Mississippi Supreme Court Hand Downs for February 10, 2022

Brown v. State, 2020-KA-1366-SCT (Criminal – Felony/Constructive Possession Instruction)
Affirming a conviction for three counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon with a sentence of twenty-four years to under the habitual offender statute, holding that the circuit court did not err in granting the State’s jury instruction on constructive possession or in denying the defendant’s proposed instruction on circumstantial evidence.

Copes v. State, 2019-CT-302-SCT (en banc) (Criminal – Felony/Right to Counsel of Choice)
Affirming a conviction for two counts of sexual battery of two minors and a sentence of twenty years, holding that the defendant was not denied his right to his counsel of choice under the Sixth Amendment when his lead counsel was removed during trial from questioning witnesses and making closing arguments due to repeated misconduct including violation of the judge’s orders.

Augustine v. State, 2019-CT-1467-SCT (en banc) (Criminal-Felony/Impeachment Testimony)
Reversing the court of appeals and reinstating/affirming a conviction for second-degree murder, holding that the circuit court did not err by allowing an officer to testify to the content of a prior witness’s statement for impeachment purposes and, assuming arguendo that it was error, that the overwhelming weight of the evidence supported the conviction.

Alexander v. State, 2019-CT-1612-SCT (en banc) (Criminal-Felony/Habitual Offender Status/Miller Hearing)
Reversing the court of appeals and reinstating/affirming a 1998 conviction for capital murder and sentence to life without parole, holding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion when it denied the defendant’s motion to fund a mitigation expert and holding that the defendant was not deprived of his right to have a jury impose his sentence.

Other Orders
1 Denial of a “Motion for Review by Supreme Court of Court of Appeals’ Denial of Attorney’s Fees”
1 Denial of a Cert Petition
1 Denial of a Motion for Rehearing

Complete Hand Down List

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BONUS CONTENT

Every so often, one needs to find support for a proposition that is so obvious that a citation is elusive. See generally Orin S. Kerr, A Theory of Law, 16 Green Bag 2d 111 (2012). The supreme court gifted the bar with this pithy statement that will come in handy in the future:

"It is axiomatic that a judge's rulings during trial are to be followed." Copes v. State, No. 2019-CT-00302-SCT (¶ 11) (Miss. 2022)

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