The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down four opinions today. Three of the opinions are direct criminal appeals, and one of those involved a reverse Batson challenge. The fourth opinion was a dec/injunction action against MDCPS.
Morris v. State, 2023-KA-00546-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction for statutory rape, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction and that the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
(9-0)
Turner v. State, 2023-KA-00074-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of kidnapping after the defendant failed to return her daughter to the child’s lawful custodian, holding that there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction.
(9-0)
Smith v. State, 2021-CT-01003-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of first-degree murder having granted cert on the issue of whether the case should be remanded for another Batson hearing, holding that the trial court did not err in disallowing two of the defendant’s strikes after reverse Batson challenges.
(6-3: King dissented, joined by Kitchens and joined in part by Ishee)
Jones v. Miss. Dept. of Child Protective Services, 2022-SA-01234-SCT (Civil – State Boards and Agencies)
Affirming the chancellor’s decisions granting MDCPS a judgment on the pleadings in an injunctive and declaratory action against MDCPS’s policy not to investigate allegations of abuse at school, holding that Mississippi law (Mississippi Code Section 43-21-353 (Rev. 2023), specifically) does not require the MDCPS to investigate a report that a child has been abused at school.
(6-1-2: Randolph concurred in the result only without writing; Kitchens dissented, joined by King)
Other Orders
- Rules for Court Reporters, 89-R-99021-SCT (appointing Leslie D. King, Candace O’Barr Jones, Kati Vogt, and Latanya Allen as members of the Board of Certified Court Reporters for two-year terms from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2026)
- Haverscome v. State, 2022-CT-00391-SCT (denying cert)
- Brown v. State, 2022-CT-00446-SCT (denying cert)
- Gilmer v. Biegel, 2022-CP-00528-SCT (one order denying cert; granting motion for fees)
- Moore v. Miss. Farm Bureau Casualty Ins. Co., 2022-CT-00555-SCT (denying cert)
- Gregory Meridian Acquisition, LLC v. McFarland, 2022-CT-00580-SCT (denying cert)
- Wiggins v. Southern Securities Group, LLC, 2024-TS-00251 (accepting request for interlocutory appeal as notice of appeal)
- Mi Pueblo Mexican Restaurant, LLC v. Breakfast Cove, LLC, 2024-CA-00271 (granting leave to proceed in the trial court with Miss. R. Civ. P. 60 motion but denying stay request)
Mississippi Appeals Blog 