Tag: Statute of Limitations

Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of November 25, 2025

The Mississippi Court of Appeals served a seasonally-appropriate portion of twelve opinions on Tuesday with nine other orders on the side. You can read about the lot below.

Cummings v. State, 2024-KA-00909-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of two counts of first-degree murder, holding that the conviction was supported by sufficient evidence, the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in the jury instructions given, the trial court did did not abuse its discretion in allowing evidence of other bad acts, the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim was without merit, and that the cumulative error doctrine did not apply.
(7-3: Weddle for the Court; Wilson dissented, joined by Westbrooks and McDonald)

In the Interest of K.B.: A.B.B. v. E.B.S., 2024-CA-00313-COA (Civil – Custody)
Affirming the youth court’s decision terminating parental rights, holding that the natural mother exercised all of the rights that she complained on appeal that the trial court failed to give her including her right to court-appointed counsel.
(8-2-0: Emfinger for the Court; Westbrooks and McCarty concurred in part and in the result without writing)

Bivins v. Ellisville State School, 2024-SA-01098-COA (Civil – State Boards & Agencies)
Affirming the circuit court’s decision affirming the Mississippi Employee Appeals Board’s decision affirming an employee’s termination, holding that the former employee failed to show that the order was not supported by substantial evidence or was arbitrary and capricious.
(10-0: McCarty for the Court)

Dortch v. State, 2024-KA-01102-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of capital murder while engaged in the commission of a robbery after reviewing counsel’s Lindsey brief and independently reviewing the record.
(10-0: McCarty for the Court)

Latham v. State, 2024-KA-00719-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of sexual battery after reviewing counsel’s Lindsey brief and independently reviewing the record.
(10-0: Lawrence for the Court)

Day v. Day, 2024-CA-00771-COA (Civil – Custody)
Affirming the chancery court’s custody modification order, holding that there was evidence to support the chancellor’s finding of a material change in circumstances and awarding the mother custody and visitation rights for the father.
(9-0: Lawrence for the Court; Weddle did not participate)

Higdon v. Pinkston, 2023-CP-00685-COA (Civil – Real Property)
Affirming the chancellor’s grant of summary judgment in a property-line dispute, holding that the chancellor’s decision where the motion for summary judgment was not opposed by a response or evidence at the hearing.
(10-0: Carlton for the Court)

McLaurin v. State, 2024-KA-00138-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of possession of meth but reversing sentence as a nonviolent habitual offender, holding that the conviction was supported by sufficient evidence and the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, that there was no plain error in admission of hearsay testimony from an officer, that the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim lacked merit, that the trial court properly excluded proposed hearsay testimony, that the trial court did not err in qualifying the jury venire in the defendant’s absence, that the spousal privilege did not apply to certain testimony, and that matters not raised in the trial court were procedurally barred, but holding that the trial court erred in finding that it lacked sentencing discretion.
(6-4-0: Carlton for the Court; Wilson, McDonald, Emfinger, and Weddle concurred in part and in the result without writing)

Bodie v. State, 2024-KA-00634-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of two counts of sexual battery and one count of touching a child for lustful purposes, holding that the defendant’s rights under the Double Jeopardy Clause were not violated.
(10-0: Carlton for the Court)

CNRS&Z Inc. v. Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation, 2024-CA-00365-COA (Civil – Contracts)
Affirming the trial court’s decision granting a motion to compel arbitration, holding that the trial court did not err in finding a valid and binding arbitration agreement with one of the defendants and that the “close legal relationship” between that defendant and two others allowed them to enforce the arbitration agreement as well.
(5-5: Barnes for the Court; McCarty concurred in part and dissented in part, joined by Westbrooks, McDonald, Lawrence, and Lassitter St. Pe’)

Note – The dissent agreed that the claims against the defendant who signed the arbitration agreement were bound to arbitration, but took issue with binding the claims against the other two defendants:

Estate of Price v. St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital, 2024-CA-00582-COA (Civil – Med Mal)
Affirming the circuit court’s dismissal of a med mal action finding that it was barred by the statute of limitations and that it was an impermissible duplicative action, holding that the plaintiff waived any challenge to the dismissal as an impermissible duplicative action by failing to address it on appeal and that it was therefore unnecessary for the Court to address the statute of limitations issue.
(6-2-0: Wilson for the Court; McDonald concurred in result only without writing; Lassitter St. Pe’ specially concurred, joined by Westbrooks; Barnes and Weddle did not participate.)

