Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

After the trial judge granted the defendants summary judgment, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case for trial. More than four years later, the trial judge, finding the plaintiff had failed to prosecute his claim, entered a final judgment as to all defendants. Because the Court was unable to say the trial judge abused his discretion, affirmed. View "Hanson, Jr. v. Disotell" on Justia Law

Dante Lamar Evans was convicted of the murder of his father and sentenced as an adult to a mandatory term of life imprisonment. Evans petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, raising six issues: (1) whether the trial court erroneously refused to permit the jury to consider Evans's theory of imperfect self-defense; (2) whether the trial court erred in excluding testimony concerning Darold Evans's alleged abuse of Evans and his mother; (3) whether the trial court erred in refusing funds to hire a post-traumatic stress-disorder (PTSD) expert; (4) whether the trial court improperly prohibited the jury from considering Evans's age in its deliberations; (5) whether the trial court erred in admitting Evans's statements made to security guards and law-enforcement officers; and (6) whether Evans's life sentence was unconstitutional. Upon review, the Supreme Court found find that Evans demonstrated an actual need for an expert on PTSD. Therefore, the trial court abused its discretion in denying funds to hire such an expert. The Court reversed the judgment of both the Court of Appeals and the trial court and remanded for a new trial. View "Evans v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Marcus O'Neal Flowers a/k/a Tupac a/k/a Marcus Flowers was convicted of murder for fatally shooting Charles Wash. He claimed on appeal that the jury's verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence and asked the Supreme Court for a new trial. He believed he was entitled to such relief because there were conflicts between the State's evidence and his evidence, and the credibility of the State's main witness was called into question. The Supreme Court affirmed, finding Flowers's arguments were without merit. View "Flowers v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case involved a dispute over custody of B.S. Diana Crosby, the child's maternal grandmother, claimed the Youth Curt erred in awarding custody of B.S. to the child's father, Robert Sims, Jr. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed the Youth Court. View "In the Interest of B.S., a Minor" on Justia Law

Husband appealed the trial court's award of lump-sum alimony, temporary alimony, and interest to the wife. Upon review of the trial court record, the Supreme Court concluded that the chancellor examined all relevant factors in determining lump-sum alimony, and his determination was supported by the record. The chancellor was within his power to enforce the temporary order and continue the obligation of temporary alimony until the divorce was finalized. Furthermore, the chancellor did not err in awarding interest on monies owed to the wife that were more than a year past due. Because the chancellor did not err in any of these determinations, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court in all respects. View "McFarland, Jr. v. McFarland" on Justia Law

Defendant Steve Antonio Anthony was convicted in circuit court for selling cocaine. He appealed his conviction, arguing that: (1) the circuit court erred by excluding evidence on cross-examination of the prior felony charges of the State's confidential informant; (2) the circuit court erred in denying two peremptory challenges raised by the defense; and (3) the jury's verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. Defendant raised the same issues in his appeal to the Supreme Court which found that the trial court erred by limiting the cross-examination of the confidential informant. Accordingly the Court reversed Defendant's conviction and remanded the case for a new trial. View "Anthony v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Roundstone Development, LLC, sought to develop an affordable-housing subdivision in the City of Natchez. The land which it sought to develop had two different zoning classifications: O-L (Open-Land) and R-1 (Single-Family Residential). The City’s Planning Commission denied Roundstone's site plan, finding that the O-L area must be rezoned R-1 before the development could be approved. The Mayor and Board of Alderman then denied Roundstone's rezoning request. The Circuit Court of Adams County and the Court of Appeals both affirmed the City’s decision. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to address: (1) whether the City erred in requiring that the O-L area be rezoned R-1 and (2) whether the City erred in failing to grant Roundstone's rezoning request. Upon review, the Court found that the City’s interpretation of its zoning ordinance to require rezoning from O-L to R-1 was not manifestly unreasonable and that it did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in denying the rezoning. Therefore, the Court affirmed the judgments of the circuit court and the Court of Appeals. View "Roundstone Development, LLC v. City of Natchez" on Justia Law

Robert Lee Jenkins was convicted for possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to life imprisonment under the habitual-offender statute. The Supreme Court granted Jenkins's petition for writ of certiorari to examine whether the trial court erred by allowing a laboratory supervisor to testify regarding the results of substance testing, where the supervisor reviewed and verified the results, but another analyst actually performed the tests. Finding no error, the Court affirmed. View "Jenkins v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Frederick Denell Grim was convicted by jury for the sale of cocaine. The circuit court adjudicated Grim a habitual offender and sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment of conviction and sentence. The Supreme Court granted Grim's petition for writ of certiorari to examine whether the trial court erred by allowing a laboratory supervisor, who neither observed nor participated in the testing of the substance, to testify in place of the analyst who had performed the testing. Finding no error, the Court affirmed. View "Grim v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In a divorce proceeding, the chancery court ordered the father and mother to pay certain specific college expenses which the father argued should include flight lessons associated with the child’s aviation-related major. The chancellor found for the father, held the mother in contempt, and awarded the father attorney’s fees. The Court of Appeals affirmed. After its review of the matter, in particular the terms of the divorce decree, the Supreme Court found that because the decree required payment for only “meals, tuition, books and room,” and reversed the judgments of the Court of Appeals and the chancery court in part and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Zweber v. Zweber" on Justia Law