Armis E. Hawkins

The case involved Michael Lee Triplett's appeal of his manslaughter conviction and twenty-year sentence from the Winston County Circuit Court, based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the conviction, holding that Triplett was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel, which is incorporated against the states and embraced by the Mississippi Constitution. The court's reasoning centered on multiple deficiencies by defense counsel, including failures to properly preserve Batson challenges by ensuring the record documented juror demographics, inadequate cross-examination of witnesses, and other errors that fell below professional standards and prejudiced the defense under the Strickland test.

criminal lawprocedurecivil rights

In Hill v. State, the Mississippi Supreme Court addressed Alvin Hill's third application for post-conviction relief from his 1980 capital murder conviction and death sentence, which had been affirmed on direct appeal and in prior proceedings. The court denied relief regarding the guilt phase, finding that claims about lesser-included offense instructions were barred by res judicata, successive writ rules, and statutes of limitations under state law. On the sentencing phase, however, the court granted relief and vacated the death sentence because the jury had been instructed on the unconstitutionally vague "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel" aggravating factor without a limiting definition, as required by intervening U.S. Supreme Court precedent, and state law precluded the court from reweighing factors or conducting harmless error review. The case was remanded to the Circuit Court of DeSoto County for a new sentencing hearing.

criminal lawprocedure

Edward Reynolds was indicted, tried by jury, and convicted of selling crack cocaine based on a police sting operation at a cafe, with conflicting testimony from officers, an informant, and the defendant about the transaction and arrest. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, finding sufficient evidence supported the jury's verdict on the sale charge. However, it remanded the case for a new sentencing hearing due to procedural errors, including the state's failure to disclose certain information in advance under discovery rules and improper reliance on hearsay at sentencing. The court held that while hearsay is generally permissible at sentencing, the specific violations here required resentencing within the statutory limits.

criminal lawprocedure

The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance brought a disciplinary action against Justice Court Judge Johnny C. Hartzog, alleging multiple instances of misconduct including improperly notarizing a deed without the signatory present, issuing an order in a nonexistent case, and authorizing the removal of personal property absent any pending proceeding. After an agreed committee report and review, the Commission found violations of several Canons of the Code of Judicial Conduct and Mississippi Constitution § 177A, and recommended a public reprimand plus costs. The Supreme Court of Mississippi adopted the recommendation, holding that Hartzog's actions constituted willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. The Court reasoned that the judge failed to comply with legal requirements for acknowledgments and entered orders without any case or authority, citing prior precedents on judicial standards and mitigating factors such as lack of prior complaints or personal gain.

criminal lawprocedure

This case concerned attorney disciplinary proceedings against Jimmy D. McGuire after his federal felony conviction for filing a false currency reporting form. The Mississippi Bar sought indefinite suspension and eventual disbarment under Rule 6 of the Rules of Discipline, while McGuire moved to dismiss based on a statutory exception in Miss. Code Ann. § 73-3-339 for Internal Revenue Code violations. The court denied McGuire's motion to dismiss and the Bar's request for permanent disbarment, granted indefinite suspension pending appeal, and held that the Bar's disciplinary rules control over conflicting statutes because the court has exclusive jurisdiction over attorney discipline. It reasoned that Rule 6 requires suspension upon felony conviction (other than manslaughter) with disbarment only after appeals conclude without reversal.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involves Roger Eric Thorson's appeal of his conviction for capital murder and sentence to death in the 1987 killing of Gloria McKinney. The Mississippi Supreme Court reviewed the trial proceedings, including issues related to statements made by the defendant, evidence admissibility, and jury selection. With the exception of the circuit court's failure to require race-neutral explanations for the State's peremptory challenges against seven black venire members under Batson v. Kentucky, the court found no reversible error. It remanded the case for a Batson hearing on jury selection while affirming the conviction and sentence on all remaining issues.

