Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in Constitutional Law
by
In this case, the Supreme Court of Mississippi heard an appeal by Christopher Stewart who was convicted on two counts of sexual battery against his two preteen nieces. Stewart argued that he was entitled to a new trial because he was not physically present at a pretrial tender-years hearing due to COVID-19 restrictions and also claimed that the evidence presented was insufficient. The court affirmed both convictions and sentences. It held that Stewart's virtual attendance at the hearing due to the COVID-19 pandemic did not constitute reversible error as he was able to cross-examine the witnesses at the trial where he was physically present. The court referred to a similar case (Kentucky v. Stincer) where the Supreme Court found no Confrontation Clause or due-process violation for a defendant's exclusion from a pretrial hearing. As for the sufficiency of the evidence, the court rejected Stewart's claim that the State had to prove all three methods of penetration (vaginal, anal, and oral) as charged in the indictment. The court found that there was evidence of all three types of penetration and, in any case, the State only needed to prove one form of penetration to establish the offense of sexual battery. View "Christopher Stewart v. State of Mississippi" on Justia Law

by
In 2004, De’Andre Dampier was convicted of a capital murder committed during an auto-dealership robbery when he was 16 years old. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole, which was the only statutory sentence available at the time. In 2012, the United States Supreme Court ruled that imposing mandatory life-without-parole sentences on juveniles violates the Eighth Amendment. Based on this ruling, the Supreme Court of Mississippi granted Dampier’s request to seek post-conviction relief from his life-without-parole sentence. However, before the trial court addressed any of the factors from the US Supreme Court decision, it vacated Dampier’s life-without-parole sentence. Dampier then requested that a jury be convened to decide if he should be sentenced to life with or without parole, but the trial judge denied this request. After a hearing in which the trial judge considered the factors from the US Supreme Court decision, the judge reimposed a sentence of life in prison without parole.The Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed the decisions of the lower courts, holding that Dampier did not have a statutory right to be sentenced by a jury. The court emphasized that the decision to be made by the trial court was whether Dampier was entitled to post-conviction relief from his life-without-parole sentence, imposed for a crime committed when he was a juvenile. The court also agreed with the lower courts that the trial judge did not err by denying Dampier’s request for jury sentencing. Furthermore, the court agreed with the lower courts that the trial court did not err by ruling that, after a careful consideration of the factors from the US Supreme Court decision, life without parole was an appropriate sentence for Dampier’s crime. View "Dampier v. State of Mississippi" on Justia Law

by
In February 2003, Devin Bennett was found guilty of capital murder, and a jury sentenced him to death. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Bennett’s conviction and sentence on appeal. In 2006, Bennett sought leave from the Court to file a motion for post-conviction relief. The Supreme Court ultimately determined that Bennett was entitled to seek post-conviction relief on his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel during the penalty phase of his trial. Bennett filed his PCR petition on October 1, 2008, and an amended petition on May 16, 2012. On March 25, 2021, the circuit court held an evidentiary hearing, and it ultimately denied Bennett’s amended petition. Bennett appealed again, but the Supreme Court upheld the denial: "while counsel might be faulted for not more thoroughly investigating the alternative mitigation case Bennett presented at the PCR hearing, we cannot find any reasonable probability that doing so would have led to a different outcome. In fact, although Bennett had fifteen years to assemble an alternative mitigation case, we agree with the trial judge that the additional evidence would have hurt Bennett more than it helped him." View "Bennett v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

by
Nathan Lollis and his codefendants, Marcel Smith and Charles Wells, were convicted by jury of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Lollis received a life sentence for murder and twenty years for conspiracy to commit murder. The trial court denied Lollis’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, a new trial. He appealed, raising sufficiency of the evidence as the sole issue on appeal. Finding no error, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed. View "Lollis v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

by
In August 2023, the Mississippi Supreme Court granted Kelton Hathorne Sr.’s petition for writ of certiorari. Hathorne appealed a circuit court order that denied his motion for post-conviction collateral relief. On appeal, Hathorne argued his indictment was defective because it failed to charge a crime. The Court of Appeals agreed that the indictment was defective; however, it determined Hathorne’s claim was procedurally barred under the Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act and, thus, affirmed the circuit court’s order. After review, the Supreme Court found the Court of Appeals erred by affirming the judgment of the circuit court and that Hathorne’s claim was not procedurally barred. The case was remanded for further proceedings. View "Hathorne v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

by
Jackson Federation of Teachers (JFT) filed a complaint against the Jackson Public School District (JPS), alleging alleged that certain JPS policies violated the free speech rights of its employees. The trial court: (1) denied JPS’s motion to dismiss for lack of standing; (2) denied JPS’s motion to dismiss for mootness; (3) found that JPS’s three policies were in violation of article 3, section 11, and article 3, section 13, of the Mississippi Constitution; and (4) issued a permanent injunction enjoining JPS from enforcing the policies. JPS timely appealed. Because JFT failed to establish standing, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s decision and rendered judgment in favor of JPS. View "Jackson Public School District v. Jackson Federation of Teachers, et al." on Justia Law