Avery v. State, 2024-CP-01044-COA (Civil – PCR)
Reversing summary dismissal of a PCR motion, holding that the motion was sufficient to survive summary dismissal and required the State to answer to motion and provide an explanation for its calculate of the parole eligibility date.
(8-2: Wilson for the Court; Lawrence dissented, joined by Weddle)

Other Orders

  • In the Interest of J.S.: P.S. v. Pearl River County Dept. of CPS, 2023-CA-00932-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Swims v. State, 2023-KA-01244-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Jackson v. State, 2023-KA-01280-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Hinds v. PERS, 2023-SA-01400-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Patterson v. State, 2024-KA-00268-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Brown v. State, 2024-CA-00307-COA (denying hearing)
  • Varnado v. State, 2024-KA-00338-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Polk v. State, 2024-KA-00591-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Wright v. State, 2025-TS-00986-COA (dismissing appeal as untimely)

Hand Down Page

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of March 13, 2025

The Mississippi Supreme Court waited until I was out of town last week to unleash its largest batch of opinions of the year. Six opinions were handed down on Thursday, including one of my cases which was on interlocutory appeal for a service of process issue. There is also one direct criminal appeal, two breach of contract cases (one trial and one summary judgment), an election contest, and a statute of limitations case.

The Court also adopted a new rule of evidence that is “residual exception” to the rule against hearsay.

Unruh v. Johnson, 2024-IA-00028-SCT (Civil – Personal Injury)
Reversing the trial court’s denial of motions to dismiss for insufficient service of process, holding that the trial court erred by granting the plaintiff’s motion for enlargement of time to serve process because the plaintiff could not show “good cause” where both the motion for enlargement of time and the first service attempt came one day after the 120-day service period ended and the plaintiff failed to articulate a legitimate basis for failing to attempt to timely serve process, holding that filing the motion for enlargement of time one day after the 120-day period did not toll the statute of limitations, and rendering judgment in favor of the defendant.
(9-0)

Note – I represented the appellant/defendant in this appeal. I jumped in on this one with Bobby Stephenson when I joined Wilkins Patterson last summer right after interlocutory appeal was granted.

Phillips v. State, 2023-KA-01218-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of aggravated assault, holding that the admission of statements on body-camera footage were not testimonial and statements in search warrant affidavit did not violate the Confrontation Clause, that introducing underlying facts and circumstances of the search warrant containing a comment about the defendant’s post-Miranda silence was error albeit harmless, that the cumulative error doctrine did not apply, and that the defendant did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel.
(8-0: Randolph did not participate)

Radco Fishing and Rental Tools, Inc. v. Commercial Resources, Inc., 2023-CA-00376-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Affirming judgment against the defendant for outstanding principal and interest under an accounts receivable line of credit agreement and award of attorneys’ fees, holding that the trial court did not err by granting a motion for partial summary judgment dismissing affirmative defenses, that the defendants’ motions for summary judgment are not reviewable on appeal after they proceeded to trial and litigated, that the trial court did not err by granting a motion to admit parol evidence, that the trial court did not err in denying the defendants’ motions for directed verdict and granting the plaintiff’s motion for directed verdict, that the trial court did not err in granting the plaintiff’s jury instruction on liability, that the trial court did not err by denying the defendants’ post-trial motions, and that the trial court did not err in altering the judgment due to the jury’s disregard of the peremptory instruction and directed verdict, and that the trial court did not err by granting the plaintiff’s motion to bifurcate and award attorneys’ fees.
(6-6*-2: Maxwell specially concurred, joined by five other justices, making it binding precedent; Griffis concurred in part and dissented in part, joined by Coleman)

*Precedential Special Concurrence – With a total of six votes, Maxwell’s special concurrence is precedent and provides significant guidance for the bench and bar going forward, so it deserves its own summary. The special concurrence held that the trial court erred in granting a blanket ruling against all of the defendants’ affirmative defenses, specifically holding that Horton does not apply to “all” affirmative defenses, only those that would have terminated litigation if asserted earlier.

