In Mercedes B. Clark v. State of Mississippi, a Lauderdale County jury convicted first-time offender Clark of trafficking 43 dosage units of eutylone, a Schedule I controlled substance, after a traffic stop revealed the pills in a clutch bag inside her vehicle, leading to a 10-year sentence without parole. Clark’s appellate counsel filed a Lindsey brief stating no arguable issues existed for appeal, while Clark submitted a pro se supplemental brief raising challenges including the sufficiency of evidence on knowing and intentional possession, the adequacy of jury instructions defining “willfully,” and a request to amend parole eligibility statutes. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence, holding that the jury was properly instructed on the elements of possession, that Clark’s statements and the forensic evidence supported the verdict, and that the court lacked authority to alter statutory sentencing provisions. The court found no merit in Clark’s claims and identified no other issues warranting further briefing or relief.
In this divorce case, Nancy and Carlos Sistrunk, married since 1984 and with four adult children including a disabled daughter requiring ongoing care, sought to divide their marital assets after separating in 2021 and agreeing to proceed on irreconcilable differences. The Oktibbeha County Chancery Court granted the divorce, divided real and personal property roughly equally while assigning each party their own debts and assets, and denied alimony, child support for the adult child, and attorneys’ fees. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding that the chancellor failed to make required findings of fact on most Ferguson factors for equitable distribution and that several factual findings lacked support in the record. The Court directed the lower court to properly address the equitable distribution of assets and related financial issues on remand.
David Archie filed an election contest challenging the results of the August 2023 Hinds County Supervisor District 2 Democratic primary runoff, which Smith won, and later sought judicial review in circuit court after the Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee failed to resolve his claims. The sole issue on appeal was whether Archie’s petition for judicial review, filed on September 8, 2023, was timely under the ten-day statutory deadline, which is extended if the final day falls when either the courthouse or circuit clerk’s office is closed. The circuit court dismissed the petition after a hearing limited to attorney arguments and four affidavits, without taking testimony or resolving whether the clerk’s office was open on September 7 despite a cyber attack that caused its doors to be locked after noon. The Mississippi Supreme Court vacated the dismissal and remanded for a fuller evidentiary hearing because the existing record—showing conflicting accounts about locked doors, absent staff, and an undescribed drop basket—provides insufficient facts to determine whether the office was actually available for public business that day.
In this Mississippi adoption case, natural mother B.N. petitioned more than five years after the 2017 final adoption decree to set aside the adoption of her daughter D.A.S. by the child's paternal aunt and uncle, K.P. and J.P., alleging that she had been fraudulently induced to consent based on promises of an "open adoption" allowing continued contact. The chancery court denied relief, and the Supreme Court affirmed. The court held that under Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), a motion to set aside a judgment for fraud must be made within six months and within a reasonable time, and B.N.'s five-year delay was untimely without good cause shown. It emphasized that setting aside adoptions is disfavored due to the need for permanence in adoptive relationships.
Patricia Wright, an at-will employee of the Public Service Commission of Yazoo City, sued the PSC and its general manager after her 2018 termination for falsifying records, claiming the firing violated the public policy exception to at-will employment because she had refused to participate in her supervisor’s alleged illegal acts of waiving late fees and reconnecting service for customers with large past-due balances. The trial court denied the PSC’s motion for summary judgment, finding factual disputes. On interlocutory appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and rendered judgment for the PSC, holding that Wright failed to identify any conduct by her supervisor that could result in criminal penalties or to show she had refused any directive to engage in such conduct. Wright’s own testimony established that she had accepted a partial payment and created a work order to restore service, and she admitted she had never declined any request from her supervisor; her additional claims about office cliques or missing funds were unrelated to the termination decision.
UnitedHealthcare submitted a bid for a Mississippi Medicaid managed care contract that included a redacted compilation of governmental sanctions it had received, but it was not selected for the award. After the Division of Medicaid received public records requests for the unredacted information, United sought a protective order claiming the sanctions list qualified as a trade secret or confidential commercial information exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act. The chancery court reviewed the materials in camera and ruled that the compilation was not exempt. On appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed, holding that United failed to meet its burden of showing specific competitive harm or other elements required for protection, as the sanctions were based on public information and general assertions of harm were insufficient under the Act’s presumption of disclosure.
In this insurance dispute, shipbuilder VT Halter Marine sought coverage under an all-risk policy issued by Certain Underwriters of Lloyd’s for roughly $3.3 million in costs to repair and replace cracked flange plates installed in two vessels under construction; the cracking occurred because a press-brake operator used the wrong die, producing plates with bends too sharp for the steel. The insurer denied the claim under Addendum 2 of the policy, which excludes coverage for faulty workmanship and for the cost of repairing, replacing, or renewing improper or defective materials. The trial court granted summary judgment to the insurer, and the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed. The court held that the policy language unambiguously bars recovery for the defective materials themselves when the only damage was to those materials and resulted directly from the faulty workmanship.
