Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

This appeal arose from a dispute between the Third Circuit Drug Court and the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors regarding Lafayette County's alleged duty to administer the drug court’s funding and the drug court's having required that county to place a drug court employee on its payroll. Because Union County replaced Lafayette County as the lead county for the Third Circuit Drug Court, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal as moot. View "Lafayette County Bd. of Supervisors v. Third Circuit Drug Court" on Justia Law

Defendants Arvind Kumar, individually and d/b/a Holiday Inn of Columbus, Tony Savage, and Tracey Savage appealed a circuit court's denial of their motion to set aside a default judgment which was entered against them based on a complaint filed by Plaintiff Shanna Loper. Before the complaint was filed, Defendants' attorney, Ed Pleasants, had written a letter to Plaintiff's attorney denying her claims. However, once the complaint was filed in circuit court, Defendants did not file a formal answer to the complaint. The only further communication Loper’s counsel received from Pleasants was a phone call stating that he would no longer be representing Defendants. After a default judgment as to liability was entered, without notice to Defendants, the circuit court set a date for a hearing to assess damages, again without notice to Defendants. The Court of Appeals found that, since Defendants clearly expressed their intent to defend against Plaintiff's claims, they were entitled to notice prior to the entry of the default judgment. The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the circuit court and remanded the case for further proceedings. Thereafter, the Supreme Court granted Plaintiff's petition for a writ of certiorari. Finding that the circuit court's denial of Defendants' motion to set aside the default was an abuse of discretion, the Court vacated the Court of Appeals and remanded the case back to the circuit court for further proceedings. View "Kumar v. Loper" on Justia Law

Pursuant to 42 United States Code Sections 2000e-5 and 1983, Appellee Shirley Johnson brought suit against Defendants the City of Belzoni, Police Chief Mickey Foxworth, and Officer David James. Appellee claimed she was sexually harassed at work by James for approximately a year. She reported the harassment to her supervisor Foxworth, but claimed insufficient action was taken to remedy the situation. The matter proceeded to trial, and a jury returned a unanimous verdict of $150,000–$50,000 against each Defendant, in favor of Appellee. Aggrieved, Defendants filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or in the alternative, a new trial. The motion was denied and the defendants appealed. Finding that the sufficiency and weight of the evidence supported the jury’s verdict, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's judgment. View "City of Belzoni v. Johnson" on Justia Law

J.C. and Betty Lockhart owned a life estate in an undivided one-fourth interest in 160 acres in Monroe County, Mississippi. After the death of J.C., Betty Lockhart filed a complaint to partition by public sale the land that she shared with her in-laws, Bolin and Orene Hamilton. The Hamiltons also owned a life estate in the same property, and they maintained the property as their homestead. Additionally, Lockhart sued Richard and Peggy Collins, who have a future interest in the property as remaindermen. The trial court dismissed Lockhart's petition, and Lockhart appealed. Because Lockhart failed to meet the statutory requisites for a partition sale, the Supreme Court affirmed the chancellor's ruling. View "Lockhart v. Collins" on Justia Law

The issue on appeal to the Supreme Court was whether the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment for the Mississippi Insurance Guaranty Association (MIGA), and in denying a cross-motion for summary judgment for nursing homes and nursing-home residents. The circuit court found that MIGA was entitled to a credit, which would reduce the amount MIGA must pay to indemnify nursing-home owners and operators for damage claims of two nursing-home residents that were allegedly caused by a series of negligent acts and omissions over the course of many years. Upon review, the Court found "the factual and legal predicates necessary to formulate an opinion on coverage issues are lacking, which would preclude any court from rendering a valid ruling on coverage." The Court reversed the circuit court's judgment that granted MIGA's motion for summary judgment and that denied the cross-motions for summary judgment. View "Louisiana Extended Care Centers, Inc. v. Mississippi Insurance Guaranty Ass'n" on Justia Law

In July 2006, Respondent Paul Cook's workers' compensation claim was dismissed for failure to file a properly completed prehearing statement. In December 2006, his "Motion for an Order Re-Instating Claim" was denied for failing to "attach a properly completed prehearing statement . . . ." In August 2008, Respondent's "Amended Motion to Reinstate" was dismissed as barred under a one-year statute of limitations. The full Commission affirmed the dismissal, as did the circuit court and a unanimous Mississippi Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court granted Respondent's petition for certiorari and affirmed: "Cook's claim was properly dismissed. To hold otherwise would eviscerate the Commission's rules and rulings of their statutorily intended effect, since '[a] rule which is not enforced is no rule at all.'" View "Cook v. The Home Depot" on Justia Law

