Vernon H. Broom

The case concerned a dispute over the homestead property of Sam Alexander, deceased, between the estate's administratrix (his sister) and Margie Alexander, who had cohabited with Sam for about 30 years while still married to another man. Margie sought an equitable lien granting her lifetime use and occupancy of the house based on her domestic services and contributions, which the chancery court granted as a life estate. The Supreme Court of Mississippi reversed, holding that there was no evidence of an express or implied contract or expectation of compensation for the services, which were rendered in a household setting without any indication they were provided for pay. The court further determined that the parties' meretricious relationship did not support equitable relief against the estate's heirs.

family lawproperty

The case concerned whether a bottling plant built with funds from industrial revenue bonds issued by Lamar County qualified for exemption from ad valorem property taxes under Mississippi statutes. The Board of Supervisors sought to end the exemption after initially listing the project as tax-exempt, but the circuit court ruled in favor of the bottling company, and on rehearing the Supreme Court affirmed that ruling with modification. The core reasoning was that the statutory scheme for industrial development, including Mississippi Code §§ 27-31-1 and 57-3-33, together with the leaseback arrangement under which the county held title, rendered the project exempt from taxation for the authorized period. The court relied on prior precedent upholding such programs as serving public purposes through private entities.

taxesbusiness & regulatoryproperty

In Miller v. McRae's, Inc., an employee sued her employer and security head for false imprisonment after being detained and questioned in an office about missing money, claiming the acts were willful and malicious and caused humiliation, reputational harm, and illness, with demands for actual and punitive damages. The trial court dismissed the suit without prejudice, ruling that the Mississippi Workmen's Compensation Act provided the exclusive remedy. The Supreme Court of Mississippi reversed and remanded, holding that the Act's exclusivity provision applies only to injuries that are compensable under its terms, which are limited to accidental injuries arising out of and in the course of employment; false imprisonment claims involve non-accidental harms like humiliation and loss of liberty that fall outside this definition. The court overruled a prior decision that had applied exclusivity without first confirming compensability under the statutory injury definition.

labor & employmenttorts & liability

This case involved a dispute over a commercial lease agreement where the lessee, Farm and Home Supply, Inc., and its guarantors failed to pay rent starting in June 1982. The lessor, Lucille A. Abdo, sued to collect all remaining rents for the lease term after declaring the lease forfeited. The court held that the lease language did not clearly include an acceleration clause or preserve liability for future unaccrued rents upon forfeiture. Therefore, the lessees and guarantors were liable only for rents that had accrued by the time the suit was filed on July 28, 1982, but not for subsequent rents.

propertybusiness & regulatory

Anderson White was convicted in the Circuit Court of Warren County of arson for allegedly burning his own automobile to defraud the insurer and was sentenced to eighteen months in custody. He appealed, assigning errors related to the denial of a suppression hearing and the admission of evidence from warrantless searches of the vehicle. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the conviction and rendered judgment for the appellant, concluding that the State failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and that the trial court committed plain error by refusing to grant a peremptory instruction.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved Tommy Lee Jackson, who was convicted of capital murder under Mississippi law for causing the death of William F. Hill while engaged in a robbery at a Greyhound Bus Station. The jury found Jackson guilty but sentenced him to life imprisonment rather than death. The court affirmed the conviction, reasoning that the prosecution's evidence, including eyewitness testimony of a struggle, blood evidence matching the victim, and medical testimony linking the victim's fatal heart attack to the trauma of the beating, was sufficient to support the jury's verdict beyond a reasonable doubt, while rejecting Jackson's claim that he was the victim of an attempted robbery.

criminal law

In Witherspoon v. State, the defendant was convicted of manslaughter after shooting and killing her husband on Thanksgiving in 1981, following a murder indictment in Lauderdale County Circuit Court, and was sentenced to fourteen years with part suspended and on probation. She appealed, primarily challenging the trial court's refusal to sequester the jury and its denial of a new trial based on an unauthorized communication to a juror during a recess, in which a man approached juror Edna Grant and urged her to find the defendant guilty. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in allowing jury dispersal or in refusing to grant a mistrial or new trial, as the communication was not shown to have tainted the jury's impartiality and the juror affirmed it did not affect her decision. The court emphasized the broad discretion afforded to trial judges in managing such incidents to prevent easy disruption of trials through external statements.

