Tag: Closing Argument

Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of May 21, 2024

The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down a bounty of twelve opinions yesterday. I noticed a stray opinion from Thursday, May 9 so that is also summarized below. With a total of thirteen opinions, there is a lot of ground covered.

Martin v. State, 2023-KA-00044-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of aggravated assault and armed robbery after a trial in absentia, holding that the verdicts were not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
(10-0)

Tilley v. Gibbs, 2022-CA-01150-COA (Civil – Domestic Relations)
Affirming judgment awarding physical custody of a child to the father, holding that the chancellor did not err in his Albright analysis and that substantial, credible evidence supported the custody determination.
(10-0)

Hamer v. State, 023-CP-00701-COA (Civil – PCR)
Affirming denial of relief and dismissal of PCR motion without an evidentiary hearing, holding that the PCR motion lacked sufficient support to warrant a evidentiary hearing.
(8-2-0: Westbrooks and McDonald concurred in result only without writing)

McVay v. State, 2022-KA-00523-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of four counts of capital murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, holding that the trial court did not commit plain error in admitting evidence of prior bad acts during cross-examination of the defendant and holding that the defendant’s trial counsel was not constitutionally ineffective for failing to object.
(7-2-0: Wilson and Westbrooks concurred in result only without separate written opinion; Carlton did not participate)

Jackson v. State, 2022-KA-01143-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of first-degree murder and burglary and sentence to life without eligibility for early release, probation, or parole, holding that the indictment was not fatally defective; that there was no plain error in denying a motion to suppress the defendant’s statements to law enforcement where the defendant made a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of Miranda; that the trial court did not err in refusing the defendant’s proposed insanity defense and imperfect self-defense instructions; and that the verdicts were not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
(8-2-0: Wilson and McCarty concurred in part and in the result without separate written opinion.)

Practice Point – This is a handy citation to tuck away for one of those “I know its true by I can’t find a case that says so” situations:

Thompson v. State, 2023-CP-00218-COA (Civil – PCR)
Affirming dismissal of the petitioner’s fourth and fifth PCR motions, holding that the circuit court did not err in finding them time-barred.
(10-0)

Smith v. West, 2023-CA-00297-COA (Civil – Personal Injury)
Affirming dismissal for failure to prosecute a personal injury case, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion after granting several continuances over nearly ten years since the action was commenced.
(10-0)

Signaigo v. Grinstead, 2022-CA-01212-COA (Civil – Real Property)
Affirming in part and reversing in part the chancellor’s rulings in an adverse possession action, affirming the finding that the plaintiff could not prove the ownership element but reversing the finding that title was vested in the defendant as a matter of law because that issue was beyond the scope of the motion for summary judgment.
(8-2-0: Wilson and Westbrooks concurred in result only without writing)

McKenzie v. McKenzie, 2022-CA-01175-COA (Civil – Domestic Relations)
Affirming the chancellor’s findings in a divorce proceeding, holding that the chancellor did not err in the equitable division of marital property, in determining the amount of child support, in determining the amount of alimony, or in denying the mother’s request for attorney’s fees.
(9-0: Smith did not participate)

Carr v. State, 2022-KA-00491-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of first-degree murder, holding that the State did not commit prosecutorial misconduct during closing arguments such that the court was required to intervene on its own initiative.
(10-0)

Pickens v. State, 2022-KA-00822-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of meth while in possession of a firearm, holding that after reviewing counsel’s Lindsey brief and independently reviewing the record that there were no errors warranting reversal.
(10-0)

Hearn v. State, 2023-CP-00275-COA (Civil – PCR)
Affirming dismissal of PCR motion, holding that the circuit court did not err in finding the motion time-barred and that no statutory exceptions applied.
(9-0: Smith did not participate)

From May 9, 2024

Daniels v. State, 2022-KA-00705-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming in part and reversing in part after the the defendant was convicted of one count of manslaughter as a lesser-included offense of murder, three counts of aggravated assault, and one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling, holding that indictment’s error as to the count for murder was harmless so the conviction of the lesser-included offense of manslaughter was affirmed but holding that the indictment was legally insufficient as to aggravated assault counts and that the error was compounded by repetition in jury instructions and the State’s closing arguments.
4-1*-5: Westbrooks specially concurred, joined by McDonald, Lawrence and Smith (each of whom also joined the lead opinion); Emfinger concurred in part and dissented in part, joined by Barnes, Carlton, Wilson, and McCarty.)

