Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Travis Keithley was convicted for aggravated assault. On appeal, he argued that it was plain error to admit into evidence the "statements" of two anonymous people, that the verdict was not supported by the evidence, and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed Keithley's conviction and sentence, and dismissed his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims without prejudice. View "Keithley v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Twonia Renee Williams was convicted for the murder of Katrina Sergeant. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MADOC). On appeal, Williams contended that jury instructions S-2A, S-4, and/or S-6 were given in error. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that the circuit court erred in granting instruction S-4, and such error could not be considered harmless in this case. Therefore, Williams's conviction and sentence were reversed and the case remanded for a new trial. View "Williams v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the conviction and sentence in the first trial in this case in 2009, and remanded the case to the trial court, finding that the defendant, Tomarcus Fulks, had been entitled to a continuance based on the State's untimely disclosure of a key witness. In 2011, a jury reconvicted Fulks of armed robbery and acquitted him of aggravated assault. He received a sentence of thirty-five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). On appeal, Fulks argued: (1) the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce Fulks's prior testimony from his first trial; (2) the trial court erred in denying Fulks's motion for recusal; (3) the trial court erred in allowing the prosecutor to inform the jury that coindictee Joshua Glenn had entered a plea of guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting after the fact; and (4) the trial court erred when it allowed prior testimony of State's witness Sherry Franks, who was found to be "unavailable" for trial, into evidence. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Fulks v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

David Parvin appealed his murder conviction, characterizing his arguments as "a 'Weathersby' case with a 'Daubert' twist." Parvin maintained that his wife's death was caused by accident, and the State's principal evidence refuting his defense at trial consisted of expert testimony, accompanied by a computer-generated reconstruction of the scene of her demise. The State argued that the experts' opinions about the physical evidence proved the victim was intentionally killed. Although the Supreme Court found no merit in Parvin's Weathersby claim, the Court agreed that certain expert testimony and the visual depiction of that testimony should not have been presented to the jury. Because this evidence severely prejudiced Parvin's defense, the Court reversed the conviction and remand the case to the Circuit Court for a new trial. View "Parvin v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Christopher Taylor was convicted of one count of burglary and one count of larceny. He appealed his conviction and sentence, raising three issues: (1) whether the trial court erred by allowing the State's impeachment evidence; (2) whether the evidence was legally sufficient to support his convictions; and (3) whether the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed Taylor's conviction and sentence. View "Taylor v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Appellant David Javarious Jamison "Jamie" Renfro was convicted of armed robbery. The victim testified that Renfro entered her trailer home and robbed her at gunpoint. A second eyewitness corroborated most of the victim's testimony. The jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict, and Renfro was sentenced to twenty years in prison, with five years suspended. On appeal, Renfro argued that the verdict was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and therefore, he was entitled to a new trial. Because the Supreme Court found that it was well-supported by the weight of the evidence, the Court upheld the jury's verdict. View "Renfro v.Mississippi" on Justia Law

Derrick Burdette was indicted and tried for the murder of Herman Smith. The jury acquitted him of murder but found him guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter. Burdette was sentenced to a twenty-year term in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), to run consecutively with a sentence he already was serving for an unrelated offense. On appeal, Burdette argued: (1) that the jury verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and (2) that his Confrontation Clause rights were violated at trial. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the jury verdict was not against the weight of the evidence. While the Court found error amounting to the violation of Burdette's right to confront the witnesses against him, the error did not result in a manifest miscarriage of justice. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court. View "Burdette v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Defendant Tyrell Williams was convicted of sexual battery and sentenced to twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). On appeal, he argued that he did not knowingly waive his constitutional rights, and the trial court therefore erred in denying his motion to suppress his inculpatory statement. Because the trial judge applied an incorrect legal standard at the suppression hearing, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case for a new suppression hearing and a new trial. View "Williams v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Rico Veazy and Brandon Mosley were convicted of armed robbery and were sentenced to eight and ten years, respectively, in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections after being tried together in circuit court. The robbery involved a vehicle belonging to Veazy but undergoing repairs by mechanic Jimmy Smith, who testified that the vehicle was taken from his repair shop by gunpoint. Finding no merit in any of the defendants' issues raised on appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's judgment. View "Veazy v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Freddie Webber, Jr., was convicted of the sale or transfer of cocaine and was sentenced as a habitual offender to a term of thirty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) without eligibility for probation or parole. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed Webber's conviction and sentence. View "Webber v. Mississippi" on Justia Law