Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

A lease agreement included a five-year renewal provision but failed to specify the rent to be paid during the renewal period. The circuit judge granted a judgment on the pleadings, finding the renewal provision unenforceable. Finding no reversible error in that decision, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Intrepid, Inc. v. Bennett" on Justia Law

A city pipeline buried beneath a road leaked odorless natural gas which infiltrated a nearby home, causing an explosion. Residents alleged that the natural gas lacked its distinctive rotten egg smell, and that the odorant that was designed to provide the warning odor was defective because it faded. After reviewing Plaintiffs’ products-liability and assorted negligence claims against the odorant manufacturer, odorant distributor, and transmission pipeline, the Mississippi Supreme Court concluded that these claims failed as a matter of law. The Court therefore affirmed the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment to the odorant manufacturer and transmission pipeline, and reversed the circuit court’s denial of the odorant distributor’s motion for summary judgment to render judgment in its favor. View "Elliott v. El Paso Corporation" on Justia Law

Dusty McIlwain brought his two-year-old son Hunter to the Natchez Community Hospital emergency room because Hunter had been vomiting, crying, and complaining of pain. Dr. Michael Wheelis, the emergency room doctor, knew Dusty and previously had worked with Carol McIlwain (a nurse), Dusty’s mother and Hunter’s grandmother. Dr. Wheelis was aware that Hunter had suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage previously as a result of a motor vehicle accident. That night, Dusty and Carol McIlwain informed Dr. Wheelis only that Hunter had abdominal pain and had vomited. Dr. Wheelis did not observe any neurological symptoms. After deciding that Hunter should be kept overnight in the hospital for observation, Dr. Wheelis, who had no authority to admit patients, spoke with Dr. Jennifer Russ, a pediatrician, at the request of the family, at approximately 2:10 a.m. After conferring, Drs. Russ and Wheelis diagnosed Hunter with dehydration and gastroenteritis. Several hours later, Hunter had a seizure, and was moved to the intensive care unit (ICU). Approximately 24 hours after he was admitted to the hospital, a CT scan of Hunter revealed that he suffered an aneurysm. He slipped into a coma and was pronounced dead several hours after the test. Jennifer McIlwain filed a medical malpractice suit against the doctors involved with Hunter's treatment. Trial was held more than ten years after Hunter had died, and ended in a deadlock. The trial court declared a mistrial. Following entry of the Order of Mistrial, the defendants filed motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), arguing that Jennifer McIlwain had failed to establish her burden of proof as to the issue of causation. The trial court granted the motions and entered a final judgment of dismissal as to all claims in favor of all defendants. Jennifer timely filed this appeal. The Supreme Court affirmed in part, and reversed in part. The Court found that Jennifer offered sufficient evidence of the requisite elements of a medical-negligence case against Dr. Wheelis; therefore, the trial court erred in granting Dr. Wheelis’s motion for JNOV. However, Plaintiff’s expert Dr. Miller failed to develop evidence that a violation of the standard of care in the setting in which she practiced was equivalent to that as applied to Dr. Russ, and the Court found the trial court did not err in granting Dr. Russ’s motion for JNOV. View "McIlwain v. Natchez Community Hospital, Inc." on Justia Law

Reginald Jackson was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to thirty years with five years suspended. On appeal, Jackson argued that the prosecutors’ misconduct during opening statements and closing argument "so infected the trial with unfairness" that his right to due process was violated. Jackson additionally argues that the State failed in its burden to prove the knife used in the robbery was a deadly weapon. After review of the trial court record, the Mississippi Supreme Court found that the prosecution’s repeated misstatements of evidence and improper arguments, in the absence of an objection, did not rise to the level of reversible error in this case. Furthermore, the Court found no merit to Jackson’s contention that the State failed in its burden to prove the knife was a deadly weapon. Accordingly, the Court affirmed Jackson's conviction and sentence. View "Jackson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

After failing to stop at a checkpoint in Jefferson Davis County, John Cole attempted to evade law-enforcement officers before subsequently crashing into a trailer. Cole ran on foot into the nearby woods and was shortly 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. Finding that Brown's claim failed by default for lack of proof of an ownership interest in the property, the Supreme Court affirmed forfeiture of the money. View "Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000) v. Mississippi Ex Rel. Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics" on Justia Law

Charles Ray Crawford appealed his 1993 conviction for rape. He raised a number of issues on appeal. The record was unclear as to what caused a delay in this case being heard on appeal. For that reason, the Mississippi Supreme Court decided to set aside the procedural bar in this matter and consider the merits of Crawford's claimed errors. Having carefully reviewed this record, the Court found no merit to any of Crawford's alleged errors and affirmed his conviction. View "Crawford v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Tommie Claiborne was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. According to three eyewitnesses, Claiborne chased his wife around a car, grabbed her, and shot her three times the day before their scheduled divorce hearing. Claiborne's appellate counsel filed a "Lindsey" brief. But Claiborne filed a pro se brief asserting ineffective assistance of counsel. He also argued the State violated discovery rules, the eyewitnesses at trial contradicted their statements to police, and that he was denied a speedy trial. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded Claiborne's appeal indeed presented no arguable issues. The Court dismissed the other issues Claiborne raised in his pro se brief without prejudice so that he might raise them in any post-conviction proceedings. The Court therefore affirmed Claiborne's conviction and sentence. View "Claiborne v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Scott Bates was convicted of simple assault of a law-enforcement officer. He appealed the conviction, claiming he could not be guilty of the enhanced crime of simple assault on a law-enforcement officer because the officer he assaulted, Deputy Sheriff James Cox, was working off-duty as a private security guard. The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed Bates’ conviction. Bates thereafter petitioned for writ of certiorari, which was granted on the question of whether there was sufficient evidence to support a finding that Deputy Cox was acting within the scope of his duty, office, or employment as a law-enforcement officer. Finding that State presented sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Bates v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Jairus Collins was convicted of murdering Ebony Jenkins. He appealed, raised several points of error, but the Court of Appeals affirmed. Finding that Collins’s statement to police should have been suppressed and that one of the State’s witnesses should have been qualified as an expert prior to giving opinion testimony regarding the locations of Collins’s and Jenkins’s cellular phones, the Supreme Court reversed the judgments of the Court of Appeals and the trial court, and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Collins v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

On April 1, 2013, the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors resolved to issue general obligation bonds for various county projects. The Lauderdale County Chancery Court validated bonds. Several objectors appeal, arguing a sufficient number of qualified electors objected such that an election on the bond issue was required. The Board cross-appealed, arguing that the chancellor erred in not requiring the objectors to post a supersedeas bond. Because the chancery court did not err in validating the bond, nor in denying the request for a supersedeas bond, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "In Re: Validation of Lauderdale County, Mississippi General Obligation Bonds" on Justia Law