Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Johnny R. Young, Jr. was convicted in the Circuit Court of Union County on three counts of sexual battery of his minor daughter and was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences. The Supreme Court assigned Young's appeal to the Court of Appeals, which unanimously affirmed. The Court granted certiorari to consider two of Young's issues and found that: (1) the circuit court did not err by admitting evidence that Young had sexually assaulted his stepsister when she was five and he was fifteen, because the circuit court found the prior assault probative of a noncharacter issue under Mississippi Rule of Evidence 404(b); and (2) the sexual-assault nurse examiner who examined "Cindy" was amply qualified by her training and experience to testify regarding the cause of the hymenal tear or rupture that she had observed while examining Cindy. Thus, the Court affirmed the trial and appellate courts' judgments. View "Young v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In this wrongful death action filed by the decedent's niece, the defendants moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the niece did not have standing to file the complaint. At the same time, the decedent's brother's estate filed a motion to substitute as the real party in interest. The trial court denied the motion to dismiss and granted the substitution. The case came before the Supreme Court on interlocutory appeal. Finding the niece was an "interested party" as an heir-at-law of the decedent, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Jaquith Nursing Home v. Yarbrough" on Justia Law

This interlocutory appeal stemmed from litigation concerning a contract dispute among Williams Transport, LLC (Williams Transport), Driver Pipeline Company, Inc. (Driver Pipeline), Buckley Equipment Services, Inc. (Buckley Equipment), and other unnamed defendants. Based on an arbitration clause in the contract, Driver Pipeline filed a motion to compel arbitration. The trial court denied the motion to compel arbitration as well as a subsequent motion for reconsideration. Driver Pipeline filed a petition for interlocutory appeal, which the Supreme Court accepted as a notice of appeal. Finding no error by the trial court in denying Driver Pipeline's motion to compel arbitration, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Driver Pipeline Company, Inc., Buckley Equipment Services, Inc. v. Williams Transport, LLC" on Justia Law

A jury found Anthony Mercie Expose guilty of having forcible sexual intercourse with Shannon M. Bessee. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded his conviction because it found that the trial court had erred in refusing an instruction that would have informed the jury that consent is a defense to forcible sexual intercourse and that the State had the burden of proving that Bessee had not consented. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the trial court did not err in refusing this instruction. Additionally, the Court found that the post-trial discovery of a domestic-violence conviction involving Bessee's husband did not warrant a new trial. Therefore, the Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeals and affirmed the verdict and sentence Circuit Court. View "Expose v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

The trial court sentenced Charles Harris as a habitual offender to the maximum twenty years for aggravated assault, and to ten years for being a convicted felon who used a firearm in the commission of a felony. But the statute that authorizes a ten-year sentence for using a firearm in the commission of a felony does not apply where a "greater minimum sentence" is available under some other provision of law. And because the minimum sentence available for Harris's habitual status exceeded ten years, the Supreme Court vacated his sentences and reversed and remanded the case to the Circuit Court for re-sentencing. View "Harris v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Frederick Denell Grim was convicted by jury for the sale of cocaine. The circuit judge adjudicated Grim a habitual offender and sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. 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

After the estate of a former resident sued a nursing home for negligent care, the primary insurance carrier hired lawyers to defend the suit. Because the lawyers failed to timely designate an expert witness, the settlement value of the case greatly increased, causing the nursing home's primary carrier to pay its policy limits, and its excess insurance carrier to step in, defend the nursing home, and ultimately settle the suit. The excess carrier sued the law firm for professional negligence, both directly and under a theory of equitable subrogation. The trial court, finding the excess carrier and the lawyers had no direct attorney-client relationship, granted the law firm's motion to dismiss. Upon review, the Supreme Court held that under the facts of this case, the doctrine of equitable subrogation applied, and the excess carrier could, to the extent of its losses, pursue a claim against the lawyers to the same extent as the insured. Furthermore, the Court held that the excess carrier failed to allege a sufficient factual basis for a direct claim of professional negligence against the law firm. View "Great American E&S Ins. Co. v. Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A." on Justia Law

A patient sued his dentist, claiming she negligently administered anesthesia, resulting in pain, swelling, and nerve damage. The trial court granted the dentist a directed verdict because the patient's expert failed to state the applicable standard of care. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. Because the Supreme Court found no error in the trial court's decision, it reversed the Court of Appeals' judgment and affirmed the trial court's grant of directed verdict. View "Braswell, Jr. v. Stinnett" on Justia Law

After Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co. (Farm Bureau) delayed payment of Robert Fulton's uninsured-motorist benefits, Fulton sued. The jury found Farm Bureau negligent for failing to timely investigate and pay Fulton's claim, awarding Fulton $10,000 in extracontractual damages. The jury did not find that Farm Bureau acted grossly negligent, reckless, or in bad faith and awarded no punitive damages. Following the jury's verdict, Fulton filed a post-judgment motion to amend, seeking $120,773 in attorney’s fees and expenses. The circuit court denied the motion, analyzing it under Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) and finding that Fulton had not shown reason to amend. Fulton appealed the denial of his motion, arguing that attorney's fees were collateral to the final judgment and outside the scope of Rule 59(e). The Court of Appeals agreed and reversed the circuit court, holding that the court at least should have considered awarding them. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the Court of Appeals erred in classifying attorney’s fees as "collateral." Fulton had no post-judgment right to attorney's fees because the jury did not award punitive damages, and neither a statutory nor a contractual provision authorizes such fees. The circuit court, by properly applying a Rule 59(e) analysis, did not abuse its discretion in denying Fulton’s motion. Therefore, the Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated and affirmed the circuit court's decision. View "Fulton v. Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Ins. Co. " on Justia Law

The Mississippi Department of Health (DOH) issued a final order in 2011, approving a certificate-of-need (CON) application filed by Vicksburg Healthcare, LLC, doing business as River Region Health System (River Region), for the purpose of renovating space on River Region's west campus and adding twenty acute-care beds designated for the inpatient care of adolescent psychiatric patients. Diamond Grove Center, LLC, (Diamond Grove), appealed the DOH's decision to the Hinds County Chancery Court, which upheld the CON approval. Diamond Grove then appealed to the Supreme Court, maintaining that the DOH was barred from issuing a CON under Mississippi Code Section 41-7-191(4)(a)(iii) (Rev. 2009) because of a previously approved, but never acted upon, CON granted by the DOH to Brentwood Health Management of Mississippi, LLC (Brentwood). Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the chancery court. View "Diamond Grove Center, LLC v. Mississippi State Dept. of Health" on Justia Law