Mississippi § 99-19-157 - Victim impact statement.

§ 99-19-157. Victim impact statement.

If a court orders the preparation of a presentence evaluation report on a defendant in a felony case, the presentence investigator shall prepare a written victim impact statement for the court which shall be appended to such report. The statement shall include applicable information obtained during consultation with the victim or the victim representative. If the victim or victim representative cannot be located or declines to cooperate in the preparation of the statement, the presentence investigator shall include a notation to that effect in the statement. If there are multiple victims and preparation of individual victim impact statements is not feasible, the presentence investigator may submit one or more representative statements. If a court does not order the preparation of a presentence evaluation report on a defendant in a felony case, the victim or victim representative may also submit a victim impact statement in one or both of the following ways: With the permission of the trial court, the victim may present an oral victim impact statement at any sentencing hearing. However, where there are multiple victims, the court may limit the number of oral victim impact statements. The victim may submit a written statement to the prosecuting attorney, who shall present such statement to the trial judge prior to sentencing.