criminal lawprocedurecivil rights

The case involves James R. Stringer, who was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in Mississippi in 1982 for planning and committing a robbery and killings. Stringer filed an application for post-conviction relief, arguing that an intervening U.S. Supreme Court decision in Clemons v. Mississippi (and related cases like Maynard v. Cartwright) rendered the jury's aggravating factor instruction—that the murder was "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel"—unconstitutionally vague, affecting his sentence. Following its prior holdings in Clemons v. State and similar cases, the Mississippi Supreme Court declined the state's request to reweigh aggravating and mitigating factors or conduct harmless error review itself. The court granted the application, vacated the death sentence, and remanded the case to the Hinds County Circuit Court for a new sentencing hearing.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved Leslie Brent's appeal of his conviction in Copiah County Circuit Court for felonious child abuse under Mississippi Code § 97-5-39(2), stemming from allegations that he beat and burned his nine-year-old stepson Danny with a heated spoon after the child's mother punished him for stealing. Brent received a ten-year prison sentence. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding that the trial court committed no error in determining the child's competency to testify, admitting evidence of the injuries and prior observations of bruises, handling jury issues regarding external communications, or applying evidentiary rules such as Rule 403 balancing. The court found the evidence sufficient to support the verdict and rejected claims of undue prejudice or improper procedures in the trial.

criminal law

The case concerned David H. Massey's petition to the Mississippi Supreme Court for reinstatement to the practice of law. The court denied the petition without prejudice, allowing for the possibility of a future filing. All nine justices concurred in the decision.

procedure

This case involved a challenge to the Mississippi High School Activities Association's anti-recruiting rule, which barred a student from playing varsity basketball at a private Catholic school outside his family's new school district after a move out of state and back. The chancery court issued a permanent injunction and declaratory relief, concluding that the residence requirement was arbitrary, capricious, and overbroad as applied to the student and similarly situated parochial school students. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and rendered judgment for the Association, ruling that the regulation is constitutional. Because the rule neither burdened the right to travel nor interfered with religious practice, the court applied rational-basis review and found the residence requirement a rational means to promote fair interscholastic competition and deter improper recruiting.

civil rightsreligious liberty

The case involved Patricia Richardson suing APAC-Mississippi, Inc. for injuries sustained in a car accident caused by Berg McCandless, alleging APAC's liability solely under respondeat superior on the theory that McCandless was its employee. APAC sought summary judgment, asserting that McCandless operated as an independent contractor under a subcontract for hauling materials to its asphalt plant. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the summary judgment dismissal, holding that McCandless was an independent contractor because APAC exercised no control over his methods, routes, hours, equipment, or employees, as detailed in the contract and supporting affidavits. The court remanded the case for the trial court to rule on Richardson's late motion to amend her complaint to allege additional grounds of liability.

torts & liabilitylabor & employment

The case involved the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance bringing proceedings against Brenda M. Franklin, a Justice Court Judge, concerning her judicial performance. The Mississippi Supreme Court reviewed the Commission's findings of fact and recommendations regarding the judge. The court affirmed those findings and recommendations in full. All participating justices concurred in the decision without noted dissent or separate opinions.

criminal law

The case involved the Mississippi Judicial Performance Commission seeking a public reprimand against Justice Court Judge Cecil Cantrell for two instances of misconduct. In the first, Cantrell engaged in confrontational discussions with a collection agency and hospital staff over his unpaid personal medical bill. In the second, he issued an arrest warrant from his home in a private car sale dispute, then mediated a settlement between the parties to avoid arrest. The Mississippi Supreme Court sustained the Commission's motion and ordered a public reprimand, based on the parties' agreed facts establishing violations of judicial conduct canons in the handling of official duties.

criminal lawprocedure

This case involved a dispute over the ownership of funds in a savings account and the contents of a safety deposit box established in the names of Andrew Sierra and Nancy Madden as joint tenants with right of survivorship. The chancery court ruled that these assets were part of Sierra's estate, finding that Madden failed to present clear and convincing evidence to rebut the presumption of undue influence arising from her relationship with the elderly Sierra as his hospice volunteer and nurse. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed this decision, noting that the record supported the finding of undue influence and that the accounts were set up under circumstances suggesting improper influence by Madden.