Jerry Pittman was convicted of burglary of a dwelling after he and Brianna Pierce broke into David Parker’s trailer and stole items including a cash box, laptop, and other property. Pittman appealed from the Neshoba County Circuit Court, claiming that testimony about a separate theft of power tools was improperly admitted under Mississippi Rule of Evidence 404(b) to show absence of mistake or intent, rendering his trial unconstitutional. The Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed the conviction, holding that it need not decide whether the evidence was admissible because any error would be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt given the overwhelming proof of guilt, which included Pittman’s own admissions, Pierce’s testimony, a written confession, and recovery of the stolen items in his vehicle.
Joe Davis Exson was convicted in Yalobusha County Circuit Court of burglary of a dwelling, grand larceny, and first-degree arson after video from inside the victim’s home showed a man matching Exson’s appearance, wearing a distinctive grey-and-white hoodie later found in his possession, committing the crimes over two days in January 2021. Exson appealed only the grand-larceny conviction, claiming the State failed to prove the stolen property’s value exceeded $1,000 and that the jury was not properly instructed on the value element. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, holding the claims procedurally barred for lack of a trial objection and, under plain-error review, without merit because the jury instruction tracked the statutory language, the victim’s testimony established a value well above $1,000, and Exson neither objected nor requested a definitional instruction on “value.”
In 2014, Amrut Patel obtained a money judgment against Dilip Bhana in DeSoto County Chancery Court for repayment of loans. Seven years later, Patel filed a notice of renewal in the circuit court and later sought to enforce the judgment through writs of execution and a debtor examination in chancery court, but Bhana moved to dismiss on the ground that the judgment had lapsed under the seven-year statute of limitations because renewal had not been accomplished as required by Mississippi Code Section 15-1-43. The chancery court denied the motion, finding the circuit-court filing sufficient and that Bhana had waived the limitations defense by participating in the proceedings. On interlocutory appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and rendered judgment for Bhana, holding that Patel had failed to renew the judgment in any manner authorized by statute or precedent, that the judgment therefore expired in December 2021, and that Bhana’s brief delay in raising the defense was neither substantial nor unreasonable and did not constitute waiver.
At Home Care sued RiverHills Capital Corporation and the Estate of Herbert Stathes in circuit court, alleging breach of contract, breach of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, conspiracy, and a request to remove a cloud on title, all arising from a 2018 property sale and an ATM lease on the same land that allegedly was not disclosed. RiverHills moved to transfer the case to chancery court, claiming the equitable nature of the title claim gave chancery exclusive jurisdiction. The circuit court denied the motion, and the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed. The Court held that the complaint's primary claims and remedies—money damages for breach of contract and related torts—are legal rather than equitable, and that requests for specific performance were neither made nor appropriate; therefore, even if jurisdiction were a close question, it defaults to the circuit court as a court of general jurisdiction. The case was remanded for further proceedings in circuit court.
The case concerned whether Aelicia Thomas timely filed her Mississippi Tort Claims Act lawsuit against Bolivar County for injuries sustained when her vehicle hit a downed utility pole, specifically when a complaint is deemed filed in a court using the Mississippi Electronic Courts (MEC) system and whether delayed issuance of summons rendered the action time-barred. The trial court granted judgment on the pleadings for the county, holding that the complaint was filed one day late (July 20 rather than July 19, 2021) and that Thomas had failed to cause summons to issue for more than one hundred days. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and remanded, ruling that the complaint was filed upon delivery to the clerk along with the civil cover sheet and filing fee. It held that, under Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 3(a) and the MTCA, an action commences with that filing regardless of when the complaint is later entered into MEC, and that prompt issuance of summons is not required to satisfy the statute of limitations.
Aaron Mitchell was convicted of second-degree murder after shooting and killing Marty Moore during a confrontation in which Mitchell claimed self-defense, asserting that Moore had been the aggressor. Mitchell sought production of an autopsy report or an order for an autopsy to obtain details on wound angles, distances, and stippling that might support his defense, but the trial court denied the request because no autopsy had been performed and exhumation would burden the State and the victim's family. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding that the appellate record contained insufficient evidence—including contradictory statements by the State about any preliminary autopsy materials and the absence of a hearing transcript or medical examiner documents—to establish a due process violation or reversible error. The court noted that Mitchell, represented by the same counsel on appeal, failed to demonstrate specific prejudice from the incomplete record.
