The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down two decisions today. One opinion reversed the chancellor’s rulings in an estate matter and the other reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated a judgment of conviction.
In Re Estate of Brent: Mays v. Estate of Brent, 2023-CA-00423-SCT (Wills, Trusts & Estates)
Reversing the chancellor’s decision giving the ex-wife’s Estate an award for unpaid alimony, holding that the chancellor erred by denying the ex-husband Estate credit for partial alimony payments and for life insurance proceeds which resulted in credits exceeding the total amount owed leaving no unpaid alimony.
(9-0: Ishee for the Court)
Allen v. State, 2022-CT-00419-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Reversing the Court of Appeals and reinstating the judgment of the Yazoo County Circuit Court’s convicting the defendant of six counts of statutory rape, holding that the invited-error doctrine applied because the trial court gave the instructions the defendant requested, that there was no merit to the ineffective-assistance-0f-counsel claim, that the verdict was supported by sufficient evidence, that the defendant waived objections to the application of the tender-years exception, and that the trial court did not err in denying a Batson challenge.
(6-3: Maxwell for the Court; King dissented, joined in part by Coleman and Sullivan; Coleman dissented, joined by Sullivan)
Other Orders
- In Re: The Rules of Civil Procedure, 89-R-99001-SCT (granting motion to amend M.R.C.P. forms)
- In Re: The Rules of Civil Procedure, 89-R-99001-SCT (granting motion to amend M.R.C.P. 13)
- In Re: MEC’s Administrative Procedures, 89-R-99040-SCT (dismissing petition to amend Mississippi Rules of Court by MEC director)
- In Re: Uniform Procedures for Data Collection Matters in Circuit, Chancery and County Courts,89-R-99042-SCT (dismissing petition to amend Mississippi Rules of Court by MEC director)
- Smith v. State, 2019-DR-01492-SCT (denying rehearing)
- Tisdale v. South Central Regional Medical Center, 2023-CT-00231-SCT (denying cert)
- Hunter v. State, 2023-KA-01246-SCT (denying rehearing)
Mississippi Appeals Blog 