The concurrence explained:

Footnote 11 was also noteworthy:

Final Note – The dissent argued for limiting the Horton doctrine to the issue of asserting the right to arbitration.

Housing Authority of the City of Yazoo City, Mississippi v. Billings, 2023-IA-00975-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Reversing the trial court’s order denying the Housing Authority’s motion for summary judgment on a breach of contract claim against it, holding that none of the alleged terms of the employment contract were contained in the Housing Authority board’s minutes, and rendering judgment in favor of the Housing Authority.
(9-0)

Gavin v. Evers, 2024-EC-00061-SCT (Civil – Election Contest)
Affirming the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in an election contest, holding that the trial court did not err in considering the motion to dismiss and motion for summary judgment simultaneously, did not err in excluding an affidavit that was not based on the affiant’s personal knowledge, did not err in finding no genuine issue of material fact in the voting irregularities claim, did not err by finding that the prevailing candidate met the two-year residency requirement, and did not err in denying the motion for reconsideration and request for additional findings of fact and conclusions of law.
(9-0)

Dollar General Corporation v. Dobbs, 2023-IA-00617-SCT (Civil – Torts)
Reversing the county court’s denial of the defendant’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, holding that the trial court erred in finding the three-year statute of limitations applied where the complaint stated only a claim of defamation which is subject to a one-year statute of limitations.
(5-4)

Other Orders

  • Johnson v. State, 2022-CT-00665-SCT (denying cert)
  • Law Will and Testament of Prichard: Martin v. Arceneaux, 2022-CT-01035-SCT (denying cert)
  • Wilson v. State, 2023-CT-00070-SCT (dismissing pro se cert petition as untimely)
  • Wallace v. State, 2023-CT-00071-SCT (denying cert)
  • NCAA v. Farrar, 2023-IA-00282-SCT (denying rehearing)
  • In Re: Capitol Complex Improvement District Inferior Court, 2025-M-00007-SCT (granting motion to withdraw petition to adopt local rules of CCID Court)
  • In Re: Mississippi Rules of Evidence, 89-R-99002-SCT (granting motion to adopt Mississippi Rule of Evidence 807) Here is the text of the new rule:

Hand Down Page

Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of March 11, 2025

The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down four opinions today. Two criminal appeal (one with a reversal), a sales tax liability case, and a 12(b)(6) dismissal of a tort suit against an attorney for filing a motion to quash a post-trial deposition subpoena on behalf of a client.

McCoy V. Graham, 2024-CA-00286-COA (Civil – State Boards & Agencies)
Affirming summary judgment in favor of the DOR assessment of tax liabilities for failure to pay sales tax, holding that the evidence showed that the DOR filed its responsible person assessment within thirty-six months from the date the tax liability became final.
(10-0)

Sullivant v. Freeland, 2023-CP-01393-COA (Civil – Other)
Affirming order granting motion to dismiss complaint and denying the motion to amend the complaint, holding that the plaintiff’s tort suit against an attorney who moved to quash the plaintiff’s post-trial deposition on behalf of a client in another case failed to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) and that any amendment would be futile.
(10-0)

Harper v. State, 2022-KA-00758-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming in part and reversing in part after convictions of three counts of culpable negligence manslaughter and one count of felony fleeing, holding that the prosecution for the offense of felony fleeing was not commenced within two years of the date of the offense and was therefore barred by the statute of limitations, and remanding for resentencing on the three counts of culpable negligence manslaughter.
(7-3: Westbrooks dissented, joined by McDonald, and Lawrence)

Jordan v. State, 2023-KA-01222-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of first degree murder, holding that there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction and that the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
(10-0)

Other Orders

  • Tisdale v. South Central Regional Medical Center, 2023-CA-00231-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Eason v. South Central Regional Medical Center, 2023-CA-00261-COA (denying rehearing)
  • Baker v. State, 2023-KA-01111-COA (recalling mandate to allow pro se motion for rehearing to proceed on its merits)
  • Collins v. State, 2024-TS-01333-COA (granting motion to proceed out of time)
  • Siggers v. State, 2025-TS-00041-COA (finding pro se appellant’s response to show-cause issue well taken)
  • Ashby v. State, 2025-TS-00076-COA (allowing appeal to proceed on the merits)

Hand Down Page

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of September 26, 2024

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down three opinions today. There is a breach of contract case, a direct criminal appeal, and a utility rate case.

