Tag: Personal Jurisdiction

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of December 5, 2024

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down six opinions today covering personal jurisdiction, waiver of defenses, venue, bad faith, death penalty PRC, and direct criminal appeal. There are also orders amending Rule 10 and Rule 12 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.

Palmer v. McRae, 2023-CP-01026-SCT (Civil – Other)
Affirming the circuit court’s order enforcing sureties’ liability, holding that the appellant’s arguments on appeal were waived and procedurally barred on appeal because he failed to appear or otherwise defend in the circuit court.
(8-1-0: King concurred in result only without writing)

Mississippi Department of Human Services v. Johnson, 2022-CT-00605-SCT (Civil – Other)
Reversing the chancery court’s and Court of Appeals’ decisions related to a motion to set aside a 2002 paternity order, holding that while the chancery court lacked personal jurisdiction due to insufficient service of process under Rule 81(d), the defendant waived that challenged by stipulating to the validity of the 2002 order in 2003.
(6-3-0: Randolph concurred in part and in result without writing; Griffis concurred in part and in result, joined by Maxwell and joined in part by Randolph)

Boyett v. Cain, 2022-CT-00978-SCT (Civil – Other)
Reversing the circuit court and the Court of Appeals, holding that they erred in finding that the proper venue for a prisoner to challenge an MDOC decision is the county in which the prisoner is located and clarifying that Section 11-11-3 controls and venue is proper in a county in which a defendant resides or in a county where a substantial act or even caused the alleged injury.
(9-0)

United Services Automobile Association v. Estate of Minor, 2023-CA-00049-SCT (Civil – Insurance)
Affirming a jury award of punitive damages in a bad faith claim on direct appeal but reversing the trial court’s denial of a post-trial motion for attorney’s fees, holding (1) that the trial court did not err in submitting the issue of punitive damages to the jury, (2) that the trial court did not err in submitting what he deemed to be a reasonable amount of attorney’s fees (the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ contingency fee), (3) that the $10M punitive damages award was within the Campbell guideline, (4) that trial court did not err in instructing the jury that adjusters were charged with knowledge of all records at all times, in denying the carrier’s request to depose the insured, or in excluding the insured’s bribery convictions, (5) and rendering a judgment awarding attorney’s fees of $4.5M plus post-judgment interest based on a 45% contingency fee on the punitive damages award.
(5-3: Maxwell concurred in part and dissented in part, joined by Chamberlin and joined in part by Griffis; Griffis dissented, joined in part by Maxwell; Coleman did not participate)

Corrothers v. State, 2023-CA-00401-SCT (Civil – Death Penalty – Post Conviction)
Affirming denial of PCR motion, holding that the trial court did not err in finding that the petitioner failed to prove improper juror communication.
(7-2-0: Kitchens and King concurred in result only without writing)

Mitchell v. State, 2023-KA-00859-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of second-degree murder, holding that the trial court did not err in instructing the jury and dismissing the ineffective assistance of counsel claims without prejudice.
(8-1-0: Ishee concurred, joined in part by Randolph and Beam)

Other Orders

  • In Re: The Rules of Civil Procedure, 89-R-99001-SCT (amending Rule 10 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure) (deleting subsection (d) that required a copy of an account or written instrument to be attached to the pleading asserting a claim founded on such)
  • In Re: The Rules of Civil Procedure, 89-R-99001-SCT (amending Rule 12 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure) (Advisory Committee Historical Notes states that was done to consistently refer to an “answer” to a counterclaim rather than a “reply”)
  • Landrum v. Livingston Holdings, LLC, 2022-CA-00498-SCT (denying rehearing)
  • Clemmons v. State, 2022-CT-00700-SCT (denying cert)
  • Brown v. Black, 2022-CT-00869 (denying cert)
  • Boyett v. Cain, 2022-CT-00978-SCT (denying motion for reconsideration)
  • Johnson v. State, 2023-CA-00117-SCT (denying rehearing)
  • Wells v. State, 2023-KA-00670-SCT (denying rehearing)
  • In Re: Andrew McGraw, 2024-M-00654 (denying application to proceed in the trial court, finding that the application is frivolous, and restricting the petitioner from filing further PCR applications in forma pauperis)

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Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of November 16, 2023

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down four opinions today. There is a lengthy personal jurisdiction case, a direct criminal appeal, a circuit vs. chancery jurisdiction dispute, and a death-penalty PCR decision.

