Justia Mississippi Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In 2013, Abdur Ambrose ("Ambrose"), Stevie Ambrose, and Orlander Dedeaux were indicted for capital murder of Robert Trosclair with the underlying felony being kidnapping. Ambrose alleged Trosclair had "stolen stuff our of his car." and confronted him late in the afternoon. Trosclair was later found tied up with a yellow ratchet strap, tightly tied around his wrists and loosely tired around his back, his head as “very dirty, covered in dirt, black and blue, blood,” Trosclair’s ears had blood coming out of them, stab wounds, cuts, and scrapes to his body. Trosclair was heliported to a hospital where he was unresponsive upon arrival, and diagnosed as clinically brain dead. The trial court severed the case for separate trials. A jury found Ambrose guilty of capital murder, for which he received the death sentence. Ambrose appealed, raising following twelve alleged issues with the trial court's proceedings. A divided Mississippi Supreme Court majority concluded after a review of the the record and after considering all of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented at trial, the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict and the death penalty was not disproportionate or excessive. View "Ambrose v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In 2008, an undetected flammable gas ignited and caused an explosion at the Elliotts’ home. Because the Elliotts believed the flammable gas was natural gas from a broken municipal pipeline, they filed suit against the city of Holly Springs, Mississippi, and the chain of vendors that supplied the city with natural gas and related products. A few years into litigation, the defendants began pointing to the propane gas tank in the Elliotts’ yard, insisting propane gas, not natural gas, was the source and cause of the explosion. While the Elliotts and their experts denied that propane gas caused the explosion, the Elliotts amended their complaint, adding claims against the propane gas vendor, "to avoid the risk of fault being apportioned to a nonparty or, as they put it, to cut off an 'empty chair defense.'" The Elliotts negotiated a settlement with the municipality, and summary judgment was previously granted to all of the Natural Gas Defendants. So the Elliotts had no need to assert an empty chair defense. However, they attempted to change course to pursue the propane gas defendant, a defendant they admitted they did not believe caused the explosion. The Mississippi SUpreme Court surmised that the decade the Elliotts spent pursuing only their natural gas claims, they were determined to be bound by their cumulative admissions. Accordingly, the propane gas defendant was granted summary judgment. The Elliotts appealed the latter ruling, arguing that they should have been allowed to take that inconsistent position. But finding no error in the trial court's ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed it. View "Elliott v. Amerigas Propane, L.P." on Justia Law

E.K. was adjudicated as a neglected child. Elizabeth A. King and Timothy King were E.K.'s parents; he was born 2001. With a history of ADHD, epilepsy, autism, mental disability and obsessive, compulsive disorder (OCD), E.K. functioned on the level of a two-year-old. Elizabeth and Timothy had been separated for two weeks at the time of the initial investigation in this case. They had been divorced for four years in the past before having remarried. In December 2015, the Mississippi Department of Human Services Division of Family and Children’s Services (“DHS”) was contacted by law enforcement officials about Elizabeth and E.K. Law enforcement officers on the scene were concerned that Elizabeth was high on drugs, due to her repetitive 911 calls. According to an investigative report prepared by DHS, Elizabeth secured a protective order against Timothy and changed the locks to her residence. Last, the report noted that DHS was ordered by the Marion County Youth Court “to open prevention case to monitor to [sic] safety in the home.” DHS ultimately directed a formal petition to adjudicate E.K. as a neglected child be entered. First, E.K. was adjudicated neglected even though her mother was not properly before the youth court and her father received no notice of the adjudication hearing. Second, after review, the Mississippi Supreme Court found that the neglect petition was legally insufficient to provide notice to E.K. or her parents of the neglect charges. Third, the evidence offered to support a finding of neglect at the adjudication hearing was legally insufficient. As such, the Supreme Court vacated the youth court’s adjudication order and rendered judgment in favor of E.K. and her parents. View "In the Interest of E.K." on Justia Law

