The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down two opinions today in direct criminal appeals. One was on cert on a Confrontation Clause issue after the Court of Appeals affirmed a conviction.
Walker v. State, 2023-KA-01153-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of first-degree murder, shooting into occupied vehicle, and felony fleeing from law enforcement, holding that the trial court did not err in refusing a proposed lesser-included-offense jury instruction as to heat of passion manslaughter, that the conviction was supported by sufficient evidence and the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, that the trial court did not commit plain error by failing to exclude a portion of the defendant’s statement, that the jury instruction conference should have been on the record by the defendant was procedurally barred from raising the issue on appeal, and that the defendant did not demonstrate that trial counsel was ineffective.
(9-0)
Practice Point – When there is no transcript available…
The opinion concluded:
Pitts v. State, 2021-CT-00740-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of sexual battery, holding that the defendant’s rights under the Confrontation Clause were not violated where a screen was placed between a child witness and the defendant at trial.
(5-3-1: Maxwell concurred in result only, joined by Chamberlin and Griffis; King dissented)
Note – This opinion has a lengthy and detailed analysis of the Confrontation Clause.
Other Orders
- Powers v. State, 2017-DR-00696-SCT (denying motion for relief under Rule 60(b)(6))
- White v. The Home Depot, 2022-CT-00894-SCT (denying pro se cert petition)
- Galang v. State, 2023-CT-00006-SCT (denying cert)
- Corrothers v. State, 2023-CA-00401-SCT (denying rehearing)
- Carroll v. State, 2023-CT-00688-SCT (denying pro se cert petition)
- Toler v. State, 2023-KA-00712-SCT (denying rehearing)
- In Re: Administrative Orders of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, 2025-AD-00001-SCT (appointing Timothy Lewis as Deputy Marshal of the Supreme Court of Mississippi)
Mississippi Appeals Blog 