K&C Logistics, LLC v. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc., 2022-CA-00939-SCT (Civil – Other)
Affirming judgment of the circuit court finding no personal jurisdiction in a negligence case stemming from a car wreck in Arizona, holding that the Mississippi Business Corporation Act did not confer personal jurisdiction by virtue of the foreign corporation being registered to do business in Mississippi and that the defendant did not waive the personal jurisdiction defense when its attorneys entered appearances that did not expressly reserve the right to assert the personal jurisdiction defense.
(9-0)

Practice Point – This decision has a lengthy discussion of personal jurisdiction that is worth your time to read. On the waiver issue, the Court clarified persistent confusion over “special appearances” as follows:

Lollis v. State, 2022-KA-00711-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict on both counts.
(9-0)

Riverhills Capital Corporation v. At Home Care, Inc., 2022-IA-00568-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Affirming the circuit court’s denial of a motion to transfer a breach of contract, fraud, and quite title claim to chancery court, holding that the plaintiffs had sufficiently pleaded legal claims the circuit court did not err in denying the request to transfer to chancery court even if it is a “close call” and if the legal claims were ultimately found to be without merit.
(9-0)

Note – The Supreme Court said this about circuit court jurisdiction:

Bennett v. State, 2021-CA-01313-SCT (Civil – Death Penalty – PCR)
Affirming the denial of a PCR petition, holding that Cronic did not apply and there was no per se ineffective assistance, that the trial court’s refusal to allow the petitioner to depose two proffered witnesses did not affect the outcome of the trial, and that the petitioner failed to show ineffective assistance of counsel.
(9-0)

Other Orders

Smith v. State, 2021-CT-01003-SCT (granting cert)

Dawson v. Burgs, 2021-CT-01038-SCT (denying cert)

Baker v. State, 2021-CT-01277-SCT (denying cert)

McFarland v. State, 2021-CT-01311-SCT (denying cert)

Fagan v. Faulkner, 2022-CT-00130-SCT (granting cert)

The Mississippi Bar v. Hessler, 2023-BD-00057-SCT (granting emergency motion to clarify opinion to clarify that Hessler is authorized to continue practicing law in Mississippi while his one-year-and-a-day suspension remains in deferred status) *The “motion to clarify” is a handy item to keep in one’s tool belt. It was used here to get a result that had a significant impact on the movant.

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Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of October 13, 2022

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down three opinions today. The first addresses whether the use of a residential home violated a covenant prohibiting commercial use. The second opinion contains a thorough analysis of a personal jurisdiction issue (citing classics like International Shoe and World-Wide Volkswagen). The third opinion involves the allocation of sixteenth-section funds between neighboring school districts. The Court also handed down an en banc order on a motion for leave to file successive petition for PCR that is linked below.

Scioto Properties SP-16, LLC v. Graf, 2021-CA-00525-SCT (Civil – Real Property)
Affirming the chancery court’s holding that a for-profit LLC used a home commercially, holding that the “leas[ing] of the home for the specific and sole purpose of providing the residential support services itself and being compensated for doing so through Medicaid” violated a restrictive covenant against commercial use.
(9-0)

NOTE – The Court explained that the commercial services were “integral” and “not merely incidental” to the operation of the home and summarized the holding as follows:

Dillworth v. LG Chem, Ltd., 2021-CA-00629-SCT (Civil – Personal Injury)
Reversing the circuit court’s ruling that it lacked personal jurisdiction over a South Korean battery manufacturer, holding that the manufacturer placed the batteries in the stream of commerce and purposefully availed itself of the market for batteries in Mississippi and was subject to personal jurisdiction in Mississippi and holding that the plaintiff was entitled to jurisdictional discovery as to a Georgia-based subsidiary of the manufacturer.
(9-0)

PRACTICE POINT – This decision is the latest full-bore analysis of personal jurisdiction and it comes from a unanimous Supreme Court. Go ahead and bookmark this one.

Jones County School District v. Covington County School District, 2019-IA-00985-SCT (Civil – Real Property)
Vacating the chancellor’s ruling in a dispute over sixteenth-section income from townships shared by neighboring school districts and remanding, holding that the statute conditioning annual payment of sixteenth-section funds on the exchange of lists of educable children is constitutional and that the maintenance of the principal fund by the custodial district is subject to an action in equity for accounting.
(6-3: Justice Griffis concurred in part and dissented in part, joined by Justice Kitchens and Justice King)

Other Orders

Ware v. Ware, 2020-CA-00702-SCT (denying motions for rehearing)
Moffett v. State, 2018-DR-00276-SCT (denying motion for leave to file successive petition for PCR)
Smith v. Mississippi Department of Public Safety, 2021-CT-00020-SCT (denying cert)
Barnes v. State, 2021-CT-00404-SCT (denying cert)

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