Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Frederick Wilson wounded one person and killed another when he fired gunshots at the decedent's car. Wilson was convicted of one count of aggravated assault and one count of murder. Wilson appealed his convictions, alleging the trial court erred: (1) by sustaining the State's relevance objections during his cross-examination of the wounded victim; and (2) by admitting into evidence his first two statements to law-enforcement authorities. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed Wilson's convictions and sentences. View "Wilson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Minor Nicholas Proulx was injured in a car accident and treated for his injuries at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport. Nicholas' parents Timothy and Hope Proulx obtained letters of guardianship and petitioned the chancery court for authority to compromise and settle Nicholas' personal injury claim. The guardians also asked the court to dismiss claims against the settlement proceeds made b several medical providers, including Memorial. Memorial appealed the dismissal of its claim against the settlement. Because Memorial had no assignment, lien or other legal right to payment from the settlement proceeds, the Supreme Court affirmed the chancery court's dismissal of Memorial's claim. View "Memorial Hospital at Gulfport v. Proulx" on Justia Law

Kathy Allegrezza filed separate workers' compensation claims against her employer Greenville Manufacturing, alleging injury to her upper extremities (carpal tunnel syndroms) in 1997, and a separate injury to ber back in 1998. An administrative law judge granted disability benefits for the carpal tunnel claim, but denied benefits on the back injury claim. The Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission affirmed the ALJ's findings on carpal tunnel, but found Allegrezza sustained some loss of wage-earning capacity due to her back injury. Allegrezza appealed the Commission's decision to the circuit court, which affirmed the Commission in all respects. The case was appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the Commission. Finding no error in the Commission's judgment or the appellate courts' decicions affirming the Commission, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Allegrezza v. Greenville Manufacturing Company" on Justia Law

Shirley Johnson sued the City of Belzoni and two city employees for employment discrimination and sexual harassment. A jury rendered a verdict in Johnson's favor, resulting in a monetary award against each of the three defendants severally. Defendants appealed, and the Supreme Court affirmed. The City appealed from the circuit court's order granting Johnson's motion to enforce the defendants' supersedeas bond against the City alone. Finding that the trial court erred in enforcing a deficient supersedeas bond against the City to satisfy the judgments against the other two co-defendants, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case for a correction. View "City of Belzoni v. Johnson" on Justia Law

In an interlocutory appeal from the trial court's denial of defendant Vaughn Bowden, PA's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Plaintiffs Cherie Blackmore and Diane Young sued their former employer, Vaughn Bowden, regarding the presence of toxic mold in two of the firm's offices in which they worked. They also argued they were exposed to sewer gas and a natural gas leak. Plaintiffs also sued Lowry Development and its owner who owned a second building in which Blackmore and Young claimed they were injured. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that plaintiffs failed to allege any facts by defendants' which rose to the level of intent that would remove their claims from the exclusivity of the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Act. Plaintiffs' only avenue for relief against the firm was in workers' compensation. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court in dismissing plaintiffs' complaint. View "Vaughn & Bowden, PA v. Young" on Justia Law

Billy Dale Hill appealed his motion for post-conviction relief. He claimed that the circuit court had destroyed biological evidence without notifying him as required by statute. The evidence in question was a laboratory slide containing what was purported to be sperm cells collected during a 1974 autopsy. The only relief sought by Hill was that the Supreme Court “order appropriate remedies and impose sanctions” because of the failure to give proper notice. Given the uncontradicted proof that the circuit court did not have the evidence in question, the Supreme Court found no basis for Hill’s claim, and affirmed the trial court. View "Hill v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

M.E.V. was a minor child whose biological mother lived in Mississippi, and whose biological father lived in Texas. The youth court removed M.E.V. from her mother’s custody. After several periodic reviews, the youth court judge issued a review order giving legal and physical custody of the child to her biological father in Texas on a trial basis. The mother wanted to appeal that review order. Because the review order was not a final judgment, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. View "In the Interest of M.E.V." on Justia Law

John Stubbs, Jr., d/b/a Mississippi Polysteel Stubbs was awarded damages for breach of contract after he sued Martin and Valerie Falkner to enforce a construction lien on their home. The Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court’s judgment, but reversed its award of attorney’s fees and prejudgment interest, finding that Stubbs’s recovery was based in quantum meruit and thus, attorney’s fees and prejudgment interest were unavailable remedies. Stubbs petitioned for certiorari, arguing that the Court of Appeals failed to consider various statutory grounds for an award of attorney’s fees and prejudgment interest and requested that the Supreme Court reinstate the circuit court’s award. Upon review, the Court found the statutes Stubbs raised were an insufficient basis for an award of either prejudgment interest or attorney’s fees in this case and affirmed the Court of Appeals' decision. View "Falkner v. Stubbs, Jr." on Justia Law

Malcolm Weeks Sr. was indicted and tried for sexually abusing his fourteen-year-old daughter. He was convicted of one count of child fondling and two counts of sexual battery. On appeal, he argued: (1) the trial court erred by allowing the State to substantively amend his indictment; (2) that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s verdicts; and (3) the verdicts were against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Weeks v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In June 2004, Victor Jones pled guilty to two counts of sexual battery and was sentenced to two consecutive twenty-year terms in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Jones filed a notice of appeal, which was dismissed for failure to pay the costs of appeal. In December 2004, Jones filed a motion for post-conviction relief (PCR) which was later denied. The Court of Appeals affirmed that judgment. In April 2011, Jones filed a second motion for post-conviction relief, which was dismissed by the trial court because the motion was time-barred and barred as a successive writ. The trial court also found that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the claims because Jones had not sought permission from the Supreme Court to proceed in the trial court. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's finding that the motion for post-conviction relief was time-barred and find that the motion also is barred based on res judicata. However, the Court found that the trial court and Court of Appeals erred in finding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear Jones's claims. View "Jones v. Mississippi" on Justia Law