Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In 2010, Dr. James Peoples treated Mattie Aldridge for recurrent deep-vein thrombosis. During her stay at the hospital, Dr. Peoples placed Aldridge on anticoagulation therapy. Almost two months later, after she had been transferred into the care of Trinity Mission Health & Rehabilitation of Clinton (“Trinity”), Aldridge presented to St. Dominic with a brain bleed. And two months after that, Aldridge died. The following year, Tamara Glenn, Aldridge’s daughter, filed suit alleging that Dr. Peoples negligently had caused Aldridge’s death by prescribing Coumadin. Dr. Peoples filed a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court granted. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Glenn v. Peoples" on Justia Law

William Greenwood owned Antique Wood Company of Mississippi (Greenwood), which was in the business of buying salvage rights to old buildings for the purpose of stripping and selling the buildings’ lumber, bricks, and other materials. After a lawsuit was filed against Greenwood, Greenwood’s insurers, located in Rankin County and Grenada County, denied indemnity coverage. Greenwood sued the insurers in the Circuit Court of Hinds County, alleging breach of contract, conspiracy, and bad faith. Following a grant of a motion for change of venue to the defendants, Greenwood filed the instant petition for interlocutory appeal, which the Supreme Court granted. Greenwood asserted that venue was proper in Warren County. The Supreme Court agreed and reversed the judgment of the Circuit Court. The case was remanded for transfer to the Circuit Court of Warren County. View "Greenwood v. MESA Underwriters Specialty Ins. Co." on Justia Law

Lewis and Lisa Shelby filed a medical-malpractice action on behalf of the wrongful death beneficiaries of their son, Terrance Shelby. Shortly before trial, the trial judge dismissed the Shelbys for discovery violations, but he allowed Terrance’s brother, Demario Ferguson, to be substituted as the new wrongful-death plaintiff. After being substituted in the action, Ferguson admitted during his deposition that he previously had signed a false affidavit while the trial court was considering appropriate sanctions for the Shelbys’ conduct. The trial judge then dismissed the entire action. Ferguson appealed the dismissal, but finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Ferguson v. University of Mississippi Medical Center" on Justia Law

After failing to stop at a checkpoint, John Cole attempted to evade law-enforcement officers before subsequently crashing into a trailer. Cole ran on foot into the nearby woods and shortly was detained. A search of the area produced $6,000 in cash, which the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics (MBN) claimed was found in close proximity to controlled substances. The MBN sought forfeiture of the property, and Anthony Brown filed a petition to contest. Brown contended that he was an innocent owner of the cash and that forfeiture was therefore improper. After review of Brown's petition, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals as to forfeiture and found that Brown’s claim failed by default for lack of proof of an ownership interest in the property. View "Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000) v. Mississippi Ex Rel. Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics" on Justia Law

A former employee claimed he was discharged for reporting his employer’s illegal activity and sought to bring a wrongful-discharge claim under a public-policy exception to his at-will employment status. Because the former employee participated in the allegedly illegal activity, the Supreme Court held that he could not bring his suit, so it affirmed summary judgment on his wrongful-discharge claim. View "Galle v. Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc." on Justia Law

On February 25, 2014, James Rowsey was convicted of aggravated assault for throwing scalding water on a fellow inmate at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution. Rowsey was appointed two defense counsel. Rowsey made complaints against both attorneys to the Mississippi Bar; the trial court record indicated that Rowsey was ihighly uncooperative, and that a mental evaluation was ordered to determine his competency to stand trial. After a number of granted continuances, trial commenced on February 24, 2014, forty-nine months after the incident, thirty-six months after indictment and thirty-three months after arraignment. The jury returned its guilty verdict, and Rowsey was sentenced to serve ten years of incarceration to run consecutively to the life sentence he already was serving for murder. Rowsey appealed, arguing he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel, and that errors at trial deprived him of his constitutional rights to a fair and speedy trial. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed Rowsey's conviction and sentence. View "Rowsey v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Expro Americas, LLC ("Expro") filed a complaint seeking, inter alia, a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Eddie Walters, a former Expro employee, and H&H Welding, LLC. Expro offered "oil and gas well and pipeline services," including providing "specially designed flaring products and services to pipeline transmission companies and refineries along the Gulf Coast." Expro's six-inch, trailer-mounted flare stacks were at the heart of this dispute. Eddie Walters was an Expro employee until August 5, 2013. Thereafter, Walters was employed by Clean Combustion, a competitor of Expro's that was created in 2013 by former Expro employees. Expro filed its application for a restraining order against H&H and Walters, alleging that both defendants stole the design for its flare stack. Expro specifically alleged that "[t]he information used to design and create the trailer-mounted flaring system is a ‘trade secret' of Expro's." Furthermore, it alleged breach of contract against H&H, claiming that the terms of Expro's purchase orders with H&H contained a "Proprietary Rights" section "in which H&H ‘warrants to keep all design, information, blueprints and engineering data with respect to the Goods confidential and to not make use of but to assign to Expro each invention, improvement and discovery relating thereto (whether or not patentable) conceived or reduced to practice in the performance of the Purchase Order by any person employed by or working under the directions of the Supplier Group.'" The trial court granted the restraining order, but after conducting an evidentiary hearing, the chancellor dissolved the temporary restraining order and found no facts to justify the issuance of a preliminary injunction. The chancellor awarded the defendants attorneys' fees and expenses in excess of the $5,000 injunction bond that Expro had posted. After determining that Expro's suit against H&H was meritless, the chancellor sua sponte dismissed H&H from the suit with prejudice. Expro appealed, and the Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part. The Court found that the chancellor did not err by awarding the defendants attorneys' fees and expenses, because Expro's application for a preliminary injunction was frivolous and was made in bad faith. However, the Court found the chancellor misapplied Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4, and therefore erred by dismissing H&H from the suit with prejudice. View "Expro Americas, LLC v. Walters" on Justia Law

Michael Anderson was charged with deliberate-design murder, aggravated assault, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. His defense theory of the case was self-defense. Over Anderson’s objection, the prosecution was granted its requested flight instruction. Anderson was convicted on all three counts and received three consecutive life sentences. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Anderson argued on appeal to the Supreme Court that that the trial court erred by giving the flight instruction. Because no evidence was introduced to support that Anderson’s flight was caused by something other than consciousness of guilt, the Supreme Court concluded the trial court did not err. The judgments of both the Court of Appeals and the trial court were affirmed. View "Anderson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Casey Burgess was convicted by jury on three counts of sexual battery against his wife, for which he was sentenced to thirty years on each count, to run concurrently. Following the denial of his alternative motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial, Burgess appealed. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Burgess v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

The administrator of the Pearl River County Hospital entered into a contract with Wellness, Inc., for Wellness to provide furnishings, fixtures, equipment, and systems for the Hospital’s renovation. The Hospital subsequently sued Wellness (and other defendants not party to this appeal) alleging fraud, conspiracy, breach of contract, and other causes of action. Before trial commenced, Wellness moved to compel mediation and arbitration and to stay proceedings. After a hearing on the motion, the circuit court denied the motion in its entirety. Wellness appealed. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Wellness, Inc. v. Pearl River County Hospital" on Justia Law