by
Charlie Harris appealed his life sentence and the trial court’s denial of his motion for reconsideration. In 2001, Harris was convicted of depraved heart murder and sentenced to life without parole. His conviction and life-without-parole sentence were affirmed on appeal. The trial court did resentence Harris to life in prison: "It appears that Mr. Harris has been an exemplary prisoner while he was incarcerated. However, the sentence of the [trial] [c]ourt at the time was that of murder. At the time of his sentence, there was no differentiation between depraved heart murder and deliberate design murder. The appellate courts have already addressed this issue and it was not—the sentencing was not retroactive. This court will sentence the Defendant according to the law at the time that he went to trial and was originally sentenced and should be sentenced, in this Court’s estimation. The Defendant will be sentenced to a term of life in prison." In his amended motion for reconsideration, Harris argued his life sentence exceeded the current maximum sentence for a depraved heart murder conviction under the Louisiana legislature’s revisions to the murder statutes. Harris asked the trial court to set aside his life sentence and grant him a new sentencing hearing. The trial court denied the motion. Harris timely appealed. Finding no reversible error, the Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed the trial court. View "Harris v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

by
Leslie “Bo” Galloway’s was convicted by jury of the capital murder of Shakeylia Anderson. Galloway’s conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Mississippi Supreme Court on direct appeal. His motion for rehearing was subsequently denied, and he sought relief from the United States Supreme Court by way of a petition for writ of certiorari, which was denied on May 27, 2014. Galloway returned to the Mississippi Supreme Court with a Motion for Leave to Proceed in the Trial Court with a Petition for Post-Conviction Relief, and his subsequently filed Motion for Leave to Proceed in the Trial Court with Amended Petition for Post-Conviction Relief. The Supreme Court treated both filings together as one and referred to it as Galloway’s amended petition for post-conviction relief. Finding no error, the Court denied his amended petition. View "Galloway v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

by
A jury sentenced Stephen Powers to death for the attempted rape and murder of Elizabeth Lafferty. After the Mississippi Supreme Court denied post-conviction relief, Powers sought federal habeas relief at the federal district court. The district court stayed federal habeas proceedings to give the Mississippi courts an opportunity to rule on unexhausted claims. In general, Powers argued: (1) he was mentally incompetent; (2) he was denied his right to a fair, impartial jury; (3) trial counsel was ineffective during jury selection for not challenging the prosecution’s peremptory strikes based on Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986); (4) as a matter of federal due process, the attempted-rape evidence was insufficient; (5) trial and post-conviction counsel were ineffective concerning the guilt phase; (6) trial counsel’s “total dereliction” at sentencing requires application of United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648 (1984), not Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984); (7) even if Cronic was inapplicable, trial counsel was ineffective under Strickland; and (8) cumulative error. Taking each issue raised under careful consideration, the Mississippi Supreme Court denied Powers' request for postconviction relief. View "Powers v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

by
This appeal stemmed from the Mississippi Legislature’s passing and the Governor’s signing of House Bill 1020. The catalyst for the Legislature’s passing of House Bill 1020 was described as the “sweltering, undisputed and suffocating” crime problem in Jackson, Mississippi—a problem that has “crippled the criminal justice system.” While political and social controversy surrounded this bill, the bulk of the bill’s provisions, which are aimed at improving public safety and bolstering judicial resources in Jackson, were not at issue. Section 1 of House Bill 1020, directed the Mississippi Supreme Court’s Chief Justice to appoint four additional (and unelected) circuit judges to the existing Seventh Circuit Court District—the district comprised of the City of Jackson and all of Hinds County—for a term ending December 31, 2026. The second challenged provision, Section 4 of House Bill 1020, was a more ambitious endeavor that created a new statutory inferior court, much like a municipal court, to serve the CCID. Petitioners, and Jackson residents, Ann Saunders, Sabreen Sharrief, and Dorothy Triplett (collectively, Saunders) claimed both provisions violated Mississippi’s Constitution. The Hinds County Chancellor J. Dewayne Thomas, who held hearings on Saunders’s challenges, disagreed and dismissed her complaint. Saunders appealed. After review, the Supreme Court agreed with the chancellor that the creation of the CCID inferior court in Section 4 of House Bill 1020 was constitutional. But the Court agreed with Saunders that Section 1’s creation of four new appointed “temporary special circuit judges” in the Seventh Circuit Court District for a specified, almost-four-year term violated the State Constitution’s requirement that circuit judges be elected for a four-year term. View "Saunders, et al. v. Mississippi" on Justia Law