The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down two opinions in direct criminal appeals today. One involved the adequacy of the indictment and sentencing as a habitual offender. The other raised issues of weight and sufficiency of evidence, the trial court’s failure to rule on an objection during trial, closing argument, and the racial composition of the jury. One ended in a reversal and the other an affirmance.
Young v. State, 2021-KA-00940-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Reversing sentence as a habitual offender, holding that the indictment failed to comply with Rule 14.1(b)(1) but defendant waived the issue of defective indictment by failing to object to it in the trial court but also holding that the evidence was insufficient to support the habitual offender sentence and remanding for resentencing.
(9-0)
Redd v. State, 2022-KA-00175-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of aggravated assault causing bodily injury, holding that the verdict was supported by sufficient evidence and not against the overwhelming weight of it, that the defendant waived his objection to testimony by failing to request corrective action from the trial court, that the State was entitled to draw inferences from facts in the record during closing, and that the issue of the racial composition of the jury was procedurally barred and without merit because the defendant did not object to the racial composition and the record was silent about the composition.
(9-0)
Other Orders
In Re: Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure, 89-R-99027-SCT (amending Miss. R. App. P.)
Parker v. Ross, 2020-CT-01055-SCT (denying motion for costs)
Yarborough v. Singing River Health Systems, 2021-CT-00668-SCT (denying cert)
The Banking Group, Inc. v. Southern Bancorp Bank, 2021-CT-01077-SCT (denying cert)
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