ACE American Insurance Company v. Hetsco, Inc., 2023-CA-00127-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Reversing summary judgment in a negligence action stemming from an explosion at a plant where the defendant argued that the suit was barred by a contract, holding that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the person who signed the agreement had apparent authority to bind the former plant owner to the agreement and whether the former plant owner had ratified the agreement, and that the contractually shortened statute of limitations provisions was not enforceable.
(9-0)

Howard v. State, 2022-KA-00430-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming convictions of possession of cocaine with intent to sell and conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to sell, holding that evidence was sufficient to support both convictions, that there was no Confrontation Clause violation when the trial court limited cross-examination, that acquittal on prior charges did not create a double jeopardy violation, that it was not plain error to allow testimony that a co-conspirator pleaded guilty, that there was no prosecutorial misconduct, that trial counsel was not ineffective for not seeking to remove a sleeping juror, that the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and that no error mean that the cumulative-error doctrine did not apply.
(9-0)

Rankin County, Mississippi v. Mississippi Public Service Commission, 2022-UR-00803-SCT (Civil – Utility Rate)
Affirming the Commission’s order authorizing a rate increase for Entergy, holding that the County did not show that the Commission’s formula rate plan regulatory scheme resulted in unfair or unjust rates and that the Commission’s order was supported by substantial evidence and was not arbitrary or capricious.
(9-0)

Other Orders

  • White v. White, 2022-CT-00823-SCT (denying cert)
  • Tepikian v. The Mississippi Bar, 2024-BD-00588-SCT (granting leave to resign in good standing)

Hand Down Page

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of June 27, 2024

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down three opinions yesterday. The first opinion is a decision about damages following a voided tax sale. The second is an answer to a certified question from the Fifth Circuit asking whether Mississippi law permits workers’ comp policies to be voided ab initio based on a material misrepresentation. The third opinion reviews summary judgment in a med mal case centering on whether the discovery rule applied.

Thoden v. Hallford, 2022-CA-00835-SCT (Civil – Real Property)
Affirming in part and reversing in part the chancellor’s decisions in a case stemming from a voided tax sale of real property, holding that the chancellor correctly determined that the buyer was entitled to a refund of the purchase price of the voided sale plus interest, that the buyer was not entitled to reimbursement for costs incurred on the property, and that the legal owner was entitled to a set-off, but that the chancellor erred by determining that the purchaser was not entitled to taxes paid between the purchase and the voidance.
(7-0: Randolph and Griffis did not participate)

American Compensation Ins. Co. v. Ruiz, 2023-FC-01160-SCT (Civil – Federally Certified Question)
Answering a certified question from the Fifth Circuit, holding that workers’ compensation policies cannot be voided ab initio based on an material misrepresentation by the employer because the MWCA controls, rescission is inconsistent with Section 71-3-77(1), and allowing rescission would go against the express, statutory purpose of the MWCA.
(7-1: Coleman dissented, Randolph did not participate)

NOTE/DISCLOSURE: I represented one of the parties in this case and argued that the common law remedy of voiding a policy ab initio cannot be used to void a workers’ comp policy because of the comprehensive and exclusive nature of the MWCA. This issue had never been addressed by Mississippi courts, so when the carrier appealed the U.S. District Court’s decision granting our motion for summary judgment, the Fifth Circuit submitted a certified question to the Mississippi Supreme Court. This has been one of my favorite cases to handle with an interesting, novel legal issue at its core. Needless to say, I am gratified that the question was answered in my client’s favor despite great lawyering by opposing counsel.

