Tag: Proximate Cause

Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of April 30, 2024

The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down six opinions on Tuesday. I had court in Union County that took me out of the office most of the day Tuesday. I then spent Wednesday making up for being out of the office on Tuesday, as one does. (Obligatory courthouse picture, infra.)

Taylor v. Johnson, 2022-CA-00734-COA (Civil – Personal Injury)
Affirming grant of summary judgment in a car wreck negligence case, holding that there was no competent summary judgment evidence that the defendant proximately caused the collision, and then affirming summary judgment on the direct-negligence and punitive damages claims as moot.
(8-1-1: McDonald concurred in result only without writing; Westbrooks dissented without writing)

Whiddon v. State, 2022-KA-00616-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, and fleeing a law enforcement officer, holding that the trial court did not err in denying motions to dismiss for lack of speedy trial, that the circuit court abused its discretion in excluding videotaped witness statements but that the error was harmless, that the court did not commit reversible error in commenting in front of the jury that a witness was “an excellent investigator,” that the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict, and that the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
(7-3-0: McDonald and Emfinger concurred in part and in the result without writing; Wilson concurred in the result only without writing)

Turner v. Turner, 2023-CA-00216-COA (Civil – Domestic Relations)
Reversing dismissal of complaint for divorce, holding that the chancellor erred by considering matters outside of the pleadings when ruling on a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) without converting it into a motion for summary judgment and providing necessary notice.
(10-0)

Suarez v. State, 2023-KA-00526-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of burglary of an occupied dwelling under circumstances likely to terrorize the occupant, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction and that the trial court did not err in refusing the defendant’s lesser-included-offense jury instruction.
(7-3-0: Wilson, McDonald, and McCarty concurred in result only without separate written opinion)

Harris v. State, 2023-CP-00227-COA (Civil – PCR)
Affirming denial of PCR motion following probation revocation, holding that the trial court’s failure to inquire about the petitioner’s ability to pay his fees and assessments was harmless error at most.
(10-0)

Crawford v. East Miss. State Hospital, Inc., 2022-CA-00753-COA (Civil – Wrongful Death)
Affirming judgment in favor of a hospital in a wrongful death lawsuit after bench trial, holding that the circuit court did not err in finding that the plaintiff did not prove the proximate cause element or in denying the plaintiff’s claim for the decedent’s “lifetime damages” because the estate was initially a party before being removed as a party via amendment to the complaint.
(6-2: McCarty concurred in part and dissented in part, joined by Westbrooks; McDonald and Smith did not participate)

Other Orders

  • Mississippi Dept. of Rehab. Servs v. Butler, 2022-CA-00176-COA (rehearing denied)
  • Harris v. Ratcliff, 2022-CA-00596-COA (rehearing denied)
  • Simmons v. State, 2022-KA-01260-COA (rehearing denied)

Hand Down Page

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of June 9, 2022

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down six opinions today. Topics include public project bidding, summary judgment in a property damage case, conversion by the owner of a collection agency, an appeal of a post summary judgment decision granting a Rule 60(b) motion based on fraud, a unanimous pro se PCR appeal win, and an election contest.

The Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport v. Eutaw Construction Company, Inc., 2020-IA-00881-SCT (Civil – State Boards and Agencies)
Reversing the circuit court’s decision that reversed the MSPA’s award of a project to the lowest bidder whose bid contained multiple errors and awarded the project to the second lowest bidder, holding that the lowest bidder’s errors were minor, the intended correct bid was evident on the face of the bid, and the corrected bid by the lowest bidder was a decrease in price.
(All justices concurred.)

Hardin v. Town of Leakesville, Mississippi, 2020-CA-01164-SCT (Civil – Property Damages/Summary Judgment/Proximate Cause)
Affirming summary judgment in favor of Leakesville, holding that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence that water that had accumulated under her house was caused by an act or omission attributable to the town.
(All justices concurred.)

Practice Point – This opinion contains a helpful discussion of the exacting standard that applies when a plaintiff seeks to prove causation by circumstantial evidence:

McGee v. Comprehensive Radiology Services, PLLC, 2021-CA-00666-SCT (Civil – Torts/Conversion/Fraud)
Affirming the chancellor’s finding that the president of a collections agency was individually and personally liable for $785,549.71 that she directed her company to delay remitting to a radiology group while also billing for and receiving commissions for collecting that money, holding that while the tort of conversion cannot be used to recover a mere debt it can be used to recover identifiable money belonging to the plaintiff which is what occurred here.
(All justices concurred.)

Riverboat Corporation of Mississippi v. Davis, 2020-IA-01244-SCT (Civil – Personal Injury/Negligence/Rule 60(b))
The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor the casino in a personal injury case stemming from a fall from a casino chair due to the lack of evidence that the casino breached a duty. The plaintiff then filed a motion to reopen the case under Rule 60(b)(1) alleging that the defendant committed fraud in its 30(b)(6) deposition based upon information the plaintiff discovered in an unrelated case about another chair at the casino. The circuit court granted the motion to reopen based on fraud and the defendant petitioned for interloc which the Supreme Court granted. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that the trial court abused its discretion because the plaintiff “fell far short of satisfying all of the elements of fraud” and because this case did not present the requisite “exceptional circumstances” for relief under Rule 60(b).
(All justices concurred.)

Practice Point – This opinion has a helpful summary of what is required to prove fraud under Rule 60(b)(1):

Magee v. State, 2019-CT-01794-SCT (Civil – PCR/Involuntary Guilty Plea)
Reversing the circuit court’s denial of the plaintiff’s pro se PCR motion, holding that the circuit court granted an evidentiary hearing but failed to address the issue of whether the plaintiff’s guilty plead was involuntary because the plaintiff was affirmatively misinformed about the possibility of early release by his trial attorney and failed to allow the plaintiff to call witnesses or present evidence.
(Chief Justice Randolph did not participate.)

Meredith v. Clarksdale Democratic Executive Committee, 2021-EC-00305-SCT (Civil – Election Contest)
Affirming the trial court’s decision agreeing with the CDEC’s decision that a mayoral candidate resided at a lake house outside of the city limits rather than a funeral home apartment within the city limits, holding that the would-be candidate failed to prove by “absolute proof” that he met the residency requirement on or before the applicable deadline.
(Justice Coleman concurred in part and in the result) (“It is not in the court’s bailiwick to impose its judgment for that of the Legislature.”)

Other Orders

Hutto v. State, 2017-DR-01207-SCT (granting response to order granting motion for appointment of counsel for representation for successive petition for post-conviction relief filed by the Circuit Court of Hinds County)

Havard v. State, 2018-CA-01709-SCT (granting motion to file motion for attorney fees and expenses under seal)

Walker v. State, 2020-CT-00228-SCT (denying cert)

McLemore v. State, 2016-M-00364 (denying application for leave to proceed in the trial court with a warning against future frivolous filings)

Hand Down List