Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Twonia Renee Williams was convicted for the murder of Katrina Sergeant. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MADOC). On appeal, Williams contended that jury instructions S-2A, S-4, and/or S-6 were given in error. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that the circuit court erred in granting instruction S-4, and such error could not be considered harmless in this case. Therefore, Williams's conviction and sentence were reversed and the case remanded for a new trial. View "Williams v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the conviction and sentence in the first trial in this case in 2009, and remanded the case to the trial court, finding that the defendant, Tomarcus Fulks, had been entitled to a continuance based on the State's untimely disclosure of a key witness. In 2011, a jury reconvicted Fulks of armed robbery and acquitted him of aggravated assault. He received a sentence of thirty-five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). On appeal, Fulks argued: (1) the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce Fulks's prior testimony from his first trial; (2) the trial court erred in denying Fulks's motion for recusal; (3) the trial court erred in allowing the prosecutor to inform the jury that coindictee Joshua Glenn had entered a plea of guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting after the fact; and (4) the trial court erred when it allowed prior testimony of State's witness Sherry Franks, who was found to be "unavailable" for trial, into evidence. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Fulks v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Shirley LaFontaine appealed an order which the Supreme Court found to be a nonfinal judgment. Because her appeal was not properly before the Court, it dismissed her appeal and remanded the case to the Circuit Court. View "LaFontaine v. Holliday" on Justia Law

David Parvin appealed his murder conviction, characterizing his arguments as "a 'Weathersby' case with a 'Daubert' twist." Parvin maintained that his wife's death was caused by accident, and the State's principal evidence refuting his defense at trial consisted of expert testimony, accompanied by a computer-generated reconstruction of the scene of her demise. The State argued that the experts' opinions about the physical evidence proved the victim was intentionally killed. Although the Supreme Court found no merit in Parvin's Weathersby claim, the Court agreed that certain expert testimony and the visual depiction of that testimony should not have been presented to the jury. Because this evidence severely prejudiced Parvin's defense, the Court reversed the conviction and remand the case to the Circuit Court for a new trial. View "Parvin v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Christopher Taylor was convicted of one count of burglary and one count of larceny. He appealed his conviction and sentence, raising three issues: (1) whether the trial court erred by allowing the State's impeachment evidence; (2) whether the evidence was legally sufficient to support his convictions; and (3) whether the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed Taylor's conviction and sentence. View "Taylor v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Appellant David Javarious Jamison "Jamie" Renfro was convicted of armed robbery. The victim testified that Renfro entered her trailer home and robbed her at gunpoint. A second eyewitness corroborated most of the victim's testimony. The jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict, and Renfro was sentenced to twenty years in prison, with five years suspended. On appeal, Renfro argued that the verdict was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and therefore, he was entitled to a new trial. Because the Supreme Court found that it was well-supported by the weight of the evidence, the Court upheld the jury's verdict. View "Renfro v.Mississippi" on Justia Law

Norma Slater-Moore hired the Goeldner Law Firm and its attorneys to represent her in what ultimately was an unsuccessful lawsuit and its appeal. Slater-Moore and Goeldner entered into two separate contracts during the course of that litigation, both containing nearly identical provisions stating that any attorney-fee disputes would be submitted to arbitration. Slater-Moore later sued Goeldner for legal malpractice and breach of contract, disputing, among other allegations, the amount she was billed for attorney fees. Goeldner successfully moved the Circuit Court to compel arbitration of the attorney-fee dispute, and Slater-Moore appealed that decision to the Supreme Court. Because the Supreme Court found ]no grounds for revocation of a valid agreement to arbitrate the fee dispute, the Court affirmed the circuit court's judgment. View "Slater-Moore v. Goeldner" on Justia Law

Appellants raised a constitutional challenge to a fee legislated on cigarettes distributed through Mississippi for sale outside the state, claiming separate violations of the Commerce and Due-Process Clauses. In 2009, the Mississippi Legislature passed a law imposing a fee on the sale, purchase, and distribution in Mississippi of cigarettes manufactured by companies that did not enter into settlement agreements with the State as a result of a 1997 lawsuit (the "nonsettling manufacturer" or "NSM" law), "including cigarettes sold, purchased or otherwise distributed in this state for sale outside of this state." In October 2009, the chancery court entered a temporary restraining order enjoining the Commissioner of Revenue from assessing and collecting the challenged fee, and later ruled that the legislative amendment did not apply retroactively, denied Appellants' motion for reconsideration, and granted the Commissioner's motion for final judgment. However, the chancery court did not enter final judgment at that time. In 2011, the chancellor entered final judgment, which incorporated an August 2010 order (denying Appellants’ request for a permanent injunction and declaratory relief) and a May 2011 order (denying motion for rehearing and granting motion for final judgment). Appellants raised several issues on appeal; the Supreme Court found that the provision of the NSM law imposing a fee on NSM cigarettes distributed through Mississippi for sale outside the state was not internally consistent in violation of the Commerce Clause. The Court declined to address Appellants' due process argument. Furthermore, the Court found that the chancery court erred in granting claims for attorney fees asserted under 42 U.S.C. 1988 for Appellants' section 1983 challenge to the constitutionality of the NSM law. The Court found that all Appellants had an adequate remedy at state law (declaratory relief under Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 57), and as such, the chancery court should have "refrain[ed] from considering Section 1983 claims in tax cases, mooting Section 1988 claims for fees. That being said, no basis exist[ed] for a claim by Appellants for attorney fees." View "Commonwealth Brands, Inc. v. Morgan" on Justia Law

After a lengthy battle regarding child custody, visitation, and child support, a chancellor granted Frankie Reasor custody of his teenage daughter. But the chancellor found Reasor in arrears on child-support payments, held him in contempt, and entered a judgment in favor of Rose Jordan for back child support. The issue before the Supreme Court in this appeal concerned a subsequent hearing in which a second chancellor determined the amount of arrears, entered a fifty-five-percent withholding order to collect the judgment, and ordered Reasor to pay Jordan’s attorney’s fees. Reasor raised five issues on appeal. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the chancellor erred by entering a fifty-five percent withholding order. The Court affirmed the chancellor in all other respects, and remanded the case for recalculation of the withholding. View "Frankie L. Reasor v. Rose M. Johnson Jordan" on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case concerned an interlocutory appeal of the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) which sought review of the denial of its motion for summary judgment in a wrongful-death action filed by the beneficiaries of A.J. Cowart (Nosef). Cowart drove into an unmarked culvert and flipped his car. Cowart was taken to the hospital where he later died. Nosef filed this suit against MDOT, claiming that MDOT's failure to place warning signs around the culvert resulted in the accident that caused Cowart's death. MDOT claimed in its motion that it was immune from liability under the state Tort Claims Act. The circuit court denied the motion, finding that the law imposed a ministerial duty to place warning signs around highway culverts which had not been abrogated or repealed. Upon review, the Supreme Court agreed with the circuit court and affirmed the denial of summary judgment. View "Mississippi Dept. of Transportation v. Nosef" on Justia Law