Here is the crux of the Court’s holding:

McNinch v. Brandon Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, L.L.C., 2023-CA-00050-SCT (Civil – Wrongful Death)
Reversing summary judgment in favor of the defendant nursing home and hospital in a med mal case, holding the discovery rule tolled the statute of limitations where suit was filed within two years and sixty-days of when the decedent’s widow received his medical records which were requested with reasonable diligence.
(9-0)

Other Orders

  • In Re: Commission on Continuing Legal Education, 89-R-99011-SCT (reappointing Elizabeth Lee Maron, Robert Michael Tyler, Jr., and Sam H. Buchanan to three-year terms)
  • Archie v. State, 2022-KA-00326-SCT (denying rehearing)
  • Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services v. B.F., 2023-IA-00689-SCT (dismissing interlocutory appeal as moot)

Hand Down Page

Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of April 2, 2024

The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down four opinions yesterday. There was a wills and estates case that was more of an appellate procedure case, a real property contract for sale case, a direct criminal appeal, and a tort/statute of limitations case.

Brown v. Black, 2022-CA-00869-COA (Civil – Wills, Trusts & Estates)
Dismissing appeal of a chancellor’s decision awarding attorneys fees, holding that the 2021 order on attorney’s fees was final and appealable regardless of 2022 certification and that the appeal was therefore untimely.
(9-0: Smith did not participate)

Eaton v. Haney, 2022-CA-00656-COA (Civil – Contract)
Affirming the chancellor’s decision requiring specific performance for sale of real property and awarding damages and attorneys fees, holding that there was a valid contract for the sale of the real property and that the fact dispute between the parties was for the chancellor to decide and that the award of attorney’s fees was within the chancellor’s discretion.
(9-1: Emfinger dissented)

Hand v. State, 2022-KA-00819-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of kidnapping and child exploitation, holding that the verdicts were not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
(10-0)

Pettis v. Northeast Mississippi Electric Power Association, 2022-CA-00688-COA (Civil – Torts)
Affirming dismissal of a negligence claim under the doctrine of res judicata and the IIED and loss of consortium claims on statute of limitations grounds, holding that the discovery rule did not apply and that any fraudulent concealment arguments were waived for failure to raise them in the trial court.
(7-1-0: Westbrooks and McDonald concurred in result only without written opinion, Barnes did not participate)

Other Orders

Brown v. State, 2022-KA-00446-COA (denying rehearing)

Russell v. State, 2022-KA-00447-COA (denying rehearing)

Snyder v. Estate of Cockrell, 2022-CA-00597 (denying rehearing)

Galvan v. State, 2022-KA-00655-COA (denying rehearing)

Hand Down Page

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of December 14, 2023

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down three opinions today and one order approving local rules. There is a direct criminal appeal, a legal malpractice case before the supreme court on a forum-selection issue, and a contract/judgment case. The court’s cert denying machine is also humming along, with six cert petitions denied and none granted today.

Mills v. State, 2022-KA-00617-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of first-degree murder, holding that the trial court did not err in admitting photographs of the accident scene, photos of the victims wounds, or footage from the responding officer’s body camera, and holding that the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
(9-0)

Breal v. The Downs Law Group, 2023-CA-00132-SCT (Civil – Legal Malpractice)
Reversing the trial court’s sua sponte enforcement of a forum-selection clause and dismissal of a legal malpractice claim, holding that forum-selection concerns venue and may be waived, and that “venue had clearly been waived” after one year of litigation.
(9-0)

Bhana v. Patel, 2022-IA-01264-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Reversing the chancery court’s renewal of a judgment on a loan, holding that the chancery court abused its discretion because the original judgment expired and the plaintiff failed to renew the judgment in any manner provided by law and that the defendant’s “slight delay in asserting a statute of limitations defense was neither substantial nor unreasonable.”
(8-1-0: Randolph concurred in result only without writing)

Other Orders

In Re: Local Rules, 89-R-99015-SCT (granting motion for approval of local rule filed by circuit court judges for the first circuit court district)

