Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The issue this case presented for the Mississippi Supreme Court was whether Jackson Ramelli Waste LLC was entitled to additional compensation “over and above [the] amounts agreed upon by the parties, invoiced by [Jackson Ramelli], and accepted as payment by [Jackson Ramelli], in the absence of a contract, but under a quantum meruit theory[.]” From October 2009 to September 2015, Waste Management contracted with the City of Jackson to collect solid waste from all residential units and light commercial entities in the city. The contract required Waste Management to subcontract 35.802 percent of the work to minority-owned or women-owned businesses and to adhere to the requirements of the City’s equal business opportunity (EBO) plan. Waste Management entered a subcontract with Jackson Ramelli and Metro Waste Disposal to perform certain portions of the waste-collection services and to fulfill this obligation. Jackson Ramelli’s payment rate would be adjusted annually in accordance with any increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Both parties were prohibited from the assignment of the subcontract without the other party’s consent. Unbeknownst to Waste Management, after entering into the subcontract with Waste Management, Jackson Ramelli subcontracted all of its work to RKC LLC, a Louisiana company that was neither a minority- nor women-owned company. It is undisputed that RKC performed all of the residential waste-collection services that Waste Management hired Jackson Ramelli to perform. The subcontract between Waste Management and Jackson Ramelli expired at the end of September 2010; the parties continued services on a month-to-month basis. In January 2012, Jackson Ramelli purchased the right to assume Metro Waste’s routes related to the contract. As a result, Jackson Ramelli increased the amount it invoiced Waste Management to reflect the additional houses it acquired through its acquisition of Metro Waste’s routes. While Jackson Ramelli submitted monthly invoices to Waste Management for services rendered, it did not invoice Waste Management for any CPI adjustments or for any further houses serviced. But during this time, Jackson Ramelli raised the possibility of additional compensation to reflect (1) the changes in the CPI and (2) the increase in the number of houses Jackson Ramelli claimed to be servicing. Jackson Ramelli filed a complaint against Waste Management in July 2015 claiming Waste Management’s: (1) nonpayment of CPI increases between 2012 and 2015; (2) nonpayment of waste-collection services for additional houses between 2012 and 2015; and (3) nonpayment of work performed in March 2015. Because the record established that the additional work claimed by Jackson Ramelli was contemplated by its contract and because Jackson Ramelli did not have a reasonable expectation of additional compensation, the Supreme Court reversed its quantum meruit claim, and final judgment was entered in favor of Waste Management. View "Waste Management of Mississippi Inc. v. Jackson Ramelli Waste LLC" on Justia Law

In this case's second time before the Mississippi Supreme Court, the Court held in High v. Kuhn, 191 So. 3d 113 (Miss. 2016) (High I), that article 4, section 110, of the Mississippi Constitution forbade the condemnation of a private road across the property of Cheryl High for the benefit of Todd and Angela Kuhn. After the Court’s mandate, High moved the Harrison County Special Court of Eminent Domain for attorney fees pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 11-27-37 (Rev. 2019). The special court found that Section 11-27-37 did not apply. High appealed, and the Supreme Court reversed and remanded for the special court to consider the merits of the motion for attorney fees and the reasonableness of the amount of fees requested. On remand, High filed an amended motion requesting attorney fees for a frivolous filing under the Mississippi Litigation Accountability Act (LAA). After a hearing, the special court awarded attorney fees to High as a sanction for the Kuhns’ frivolous filing. The special court found that the $29,049.60 requested by High was reasonable and assessed that amount jointly and severally against the Kuhns and their attorney, Virgil Gillespie. The special court denied the Kuhns’ motion to reconsider and amended the judgment to add $1,000 in attorney fees that High had incurred in defending the motion for reconsideration. The Kuhns and Gillespie appealed, arguing that the special court erred by: (1) adopting High’s findings of fact and conclusions of law; (2) awarding a judgment to one of High’s attorneys who was not a party to the lawsuit; (3) imposing a sanction for a frivolous filing; (4) awarding interest; and (5) allowing attorney fees beyond those permitted by Section 11- 27-37. The Supreme Court concluded the special court of eminent domain did not abuse its discretion by imposing the sanctions nor did it err in its application of the law. The Court reversed in part only to correct a scrivener’s error in the amended judgment. View "Kuhn v. High" on Justia Law

Members of Delta Electric Power Association filed a lawsuit against the cooperative seeking the return of excess revenue and receipts. Delta moved to compel arbitration. The trial court found that the arbitration clause contained in the bylaws was procedurally unconscionable and denied Delta’s motion to compel. After Delta appealed the trial court’s decision, the Mississippi Supreme Court decided Virgil v. Southwest Mississippi Electric Power Association, 296 So. 3d 53 (Miss. 2020), in which it found an arbitration agreement contained in a cooperative’s bylaws to be valid and enforceable. Because the Supreme Court determined the issues in this case were almost identical to the issues decided in Virgil, precedent required it Court to reverse the trial court’s decision denying Delta’s motion to compel arbitration. View "Delta Electric Power Assn. v. Campbell" on Justia Law

