MAXWELL , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. In High v. Kuhn, 191 So.3d 113 (Miss. 2016) ( High I ), we reversed and rendered the judgment of the special court of eminent domain, specifically finding the plaintiffs, Todd and Angela Kuhn, were not entitled to condemn Cheryl High's property for a private road. The statutory procedures governing eminent-domain actions permit a defendant like High to recover expenses — including attorney's fees — when "the judgment be that the plaintiff is...
CHAMBERLIN , Justice . 1. L.B.C. appeals the Forrest County Youth Court's requirement that he register as a sex offender. All of the issues in this appeal arise from this requirement. After review, we affirm the youth court's judgment. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 2. In December 2015, L.B.C. sexually battered two six-year-old girls. L.B.C. admitted to sexually penetrating the two victims with his fingers. At the time, L.B.C. was fourteen years old. 3. Initially, L.B.C. was charged as...
BEAM , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. Terry Pitchford was convicted of capital murder in February 2006 in the Grenada County Circuit Court and sentenced to death. This Court affirmed his conviction and sentence on direct appeal. See Pitchford v. State, 45 So.3d 216 (Miss. 2010). Pitchford thereafter filed a motion for leave to proceed in the trial court with a petition for post-conviction relief (PCR), arguing inter alia he had not received a competency hearing in violation of Rule 9....
WALLER , CHIEF JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. On March 17, 2014, Douglas Michael Long Jr. filed suit against Pennsylvania resident David J. Vitkauskas for alienation of affections. Vitkauskas entered a special appearance and then filed a motion to dismiss for, inter alia, insufficient service of process under Mississippi Rule of Civil Procedure 4(c)(5). The trial court granted Vitkauskas's motion to dismiss on the ground of insufficient service of process, and the Court of Appeals affirmed....
WALLER , CHIEF JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. This cause is before the Court on Joseph Patrick Brown's Motion for Leave to Invoke Discovery and Seek Access Orders in the Circuit Court. For the following reasons, this Court finds that said motion is not well-taken and should be denied. FACTS & PROCEDURAL HISTORY 2. Brown was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1994, and his conviction and sentence were affirmed by this Court in 1996. Brown v. State, 682 So.2d 340 (...
MAXWELL , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. If a plaintiff files a civil lawsuit, then fails to pursue it, the trial court or defendant may move to dismiss for failure to prosecute. 1 A plaintiff's delay alone may warrant dismissal if the trial court finds lesser sanctions would not suffice. 2 Here, Shelia Regan filed her first medical-malpractice claim against South Central Regional Medical Center in 2005. Three lawsuits, two appeals, and more than ten years later, there has still been no...
MAXWELL , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. This is an interlocutory appeal of the denial of summary judgment. The circuit court ruled Enoch Oliver could proceed to trial with his malicious-prosecution claim against University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) and two of its law-enforcement officers, Syrone McBeath and David Stewart. But after de novo review, we disagree. 2. As a matter of law, malice-based torts do not fall under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act's sovereign-immunity...
MAXWELL , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. Groundworx, LLC, appeals the judgment dismissing Groundworx's breach-of-contract action against the City of Hattiesburg. We review this judgment de novo, employing the same standard as the trial court. Taking Groundworx's allegations as true, we will affirm dismissal only if it appears beyond doubt that Groundworx will be unable to prove any set of facts to support its claim. 2. After reviewing the contract between Groundworx and the City, which...
RANDOLPH , PRESIDING JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. Laser Line Construction Company, LLC, ("Laser Line") purchased statutory workers' compensation insurance coverage from the Builders and Contractors Association of Mississippi ("BCAM") Self Insurers' Fund. Because Laser Line was a general contractor, BCAM sought premium payments for all employees of Laser Line's subcontractors who did not independently secure workers' compensation coverage. Laser Line refused to pay premiums for employees of...
RANDOLPH , PRESIDING JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. Kelvin Ashford was indicted, tried, and found guilty by a Tate County jury on eight counts of sexual battery and two counts of fondling. Aggrieved by the judgment of conviction and resulting sentence, Ashford appeals. Finding no error, we affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 2. According to N.W., 1 her aunt, Marjorie Willie, had an on-again, off-again relationship with Kelvin Ashford 2 for N.W.'s entire life. N.W. and Marjorie were...
MAXWELL , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. Under our civil discovery rules, a party who fails to attend his own properly noticed deposition may be sanctioned — up to dismissal of his case. 1 Here, the plaintiff in a will contest intentionally skipped out on his deposition. This prompted the chancellor to grant the defendant's motion for sanctions, dismissing the will contest. While this sanction was harsh, it was within the chancellor's discretion to impose. We thus affirm. Background Facts...
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI DICKINSON , PRESIDING JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. A provision in a lease stated that upon the lessor's death, the lessor's rights — primarily the right to receive lease payments — transferred to the lessor's daughter, who was not a party to the lease. The lessor died, and the question presented under the facts of this case is whether the provision of the lease or the provisions of the lessor's will determine the owner of the lease payments. We granted certiorari...
BEAM , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. Rita McIntosh appeals from the Rankin County Circuit Court's judgment affirming the Mississippi Real Estate Commission's disciplinary order against McIntosh, finding that McIntosh had engaged in "improper dealing." According to the order, McIntosh, as exclusive agent of the seller, interjected herself into the lender's appraiser selection process and then tried to keep the selected appraiser from completing the appraisal assignment. The Commission...
BEAM , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. This interlocutory appeal arises from the registration of an Ohio-issued divorce decree in the Lee County Chancery Court and a subsequent petition for modification by the obligee, a Mississippi resident. Asserting the continuing and exclusive jurisdiction of the Ohio court in matters involving the modification and alteration of the decree, the obligor-father appeals the chancery court's denial of his motion to dismiss the obligee-mother's complaint for...
BEAM , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. This case comes to the Court on interlocutory appeal of the Lincoln County Circuit court's Order Denying the Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment. Although the plaintiff's overarching claim is framed in negligence, it factually sounds in intentional tort and is subsequently barred by the one-year statute of limitations under Mississippi Code Section 15-1-49. Therefore, this Court reverses the trial court's Order Denying Summary Judgement and renders a...
MAXWELL , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. Caleb Corrothers was convicted of two counts of capital murder and one count of aggravated assault. For the two capital-murder convictions, he received the death penalty. Corrothers appealed, and this Court affirmed his conviction and death sentence. 1 Corrothers now petitions this Court for permission to proceed in the trial court with a motion for post-conviction relief (PCR) — citing ten violations of his constitutional rights. 2. To be granted...
COLEMAN , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. A jury convicted Kelvin Jordan of two counts of capital murder in 1996 and determined that he should be sentenced to death for both killings. The Court affirmed the convictions and sentences. Jordan v. State, 728 So.2d 1088 (1999) ( Jordan I ). Jordan sought post-conviction relief (PCR), and we denied his petition. Jordan v. State, 918 So.2d 636 (Miss. 2005) ( Jordan II ). He now has filed a successive petition for post-conviction relief in...
BEAM , JUSTICE , FOR THE COURT: 1. Travaris Christian was convicted in the Hinds County Circuit Court on two counts of capital murder (underlying felony of robbery); one count of house burglary, conspiracy to commit house burglary, felonious child neglect, and felon in possession of a firearm-all offenses having occurred on or about January 24, 2011. Christian appeals, claiming his constitutional rights to confrontation were violated; his convictions are supported by insufficient evidence;...