Clayton v. State, 2021-CT-00505-SCT (denying cert)

Williamson v. State, 2021-CT-00830-SCT (denying cert)

McInnis Elec. Co. v. Brasfield & Gorrie, LLC, 2021-CA-01115-SCT (consolidated with 2021-CA-01300) (denying rehearing)

Holliday v. State, 2022-CT-00149-SCT (denying cert)

Applewhite v. State, 2022-CT-00290-SCT (denying cert)

Rhodes v. RL Stratton Props. LLC, 2022-CT-00338-SCT (denying cert)

Carter v. PERS, 2022-CT-00383-SCT (denying cert)

River Oaks Hospital, LLC v. Thompson, 2023-M-00481-SCT (denying interloc)

Hand Down Page

Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of November 21, 2023

The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down eight opinions on Tuesday. There are some interesting opinions in there including three opinions with civil procedure issues that civil litigators should take a look at. One deals with the discovery rule and the savings statute after a voluntary dismissal, another deals with a Rule 41 dismissal for want of prosecution, and the other deals with a Rule 56(f) motion in a med mal case.

The Supreme Court will not hand down decisions this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Burns v. BancorpSouth Bank, 2022-CA-00404-COA (Civil – Contract)
Affirming dismissal of breach of contract and negligence claims that two banks were liable for not preventing an elderly lady’s caregiver from stealing money from bank accounts, holding that the claims against the banks were barred by the three-year statute of limitations.
(8-1-0: Wilson concurred in part and in the result without separate written opinion; Greenlee did not participate)

Harper v. State, 2022-KA-00659-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of attempted statutory rape and fondling, holding that the trial court did not err by admitting the victim’s out-of-court statements without determining whether the tender-years exception applied because the victim’s teacher’s testimony about what the victim said was not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted and that the forensic interviewing expert’s testimony did not constitute hearsay, and dismissing the ineffective assistance of counsel claims without prejudice.
(8-2-0: Enfinger concurred in part and in the result without writing and McDonald concurred in the result only without writing)

Agee v. State, 2022-KA-00994-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of aggravated assault, holding that the Court did not err by imposing restitution and that the defendant waived that issue by not objecting during sentencing.
(9-1-0: Westbrooks concurred in the result only without writing)

Clearman v. Pipestone Property Services, LLC, 2022-CA-00651-COA (Civil – Personal injury)
Affirming the circuit court’s dismissal of slip-and-fall claims against a contractor and subcontractor who provided snow and ice removal services for a grocery store on statute of limitations grounds, holding that the “discovery rule” did not apply, the voluntary dismissal of a timely federal court lawsuit against the grocery store did not bring the claims against the contractor and subcontractor within the ambit of the “savings statute,” and the doctrine of equitable tolling did not apply.
(10-0)

Galvan v. State, 2022-KA-00655-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of statutory rape, sexual battery, gratification of lust, and incest, holding that the trial court did not err by not appointing an interpreter or by admitting the defendant’s statements to law enforcement, that the defendant waived objections based on the Confrontation Clause, that there was sufficient evidence to support the incest conviction, and that the defendant failed to prove ineffective assistance of counsel.
(9-1-0: Carlton concurred in result only without writing)

Rawlings v. Rawlings, 2022-CA-00919-COA (Civil – Domestic Relations)
Affirming the chancellor’s denial of the ex-wife’s request for attorney’s fees after denying the ex-husband’s request for alimony modification, holding that she was not entitled to attorney’s fees under the marital dissolution agreement providing that the prevailing party in an enforcement action was entitled to attorney’s fees because this was an action to “modify” the agreement not “enforce” it.
(10-0)

Scott v. UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi, Inc., 2022-CA-00963-COA (Civil – Insurance)
Affirming dismissal for want of prosecution where an 18-month period of inactivity followed the filing of the compliant, interrupted only by some activity prompted by the circuit clerk’s notice of intent to dismiss under Rule 41, that then followed by another 18-month period of inactivity and a second Rule 41 notice, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the case even though the plaintiff filed a “Motion to Leave Case on the Docket” after the second Rule 41 notice and that the Court otherwise had inherent power to dismiss for want of prosecution.
(8-2-0: McDonald and McCarty concurred in part and in the result without writing)

