of all indictments for gambling or gaming or operating a bucket-shop or dealing in contracts commonly called “futures,” the state shall not be confined in the proof to a single violation, but under the indictment charging a single offense may give in evidence any one…

No person shall be excused from attending and testifying before a grand jury, or before any court, or in any cause or proceeding, criminal or otherwise based upon or growing out of any alleged violation of the provisions of law as to gambling or gaming, or as to operating a bucke…

The purchaser of any lottery ticket, or device in the nature of a lottery ticket, shall be a competent witness against the person from whom the same was purchased, and may be compelled to testify, but shall thereby be exempted from prosecution for buying or having the same.

In capital cases the defendant and the state shall each be allowed twelve peremptory challenges. In cases not capital the accused and the state each shall be allowed six peremptory challenges; but all peremptory challenges by the state shall be made before the juror is presented …

Upon the trial of a person charged with any of the crimes named and defined in Sections 97-7-45 through 97-7-57, Mississippi Code of 1972, relating to offenses affecting the legislature, a person otherwise competent as a witness shall not be excused from testifying as such concer…

In prosecutions for perjury, where the indictment charges that the defendant was duly sworn at the time he is averred to have testified falsely, it shall not be a variance if the proof show he was affirmed, and vice versa.

The judge in any criminal cause, shall not sum up or comment on the testimony, or charge the jury as to the weight of evidence; but at the request of either party he shall instruct the jury upon the principles of law applicable to the case. All instructions asked by either party …

All papers read in evidence on the trial of any cause may be carried from the bar by the jury.

On the trial of prosecutions for any crime or misdemeanor, it shall be the duty of the judge to sign any bill of exceptions tendered by the defendant during the progress thereof, if the truth of the case be fairly stated therein, and the said exceptions shall be a part of the rec…

Bills of exceptions to any ruling of the court, made before the jury retires from the box, must be tendered and signed during the trial, or during the term of the court, and bills of exceptions to judgments overruling motions for new trials must be presented to the judge for his …

If the judge shall refuse to sign a bill of exceptions to an opinion, decision, or charge given or made on the trial of any cause or motion, when the bill of exceptions is tendered to him, it shall be lawful for two attorneys at law who may be present at the time of the giving or…

Bills of exception, with the approval of the trial judge, may be amended at any time before the hearing on appeal, for the purpose of curing omissions, defects, or inaccuracy; but no such amendment shall be made until the parties interested shall have been given five days’ notice…

Every new trial granted shall be on such terms as the court shall direct. No more than two new trials shall be granted to the same party in any cause.

When a motion for a new trial shall be granted or refused, either party may reduce to writing the reasons offered for said new trial, together with the substance of the evidence in the case, and also the decision of the court on said motion, and tender the same as a bill of excep…

Defendants tried jointly must agree in their challenges made without cause, and shall be entitled to only the number to which one defendant is entitled.

In all criminal cases wherein the defendant is a Limited English Proficient (LEP) individual, the court shall appoint a qualified interpreter as provided in Section 9-21-80, sworn truly to interpret, and allow him a reasonable compensation, as set by the court, payable out of the…

In criminal cases the presence of the prisoner may be waived (a) if the defendant is in custody and consenting thereto, or (b) is on recognizance or bail, has been arrested and escaped, or has been notified in writing by the proper officer of the pendency of the indictment agains…