The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance (Commission) filed a formal complaint against Justice Court Judge Mary Curry, alleging she violated Canons 1, 2A, 2B, 3B(1), 3B(2), 3B(5), 3B(7), 3B(8), and 3C(1) of the Code of Judicial Conduct. Judge Curry stipulated she: (1) “has signed warrants based on affidavits sworn by her relatives . . . .” then would not set bond even though the charges were misdemeanors and recuse herself from the case; (2) displayed a pattern of dismissing Petition for Order of Protection From Domestic Abuse without having statutorily mandated hearings; (3) granted a bond reduction for a relative whose initial appearance she presided over; (4) waived an expungement fee and directed the clerks to void the receipts and refund the money; and (5) requested the complainant-clerk be transferred from her position as Justice Court Clerk once the Judge learned a complaint regarding her conduct had been filed. The Mississippi Supreme Court granted the parties’ joint motion for approval of the Commission’s recommendation and ordered Judge Curry be publicly reprimanded. Judge Curry was ordered to appear on the first day of the next term of the Circuit Court of Claiborne County in which a jury venire would be present, after the mandate in this case has issued, to be reprimanded by the presiding judge. View "Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance v. Curry" on Justia Law

Jason Miles appealed after a jury found him guilty of grand larceny. On appeal, he argued the evidence was insufficient to support the jury verdict, and the trial court erred in denying a continuance. Finding no error, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Miles' conviction. View "Miles v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Memorial Hospital at Gulfport and Singing River Health System (“Hospitals”) sought judicial review of a June 24, 2016 administrative decision which found the Division of Medicaid’s (“DOM’s”) 2014 Fiscal Year Methodology “correctly interprets statutes and regulations and is neither arbitrary or capricious.” The chancellor affirmed the decision of DOM. Finding no evidence in the record before it that DOM failed to comply with Sections 43-13-117 and 43-13-145 in allocating and distributing supplemental payments to Mississippi hospitals, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed. View "Memorial Hospital at Gulfport v. Dzielak" on Justia Law

Dexter Powell was convicted by jury of aggravated assault and felon in possession of a firearm. He appealed, claiming: (1) ineffective assistance of counsel; and (2) insufficient evidence in support of the verdicts, both of which also were against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Finding no reversible error, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment of convictions. View "Powell v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Henry Earl Harvey was convicted of first-degree murder for the 2015 shooting death of Eddie Briggs. Harvey was sentenced to life imprisonment. Harvey filed a Motion for New Trial and for Acquittal Notwithstanding the Verdict, which was denied. Harvey's counsel filed a "Lindsey" brief, stating he “diligently searched the procedural and factual history of this criminal action and scoured the record,” finding no arguable issues for appeal. Harvey was given additional time to file a pro se brief; however, he did not do so. The Mississippi Supreme Court found the record contained "more than sufficient proof" to establish that Harvey shot and killed Eddie Briggs within the meaning of the applicable statute, and as such, affirmed his conviction and sentence. View "Harvey v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

A jury found Andre Thomas guilty of one count of felony shoplifting. Thomas and an accomplice went to the electronics section of a Sam's Club in Gulfport, Mississippi at around 8:00 P.M. in 2015. A Sam’s Club employee was working at the store’s exit door on the night in question and was tasked with checking customers’ receipts as they left the store. As Thomas and the accomplice approached the employee, the accomplice stepped away from the store’s exit and feigned a heart attack. The employee came to the accomplice's aid, which allowed Thomas to exit the store without paying for three 60-inch 3D "smart" televisions, each valued at over $2,500. The accomplice was taken to the hospital but released on the same night. A few weeks later, he was arrested and charged with felony shoplifting. The accomplice admitted Thomas had helped him steal the televisions, and he identified Thomas from a six-person photographic lineup. Thomas' appellate counsel filed a "Lindsey" brief, asserting he could not identify any issues warranting appellate review. Thomas filed a pro se supplemental brief, challenging his sentence. Finding Thomas’s arguments to be without merit, and finding no other arguable issues in the record, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Thomas’s conviction and sentence. View "Thomas v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Phillip Moore, Gloria Moore, and Katelyn Moore sued Olshan Foundation Repair of Jackson, LLC (Olshan), and Wayne Brown. Olshan and Brown sought to compel arbitration pursuant to an arbitration provision within a contract between Phillip Moore and Olshan for the repair of the foundation of the Moores’ home. The circuit court ordered Phillip and Gloria Moore to arbitrate their claims. But because the circuit court declined to order Katelyn Moore to the arbitral forum, Olshan and Brown appealed. Finding that Katelyn Moore was neither a third-party beneficiary to the foundation-repair contract nor was she bound by direct-benefit estoppel, the Mississippi Supreme Court found Katelyn Moore’s claims, including negligence and intentional/negligent infliction of emotional distress, were wholly independent of the terms of the contract to which she was not a party. As such, Olshan was not allowed to enforce an arbitration clause respecting Katelyn Moore’s claims, which were unrelated to the contract. View "Olshan Foundation Repair Company of Jackson, LLC v. Moore" on Justia Law