Mississippi Supreme Court

The Court affirmed the denial of the County’s motions to dismiss and remanded the tax appeals for further proceedings. It held that the Tax Assessor’s information request was not a Board demand carrying the statutory forfeiture penalty, and that the taxpayer satisfied the written-objection requirement without…

The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's grant of summary judgment for VitalCore, holding that the plaintiff failed to show a genuine issue of material fact that her termination was for refusing to participate in or reporting illegal activity as required by the narrow criminal‑conduct public‑policy…

The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed a circuit court's summary judgment dismissing medical-negligence and wrongful-death claims against Marion General Hospital and three physicians, holding that COVID-19 emergency immunity under Mississippi Code Section 11-71-7 did not bar the claims.

The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Jermaine White's convictions for two counts of first-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, the court held a rational jury could find deliberate design where White, the only…

The court affirmed Merrimon's conviction for receiving stolen property and his habitual-offender sentence. It held that the jury instructions, read together, correctly required proof of possession and guilty knowledge; the evidence was legally sufficient to establish both; and the verdict was not against the…

The court affirmed Gregg's convictions for first-degree murder, attempted murder, and tampering with physical evidence, along with her concurrent sentences. It held that the life-imprisonment sentences were authorized and did not constitute juvenile life without parole, that the sentencing court adequately considered…

The court affirmed House’s convictions for manslaughter and aggravated assault. It held that the aggravated-assault evidence was sufficient because House’s deliberate shooting into a large crowd proximately caused the victim’s injury, even though House’s bullet need not have been the one that struck her.

The Court affirmed summary judgment for the Mississippi Department of Revenue, holding that MDOR presented sufficient evidence that it mailed the taxpayers’ assessments to their updated address.

The Mississippi Supreme Court held that Corlexia Carter's medical-negligence claims against UMMC were time barred by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act's one-year limitations period because, under the discovery rule, her own suspicions of negligent conduct — voiced to her mother in the hospital shortly after her January…

The Mississippi Supreme Court, en banc, granted the Mississippi Bar's motion and accepted Jody E. Owens II's irrevocable resignation with prejudice pursuant to Rule 11(a) and Procedure 11.1 of the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar, deeming the resignation tantamount to proof of guilt on the matter…

The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for Dr. Davey-Sullivan on Brown's lack-of-informed-consent and medical-battery claims arising from an episiotomy performed after Brown verbally withdrew her consent during labor.

On writ of certiorari, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals' determination that insufficient evidence supported a jury verdict in favor of a neurosurgeon and his clinic in a medical-malpractice suit arising from spinal-cord-stimulator surgery that left Mary Upchurch with a spinal hematoma and…

The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Joseph Heard's capital-murder conviction and death sentence for the beating death of his wife's two-year-old son, Hayden, rejecting all ten assignments of error. The court held that the waived challenge to Dr.

On writ of certiorari, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the chancery court's judgment, holding on the sole issue presented that Elizabeth Cleveland has standing to challenge the 2017 tax sale of the Harrison County property where she has lived since the 1980s.

The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Elizabeth Bozard's felony-evasion conviction, holding the evidence sufficient under Miss. Code Ann. § 97-9-72(2) because her flight from a traffic stop — a chase up and down I-55 during which she ran a red light, passed vehicles on the shoulder, struck a police cruiser, and…

The Mississippi Supreme Court granted the school board's interlocutory appeal and held that Daryl Moore's quantum meruit and unjust-enrichment claims for alleged unpaid head-coaching stipends were foreclosed by the minutes rule, because no board minute approved a $2,500 head-coaching stipend.

The Mississippi Supreme Court held that the Circuit Court of Sunflower County erred in sua sponte determining improper venue and transferring the case a year into litigation; the transfer order was vacated and the case remanded for proper venue proceedings.

The court affirmed Eacholes's conviction and sentence for possession of methamphetamine, holding that the arrest warrants were supported by probable cause. It concluded that the circuit court had a substantial basis for upholding the warrants because the record did not show that Eacholes was denied a requested…

The court affirmed Sims's convictions and concurrent sentences, rejecting his challenge to the admission of HIV-status records and his claim that the evidence was insufficient for the HIV-exposure conviction.