criminal lawprocedure

In Bridges v. City of Jackson, property owner W.P. Bridges sought to rezone a 5.581-acre tract along Lakeland Drive from R-2 residential to C-1 restricted commercial use for professional offices, after the Jackson City Planning Board recommended approval but the City Council denied the request, citing preservation of neighborhood boundaries. The Circuit Court upheld the Council's decision, finding substantial evidence supported it despite neighborhood changes. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed, holding that Bridges had shown by clear and convincing evidence a substantial change in the area's character since the prior zoning and a public need for the rezoning, rendering the Council's denial arbitrary, capricious, and unsupported by substantial evidence. The court therefore ordered the property rezoned to C-1.

propertybusiness & regulatory

In Bell v. State, Annie Lee Bell was convicted of murder in the Circuit Court of Humphreys County, Mississippi, after shooting her boyfriend Henry Brown outside her mobile home, and sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, Bell argued that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction, that the trial court erred by excluding evidence of the deceased's character and prior events, by not applying the Weathersby rule, by allowing certain testimony, and by providing incomplete warnings of her rights. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, finding the evidence sufficient based on witness accounts contradicting her self-defense claim and determining that several evidentiary arguments were not properly preserved or assigned as error. A dissent argued that greater flexibility should have been allowed in presenting evidence of prior threats and altercations to assess the defendant's state of mind.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved William B. Jones, who was tried on a murder indictment but convicted of manslaughter in the Circuit Court of Hinds County for striking his wife Laura multiple times during an altercation on November 7, 1980; she was found severely injured two days later and died in April 1982 from brain necrosis and related complications caused by blunt trauma. Jones admitted slapping her in claimed self-defense after she allegedly attacked him, but the jury rejected that account based on the physical evidence, medical testimony from treating physicians and the autopsy, and the disarray at the scene. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the 20-year sentence, concluding that the evidence and reasonable inferences supported the manslaughter verdict and that it was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

criminal law

The case concerned the City of Iuka's attempt to annex adjacent territory through an ordinance and chancery court decree. Objectors appealed, arguing that the city failed to post the required notices in the territory proposed for annexation under Mississippi Code § 21-1-15. The Supreme Court of Mississippi reversed the lower court's decree, holding that the statute mandates posting notices in three or more public places within the territory to be annexed, not merely within existing city limits. The court reasoned that the notice requirement must be strictly followed to establish jurisdiction, and no such postings occurred in the annexed area despite the city's arguments about the lack of public places there.

procedure

This case involved a motion by the appellee to docket and dismiss an appeal from a circuit court judgment awarding $11,822 on a promissory note, based on the appellant's alleged failure to timely pay estimated court costs after filing notice of appeal. The Mississippi Supreme Court addressed whether the appeal had been properly perfected and if the writ of certiorari should issue to obtain the record. The court held that under its precedent in Dixieland Food Stores, Inc. v. Kelly's Big Star, Inc., filing a petition for appeal within the 45-day statutory period perfects the appeal, with payment of costs required only after the clerk prepares the estimate. It reasoned that the appellant's October 1982 petition sufficed to perfect the appeal, though costs must still be paid promptly thereafter as required by statute.

procedurebusiness & regulatory

The case involved Tunica Oil Co. suing Magnolia Farm Services for an unpaid open account and attorney's fees under Mississippi Code § 11-53-81 after the account became delinquent despite a demand letter. After suit was filed, Magnolia paid the principal balance plus interest before any judgment was entered, and the parties reserved the attorney's fees issue for the court. The trial court awarded fees equal to 25% of the account balance based on testimony about contingent fee practices, but the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed. The court held that the statute conditions recovery of reasonable attorney's fees on a judgment being rendered on the claim, and payment prior to judgment precludes such an award under the plain statutory language.

business & regulatoryprocedure

The case involves Willie Albert Smith, who was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the 1981 killing of a convenience store operator; after his conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal and certiorari was denied, he petitioned the Mississippi Supreme Court for leave to seek post-conviction relief on 19 grounds, including challenges to aggravating circumstances, jury instructions, prosecutorial arguments, witness identifications, and various constitutional claims tied to pending U.S. Supreme Court cases. The court denied the petition, holding that post-conviction relief is unavailable for issues that were or could have been litigated at trial or on direct appeal. It reasoned that most claims had either been fully adjudicated, waived by failure to object or appeal, or lacked any basis for overcoming procedural bars, and that the court would not delay proceedings to await hypothetical rulings from other courts.

