Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

HansaWorld USA, Inc. (HansaWorld) registered a foreign judgment with a Mississippi circuit court against Kimberlee Davenport from an award ordered by a court in Florida on claims of conversion and extortion. Davenport, a former employee of HansaWorld, also maintained claims against HansaWorld in a separate action before a federal district court in Mississippi alleging several violations of state and federal law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for sexual harassment and discrimination. HansaWorld sought to collect on its foreign judgment by petitioning the circuit court to sell Davenport’s Employment Action, so the circuit court entered a Writ of Execution. With the Employment Action set to be auctioned off by the Forrest County sheriff, Davenport filed an Emergency Motion to Quash Writ of Execution mere days before the scheduled sale. At a hearing on the motion, the circuit court granted Davenport’s motion to quash on the condition that she post a $100,000 bond by that afternoon, the day of the scheduled sheriff’s sale. Davenport failed to post the conditional bond, and as a result, the sheriff sold her Employment Action to the highest bidder, HansaWorld, for $1,000. Following sale of her Employment Action, Davenport appealed to the Supreme Court. Having determined that the circuit court’s order was a final, appealable judgment and that the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear the appeal, the Supreme Court concluded that Davenport waived her right to challenge the circuit court’s imposition of the bond on appeal because she failed to challenge the bond before the circuit court. View "Davenport v. Hansaworld, USA, Inc." on Justia Law

After a nearby ditch began to erode causing significant property damage and mold-related health issues, Plaintiffs John and Patsy O’Callaghan filed an inverse condemnation action under the Takings Clause of the Mississippi Constitution, requesting that the City of Tupelo compensate the couple for both personal injuries and significant property loss. The City presented an interlocutory appeal challenging the County Court’s order denying its motion for summary judgment on the matter. Finding that personal injuries were not recoverable in a claim under the Takings Clause and that the three-year limitations period under Mississippi Code Section 15-1-49 was applicable to takings claims, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s ruling, rendering a decision for the City. View "City of Tupelo v. O'Callaghan" on Justia Law

Justin Crockett pled guilty in Panola County Justice Court to headlighting a deer. Crockett appealed his conviction to the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Panola County. After a bench trial de novo, that court found Crockett guilty. Crockett then appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court, arguing solely that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction. Finding sufficient evidence in the record to sustain Crockett’s conviction, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Crockett v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

On the morning of his client’s trial, defense attorney A. Randall Harris tried to withdraw as counsel. When the judge declined his request, Harris told the judge he was “wrong” for doing so, and he “was not going to participate” in the trial. Harris’s refusal to abide by the court’s order forced a continuance. And the judge held him in direct criminal contempt. Harris appealed, but the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment finding Harris guilty of direct criminal contempt and ordering Harris to pay a $100 fine and $1,200 for the cost of the jury venire. View "Harris v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

The Mississippi Supreme Court has held “that the first court to properly take jurisdiction of a wrongful death action in our state courts shall, so long as the action is pending, have exclusive jurisdiction, and any other subsequently-filed action for the same death shall be of no effect.” Despite this holding, Janice Davis, after filing an action for the wrongful death of her father, Richard Davis, and while that action was pending, filed three additional, separate wrongful-death actions, two of which were against the same defendant. Because these three subsequent actions were of “no effect,” they were properly dismissed. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgments dismissing the three subsequently filed wrongful-death actions. View "Estate of Richard B. Davis v. Blaylock" on Justia Law

In the early-morning hours of New Year's Day 2012, sixteen-year-old Devin Mitchell was shot to death outside the apartment of his cousin, Queenie Walker, at Ridgewood East Apartments in West Point. Mitchell’s family sued Ridgewood East, alleging, inter alia, premises liability. The Circuit Court granted summary judgment to Ridgewood East. Agreeing that no genuine issue of material fact existed with regard to whether Mitchell’s murder was foreseeable to Ridgewood East Apartments, the Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's judgment. View "Mitchell v. Ridgewood East Apartments, LLC" on Justia Law

Charles Crawford, a Mississippi death row inmate, filed a civil lawsuit, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging various federal constitutional claims relating to the anesthetic, a compounded version of pentobarbital not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to be utilized in his execution. After a hearing, the chancery court transferred the case to the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County where the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) renewed its motion to dismiss. The circuit court granted the motion to dismiss, holding that the Section 1983 claims were the same as or similar to issues which were at the time pending in the Mississippi Supreme Court. Because the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County erroneously dismissed Crawford’s Section 1983 lawsuit on the basis of a factual misapprehension, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded back to that court for further proceedings. View "Crawford v. Fisher" on Justia Law

Ceasar Johnson was convicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm and for the 2012 murder of Gregory Johnson. He was sentenced to life in prison. He appealed, arguing: (1) because the State’s case rested solely on conjecture and supposition, and because Ceasar presented a reasonable hypothesis consistent with his innocence, the State presented insufficient evidence to convict Ceasar of first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm; and (2) because the State’s case against Ceasar amounted to nothing more than a hunch, and because Ceasar presented compelling corroborated evidence of a reasonable hypothesis consistent with his innocence, the overwhelming weight of the evidence required a new trial. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Johnson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

A jury convicted James Willie of deliberate design murder. He appealed the conviction, arguing on appeal: (1) that the trial court erred in allowing the State’s ballistic expert to give definitive testimony matching bullets from the crime scene to a gun linked to Willie; (2) that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to the ballistics testimony; (3) that the jury returned a guilty verdict against the overwhelming weight of the evidence; and (4) that the trial court improperly answered a question submitted by the jury. The Supreme Court held that the judge erred in answering a question posed by the jury during deliberations, and reversed Willie’s conviction and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings. View "Willie v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Robert Stratton Sr. filed a replevin action, without bond, against Jerry McKey. Stratton sought to recover an antique truck that he had on McKey’s property for several years. The circuit court granted Stratton relief, conditioned on Stratton paying McKey storage fees. Stratton appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court’s judgment. The Supreme Court held that the circuit court erred in awarding McKey damages for storing Stratton’s truck when McKey never filed a responsive pleading giving Stratton notice that he was seeking damages. Because the Court held that the circuit court erred, it followed that the Court hold the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the circuit court’s judgment. Therefore, the Supreme Court reversed the circuit court’s and Court of Appeals’ decisions, and rendered judgment in favor of Stratton for possession of the truck. View "Stratton v. McKey" on Justia Law