"Mr. Taylor has served more than 10 years of his sentence, and further service of this sentence in excess of the five-year statutory maximum constitutes a mischarge of justice," Reeves wrote on Facebook.
The attorney general's motion to vacate wouldn't have any effect on Taylor. But it could mean that in similar instances, his case would be unusable in court.
"They want to vacate the opinion so that it doesn't create a precedent for other criminal defendants who are similarly situated," said Joe Hemleben, Taylor's attorney. "I believe there are there are others who would benefit from a path to to release. Many others, I'm sure."
It's a path that was difficult for Taylor. A 2023 case, Howell v. Mississippi, means that in Mississippi, courts may have to leave an unconstitutional sentence in place if a person files for relief past a deadline.
Previously, Hemleben told MPB, defendants in Mississippi had a "fundamental rights exception" that allowed them to seek relief regardless of time lapsed. Howell v. Mississippi got rid of those exceptions for statutory limits with post-conviction relief.
And Taylor didn't file for relief within the limits in his case: that's why the state's Court of Appeals initially left his sentence in place earlier this year, even though his sentence was itself unlawful.
The court reversed itself last month, though, ordering his release in an 8-2 decision.
"In sentencing Taylor to a term of fifteen years—ten beyond the maximum—the trial court exceeded its jurisdiction," the court wrote in late November. "When a trial court acts outside the scope of its authority, its actions are void."
"As over a century of precedent firmly establishes, our Judiciary has the inherent power to correct this error, and therefore we reverse and render."
Before the new motion to vacate, Taylor said the attorney general's office had originally called for a rehearing -- which could have kept Taylor incarcerated even longer during those arguments, had the governor not signed his clemency order.
"Now, I'm surprised personally that the AG's office didn't confess error here because it's such a clear violation of a a citizen's rights," Hemleben told MPB. "To me, it's unfortunate that we're still having to argue a little bit about the state of the law."
In the motion for a rehearing, the state said it wasn't challenging the final decision in Taylor's case, but argued that it conflicted with the state Supreme Court's decision in Howell v. Mississippi.
As of this year, Taylor served five more years than the law allows. MPB reached out to Attorney General Lynn Fitch's office, which did not return requests for comment before publication.