propertyprocedure

Nancy Swan, a teacher, sued polyurethane manufacturers I.P., Inc. and Carboline Company, along with roofing contractor Miri, Inc. and its president James C. English, alleging personal injuries from exposure to toxic fumes and spray (containing MDI and TDI) during a school re-roofing project in October 1985; her claims against the manufacturers rested on negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty, while those against the contractor and president were based on negligence. The trial court granted summary judgment to all defendants shortly before trial and made various discovery rulings, including limiting depositions of student witnesses and denying an independent medical examination of the plaintiff. On appeal, the Supreme Court of Mississippi reversed the summary judgments in favor of the defendants. The court also reversed the trial court's discovery orders, finding that additional medical examinations and witness depositions were warranted. These decisions rested on the presence of genuine issues of material fact regarding liability and causation, as well as the relevance of the requested discovery to the plaintiff's claims.

torts & liabilityprocedure

The case involves Byron De La Beckwith, who was tried twice in 1964 for the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers, resulting in hung juries and mistrials, followed by a nolle prosequi in 1969; he was re-indicted in 1990 and sought dismissal on grounds of denial of speedy trial, due process, and double jeopardy. Beckwith pursued an interlocutory appeal after the trial court denied his motion to dismiss the indictment. The Mississippi Supreme Court held that interlocutory appeals seeking dismissal of criminal charges are not available as a matter of right and must meet strict federal-style criteria for immediate review. The court declined to address the speedy trial and due process claims on interlocutory appeal but rejected the double jeopardy claim on the merits, allowing the prosecution to proceed to trial.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Mattie Presley against the Mississippi State Highway Commission, alleging negligent design and placement of traffic signs at an intersection that contributed to a fatal car accident. The trial court dismissed the suit on the ground that the Commission was protected by sovereign immunity under the 1987 Sovereign Immunity Act, which directed that claims against the state be governed by pre-Pruett common law. On appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court held that the portion of the Act requiring application of sovereign immunity as it existed immediately before Pruett v. City of Rosedale was unconstitutional, reversed the dismissal, and remanded the case for further proceedings. The court reasoned that the statute improperly sought to reinstate judicially created immunity that had been abolished in Pruett, and that the legislature could not constitutionally restore it in this manner.

torts & liabilityprocedure

Sabrina Butler was convicted of capital murder under Mississippi law for the death of her nine-month-old son, Walter Dean Butler, who died from internal abdominal injuries caused by blunt force trauma while in her care, and was sentenced to death. The prosecution presented evidence of the child's injuries, conflicting statements by the defendant about events leading to the death, and the absence of any babysitter she had initially named. On appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the conviction and death sentence, holding that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on manslaughter as authorized by statute and by improperly admitting or handling evidence of the defendant's prior conviction for impeachment without the required analysis. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with these rulings on jury instructions and evidentiary matters.

criminal lawprocedure

This case involved a workers' compensation claim by Billy C. Eskridge against his employer Borden, Inc., for total temporary disability due to major depression allegedly caused by harassment, demotions, and shunning by his plant supervisor. The Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission awarded benefits after finding that the supervisor's deliberate course of conduct was designed to force Eskridge and his wife out of their jobs and was not an ordinary incident of employment. The circuit court affirmed the award. On appeal, the Supreme Court of Mississippi upheld the decision, holding that substantial evidence supported the Commission's findings that the mental disability was compensable under state law.

labor & employment

This case involved a dispute over a joint Merrill Lynch cash management account opened with marital funds by a veterinarian and his wife. When the couple began divorce proceedings, Merrill Lynch, following its internal policy for domestic disputes, blocked the account despite no such authority in the account agreement, but later permitted a check signed by the wife to clear, resulting in withdrawal of about $13,571 by her mother. Dr. Luckett sued the broker Finkelberg and Merrill Lynch for the withdrawn funds plus legal expenses from related litigation, mental anguish, and punitive damages. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed liability against Merrill Lynch only for the $13,571 actually withdrawn and reversed all other awards against both defendants, finding no proximate causation for the additional claimed damages and no personal liability for the broker. Concurring opinions varied on whether reduced punitive damages should apply.

business & regulatorytorts & liability