Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In the wake of an attorney’s family tragedy, the defendants missed their deadline for filing their notice of appeal. The attorney was a solo practitioner whose legal secretary was his wife. So when the family tragedy struck, the attorney was unable to delegate his work responsibilities to anyone else. Consequently, he missed filing the notice of appeal. The chancellor denied the defendants’ request to extend the time to file the notice of appeal. The Supreme Court found no abuse of discretion by the chancellor and affirmed the outcome. View "Nunnery v. Nunnery" on Justia Law

Richard White was convicted of burglary of a dwelling. The jury was instructed it could find White guilty of burglary of a dwelling if it found he broke and entered the home “with the intent to commit the crime of larceny and/or assault therein.” While the jury was instructed on the elements of aggravated assault, it was not given any instruction on the definition of larceny. On appeal, a divided Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction. Consistent with its recent decision in "Windless v. Mississippi," (185 So. 3d 956 (Miss. 2015)), finding use of the word “larceny” as it was commonly used and understood by the general public was sufficient in this case to define for the jury the requisite intent needed to support a conviction of burglary, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals as well as the trial court’s judgment and sentence. View "White v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Rodney Rushing was indicted by grand jury of unlawful possession of six dosage units of amphetamine. A jury found Rushing guilty of the charged offense, and the trial court sentenced Rushing to three years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), as a habitual offender pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 99-19-81 (Rev. 2015). Rushing thereafter filed a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or in the alternative, a motion for a new trial, which the trial court denied. He then filed a notice of appeal. On appeal, appellate counsel for Rushing filed a "Lindsey" brief, stating there were no arguable issues on appeal. Having reviewed the record, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment of conviction and sentence. View "Rushing v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Cook Timber Company sued Georgia Pacific Corporation, claiming breach of contract and antitrust violations, both unilaterally and through a conspiracy with other market participants. In 1983, Cook Timber entered into a contract with Georgia Pacific, and from then until 2000, Cook Timber worked exclusively with Georgia Pacific. Eighty to ninety percent of Cook Timber’s wood was hauled to the Taylorsville Plywood Plant and Bay Springs Sawmill. The remainder was hauled to the Leaf River Pulp Mill. In March 2000, Georgia Pacific notified Cook Timber by letter that its Leaf River Pulp Mill no longer would receive any pine pulpwood deliveries from Cook Timber. Cook Timber then filed this suit. The circuit judge granted Georgia Pacific a directed verdict on Cook Timber’s conspiracy and breach-of-contract claim, but the jury returned a verdict for Cook Timber on its unilateral antitrust claim. Because Cook Timber failed to present sufficient evidence to support its unilateral antitrust claims, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the jury’s verdict on that claim. The Court also affirmed the circuit judge’s decision to grant Georgia Pacific a directed verdict on the conspiracy claim. But the Court reversed the directed verdict on Cook Timber’s breach-of-contract claim, and remanded for a new trial on that claim. View "Georgia Pacific Corporation v. Cook Timber Company, Inc." on Justia Law

On her father’s behalf, Debra Tarvin signed a nursing home Admission Agreement which contained an arbitration provision. After her father Caldwell Tarvin died, she brought a wrongful-death suit against the nursing home, CLC of Jackson, LLC d/b/a Pleasant Hills Community Living Center (“Pleasant Hills”). Caldwell was admitted to Pleasant Hills in August 2007, and Debra signed an Admission Agreement as Caldwell’s “Responsible Party.” Janet Terrell and Annette Tarvin also signed the Agreement as “Family Members” but Caldwell himself did not sign the Agreement. Pleasant Hills moved to dismiss the proceedings and to compel arbitration. Debra responded and argued that Pleasant Hills had waived its right to compel arbitration by participating in the litigation. Debra also argued that Pleasant Hills had “completely ignore[d] the issue of whether or not Mr. Tarvin’s family members had the legal authority to bind him to an arbitration agreement[.]” Specifically, Debra argued that there was “no legal authority, such as a power of attorney or conservatorship” by which she could bind her father to the arbitration agreement, nor could she bind him under the Uniform Healthcare Decisions Act, because “the record is devoid of any evidence” that the physicians relied upon by Pleasant Hills were Caldwell’s primary physicians. The trial court granted Pleasant Hills' motion, and Debra appealed. The relevant statutes at play here were codified as the “Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act,” Mississippi Code Section 41-41-201 to 41-41-229 (the “Act”). The Supreme Court's review of this case found that Act required determination by a primary physician that an individual lacks capacity before a “surrogate” properly can make a healthcare decision for that individual. The record here did not support a finding that a certain "Dr. Thomas" was Caldwell’s primary physician. The Court therefore reversed the trial court’s order compelling arbitration and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Tarvin v. CLC of Jackson, LLC d/b/a Pleasant Hills Community Living Center" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Randy Wilson of receiving stolen property in violation of Mississippi Code Section 97-17-70. The trial court sentenced Wilson to ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. He appealed his conviction and sentence, challenging the evidence presented against him at trial, and arguing he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Finding no error, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Wilson’s conviction and sentence. View "Wilson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Arrowood Indemnity Company, a member of the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association (“the Windpool”), submitted its premium data as required for a post-Katrina data-correction process. Arrowood failed to claim the appropriate credits available to it by statute which, it alleged, resulted in a nearly five-million-dollar overpayment. Arrowood had based its data submission on incorrect information provided by the Windpool, so it requested an opportunity to submit the correct information. The Windpool denied its request because the deadline for corrections had passed. The Mississippi Insurance Commissioner and the Chancery Court affirmed the Windpool’s decision. After its review, the Mississippi Supreme Court found that the Windpool’s deadline was tolled under the facts of this case because its incorrect representation precipitated Arrowood’s incorrect data submission. The Court reversed the decisions of the Insurance Commissioner and the Hinds County Chancery Court and remanded this case for further proceedings. View "Arrowood Indemnity Company v. Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association" on Justia Law

Joshua Hurst was convicted by a jury on two counts of murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He appealed, arguing that his constitutional and statutory rights to a speedy trial were violated, and also that the trial court erred by declining to order a mistrial for a discovery violation. Finding no merit to these arguments, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Hurst's convictions. View "Hurst v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Tomeka Handy filed a complaint alleging medical negligence against Madison County Nursing Home and Madison County. Handy filed her complaint for wrongful death on October 4, 2012, individually and in her capacity as the administratrix of the estate of her mother, Willie Handy, who was a resident of the nursing home from August 25, 2008, through the date of her death on April 12, 2011. The suit was filed on behalf of all the decedent’s wrongful death beneficiaries. After the county was dismissed, the nursing home filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that it was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law because Handy had not designated an expert witness. Before the summary judgment hearing, Handy filed designations of two expert witnesses. The Circuit Court of Madison County granted the motion for summary judgment because Handy had failed to produce sworn expert testimony in opposition to the motion for summary judgment. Handy filed a motion for reconsideration along with expert witness affidavits, but the circuit court denied the motion for reconsideration. Handy appealed, arguing that the circuit court dismissed her case as a sanction for a discovery violation, and the harsh sanction of dismissal amounted to an abuse of discretion. Because the record established that Handy failed to meet her burden of production on summary judgment, and the circuit court did not abuse its discretion by denying Handy’s motion for reconsideration, the Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court. View "Handy v. Madison County Nursing Home" on Justia Law

Patrick Heiter sought to terminate or reduce his alimony obligation. He argued the chancellor erred in finding that he had failed to prove a material change in circumstances since his divorce from Lindalyn Heiter that would justify termination or modification of alimony. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Heiter v. Heiter" on Justia Law