The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down two opinions today in criminal cases. One is an appeal of a DUI conviction where the defendant refused a breathalyzer test. The other was certiorari review of the Court of Appeals’ remedy for a Batson error by the trial court. The Supreme Court also published an en banc order that garnered some national attention when it was entered on Tuesday.
Bullen v. State, 2021-KM-01081-SCT (Criminal – Misdemeanor/DUI)
Affirming a conviction of DUI (second offense), holding that substantial evidence supported the conviction despite the defendant’s refusal to submit to a breathalyzer test because there was also testimony that the defendant’s pupils were contracted (after some confusion by the officer who initially testified that they were dilated), his truck smelled of alcohol, and he admitted to consuming more than one beer and intentionally driving into a flooded area requiring extraction by the fire department. The Supreme Court also held that the circuit judge did not err in considering the defendant’s refusal to submit to breathalyzer tests.
(9-0.)
NOTE – The Supreme Court has never addressed the issue of whether “smell alone could support a DUI charge.” The Court declined to do so in this case because this conviction was based on other evidence. The right case may be set up for cert on this issue.
Miles v. State, 2019-CT-00895-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming the Court of Appeals affirming in part and reversing in part the circuit court’s judgment, holding that the Court of Appeals applied the appropriate remedy for the circuit court’s “imprecise and incomplete” Batson analysis (specifically, the burden-shifting process after challenge of a peremptory strike) which was to remand to the trial court to conduct a hearing to complete the second and third steps of the Batson analysis for three of the challenged members of the venire.
(Justice King concurred in the result only without separate written opinion.)
Other Orders
Powers v. State, 2017-DR-00696-SCT (holding that the plaintiff has no right to competency in post-conviction proceedings and denying his motion to stay his execution without prejudice)
Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development v. General Reinsurance Corp., 2020-CT-00761-SCT (denying cert)
Mississippi Appeals Blog 