Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

Frederick Wilson wounded one person and killed another when he fired gunshots at the decedent's car. Wilson was convicted of one count of aggravated assault and one count of murder. Wilson appealed his convictions, alleging the trial court erred: (1) by sustaining the State's relevance objections during his cross-examination of the wounded victim; and (2) by admitting into evidence his first two statements to law-enforcement authorities. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed Wilson's convictions and sentences. View "Wilson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Billy Dale Hill appealed his motion for post-conviction relief. He claimed that the circuit court had destroyed biological evidence without notifying him as required by statute. The evidence in question was a laboratory slide containing what was purported to be sperm cells collected during a 1974 autopsy. The only relief sought by Hill was that the Supreme Court “order appropriate remedies and impose sanctions” because of the failure to give proper notice. Given the uncontradicted proof that the circuit court did not have the evidence in question, the Supreme Court found no basis for Hill’s claim, and affirmed the trial court. View "Hill v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Malcolm Weeks Sr. was indicted and tried for sexually abusing his fourteen-year-old daughter. He was convicted of one count of child fondling and two counts of sexual battery. On appeal, he argued: (1) the trial court erred by allowing the State to substantively amend his indictment; (2) that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s verdicts; and (3) the verdicts were against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Weeks v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In June 2004, Victor Jones pled guilty to two counts of sexual battery and was sentenced to two consecutive twenty-year terms in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Jones filed a notice of appeal, which was dismissed for failure to pay the costs of appeal. In December 2004, Jones filed a motion for post-conviction relief (PCR) which was later denied. The Court of Appeals affirmed that judgment. In April 2011, Jones filed a second motion for post-conviction relief, which was dismissed by the trial court because the motion was time-barred and barred as a successive writ. The trial court also found that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the claims because Jones had not sought permission from the Supreme Court to proceed in the trial court. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's finding that the motion for post-conviction relief was time-barred and find that the motion also is barred based on res judicata. However, the Court found that the trial court and Court of Appeals erred in finding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear Jones's claims. View "Jones v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

David Waits was indicted by a grand jury on one count of deliberate-design murder of Wavious McGee. The indictment also charged him with a sentence enhancement for using a firearm during the commission of a felony. The jury found Waits guilty of manslaughter. According to the sentencing order, the trial judge sentenced Waits to twenty years imprisonment for the manslaughter conviction. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed Waits' manslaughter conviction and his twenty-year sentence for that conviction. But, because the jury did not specifically find Waits guilty of using a firearm in the commission of the crime of manslaughter, the Court reversed the trial court's sentence enhancement and remanded this case to the trial court, with the instruction that the gun enhancement notation be struck from the sentencing order. View "Waits v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Clayton Paul Bateman was convicted of two counts of sexual battery and two counts of touching a child for lustful purposes. He was sentenced to a total of thirty years' imprisonment. He appealed his conviction. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed Bateman's convictions and sentences. View "Bateman v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against the Mississippi Department of Human Services and a children’s psychiatric facility Alliance Crossings based on the alleged statutory rape of a minor that occurred while the minor resided at Alliance Crossings and was in the legal and physical custody of the Department. The alleged basis for venue in Hinds County was that the Department of Human Services was headquartered in Hinds County. The defendants filed motions to transfer venue to Lauderdale County, which the trial court denied. Because plaintiff failed to allege sufficient facts supporting venue in Hinds County, the Supreme Court reversed the trial court and remanded the case for transfer to Lauderdale County. View "Mississippi Department of Human Services v. S.C." on Justia Law

A grand jury indicted Nina Buckhalter for culpable-negligence manslaughter after she gave birth to a stillborn baby girl. The circuit court dismissed the indictment, finding certain language in the manslaughter statute to be “vague and ambiguous,” when applied to “a woman who has caused the miscarriage or stillbirth of her unborn child.” The State appealed. Because the Supreme Court found the indictment was fatally flawed, it affirmed its dismissal without reaching the issue addressed by the circuit court. View "Mississippi v. Buckhalter" on Justia Law

William Antonio Avery was convicted of selling cocaine and felony fleeing. The Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Avery argued the trial court committed reversible error in refusing to sequester the witnesses at the post-trial hearing. Finding no reversible error, the Court affirmed Avery’s conviction and sentence. View "Avery v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Defendant David Campbell was convicted of fondling a minor over whom he held a position of trust or authority under Mississippi Code Section 97-55-23(2) (Rev. 2006). The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, finding that the State failed to prove that Campbell occupied a position of trust or authority as defined by the statute. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court found no merit in Campbell's claims of error, reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated Campbell's conviction and sentence. View "Campbell v. Mississippi" on Justia Law