criminal lawprocedure

The case is a class action brought in Mississippi chancery court by S. Barnett Serio against Tideway Oil Programs and related entities, alleging breach of fiduciary duty arising from co-tenancy and joint venture relationships in oil and gas leases on a 480-acre tract in Louisiana. The plaintiffs claimed the defendants improperly acquired and developed adjacent acreage without offering proportionate interests to the class and sought assignments, accountings, injunctive relief, and damages. On interlocutory appeal from the denial of the defendants' demurrers, the Supreme Court of Mississippi held that the complaint's allegations of joint venture on their face required evidentiary proceedings rather than dismissal, addressed challenges to subject-matter jurisdiction and venue, and allowed the case to proceed to proof on the remaining issues.

business & regulatorypropertyproceduretorts & liability

This case involves Leo E. Edwards' application for post-conviction relief via coram nobis and/or habeas corpus from his conviction for murder during a robbery and resulting death sentence. Edwards raised multiple grounds, including improper exclusion of jurors with death penalty scruples, systematic exclusion of Black jurors and those opposed to capital punishment, introduction of a separate crime by the prosecutor, prejudicial closing remarks, and arbitrary imposition of the death penalty under Enmund v. Florida. The Mississippi Supreme Court denied relief, holding that all claims were either previously litigated on direct appeal and thus barred by res judicata or not raised on appeal and therefore accepted as decided by the trial court. The court noted procedural complexities in Mississippi's post-conviction system but did not grant the requested leave to file in the lower court.

criminal lawprocedure

This case concerned Mississippi Power Company's request for electric rate increases before the Public Service Commission under state statutes authorizing just and reasonable rates that yield a fair return on the utility's rate base. The PSC denied portions of the increases by excluding approximately $20 million in costs tied to contract adjustments for Plant Daniel and coal cars from the rate base, finding they provided no additional generating capacity benefiting customers. The chancery court largely sided with the company on appeal, prompting further review by the Supreme Court. The majority opinion set out established principles that the utility bears the burden to prove rate reasonableness, the PSC exercises fact-finding discretion based on case-specific evidence, and rates must balance consumer protection with the company's need for sufficient revenue to cover operating and capital costs. The court addressed related issues including cash working capital calculations and tax normalization in applying these standards.

business & regulatory

The case concerned Roy Earnest Bryant, who was convicted in Lee County Circuit Court on two counts of possessing controlled substances (methaqualone and diazepam) with intent to deliver under Mississippi Code Annotated § 41-29-139(a). The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed those convictions, holding that the evidence was insufficient to prove intent to deliver because the record contained no direct or circumstantial proof of sales, attempted sales, or other indicators of distribution beyond the quantities possessed. The court affirmed convictions on the lesser included offense of simple possession under § 41-29-139(d), finding the indictment properly encompassed that charge and that the defendant had not met his burden to show any exemption such as a valid prescription. It upheld the warrantless arrest for public drunkenness and the resulting search as lawful since the offense occurred in the officer's presence, and remanded for resentencing on the possession convictions.

criminal law

The case involved Willie Albert Smith, who was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death after abducting, robbing, and strangling Shirley Roberts, the manager of a convenience store in Jackson, Mississippi. Smith appealed, challenging several evidentiary rulings by the trial court, arguing that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence, and claiming that the state's capital murder and death penalty statutes violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence, holding that the evidence—including eyewitness accounts of the struggle, physical items like matching shoes and brass knuckles found at the scene and in Smith's car, and a trail leading to the victim's body—was sufficient to support the jury's findings. The court also rejected the constitutional challenges to the statutes and concluded that the death penalty was proportionate given the aggravating circumstances of robbery and the lack of mitigating factors that would render the sentence excessive.

criminal law

This case involved Leo E. Edwards' appeal of his conviction for capital murder and death sentence for killing a convenience store clerk during a robbery in Jackson, Mississippi. The Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed the trial court's judgment, rejecting arguments concerning the exclusion of a juror opposed to the death penalty, the lack of a circumstantial evidence instruction, the admission of certain evidence, the sufficiency of the evidence, and claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The court reasoned that the accomplice's direct testimony supported the conviction, the juror was properly excluded under applicable standards, and the evidence including ballistics and the defendant's statements established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt while supporting the death penalty based on aggravating circumstances.

criminal lawprocedure