The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down three opinions on Thursday. There is an appeal of a life imprisonment sentence, an appeal of a sanction in a workers’ comp case, and an appeal of an order compelling arbitration in a construction contract dispute.
Harris v. State, 2022-KA-01113-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming resentencing to life for depraved heart murder, holding that the sentence to life imprisonment was not mandatory but within the trial court’s discretion under the sentencing guidelines.
(9-0)
Howard Industries, Inc. v. Hayes, 2021-CT-00694-SCT (Civil – Workers’ Comp)
Affirming sanction against the employer’s attorney, holding that there was substantial evidence to support the Commission’s award of sanctions related to the presentation of an expert report that was prepared based on representations the attorney made to the expert.
(5-4: Beam dissented, joined by Coleman, Maxwell, and Chamberlin)
McInnis Electric Company v. Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC, 2021-CA-01115-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Affirming order compelling arbitration in a breach of contract suit filed by a subcontractor against the prime contractor, holding that the parties entered into an arbitration agreement and that the subcontractor’s claims were within the arbitration agreement.
(6-2: Kitchens dissented, joined by King; Randolph did not participate)
NOTE – The underlying dispute between the subcontractor and prime contractor is intertwined with the arrival of COVID-19 in Mississippi. Kitchens’s dissent asserted that the ability to perform a contract during the pandemic was not within the contemplated scope of the arbitration agreement that did not contain a force majeure clause.
Other Orders
Williams v. Mississippi District Council for Assemblies of God, 2021-CA-01007-SCT (rehearing denied)
Everett v. State, 2021-CT-01415-SCT (denying cert)
In Re: Administrative Orders of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, 2023-AD-00001-SCT (directing the disbursement of $137,218.03 in civil legal assistance funds among the MS Center for Legal Services, MS Volunteer Lawyers Project, and North MS Rural Legal Services)
Mississippi Appeals Blog 