Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Following court-ordered mediation, spouses Gary Rolison and Martha Rolison and Caleb Fryar and his father, Robert Fryar, entered into a mediation settlement agreement that resolved four lawsuits pending between the Rolisons and the Fryars. After a bench trial, the Circuit Court found that the Rolisons had breached the settlement agreement, and the court entered a final judgment pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) and postponed hearing the issue of damages. The Rolisons appealed the final judgment but later dismissed the appeal voluntarily. After the trial on damages, the trial court awarded the Fryars $399,733.02 in damages, including lost profits and attorney fees. The Rolisons appealed, arguing that their jury trial waiver was ineffective, the trial court’s Rule 54(b) certification was erroneous, and the trial court erroneously denied a motion to intervene filed by two interested parties. Because the Rolisons dismissed their appeal from the Rule 54(b) final judgment, those issues were not at issue before the Supreme Court. After further review, the Supreme Court held that the trial court committed no error by finding that the Rolisons had waived their right to a jury trial on damages and attorney fees. Further, the Court rejected the Rolisons’ challenges to the trial court’s awards of damages and attorney fees because those awards were supported by substantial, credible evidence. Therefore, the Court affirmed the trial court. View "Rolison v. Fryar" on Justia Law

A grand jury indicted Jelani Miles for shooting into a vehicle, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and murder. The case proceeded to trial but, after the State had called two witnesses, the circuit judge declared a mistrial. When the parties appeared at a hearing to argue the State’s motion to revoke Miles’s bond while awaiting a new trial, the judge transferred the case to a different county over Miles’s objection. The Mississippi Supreme Court granted Miles’s petition for interlocutory appeal to consider the circuit judge’s authority to transfer venue over Miles’s objection. Because the circuit judge lacked that power, the Court reversed and remanded for a trial in Yazoo County. View "Miles v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In 2011, Jennifer and Josh Carter divorced, and Jennifer was granted legal and physical custody of their daughter Delaney. A year later, Josh filed a motion for modification of custody. The Chancery Court awarded Josh physical custody of Delaney, with the parties sharing joint legal custody. Jennifer appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the chancery court. Jennifer sought review of that judgment on certiorari, arguing that the chancellor erred in not appointing a guardian ad litem, because allegations of neglect arose during the course of the proceedings, making such appointment mandatory. Because there were no charges of neglect or abuse as required under Mississippi Code Section 93-5-23, and because insufficient proof was adduced of abuse or neglect, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals and Chancery Court. View "Carter v. Carter" on Justia Law

In 2012 a jury found James Johnson guilty of aggravated domestic violence against his ex-wife. Johnson’s appeal was assigned to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the judgment and remanded the case, finding that the trial court had erred in admitting evidence of prior bad acts without conducting a proper balancing test. The Supreme Court granted the State’s petition for writ of certiorari. Finding that the Court of Appeals erred in holding that the trial court did not consider the facts contained in offense reports, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeals and reinstated and affirmed Johnson’s conviction. View "Johnson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Before his capital-murder trial, Laqunn Gary moved to suppress his confession, arguing he had not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights. The trial court denied his motion without a hearing. The Supreme Court found that the trial court erred: because Gary had questioned the voluntariness of his confession, he had a due-process right to a suppression hearing. And the State had the burden to prove his confession was in fact voluntary. The Court therefore remanded this case to the trial court to conduct a hearing to determine the admissibility of Gary’s confession. View "Gary v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In 1992, Arvin Rochell was indicted for two counts of capital murder for killing Hazel and Nell McMahan, and for one count of arson. Arvin Rochell, acting pro se, appealed the Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. Rochell styled his petition as a “Motion to Clarify Parole Eligibility” and argued that he was “being unlawfully held in custody due to [the] Mississippi Department of [Corrections’] holding that he is ineligible for parole under [Mississippi Code Section] 47-7-18(1)[.]” Rochell cited the first part of Section 47-7-18(1), which stated that “Each inmate eligible for parole pursuant to Section 47-7-3, shall be released from incarceration to parole supervision on the inmate’s parole eligibility date, without a hearing before the board, if . . .” Relying on this language, Rochell argued that all parole-eligible inmates like himself “are now subject to the new parole release procedures in 47-7-18.” He further argued that the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) was incorrect when it determined that Section 47-7-18 applied only to inmates sentenced after July 1, 2014, the date that Section 47-7-18 took effect. Rochell argued Section 47-7-18 applied retroactively to all parole-eligible offenders. The Supreme Court concluded that 47-7-18(1) did not apply retroactively to Rochell's case, and affirmed the Circuit Court's denial of post-conviction relief. View "Rochell v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

A jury found defendant Douglas Walters guilty of grand larceny, and he was sentenced to serve ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Walters appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in its application of the grand-larceny statute, in quashing a codefendant’s subpoena, and in admitting unauthenticated hearsay into evidence. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Walters v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Robert “Bay Bay” Carson of capital murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, all of which arose from the 2012 shooting death of Juan Ortiz during an armed robbery. Carson received a life sentence without the possibility of parole for his capital-murder conviction, a ten-year sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm, and a five-year sentence for conspiracy to commit armed robbery. On appeal, Carson argued that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request an instruction regarding the unreliability of accomplice testimony and that there was a “reasonable probability” that there would have been a different outcome at trial if counsel had requested the instruction. He also argued that he was entitled to receive his proposed instruction D-6. Find his arguments to be without merit, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed his convictions. View "Carson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In 2013, Chaddy Brooks looked through her boyfriend’s phone and saw text messages from another woman. The couple got into an argument that later became physical, and ended with Brooks stabbing the boyfriend in the neck with a kitchen knife. Brooks was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to serve forty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. She appealed, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to convict her, and that she received ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Brooks v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Sean Edwards and Reanna Zyla never married, but had two children together. They lived in Arizona, and in 2010, an Arizona court entered an order establishing the parties’ custodial rights and visitation: joint legal and physical custody. Edwards and Zyla lived together on and off while in Arizona until 2013, when they moved to Mississippi. The issue this case presented for the Mississippi Supreme Court’s review centered on the application of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA). Specifically, the issue was whether the Warren County Chancery Court erred in deciding that it lacked jurisdiction to hear a custody dispute between Edwards and Zyla. After review, the Supreme Court affirmed the chancery court’s judgment, reversed the county court’s registration of the Arizona custody modification and remanded this matter for the county court to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. View "Edwards v. Zyla" on Justia Law