Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Over two years after his trial, Defendant Patrick Coleman was ordered to a retrospective mental competency hearing by the Court of Appeals because he erroneously had been denied a pretrial one. Finding that the nunc pro tunc competency hearing did not adequately protect Defendant's due process rights, the Supreme Court reversed the appellate and trial courts' decisions and remanded this case back to the trial court for a new trial. View "Coleman v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Natasha Graham for murder and conspiracy to commit murder for which she was sentenced to life in prison. On appeal, she challenged the sufficiency of the evidence at trial. Finding the evidence sufficient for the jury to convict her, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Graham v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Ground Control, LLC appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Capsco Industries, W.G. Yates & Sons Construction and Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. The parties contracted to build the "Margaritaville Spa and Hotel" in Biloxi. The circuit court held in part that Ground Control's failure to obtain a certificate of responsibility rendered its contract with Capsco null and void. After its review of the circuit court record, the Supreme Court agreed (and affirmed) that the lack of the certificate of responsibility rendered the contract null and void. However, the Court reversed the grant of summary judgment in part so that the circuit court could determine whether Ground Control was entitled to recover based on claims of unjust enrichment and/or quantum meruit. View "Ground Control, LLC v. Capsco Industries, Inc." on Justia Law

Defendants Pam Wood, David Wood, Justin Wood, Josh Wood and Jacob Wood filed an interlocutory appeal for the Supreme Court to determine whether the circuit court abused its discretion in denying their motion to transfer this case to another county. The underlying case involved a car accident in which a question arose over who was covered by an insurance policy. Defendant Pam Wood applied for the coverage in Covington County; the application was faxed from an insurance agent's office in Covington to Plaintiff Safeway Insurance Company's Rankin County office where it was approved. Safeway opposed the transfer of venue. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that Safeway could not demonstrate sufficient facts to support that venue was proper in Rankin County. Therefore the Court reversed the circuit court's order and remanded the case with instructions to transfer it to a permissible venue. View "Wood v. Safeway Insurance Co." on Justia Law

Fifteen-year old Lester Lavon Parker, Jr. was convicted for the murder of his grandfather James Shelton. He appealed his sentence to serve the remainder of his "natural life." The issues on appeal to the Supreme Court were: whether the trial court erred in admitting certain photographs at trial; whether the conviction was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence; and whether the sentence violated the Eighth Amendment. The Court affirmed Parker's conviction but vacated his sentence and remanded the case to the trial court to determine whether Parker should have been sentenced to "life imprisonment" or "life imprisonment with eligibility for parole." View "Parker v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case centered on whether federal law preempted state law from taxing medical equipment sold to individuals covered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan or its participating insurance carriers. The Court concluded that the state tax on Mobility Medical Inc.'s gross sales was not a tax on the Plan or any other health-benefits plan. View "Mobility Medical, Inc. v. Mississippi Dept. of Revenue" on Justia Law

Leslie "Bo" Galloway was convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection for the murder of Shakeylia Anderson. Galloway appealed to the Supreme Court, listing thirty evidentiary and procedural errors, and that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. In an one-hundred page opinion, the Supreme Court took each in turn and ultimately concluded that all of Galloway's arguments were without merit. View "Galloway v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

The Forrest County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance requiring oil and gas facilities located within the county be fenced in. Delphi Oil, Inc. appealed a circuit court order that upheld the Board's ordinance, arguing that the regulatory authority of the State Oil and Gas Board (OGB) preempted any local regulations of oil and gas activity. The Supreme Court found the state law did not preempt the local ordinance, and affirmed. View "Delphi Oil, Inc. v. Forrest County Board of Supervisors" on Justia Law

Mari Lynn Hays (Alexander) appealed the denial of a motion for contempt and modification of alimony and child-support in her capacity as conservator for Lon Frederick ("Rick") Alexander, II, her adult son. In it, she sought unpaid alimony and child-support payments, and additional financial support from her former husband Lon Frederick Alexander. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the chancery court did not abuse its discretion by declining to require Lon to provide post-majority financial support for Rick. View " Hays (Alexander) v. Alexander" on Justia Law

Tevin James Benjamin was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Benjamin was convicted for his alleged role in a failed carjacking that ended when an accomplice fatally wounded one of the victims. Benjamin appealed, arguing that his statement to police was taken in violation of his Miranda rights. Agreeing, the Supreme Court reversed Benjamin's conviction and sentence and remanded the case for a new trial. View " Benjamin v. Mississippi" on Justia Law