NOTE – The Court was not persuaded by the plaintiff’s efforts to assign blame to the COVID pandemic. The plaintiff argued:

The Court addressed this argument later in the opinion:

Hogan v. Hattiesburg Clinic, P.A., 2022-CA-00650-COA (Civil – Medical Malpractice)
Affirming the circuit court’s denial of the plaintiffs’ 56(f) motion filed the day before the motion for summary judgment hearing, holding that the plaintiffs’ 56(f) motion did not mention the need to obtain additional expert medical opinions and the plaintiffs had not otherwise shown that additional expert opinion could establish proximate cause.
(8-1-0: McCarty concurred in part and in the result without separate written opinion; Carlton did not participate.)

Other Orders

Love v. State, 2021-CP-01101-COA (denying rehearing)

Hand Down Page

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of October 12, 2023

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down one opinion today. It is a civil statute-of-limitations case that split the Court 6-3 on whether a subrogation claim accrued on the date a fire started or the date it was extinguished and the cause could be assessed.

Western World Ins. Group v. KC Welding, LLC, 2022-CA-00527-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Affirming the circuit court’s decision granting a motion to dismiss a subrogation claim on statute of limitations grounds, holding that where a fire at an industrial woodchip manufacturer started on July 12 after welding was done to repair the door of a box containing woodchips, and was extinguished five to six hours later on July 13, the cause of action accrued on July 12 because the fire was not a latent injury .
(6-3: Kitchens dissented, joined by King and Griffis)

Other Orders

In Re: Rules Governing Admission to The Mississippi Bar, 89-R-99012-SCT (reappointing Anthony R. Simon, Kristopher A. Powell, and Joseph D. Neyman, Jr. to three-year terms (11/1/23 through 10/31/26) as members of the Mississippi Board of Bar Admissions)

In Re: Judicial Election Oversight Committee, 2021-M-01306-SCT (reappointing Hon. Edward E. Patten, Jr., Paul P. Blake, and Thomas A. Wicker as members of the Judicial Election Oversight Committee for new four-year terms)

Hope v. State, 2022-CT-00031-SCT (denying cert)

Arlington Properties, Inc. v. Rudd, 2023-M-00382-SCT (denying petition for interlocutory appeal)

Hand Down Page

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of July 6, 2023 (catch-up post)

On Thursday, July 6, the Mississippi Supreme Court handed down three opinions. Two are direct criminal appeals and one is an civil appeal addressing the statutes of limitations for MTCA claims and state constitutional claims.

Stewart v. State, 2022-KA-00479-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of possession of meth, holding that the defendant waived his Fourth Amendment and Miranda rights arguments by not raising them at trial court, and then waived plain error arguments on appeal by not raising them until the reply brief after the State asserted waiver, and further that the “sparse record” did not show plain error.
(9-0)

Moton v. Clarksdale, 2022-CA-00216-SCT (Civil – Torts)
Denying rehearing but withdrawing the original opinions and substituting another holding that the trial court correctly found that a city commissioner’s tort law claims stemming from his arrest were barred by the MTCA’s statute of limitations and that the claims arising under the Mississippi Constitution were barred by the general statute of limitations.
(9-0)

Mitchell v. State, 2021-KA-00589-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of second-degree murder, holding that there was insufficient evidence in the record to find that a due process violation occurred when the trial court denied the defendant’s request for the production of an autopsy report and then denied a request to conduct an autopsy.
(9-0)

Other Orders

Barber v. State, 2022-KA-00291-SCT (per curiam affimance)

Lofton v. Lofton, 2021-CT-00035-SCT (denying cert)

Clark v. Vicksburg Healthcare, LLC, 2021-CT-00173-SCT (denying motion to strike cert petition, granting motion to suspend the rules, accepting the filing of a cert petition, and denying cert)

Griffin v. State, 2023-M-00262 (denying mandamus)

Carr v. State, 2023-DR-00503-SCT (remanding PCR issues to circuit court)

Hand Down Page