Direct Criminal – Mississippi Appeals Blog

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of January 11, 2024

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down four opinions and entered an impressive sixteen “other orders” today. The opinions are a direct criminal appeal, an ecclesiastical abstention case, a precedent-overruling PCR case, and a contract case deciding whether a post-mediation agreement was enforceable. Among the sixteen other orders is an order amending Rule 54 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure that civil practitioners should note.

Hawkins v. State, 2022-KA-01250-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of sexual battery, holding that there was sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find based on the totality of the circumstances that the defendant was in a position of trust or authority over the victim.
(9-0)

Melton v. Union Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 2022-CA-00737-SCT (Civil – Other)
Reversing and vacating the chancery court’s judgment in a dispute over whether a church had been removed its pastor, holding that the doctrine of ecclesiastical abstention put this question outside of the chancery court’s jurisdiction and that the well-meaning chancellor violated the Mississippi Constitution and the Establishment Clause when he personally moderated a congregational meeting to hold a second vote on the pastor and declared the church’s sanctuary a courtroom.
(9-0)

NOTE – The Court also had this to say about the congregational meeting:

Ronk v. State, 2021-DR-00269-SCT (Civil – PCR)
Affirming denial of motion for relief from judgment or for leave to file successive petition for PCR that included an ineffective assistance claim, overruling Grayson v. State to the extent it excepted ineffective-assistance-of-post-conviction-counsel claims from the UPCCRA’s bars in death-penalty cases, based on the recent Howell decision.
(6-3: Kitchens dissented, joined by King and Ishee)

Logan v. RedMed, LLC, 2022-CA-00669-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Reversing the trial court’s judgment enforcing a settlement following a mediation, holding that the proposed settlement agreement that resulted from the mediation lacked material terms required by Mississippi contract law.
(6-3: Chamberlin dissented, joined by Maxwell and Beam)

Other Orders

In Re: The Rules of Civil Procedure, 89-R-99001-SCT (amending Rule 54, effective January 18, 2024)

NOTE – Here is the amended text of Rule 54(d):

And here is the amended Advisory Committee Historical Note:

In Re: The Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi Bar, 89-R-99010-SCT (appointing or reappointing Hon. Eleanor Faye Peterson, Clarence Webster III, Jackye C. Bertucci, Hon. Mark A. Maples, Hon. Celeste E. Wilson, and Charles Elliott Winfield as complaint tribunal members for three-year terms from January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2026)

Flynt v. State, 2016-M-00862 (denying PCR motion, finding the motion frivolous, and warning that future frivolous filings might result in sanctions)

Williams v. State, 2016-M-01063 (denying PCR motion, finding the motion frivolous, and warning that future frivolous filings might result in sanctions)

Cavitt v. State, 2018-M-00197 (denying PCR motion, finding the motion frivolous, and warning that future frivolous filings might result in sanctions)

Ronk v. State, 2021-DR-00269-SCT (denying motion for relief from judgment or leave to file successive PCR petition)

Howard Industries, Inc. v. Hayes, 2021-CT-00694, consolidated with 2021-CT-00695 (granting appellee’s motion for attorney’s fees for additional services provided and denying rehearing)

Christian v. State, 2021-M-00807 (denying PCR motion, finding the motion frivolous, and warning that future frivolous filings might result in sanctions)

Priceline.com, LLC v. Fitch, 2021-CA-00868-SCT (denying rehearing)

Johnson v. Johnson, 2021-CT-01080-SCT (denying cert)

Ehrhardt v. State, 2021-CT-01143-SCT (denying cert)

Pearson v. Eubanks, 2022-CT-00011-SCT (granting cert)

Brown v. State, 2022-CT-00069-SCT (denying cert)

Roosa v. Roosa, 2022-CT-00128-SCT (denying cert)

Tarvin v. State, 2022-M-00260 (denying PCR motion, finding the motion frivolous, and warning that future frivolous filings might result in sanctions)

The Mississippi Bar v. Russell, 2023-BD-00843-SCT (granting petition to transfer lawyer to disability inactive status)

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Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of January 2, 2024

Happy New Year! The Mississippi Court of Appeals wasted no time getting back in the game this year and handed down two opinions today. One is a direct appeal of a criminal conviction of multiple counts of video voyeurism and the other is a decision on unusual facts from hearings related to the enforcement of a judgment.

Moore v. State, 2022-KA-00327-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of fifteen counts of video voyeurism and one count of video voyeurism of a child under sixteen, holding that the trial court did not err in declining to suppress all of the State’s evidence because “simple mistakes made in the process of the issuance of the two search warrants” related to identifying which suite the subject restroom was in; that the evidence was sufficient to find that the incidental recording of males was “lewd, licentious, or indecent” and that the evidence was sufficient to prove the necessary element of lack of permission as to the victims who did not testify.
(10-0)

Pierce v. Sorrells, 2022-CP-01290-COA (Civil – Contract)
Affirming in part and reversing in part the trial court’s decisions on dueling petitions to unseal a judgment (by obligee) and to set the judgment aside (by obligor), holding that the obligor was served with process on the petition to unseal, but holding that the obligor’s due process rights were violated when he was instructed by the court not to open his mouth again before he was able to testify and remanding for full hearing on the merits, and reversing the trial court’s judgment ordering the obligor incarcerated until he purged himself of contempt.
(6-1-3: McCarty concurred in part and in the result without writing; Wilson concurred in part and dissented in part, joined by Lawrence and Smith, and joined in part by McCarty.)

