Tag: Sentencing

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of October 19, 2023

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down three opinions on Thursday. There is an appeal of a life imprisonment sentence, an appeal of a sanction in a workers’ comp case, and an appeal of an order compelling arbitration in a construction contract dispute.

Harris v. State, 2022-KA-01113-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming resentencing to life for depraved heart murder, holding that the sentence to life imprisonment was not mandatory but within the trial court’s discretion under the sentencing guidelines.
(9-0)

Howard Industries, Inc. v. Hayes, 2021-CT-00694-SCT (Civil – Workers’ Comp)
Affirming sanction against the employer’s attorney, holding that there was substantial evidence to support the Commission’s award of sanctions related to the presentation of an expert report that was prepared based on representations the attorney made to the expert.
(5-4: Beam dissented, joined by Coleman, Maxwell, and Chamberlin)

McInnis Electric Company v. Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC, 2021-CA-01115-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Affirming order compelling arbitration in a breach of contract suit filed by a subcontractor against the prime contractor, holding that the parties entered into an arbitration agreement and that the subcontractor’s claims were within the arbitration agreement.
(6-2: Kitchens dissented, joined by King; Randolph did not participate)

NOTE – The underlying dispute between the subcontractor and prime contractor is intertwined with the arrival of COVID-19 in Mississippi. Kitchens’s dissent asserted that the ability to perform a contract during the pandemic was not within the contemplated scope of the arbitration agreement that did not contain a force majeure clause.

Other Orders

Williams v. Mississippi District Council for Assemblies of God, 2021-CA-01007-SCT (rehearing denied)

Everett v. State, 2021-CT-01415-SCT (denying cert)

In Re: Administrative Orders of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, 2023-AD-00001-SCT (directing the disbursement of $137,218.03 in civil legal assistance funds among the MS Center for Legal Services, MS Volunteer Lawyers Project, and North MS Rural Legal Services)

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Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of July 27, 2023

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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Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of February 23, 2023

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down two opinions today. One is an interesting case involving a term of incarceration for civil contempt approaching five years. The other was taken up on cert to address the defendant being sentenced as a habitual offender.

McPhail v. McPhail, 2020-CA-00739-SCT (Civil – Domestic Relations)
Affirming the chancery court’s order denying the father’s motion to be released from incarceration for contempt stemming from nonpayment of child support, holding that the chancellor did not err in denying release because the father refused to complete a court-ordered psychological evaluation which was the only remaining condition of release to be satisfied.
(5-4: Griffis dissented, joined by Kitchens, King, and Ishee)

Note – The dissent took issue with a nearly five-year incarceration for civil contempt that showed no sign of letting up:

Manuel v. State, 2020-CT-00711-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming convictions of second-degree murder and aggravated assault but vacating sentence as a habitual offender and remanding for resentencing, holding that the trial court lacked sufficient evidence to sentence Manuel as a habitual offender and that the Court of Appeals erred when it allowed the State to supplement the record with copies of indictments for prior offenses.
(9-0)

Other Orders

Murry v. State, 2020-CT-01363-SCT (denying cert)

Simpson County School District v. Wigley, 2021-CT-00009-SCT (denying cert)

Simpson v. State, 2021-CT-00075-SCT (denying cert)

James v. Thompson, 2021-CA-00458-SCT (denying rehearing)

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