George Ray, Sr., and Johnnita Ray were divorced on the ground of irreconcilable differences, and the chancery court decided issues of property settlement. George appealed, arguing that the chancellor erred by not crediting him for supporting Johnnita’s children, by finding him solely responsible for their joint debt, and by including his military-retirement income into the alimony determination. Finding no reversible error, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the chancellor’s judgment. View "Ray v. Ray" on Justia Law

Dontorius Ware was indicted, charged and convicted for the murder of Roy Lee Washington. He appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence presented against him at trial. Because the Mississippi Supreme Court determined sufficient evidence supported the verdict, because the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and because Ware did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel, it affirmed the conviction and sentence. View "Ware v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Eddie Howard was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of eighty-four-year-old Georgia Kemp. Howard was tied to the crime by Dr. Michael West, who identified Howard as the source of bite marks on Kemp’s body. At trial, Dr. West testified that he was a member of the American Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO) and that he had followed its guidelines in rendering his opinion. But since Howard’s trial, the ABFO revised those guidelines to prohibit such testimony, and this reflected a new scientific understanding that an individual perpetrator could not be reliably identified through bite-mark comparison. This, along with new DNA testing and the paucity of other evidence linking Howard to the murder, compelled the Mississippi Supreme Court to conclude that Howardwasis entitled to a new trial. The Court therefore reversed the trial court’s denial of postconviction relief and vacated Howard’s conviction and sentence. View "Howard v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Michael Willis appealed his conviction for aggravated assault following a fight outside Kedarious' grandmother's home in which one person was shot and paralyzed. Counsel for his codefendant and nephew Kedarious Willis (Kedarious) filed a Lindsey brief with the appellate court, averring there were no meritorious arguments for appeal. After reviewing the errors Willis alleged, the Mississippi Supreme Court found no merit to his arguments. Therefore, the Court affirmed conviction. View "Willis v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

The wrongful-death beneficiares and estate of Carolyn Smith appealed a circuit court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Hardy Wilson Memorial Hospital (now known as Copiah County Medical Center). The trial court found the Smiths failed to produce evidence sufficient to show Carolyn Smith's injuries or death was caused by any negligence of the Hospital's nursing staff. After review, the Mississippi Supreme Court concurred with the trial court and affirmed judgment. View "Smith v. Hardy Wilson Memorial Hospital" on Justia Law

This appeal arose from a chancery court’s reformation of a trust based on the court’s finding that a scrivener’s error had occurred in drafting the trust instrument, which rendered the trust’s language ambiguous and thwarted the grantor’s intent. The estate of Barry Christopher Blackburn, Jr., along with four nonprofit groups named in the trust appealed the chancery court’s decision, claiming that the trust’s language was not ambiguous and that the chancery court erroneously disregarded the grantor’s intent as stated in the trust. After review, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the chancery court's reformation of the trust. "While a mistake had been made with the drafting of the trust instrument which justified correction of the trust’s language by the chancery court, this was not a complicated case. As the chancery court found, a reading of the whole trust instrument itself reveals that a mistake had been made and it clearly shows Barry’s true intent regarding the corpus of the trust." The Court reversed and remanded, however, the court's award of attorney fees in this case, because the court did not make findings that the fees were "reasonable" or that "justice and equity" required the fees be paid from the trust. View "In the Matter of the Estate of Barry C. Blackburn, Sr., Deceased" on Justia Law

At issue in this appeal was the computation of the broadband credit limits that a taxpayer may use against its franchise-tax and income-tax liabilities. During the tax periods at issue, AT&T Mobility II, LLC, and BellSouth Telecommunications operated telecommunications enterprises and made significant investments in broadband technology developments throughout Mississippi, generating Broadband Investment Credits (Broadband Credits) under Mississippi Code Section 57-87-5. BellSouth Mobile Data, SBC Alloy Holdings, New BellSouth Cannular Holdings, New Cingular Wireless Services, SBC Telecom, and Centennial were all direct or indirect corporate owners of AT&T Mobility II. The taxpayers here each filed a separate franchise-tax return and were included as affiliated group members in the combined corporate income-tax return filed on behalf of the affiliated group. The Mississippi Department of Revenue (MDOR) determined that the broadband credits the taxpayers had claimed had been improperly applied to an amount greater than the credit cap of 50 percent of the taxpayers’ tax liabilities according to Mississippi Code Section 57-87- 5(3) (Rev. 2014). The MDR disallowed portions of the broadband credits claimed by the taxpayers and assessed additional franchise taxes, interest and penalties to the taxpayers separately on several dates between December 22, 2014, and May 20, 2015. The taxpayers argue that each taxpayer is jointly and severally liable for the total combined income-tax liability of the affiliated group, therefore making the income-tax liability of each taxpayer the same as the total combined income-tax liability of the affiliated group. The chancellor granted summary judgment in favor of the taxpayers and ruled that the taxpayer’s tax liabilities under Chapters 7 and 13 of Title 271 of the Mississippi Code was the aggregate of the taxpayer’s separate franchise-tax liability and the total combined income-tax liability of the affiliated group. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the chancellor's ruling on the credit-computation issue. "The plain and unambiguous language of Section 57-87-5 clearly limits broadband credits that a taxpayer may take in any given year to 50 percent of the aggregate of the taxpayers’ franchise-tax liability and the total combined income-tax liability of the affiliated group." View "Mississippi Dept. of Revenue v. SBC Telecom, Inc. et al." on Justia Law