Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

Marquis Stevenson was convicted of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon for shooting Marvion Leflore in the chest. On appeal, Stevenson argued his convictions were contrary to the weight of the evidence, and that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel. Because Stevenson’s convictions were not contrary to the weight of the evidence, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed. Because the record was insufficient to determine whether ineffective assistance of counsel was rendered, the Supreme Court dismissed his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim without prejudice. View "Stevenson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

James Cobb Hutto, III was convicted of the capital murder of Ethel Simpson and was sentenced to death. He sought post-conviction relief from the Mississippi Supreme Court, or alternatively, leave to proceed at the trial court on grounds of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The Supreme Court found Hutto failed to present a substantial showing of the denial of a state or federal right, so it denied his petition. View "Hutto v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Chad Bowman of one count of burglary of a dwelling - a hunting camp where his wife had stayed during the early part of Mississippi’s bowhunting season. On appeal, Bowman argued the State failed to sufficiently prove the hunting camp was, at the time of the alleged burglary, a dwelling house. Bowman did not dispute that, under Mississippi law, a hunting camp could be considered a dwelling house. Instead, Bowman argues the hunting camp was not Emily Anne’s dwelling house, as charged in the indictment, because she neither owned the hunting camp, nor did she intend the hunting camp to be her permanent residence. After review, the Mississippi Supreme Court found the State sufficiently proved Emily Anne was residing in the hunting camp when Bowman broke in. Because of the apparent confusion over the length of time Bowman had to serve, the Court remanded the case for resentencing. View "Bowman v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Katherine Grace Short appeals the circuit court’s change of venue in her defamation case from the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Harrison County, Mississippi, to the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Mississippi. On the evening of August 1, 1975, Short’s husband, Tye Breland, died from a gunshot wound to the chest at their home in Pascagoula, in Jackson County, Mississippi. Short was not charged with Breland’s death. Forty-two years later, "Cold Justice: Beyond the Grave," a true-crime documentary (the episode), premiered on the Oxygen Network. The episode aired nationally, focused on Breland’s death, and considered whether Short murdered her late husband. During the episode, crime experts Kelly Siegler (identified as a prosecutor) and John Bonds (identified as a homicide investigator) investigated Breland’s death. Darren Versiga, a law-enforcement officer with the Pascagoula Police Department, assisted the investigation. The investigation team exhumed Breland’s body, prepared a mockup of the crime scene, conducted ballistics testing, and interviewed numerous witnesses to determine whether Breland’s death was a suicide, an accident, or a homicide. The team concluded that Breland did not commit suicide. They identified Short as a suspect in Breland’s death and turned over their investigation to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office. According to the team, they put together enough information for a circumstantial case of murder. Short sued Siegler, Bonds and Versiga and various media entities, alleging defamation and tortious invasion of privacy. Versiga then filed a motion to transfer venue to the Circuit Court of Jackson County. In his motion, Versiga argued that the Circuit Court of Jackson County was the proper venue under Mississippi law because it was where a substantial alleged act or omission occurred or where a substantial event that caused the injury occurred. Versiga further argued that the Circuit Court of Jackson County was the proper venue “as it is the county in which [he] resides.” The Mississippi Supreme Court disagreed, determining the injury at issue occurred in Harrison county, and venue was proper there. Accordingly, the circuit court's judgment was reversed and remanded. View "Short v. Versiga" on Justia Law

The Mississippi Supreme Court granted the petition of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (MDPS) for certiorari review of the Court of Appeals’ decision that Chelsey Ferguson needed no longer register under the Mississippi Sex Offenders Registration Law (the Act) due to the expungement of her misdemeanor sex offense. Because Mississippi Code Section 45-33-55 (Rev. 2015) exempted sex offenses from orders of expungement to the extent that the information concerning those offenses was authorized for dissemination under the Act, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals’ decision and reinstated the circuit court’s judgment. View "Ferguson v. Mississippi Department of Public Safety" on Justia Law

Deionta Ivory was convicted on counts of armed robbery and kidnaping. Ivory’s trial attorney moved ore tenus for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), but he did not make a post-trial motion for a new trial. On appeal, Ivory argues that the verdicts were contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and he requests a new trial. He contends that his ore tenus motion for JNOV should be construed as a motion for a new trial because the motion challenged the weight of the evidence. In the alternative, Ivory argues that, if the issue was not preserved, his trial court attorney’s failure to move for a new trial constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel. In denying Ivory's request, the Mississippi Supreme Court the ore tenus motion was not a motion for a new trial, and Ivory's ineffective assistance of counsel claim was not warranted. "While the trial attorney’s omission did constitute deficient performance, Ivory suffered no prejudice because his convictions were supported by the overwhelming weight of the evidence." View "Ivory v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Gerome Moore was indicted by grand jury of capital murder for the death of Carolyn Temple during the commission of a robbery. A jury convicted him of capital murder, and the trial court sentenced Moore to life without parole. Upon appeal, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, but foundMoore had a statutory right to be sentenced by a jury. Thus, the Court vacated Moore's sentence and remanded for resentencing by a jury. View "Moore v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Jikiel Jones of armed robbery, armed carjacking and kidnapping. On direct appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court, Jones argued: (1) the trial court erred by excluding his alibi witness; (2) the trial court erred by granting a deficient accomplice jury instruction; and (3) the State failed to disclose exculpatory evidence before trial. With respect to the first issue, the Supreme Court found the trial court abused its discretion by excluding the testimony of Jones’s alibi witness. "While a per se violation of Mississippi Rule of Criminal Procedure 17.4(a) did occur, this violation cannot be held against Jones in light of his original counsel’s conflict of interest. Further, there is no indication in the record that Jones’s failure to notice the prosecution of his alibi witness was willful or motivated by a desire to obtain a tactical advantage." With respect to Jones' second issue: the Court found the accomplice instruction was deficient. Jones waived his right to appeal the exculpatory evidence issue. The Court reversed Jones’s conviction and remanded the case for a new trial. View "Jones v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Jeremy Fogelman was convicted by jury of felony failure to stop his motor vehicle for police. Because Fogleman fled at a high rate of speed, showing an indifference to the consequences and to causing injury, the trial judge designated Fogleman’s offense a crime of violence under Mississippi Code Section 97-3-2(2) (Rev. 2014). This finding resulted in Fogleman’s parole-ineligibility period increasing from one-fourth to one-half of his five-year sentence—a sentence allowed by statute and authorized by the jury’s verdict. The appellate court held that the resulting parole-ineligibility increase violated the Sixth Amendment because it was based on facts found by a judge, not a jury. The United States Supreme Court has held that the Sixth Amendment required factual determinations that increase maximum or minimum sentences be submitted to a jury and found beyond a reasonable doubt. The Mississippi Supreme Court found the judge’s crime-of-violence designation merely impacted the minimum time Fogleman had to serve before becoming parole eligible. It did nothing to affect Fogleman’s sentence. Thus, no Sixth Amendment violation occurred. The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the trial court's judgment. View "Fogleman v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Derrick Nelson was convicted by jury of murder. The Court of Appeals held that the trial court erred by refusing an imperfect self-defense jury instruction; it reversed Nelson’s conviction and remanded for a new trial. The State filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, which the Mississippi Supreme Court granted. Because no evidentiary basis in the record supported the grant of an imperfect self-defense jury instruction, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeals. While the Court of Appeals did not reach Nelson’s argument that the State deprived him of a fair trial, the Supreme Court found no reversible error, thus affirming Nelson’s murder conviction and sentence of life imprisonment. View "Nelson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law