Other Orders

  • Arnold v. State, 2021-KA-01426-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Rutland v. Regions Bank, 2022-CA-00720-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Malone v. State, 2022-CP-00958-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Boyett v. Cain, 2022-CP-00978-COA (denying rehearing)
  • EEECHO Inc. v. Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board, 2022-SA-01068-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Boyette v. State, 2022-CP-01239-COA (denying rehearing)

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Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of August 29, 2023

The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down six opinions today. Today was heavy on direct criminal appeals, with one reversal in part. There was also an appeal of summary judgment in a slip-and-fall case and a PCR case.

Gilbert v. State, 2021-KA-01265-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of leaving the scene of an accident causing significant bodily injury, aggravated DUI, and DUI-related death of an unborn child, holding that the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel was without merit and that the prosecution did not improperly draw attention to the defendant’s exercise of his right to remain silent during closing arguments.
(10-0)

Landry v. Vallman McComb Mall, LLC, 2022-CA-00439-COA (Civil – Personal Injury)
Affirming summary judgment in favor of a fast food restaurant in a slip-and-fall case, holding that mopping and cleaning floors in a restaurant was a reasonable endeavor and was conducted in a reasonable manner, and that the an employee provided multiple warnings.
(9-1-0: McCarty concurred in part and in the result sub silentio.)

Lee v. State, 2022-KA-00078-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming in part and reversing in part after the defendant was convicted of first degree murder, two counts of felon in possession of firearm, and tampering with physical evidence, holding (1) that the two counts of felon in possession should be merged into a single count and remanding for sentencing, (2) that excluding language from the tampering instruction that removed the element requiring intent was plain error, and (3) that retroactive misjoinder was inapplicable.
(9-1-0: Barnes concurred in part and in the result sub silentio.)

NOTE – Here is the jury instruction at issue:

Washington v. State, 2021-KA-01384-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming convictions of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault, holding that the trial court’s ruling on the defendant’s Batson challenges were not clearly erroneous or against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
(8-1*-0: Westbrooks wrote a special concurrence, joined by McDonald and joined in part by McCarty; Smith did not participate. *McDonald and McCarty joined the majority opinion and the special concurrence.)

Ellison v. State, 2022-KA-00462-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of capital murder, holding that the verdict was not against the overwhelming evidence and that the trial court did not err by not removing a sleeping juror where the issue was not raised by trial counsel, and dismissing the ineffective assistance claim without prejudice.
(9-0: Smith did not participate.)

Hall v. State, 2022-CP-01097-COA (Civil – PCR)
Affirming the dismissal of a PCR motion, holding that the motions were filed outside of the three-year statute of limitations and the petitioner did not prove that a statutory exception applied.
(7-3*-0: Westbrooks wrote a special concurrence joined by McDonald, and joined in party by Barnes and McCarty; Barnes and McDonald concurred in part and in the result sub silentio. *McCarty authored the majority opinion and joined the special concurrence.)

Other Orders

Miller v. Board of Trustees of Second Baptist Church of Starkville, 2020-CA-01384-COA (denying rehearing)

Williamson v. State, 2021-KA-00830-COA (denying rehearing)

Durr v. State, 2021-KA-01109-COA (denying rehearing)

Herbert v. Herbert, 2021-CA-01291-COA (denying rehearing)

Beckworth v. Beckworth, 2022-CA-00048-COA (denying rehearing)

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