The case concerned ownership of a one-half mineral interest in Amite County property that Reverend Harvey McCool devised in his 1969 will to the Mississippi Baptist Foundation (MBF) as trustee, with successive life estates to his wife and sister before the remainder went to foreign missions; after the wife’s heirs and MBF both claimed the interest decades later, the dispute centered on when Mississippi’s then-existing mortmain laws (requiring certain institutions to sell real property within ten years or lose it to the decedent’s heirs) were triggered and whether those laws were constitutional. The trial court ruled that the ten-year period began at McCool’s death in 1969, that the laws were constitutional, and that title had therefore passed to the heirs in 1979. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed, holding that MBF took a possessory interest as trustee upon McCool’s death, thereby starting the mortmain clock, and that MBF’s challenge to the laws’ constitutionality was barred by the ten-year statute of limitations for actions to recover land, which expired no later than 1989; because MBF failed to assert any claim for forty years after it lost title, the court declined to reach the constitutional question and confirmed ownership in the heirs.
John Davis sued his ex-wife Sandra Davis and her former lover Porter Horgan in 2018 for fraud, alienation of affection, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, alleging that Sandra’s extramarital relationship in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in two children he had believed were his biological offspring. A jury awarded Davis $700,000 in damages. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the verdict and rendered judgment for the defendants. It held that some claims were barred by the statute of limitations and that Davis had failed to request proper jury instructions on damages.
In Cortez Watts v. State of Mississippi, Watts was convicted of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, attempted armed robbery, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and felon in possession of a firearm arising from a 2016 casino-related shooting in Tunica County. On appeal, he argued that two jurors failed to disclose during voir dire their indirect connections to a person killed in a related incident, depriving him of the ability to intelligently exercise challenges, and that the trial court erred in denying his post-trial motion for JNOV or a new trial. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the convictions, holding that the trial court did not clearly err in finding the jurors lacked substantial knowledge of the facts sought during questioning. The court further reasoned that any knowledge held by the circuit clerk about the connections did not create an appearance of unfairness, as there was no evidence it was shared with the jurors and the clerk had no affirmative duty to disclose it in this context.
Jernigan Copeland Attorneys (JCA) sued Mississippi State Auditor Shad White to recover contingent legal fees and reimbursement for expenses, including payments owed to a public relations firm, based on a 2013 Counsel Retention Agreement with the Office of the State Auditor to pursue claims against attorneys who received over $1 billion in fees from the state's tobacco litigation. The Hinds County Circuit Court denied the Auditor's motion to dismiss or for summary judgment, finding that incomplete discovery left genuine issues of material fact. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and rendered judgment for the Auditor, holding that the retention agreement was void for lack of compliance with statutory requirements governing state contingent-fee contracts. The court further ruled that JCA's alternative claims for promissory estoppel, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, and indemnity were time-barred under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act because JCA had notice of its damages by September 2015 yet did not submit the required notice of claim until May 2018.
The Mississippi Supreme Court case involved a dispute between the state Division of Medicaid (DOM) and Yalobusha County Nursing Home over four disallowed costs that the nursing home sought to include in its fiscal year 2013 Medicaid cost report for reimbursement. The Hinds County Chancery Court had ruled in favor of the nursing home and ordered the DOM to reverse its adjustments. On appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed that judgment and reinstated the DOM’s original decisions. The Court held that the DOM had correctly interpreted the relevant Medicaid statutes and State Plan provisions, including those governing the Upper Payment Limit program and allowable cost amendments, and that its determinations were supported by substantial evidence in the record.
The case concerned whether the Mississippi Division of Medicaid could recoup approximately $701,856 in overpayments made to Wilkinson County Senior Care after the facility changed ownership in 2002. Wilkinson had received the maximum per diem Medicaid rate for about twenty months until the Division adjusted the rate downward based on the facility’s initial cost report, but the Division did not seek repayment until 2011. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the Division and the Hinds County Chancery Court allowing recoupment. The Court held that Wilkinson had been repeatedly notified in writing that the payments were provisional and subject to retroactive adjustment, so neither equitable estoppel nor substantive due process barred the Division’s action years later. It further found the Division’s decision was not arbitrary or capricious and that Wilkinson had no protected property interest in the overpaid amounts.
This case concerns a long-running family dispute over the estate of Frankie Don Ware, who died in 2011 owning 25% of four closely held corporations, with the rest held by his wife Carolyn and son Richard. Frankie’s will placed his shares into two testamentary trusts benefiting Carolyn, with Richard, Dana, and Angela also serving as trustees; disagreements over managing the corporations and disposing of the shares led Richard to seek corporate dissolution, and the cases were consolidated in chancery court. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the chancery court’s rulings allowing intervention and approving the net-asset valuation methodology and dissolution process, but reversed the requirement that the estate offer the shares to the corporations, holding that the corporations’ contract-based claims were barred by the statute of limitations. The court dismissed related cross-appeal issues as moot and remanded for a determination on distributing the escrowed funds.