Richard Olney Arrington

In Anderson v. State, the appellant was indicted, tried, and convicted in Pike County Circuit Court for the murder of Harry Billings, for which he received a death sentence; he appealed on grounds including denial of a change of venue due to alleged prejudgment, insufficient proof of his sanity at the time of the crime, and an erroneous jury instruction on the burden of proof. The court affirmed the conviction after reviewing the record, which included a detailed confession by the appellant describing the beating and stabbing, corroborating physical evidence and witness testimony, and a psychiatric evaluation finding the appellant sane and able to distinguish right from wrong despite a low mental age. The opinion held that the confession constituted direct evidence, eliminating the need for a circumstantial-evidence instruction, that the State met its burden on sanity, and that no reversible error occurred regarding venue or other claims.

criminal lawprocedure

In Selby v. McWilliams Realty Corp., the plaintiff, a newspaper distributor, sued the owner of an office building after falling into an unlighted elevator shaft while delivering papers at 2:30 a.m., alleging negligence due to inadequate lighting and missing safety locks on the elevator doors. The plaintiff claimed he had been shown how to open the elevator doors by an employee and had done so regularly with the owner's knowledge. The Circuit Court of Coahoma County sustained the defendant's demurrer to the amended declaration and dismissed the suit, and the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed. The court held that the plaintiff was a gratuitous licensee who exceeded the scope of any invitation by opening the closed elevator door in total darkness, that the defendant breached no duty owed to him, and that the plaintiff's own lack of reasonable care for his safety was the sole proximate cause of his injuries.

torts & liabilitypropertyprocedure

The case involved appellant's conviction in Madison County Circuit Court for the murder of Sandra Holderfield, whom he had arranged to pick up for babysitting; after her body was found with multiple blunt-force injuries, appellant was linked to the crime via a stolen car containing matching blood and hair evidence, and he confessed to killing her with a tire tool before attempting suicide. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence, ruling that the oral and written confessions were voluntary and fully corroborated by FBI analysis and other physical evidence establishing guilt beyond reasonable doubt. The court found no abuse of discretion in denying a change of venue, held that crime-scene photographs were admissible despite being gruesome, and determined that an erroneous jury instruction on insanity was harmless because it did not prejudice the defendant where no insanity defense was supported by evidence.

criminal law

The case involved Rosie May suing Vardaman Manufacturing Company and contractor J.L. Kendall for the wrongful death of her husband, a carpenter employee of Kendall, who died when a building under construction collapsed. The plaintiff claimed negligence by the company in not using competent architectural plans and by the contractor in failing to provide a safe workplace. The court affirmed the trial court's directed verdict for the defendants, holding that the company was not negligent because the building type did not require an architect and the contractor was experienced, and that the deceased assumed the risks inherent in construction work where safety conditions change during the project.

torts & liabilitylabor & employmentprocedure

This case involved residents near Byram, Mississippi, suing Alfred Jacobshagen Company, operating as Jackson Reduction Company, to stop its animal rendering plant from emitting offensive odors and to recover damages for loss of enjoyment of their properties. The chancery court found that the plant's operations constituted a nuisance due to foul smells from processing decayed animal materials but awarded damages and ordered the company to improve its odor control methods rather than immediately shutting down. On appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed, holding that a lawful business can become a nuisance if it materially interferes with nearby property owners' use and enjoyment through obnoxious odors, and that equity courts may allow time for abatement of the nuisance while balancing the interests of the parties.

torts & liabilityproperty

The case involved an attorney, Prisock, who sued his client, Ownby, to recover fees for legal services rendered in divorce, separate maintenance, and property settlement litigation under a contingent fee contract that entitled him to 25 percent of the property settlement. The chancellor held the contract unenforceable as against public policy but awarded the attorney $2,800 on a quantum meruit basis for the reasonable value of services performed over more than a year. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed, applying precedents holding that an illegal contingent fee contract in a divorce matter does not bar recovery of a reasonable fee for services actually rendered. The court noted that the reasonableness of the fee was a factual determination for the chancellor supported by substantial evidence.

family lawprocedure