NOTE – Here is the potion of the opinion recounting the hearing:

Other Orders

None

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Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of December 12, 2023

The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down eight decisions on Tuesday that cover a lot of territory. There is something for just about everybody.

Read on down for a case that underscores the importance of keeping up with the weekly hand downs from the Mississippi Supreme Court and Mississippi Court of Appeals. (Subscribing to this blog probably doesn’t hurt you in that endeavor.)

Coogan v. Nationwide Prop. and Cas. Ins. Co., 2022-CA-01063-COA (Civil – Insurance)
Affirming partial summary judgment in policy holders’ suit against their auto liability carrier, holding that the carrier had an arguably reasonable basis to support its claims handling the circuit court did not err in finding that there was no genuine issue of material fact on the bad faith punitive damages claim or the Veasley damages claim.
(6-2-1: McCarty concurred in part and in the result without writing, Westbrooks concurred in result only without writing, McDonald dissented without writing, Lawrence did not participate)

Forrest v. State, 2022-KA-00844-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of first-degree murder, holding that the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence and that the court did not admit inadmissible hearsay or irrelevant evidence, and dismissing the ineffective assistance of counsel claim without prejudice.
(10-0)

Hills v. Manns, 2022-CA-00774-COA (Civil – Domestic Relations)
Affirming modification of visitation schedule, holding that the chancellor did not err in not dismissing the mother’s petition on the basis of res judicata, not awarding him attorney’s fees, or in awarding the mother final decision-making authority.
(10-0)

Strong v. Acara Solutions, Inc., 2022-CA-01240-COA (Civil – Personal Injury)
Reversing the trial court’s dismissal of a personal injury lawsuit on judicial estoppel grounds, holding that the case should be remanded to allow the circuit court to apply the test from a recent Mississippi Supreme Court decision that was handed down after the circuit court’s ruling.
(10-0)

PRACTICE POINT – This case illustrates the importance of keeping up with decisions handed down weekly by Mississippi’s appellate courts. (By extension, this case illustrates why you and all of your friends should subscribe to the Mississippi Appeals Blog – I covered the Saunders decision here when it was handed down.)

PRACTICE POINT (continued): Though the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision in Saunders was handed down after the summary judgment order was entered, the Supreme Court’s decision in Jones, infra, with its special concurrence, was handed down before the summary judgment proceedings. So the precedential special concurrence in Jones that controlled this case was in force during the summary judgment proceedings. This case serves as a good reminder that special concurrences that garner a majority of the court have the force of precedent. (Another shameless plug: I covered the Jones decision here when it was handed down and specifically discussed the precedential value of the special concurrence.)

Barefield v. Barefield, 2022-CA-00834-COA (Civil – Torts-Other)
Affirming the chancellor’s order requiring the former member/owner of an investment company to pay a forensic accountant’s fee for services during litigation among all members/owners, holding that the exert was court-appointed and the chancellor had discretion to order the party whose actions necessitated the lawsuit to pay the fees.
(8-2-0: McCarty concurred in part and in result without writing; Wilson concurred in result only without writing)

Henderson v. State, 2022-KA-00661-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of first-degree murder, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction and the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
(10-0)

Nichols v. State, 2022-KA-00202-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Reversing conviction of first-degree murder and remanding for new trial, holding that the circuit court erred by failing to instruct the jury on the “castle doctrine,” while also holding that the evidence to support the conviction was legally sufficient so the remedy was a new trial.
(10-0)

Miss. Dept. of Human Servs. v. Johnson, 2022-SA-00605-COA (Civil – Domestic Relations)
Affirming the chancellor’s decision voiding a 2002 paternity and child-support order was void for insufficient service of process, holding that in light of MDHS’s admission that failed to effect proper service under Rule 81(d) MDHS’s arguments under the doctrine of laches, judicial estoppel, unjust enrichment, and public policy failed.
(6-4: Greenlee dissented, joined by Wilson, Lawrence, and Emfinger)

Other Orders

Gillen v. Gillen, 2021-CA-00837-COA (granting motion for appellate attorneys’ fees)

Moore v. State, 2022-KA-00327-COA (granting appearance as counsel, but denying motion to substitute and motion to file supplemental brief)

Diming v. State, 2022-KA-00412-COA (recalling mandate and granting motion for time to file motion for rehearing)

Russell v. State, 2022-KA-00447-COA (recalling mandate and granting motion for time to file motion for rehearing)

Greater Hamilton Grove Baptist Church v. Hamilton Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 2022-CA-00518-COA (denying rehearing)

Rehabilitation Centers, Inc. v. Williams, 2023-WC-00453-COA (denying motion for reconsideration)

Mitchell v. State, 2023-TS-00764-COA (granting motion to proceed out-of-time)

Robinson v. State, 2023-TS-00935-COA (dismissing untimely appeal)

Britton v. State, 2023-TS-01060-COA (dismissing untimely appeal)

Rutherford v. State, 2023-TS-01066-COA (dismissing appeal for lack of appealable judgment)

Rutherford v. State, 2023-TS-01069-COA (dismissing appeal for lack of appealable judgment)

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