Tag: Short-Term Rentals

Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of October 8, 2024

The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down eight opinions today. There are four direct criminal appeals, a workers’ comp case, a civil asset forfeiture case, a real property case regarding a short-term rental, and an attorney fee claim against an estate.

Body v. State, 2023-KA-00495-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of statutory rape, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion refusing the defendant’s alibi instructions where the “alibi defense was nothing more than attempt to cloak his simple denial of the crime charged.”
(8-1-0: Wilson concurred in part and in the result without writing)

Lepard v. State, 2022-KA-01159-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of fondling, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in instructing the jury on the elements of the offense and that the indictment was not defective and included all the essential elements.
(9-0)

In the Matter of the Estate of Stimley: Morton Law Firm, PLLC v. Merchant, 2023-CA-00940-COA (Civil – Contract)
Reversing the chancery court’s award of attorney’s fees and expenses payable by the estate, holding that the record did not show a consideration of the McKee factors and remanding for further proceedings.
(8-1-0: Carlton did not participate)

Chung v. State, 2023-CA-00362-COA (Civil – Other)
Reversing the circuit court’s decision in a civil asset forfeiture after a bench trial, holding that the owner gave plausible explanations for having the cash and that the State presented insufficient evidence to demonstrate a connection between the owner and drug activity.
(5-4: Wilson dissented, joined by Carlton, Lawrence, and Emfinger)

Norton v. State, 2023-KA-00475-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of possession of meth and possession of a firearm by a felon, declining to address the lone issue of ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal and leaving it to be pursued through a PCR motion.
(8-1-0: Emfinger concurred in result only without writing)

Arnold v. State, 2023-KA-00519-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of three counts of sexual battery, holding that the trial court did not allow improper character evidence from two witnesses that testified the defendant made advances or abused them as children because that testimony showed proof of motive and established a common plan or scheme and holding that there was no merit to the defendant’s claim of prosecutorial misconduct.
(8-0: Smith did not participate)

City of Biloxi v. McDonald, 2023-CA-00777-COA (Civil – Real Property)
Affirming the circuit court’s judgment which reversed the City Council’s decision denying property owners’ application seeking a conditional-use permit for a short-term rental, holding that the Council’s decision was “the epitome of arbitrary and capricious” where the adjacent property on the same parcel of land had been approved and the owners had spent $70,000 on improvements to address neighbors’ expressed concerns.
(6-2: Carlton dissented, joined by Wilson and Lawrence)

Doukas v. Kiln Self Storage, 2023-WC-01195-COA (Civil – Workers’ Comp)
Affirming a finding that the claimant was not entitled to indemnity benefits for her left left leg and that the injury to her right leg did not render her permanent and totally disabled, holding that the Commission’s decision was supported by substantial evidence.
(5-4: Lawrence dissented, joined by Westbrooks, McDonald, and Smith; McDonald also noted a separate dissent without writing)

Other Orders

  • White v. The Home Depot, 2022-WC-00894-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Frazier v. State, 20222-CT-00896 (denying pro se motion to recall mandate)
  • Brown v. State, 2023-CP-00171-COA (denying untimely pro se motion for additional time to file motion for rehearing and request for appointed counsel)
  • Haley v. Brewer, 2023-SA-00571-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Fortner v. Bratcher, 2023-CP-00663-COA (granting appelle’s motion for appellate attorney’s fees)
  • Thornhill v. Thornhill, 2023-CA-00714-COA (denying appellee’s motion to dismiss the appeal and granting appellee’s request for additional time to file a responsive brief)
  • Quilantan v. State, 2024-CP-00357-COA (granting pro se motion to reinstate appeal)
  • Johnson v. State, 2024-TS-00650-COA (remanding appellant’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis)
  • Riley v. State, 2024-TS-00833-COA (dismissing appeal for lack of appealable judgment)

Hand Down Page

Summaries of the Mississippi Supreme Court opinions of March 10, 2022

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down three opinions today. In a case of first impression, the court held that short term rentals through services like Airbnb and VRBO constitute “residential purposes” rather than “commercial purposes” and thus do not violate restrictive covenants barring use of homes for commercial purposes. The court also reversed the judgment of the Mississippi Court of Appeals and reinstated a conviction for witness intimidation in what started as a voter fraud case in Canton, Mississippi.

Ellis v. Ellis, 2020-CA-00691-SCT (Civil – Domestic Relations/Divorce)
Reversing the chancery court’s order distributing marital assets and awarding alimony and attorneys’ fees, holding that the chancery court lacked jurisdiction to enter the order that was sought by and in favor of the party who was on the receiving end of a judgment of divorce by default in Texas because the chancery court had previously dismissed a prior, Mississippi complaint for divorce and counterclaim for divorce with prejudice.
(Justice King wrote a special concurrence, agreeing fully with the Court’s decision, but writing that Redd v. Redd (In re Conservatorship of Redd),
No. 2019-CA-01281-SCT, 2021 WL 5368656 (Miss. Nov. 18, 2021) was wrongly decided. This opinion was joined by Justice Beam and joined in part by Chief Justice Randolph.)

Rainey v. State, 2019-CT-01651-SCT (Criminal – Felony/Voter Fraud/Witness Intimidation/Eighth Amendment)
Reversing the Mississippi Court of Appeals’ judgment that had reversed a conviction for witness intimidation and a fifteen-year sentence, holding that there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction where there was testimony that the defendant registered two individuals to vote and then gave them $10 for “a round of beer,” later gave one of those individuals a ride to vote and then $10 for lunch, and then, after the voter was questioned by investigators, the defendant visited and confronted the voter about the investigation. The court also held that the fifteen-year sentence did not violate the Eight Amendment.
(Justice King dissented, joined by Justice Kitchens and Justice Coleman.)

Lake Serene Property Owners Association Inc. v. Esplin, 2020-CA-00689-SCT (Civil – Real Property/Restrictive Covenants)
Affirming the chancery court’s finding in a breach of residential covenant case, holding that short-term rentals of private homes through online services such as Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway constitute use for “residential purposes” rather than “commercial purposes” in the absence of definitions of those terms in the covenants and holding that the association’s board of directors did not have authority to amend the bylaws in a manner that restricted the owners’ covenant rights to host short-term rentals.
(Justice Ishee concurred in part and dissented in part, joined by Justice Griffis.)

NOTE: This was a case of first impression in Mississippi on the issue of whether short-term rentals through services such as Airbnb constitute “residential purposes.” All nine justices concurred in the holding that short-term rentals do constitute “residential purposes” rather than “commercial purposes.” The court did not dwell on this, but I think it is implicit in the decision that if the covenants had defined “residential purposes” in a way that excluded short-term rentals, or if short-term rentals were otherwise specifically prohibited by the covenants, the result would have been different. In any event, this is a win for hosts and hosting platforms.

Other Orders

Knox v. State, 2014-DR-849-SCT (denying Motion for Leave to File Successive Petition for Post-Conviction Relief and Knox’s First Amended Motion for Leave to File Successor Petition for Post-Conviction Relief are dismissed and Second Amended Motion for Leave to File Successor Petition for Post-Conviction Relief is denied)

Ellis v. Ellis, 2020-CA-691-SCT (denying Motion to Take Judicial Notice of Other Relevant Court Proceedings filed by Joseph Dale Ellis, Sr. and Motion to Take Judicial Notice of Texas Court of Appeals’ Memorandum Opinion, Judgment, and Final Mandate and for Inclusion of Same in Appellate Record filed by Joseph Dale Ellis, Sr.)

Atkins v. Moore, 2021-CA-780 (denying a not otherwise not defined “motion for relief”)

Complete Hand Down List