The court affirmed Rencher's conviction for child exploitation and his life sentence as a violent habitual offender. It held that his authentication and lay-testimony claims were procedurally barred and, alternatively, that the Facebook and AT&T records were self-authenticating and the investigator's testimony was…

The court affirmed Sanders’s convictions for sexual battery and molestation and his consecutive sentences of life imprisonment and fifteen years. It held that the discovery claim was waived, the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and the pro se claims were either waived, procedurally…

The court granted the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules' motion to amend specified provisions governing summons, service of process, and related chancery-court procedures.

The court affirmed Wilson’s first-degree murder conviction and life sentence. It held that the self-defense instruction was procedurally barred because Wilson objected on a different ground at trial and, in any event, correctly stated the law; it likewise upheld the malice-inference instruction.

The court held that the trial court did not conduct an adequate speedy-trial inquiry because it judicially noticed a medical-examiner backlog without requiring proof that the backlog caused the delay in this case.

The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the youth court and Court of Appeals, holding that the proper standard of review for the statutory interpretation issue is de novo and that the youth court erred by applying Section 43-21-603(7)(c) to Malone’s criminal history, which does not satisfy the statutory requirement…

The Mississippi Supreme Court granted the Amended Petition to Amend Certain Rules of the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar, making the amendments effective July 1, 2026.

The Mississippi Supreme Court granted the State’s motion to dismiss Carr’s successive post‑conviction petition, holding that both his ineffective‑assistance claim and his Eighth Amendment claim are barred by the state’s time and successive‑writ limitations and that no statutory exception applies.

The court imposed reciprocal discipline on James F. Valley after accepting the Arkansas adjudications of misconduct as conclusively establishing his violations. Considering Valley's decades-long pattern of neglect, noncommunication, noncompliance, failure to cooperate, ineffective prior sanctions, and resulting client…

The Mississippi Supreme Court held that a party cannot waive the issue of appointing a mandatory guardian ad litem by failing to raise it in the trial court, and it reversed the chancellor’s custody determination because the Albright analysis omitted crucial information about the children’s living situation, remanding…

The court affirmed Zattoni’s convictions for kidnapping and felon in possession of a firearm. It held that the trial court erred by delaying acceptance of Zattoni’s stipulation to his felon status and by admitting an unredacted police-interview recording containing highly prejudicial material, but concluded that both…

The Mississippi Supreme Court, on its own motion, ordered an amendment to Rule 2(a)(2) of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure as set forth in Exhibit A, effective thirty days from the order. The Court explained the amendment’s purpose to clarify dismissal procedures and sanction authority.

The court held that the record did not establish that Hubbard II had authority to bind his father to the stand-alone arbitration agreement. Because the defendants presented no evidence supporting an agency relationship and failed to obtain a ruling on their discovery request, the orders compelling arbitration were…

The court affirmed the denial of a deployed parent's request to transfer all of his court-ordered custodial time to his parents. It held that the governing statute does not give a deployed parent unilateral authority to delegate custody, and that the chancery court retains discretion to determine custody and…

The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the Pontotoc County Circuit Court’s grant of summary judgment for J.B. Hunt, holding that the plaintiff’s emotional‑distress claim was barred by the three‑year statute of limitations and was not tolled by the discovery rule, and that the malicious‑prosecution claim was untimely…

The court affirmed Johnson’s first-degree-murder conviction and life sentence, concluding that the evidence did not support instructions on second-degree murder or heat-of-passion manslaughter, and that the evidence obtained after the warrantless search would inevitably have been discovered lawfully.

The Mississippi Supreme Court dismissed the Bryants’ appeal of the trial court’s denial of partial summary judgment as moot, and reversed the trial court’s dismissal of the complaint under Rule 12(b)(6), remanding for further proceedings.

The Mississippi Supreme Court held that the trial court abused its discretion by denying First Security Bank’s Rule 41(b) motion to dismiss while granting the same joint motion for a codefendant.

The Court held that Mossy Lake is navigable in fact and was part of Mississippi's public waters trust when the state entered the Union. Because public waters were excluded from the sixteenth-section grant, the School District did not acquire title to the lake portion or authority to exclude lawful users, so the…

The Court held that venue was proper in Madison County because the medical treatment in Hinds County was not an event caused by the insurer that caused the insurance-related injury alleged in the complaint. It reversed the denial of the insurer's motion to transfer venue and remanded for further proceedings.

The court held that the signed Article of Agreement did not create a contractual obligation because it was executed only by Gary and identified no consideration. It also held that the document was not a valid deed because its ambiguous language did not convey any present interest in the property upon delivery and…