The Mississippi Supreme Court returned from the summer hand-down slowdown with four opinions today. Each one is a direct criminal appeal.
I was out of town on July 2nd and there were no substantive opinions so I did not post then. But there were five orders entered and, remarkably, a per curiam affirmance that I had to note.
July 2, 2026
McGuire v. Martin, 2025-CA-00736-SCT (per curiam affirmance)
Other Orders
- Fraser v. State, 2023-CT-0129-SCT (denying cert)
- Carroll v. State, 2024-CT-00481-SCT (denying cert)
- Price v. Hines County School District, 2024-CT-00841-SCT (denying cert)
- Polk v. State, 2025-CT-00260-SCT (denying cert)
- Bradford v. State, 2025-M-000649 (denying application for leave to file PCR petition)
July 23, 2026
Sanders v. State, 2024-KA-01270-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming convictions of sexual battery and molestation, holding that the defendant did not properly object and preserve arguments regarding an alleged discovery violation and that the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and holding that the arguments made in the defendant’s pro se brief were waived or without merit.
(7-0: Sullivan for the Court)
Sims v. State, 2024-KA-00642-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming convictions of sexual battery, felonious child abuse, and exposure to HIV, holding that the admission into evidence of an affidavit from MDH’s record custodian and MDH surveillance records regarding HIV status, without allowing him to cross-examine the custodian, was not a Confrontation Clause violation and that there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction.
(7-0: Ishee for the Court)
Eacholes v. State, 2025-KA-00081-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of one count of possession of meth, holding that the Circuit Court did not err in denying a motion to suppress because there was a substantial basis for the probable cause determination at the time warrants were issued.
(6-1-0: Griffis for the Court; King concurred in result only without writing)
Rencher v. State, 2025-KA-00656-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of child exploitation and life imprisonment, holding that argument regarding the authentication of evidence was waived for failure to object and without merit because the records at issue were self-authenticating, and that there was no grounds for relief in the pro se brief.
(7-0: Griffis for the Court)
Other Orders
- In Re: State Intervention Courts Advisory Committee, 89-R-99039-SCT (appointing Heath Ferguson as a member of the State Intervention Courts Advisory Committee and designating Katharine M. Surkin as the committee’s chair)
- Nelson v. State, 2023-CT-00647-SCT (dismissing cert)
- Clark v. State, 2023-CT-01116-SCT (granting cert)
- Thornton v. Thornton, 2024-CT-00320-SCT (denying cert)
- The Estate of Dorsey V. Matory, 2024-CT-00925-SCT (denying cert)
- Daenbunga v. State, 2024-CT_01122-SCT (denying cert)
- Hewitt v. TJM Properties, Inc., 2024-CA-01312-SCT (denying motion to recall mandate)
- Godbolt v. State, 2025-DR-00524-SCT (denying motion to stay initial post-conviction proceedings)
- Ambrose v. State, 2025-DR-00745-SCT (denying motion for leave to invoke discovery in circuit court and further support of evidence related to the reliability of petitioner’s conviction and the fairness of his trial)
- In Re: Administrative Orders of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, 2026-AD-00001-SCT (directing the disbursement of $201,969.58 in civil legal assistance funds among the MS Center for Legal Services, MS Volunteer Lawyers Project, and North MS Rural Legal Services)
- In Re: Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, 2026-M-00743 (On the Emergency Motion to Stay County Court Orders and since the Legislature’s Youth Court statutes of confidentiality and disclosure have been repealed effective July 1, 2026, the Orders for Limited Disclosure of Youth Court Records entered by the Youth Courts of Lamar County, Jackson County, Lafayette County, and any other courts of the State of Mississippi having jurisdiction over youth courts are not to be enforced until further order of this Court; the penalty in Mississippi Code Section 43-21-267(1) temporarily is suspended; and until further order of this Court Rule 5 of the Uniform Rules of Youth Court Confidentiality of Records and Proceedings and its Comments and Procedures are immediately and temporarily amended as stated in this order. This order is executed and effective on July 2, 2026, nunc pro tunc, July 1, 2026, and shall expire on July 24, 2026)
- In Re: Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, 2026-M-00743 (terminating from and after the date of entry of this order this Court’s Temporary Order entered on July 2, 2026, nunc pro tunc July 1, 2026, amending Rule 5 of the Uniform Rules of Youth Court Practice)
Mississippi Appeals Blog 