Defendant Arturo Aquirre Moreno filed a motion to proceed in the trial court with his third petition for post-conviction relief. The Supreme Court granted him leave to proceed solely on the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel, and the trial court held a hearing only on that issue. The Court concluded that it improperly exercised authority to consider Defendant's motion and thus should not have remanded for an evidentiary hearing. Notwithstanding its own error, the Court affirmed the trial court's denial of relief to Defendant on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim: "[t]o reverse based on the procedural error would be futile, as the result is the same: the trial court was the first (and therefore proper court) to pass on the merits of that claim." Further complicating the issues in this case, Defendant also raised double jeopardy and venue claims for the first time on appeal. The Court of Appeals addressed all of Defendant's claims and denied him relief. The Supreme Court found that the appellate court erroneously considered Defendant's double jeopardy and venue claims. The Supreme Court declined review of Defendant's claims. View "Moreno v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In 2008, Rehab Solutions, PLLC (Rehab) received notice of tax liens assessed against its property. Thereafter, Chad Willis and Renee Willis (collectively, the Owners) employed the Nail McKinney Accounting firm to assess the financial viability of their business. As a result, numerous financial shortcomings of Rehab’s in-house accountant became apparent. When the inspection of Rehab’s finances began, the accountant left work and did not return. Rehab eventually sued the accountant in tort and in contract, seeking the return of one-half of his wages while employed by Rehab, as well as punitive damages. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Rehab and awarded Rehab $133,543.17 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages. The accountant appealed the jury’s award, asserting that it was not supported by the evidence and that unjust enrichment was not the proper measure of damages. Additionally, the accountant contended that the trial court erred in finding that Rehab’s claims were not barred by the statute of limitations and for submitting the issue of punitive damages to the jury. After a thorough review of the record, the Supreme Court determined that there was not a viable cause of action against the accountant in this matter. Accordingly, the Court reversed the trial court and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Willis v. Rehab Solutions, PLLC" on Justia Law

In 2009, Plaintiff Charles McGraw filed a personal-injury action against four sand suppliers: Clark Sand Company, Inc.; Mississippi Valley Silica Co. Inc.; Precision Packaging, Inc.; and Custom Aggregates and Grinding, Inc. Plaintiff alleged the four defendants’ sand caused his lung disease. On the day of the trial, after the jury heard the parties’ opening statements, the court recessed, and the parties reached a settlement agreement. A few months later, Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to amend his complaint to add his wife as a plaintiff and to add additional defendants. In early 2010, the trial court granted Plaintiff’s amended motion and allowed him to add the five new defendants to the complaint. However, shortly after the court granted his leave to amend, Plaintiff added a sixth defendant without the court’s permission. All six defendants petitioned the Supreme Court for an interlocutory appeal concerning the trial court’s order that denied the defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, or Alternatively, Motion to Strike Second Amended Complaint and Dismiss First Amended Complaint. The defendants argued that, because the original parties settled with Plaintiff prior to his motions for leave to amend, the trial court improperly allowed the filing of the First Amended Complaint to add new parties. The defendants also argued that because Plaintiff did not seek court approval in filing his Second Amended Complaint, that complaint should be struck. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing Plaintiff to file his Second Amended Complaint, because he was required to obtain court approval. However, the trial court did comply with procedural rules when it allowed Plaintiff to file his First Amended Complaint, because McGraw filed his motion before all of the original parties were dismissed with prejudice. View "Lone Star Industries, Inc. v. McGraw" on Justia Law

Defendant Frederick Watts was convicted of felony fleeing or eluding a law enforcement officer in a motor vehicle and was sentenced to five years in custody, with two years suspended and three years of post-release supervision. On appeal, he argued that his conviction for felony fleeing subjected him to double jeopardy, because he previously had pled guilty to reckless driving in the Lauderdale County Justice Court. He also argued that the evidence was insufficient to support a guilty verdict. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction and sentence. View "Watts v. Mississippi" on Justia Law