The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down seven opinions today. Six are direct criminal appeals and one is a real property/default judgment case. One of the cases involves a crossbow and included a visual aid.
Nailer v. State, 2023-KA-00627-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of aggravated assault after he fired a crossbow into an occupied vehicle, holding that the trial court did not err in denying a requested instruction of simple assault as a lesser-included offense, that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction, and that instructions given did not impermissibly comment on the weight of the evidence were not argumentative and did not deprive the defendant of a fair and objective consideration by the jury, and that the defendant was not deprived of his right to testify.
(9-0: Weddle did not participate)
NOTE – An appendix to the opinion has a photo of the scene:
Young v. Martin, 2023-CA-00980-COA (Civil – Real Property)
Affirming the chancellor’s decision denying a motion to set aside a default judgment in an action to quiet title and confirm a tax title, holding that the complaint signed by an attorney was a “sworn complaint” for purposes of Miss. Code Ann. § 11-17-1, that the chancellor did not abuse his discretion denying a Rule 60 motion or in deciding that the proper parties were notified of the tax sale.
(7-2: Westbrooks and McDonald dissented without writing; Smith did not participate)
Practice Point – Here is the crux of the Court’s holding on the first issue that is worth keeping in mind:
Wagner v. State, 2023-KA-01123-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of felony aggravated domestic violence, holding after a review of counsel’s Lindsey brief and the record that there were no arguable issues for appeal.
(9-0: Smith did not participate)
Davis v. State, 2023-KA-00811-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm, holding that the trial court did not err in denying a motion to suppress the firearm because the stop during which it was obtained did not violate the defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights.
(9-1-0: Lawrence concurred in part and in the result without writing)
King v. State, 2023-KA-00658-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of second-degree murder based on counsel’s Lindsey brief and an independent review of the record.
(9-0: Weddle did not participate)
Gardner v. State, 2023-KA-00903-COA consolidated with No. 2018-KA-01337-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Reversing convictions of cocaine possession and felony evasion, holding that the trial court erred in admitting prior convictions for purposes of impeachment but also holding that the defendant is not entitled to a judgment of acquittal because there was sufficient evidence to support his convictions.
(7-2: Carlton dissented, joined by Smith; Emfinger did not participate)
Levi v. State, 2023-KA-00718-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of possession of meth with intent distribute and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, holding that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of prior convictions for simple possession but that the error was harmless.
(5-4-1: Carlton concurred in part and in result, joined by Smith and Emfinger; Westbrooks and Smith concurred in result only without writing; McDonald concurred in part and dissented in part without writing)
Other Orders
- Collins v. State, 2022-KA-01184-COA (denying rehearing)
- Wallace v. Smith, 2023-KA-00071-COA (denying rehearing)
- Siggers v. State, 2023-CP-00324-COA (denying rehearing)
- Carroll v. State, 2023-CP-00688-COA (denying rehearing)
- Miller v. State, 2023-CP-00812-COA (granting appellant’s pro se motion for leave to file motion for rehearing out of time)
- Saddler v. State, 2024-CP-00099-COA (granting motion to reinstate his administratively dismissed appeal)
- Taylor v. State, 2024-KA-00280-COA (granting motion to reinstate appeal)
- Morris v. State, 2024-TS-00580-COA (sua sponte order allowing appeal to proceed on the merits)
- Johnson v. State, 2024-TS-00650-COA (allowing appeal to proceed as timely)
- Butler v. State, 2024-TS-00747-COA (granting motion to reinstate appeal)
Mississippi Appeals Blog 