Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

Jason Miles appealed after a jury found him guilty of grand larceny. On appeal, he argued the evidence was insufficient to support the jury verdict, and the trial court erred in denying a continuance. Finding no error, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Miles' conviction. View "Miles v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Dexter Powell was convicted by jury of aggravated assault and felon in possession of a firearm. He appealed, claiming: (1) ineffective assistance of counsel; and (2) insufficient evidence in support of the verdicts, both of which also were against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Finding no reversible error, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment of convictions. View "Powell v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

A jury found Andre Thomas guilty of one count of felony shoplifting. Thomas and an accomplice went to the electronics section of a Sam's Club in Gulfport, Mississippi at around 8:00 P.M. in 2015. A Sam’s Club employee was working at the store’s exit door on the night in question and was tasked with checking customers’ receipts as they left the store. As Thomas and the accomplice approached the employee, the accomplice stepped away from the store’s exit and feigned a heart attack. The employee came to the accomplice's aid, which allowed Thomas to exit the store without paying for three 60-inch 3D "smart" televisions, each valued at over $2,500. The accomplice was taken to the hospital but released on the same night. A few weeks later, he was arrested and charged with felony shoplifting. The accomplice admitted Thomas had helped him steal the televisions, and he identified Thomas from a six-person photographic lineup. Thomas' appellate counsel filed a "Lindsey" brief, asserting he could not identify any issues warranting appellate review. Thomas filed a pro se supplemental brief, challenging his sentence. Finding Thomas’s arguments to be without merit, and finding no other arguable issues in the record, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Thomas’s conviction and sentence. View "Thomas v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Henry Earl Harvey was convicted of first-degree murder for the 2015 shooting death of Eddie Briggs. Harvey was sentenced to life imprisonment. Harvey filed a Motion for New Trial and for Acquittal Notwithstanding the Verdict, which was denied. Harvey's counsel filed a "Lindsey" brief, stating he “diligently searched the procedural and factual history of this criminal action and scoured the record,” finding no arguable issues for appeal. Harvey was given additional time to file a pro se brief; however, he did not do so. The Mississippi Supreme Court found the record contained "more than sufficient proof" to establish that Harvey shot and killed Eddie Briggs within the meaning of the applicable statute, and as such, affirmed his conviction and sentence. View "Harvey v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

David Thomas admitted in oral and written statements to police that he and Jontez Garvis had attacked Fred Jackson and stole cash from him. After being hospitalized for forty-one days due to the injuries inflicted by the two men, Jackson died. Thomas was indicted for and convicted of capital murder. The trial court sentenced Thomas to life in prison without parole. After review, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Thomas’s conviction and sentence. View "Thomas v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Rickey Portis was convicted of two counts of sexual battery based on allegations that he repeatedly abused his then eight- and nine-year-old stepdaughters. The trial court sentenced him to two life sentences, to run consecutively. Portis appealed, arguing that the trial court erred by: (1) refusing to grant a continuance; and (2) in failing to allow him to introduce a prior inconsistent statement of a prosecution witness. Furthermore, Portis argued: (3) the verdict was not supported by sufficient evidence; (4) the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence;(5) cumulative error required reversal; and (6) Portis’s sentences were disproportionate to the crime. Finding no such errors, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Portis' convictions. View "Portis v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

Roger Jackson appealed his convictions for aggravated assault and felon in possession of a firearm. The jury acquitted Jackson of deliberate-design murder, which was charged in the same indictment. Jackson claimed the trial court erred by: (1) limiting defense counsel’s cross- examination of State’s witnesses; and (2) limiting defense counsel’s closing argument about reasonable doubt. Finding no reversible error, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Jackson’s convictions. View "Jackson v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

In 2011, the Mississippi Legislature amended Mississippi Code Section 97-37-7, granting enhanced concealed-carry licensees the privilege of carrying a concealed firearm in Mississippi courthouses, save for courtrooms, which the Legislature left within the province of judges. Litigants, witnesses, and family members who did not have enhanced concealed-carry licenses were subject to the general ban found in Mississippi Code Section 97-37-1 (Rev. 2014), which makes carrying a concealed weapon illegal for persons without enhanced concealed-carry licenses. Nonetheless, the three chancellors of the Fourteenth Chancery District, on their own motion, issued a court order prohibiting enhanced concealed-carry licensees from possessing a firearm in and around courthouse buildings of the Fourteenth District. Thereafter, Ricky Ward, an enhanced concealed-carry licensee, filed a petition to modify or dismiss the order. The chancellors issued another order denying Ward’s petition and reiterated that enhanced concealed-carry licensees would be prohibited from possessing a firearm in all Fourteenth District courthouses. Ward then filed an Extraordinary Writ of Prohibition to the Mississippi Supreme Court, seeking to have the orders vacated as unconstitutional and in direct conflict with state law. The Supreme Court ordered additional briefing, after which concluded the orders were facially unconstitutional. Furthermore, the orders "defy existing Mississippi statutory and caselaw. Accordingly, the orders are vacated. They are nullius juris." View "Ward v. Colom" on Justia Law

In May 2017, Derrick Hall was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder. Due to his status as a habitual offender, Hall was sentenced to serve life in prison. Having his posttrial motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) denied by the circuit court, Hall petitioned the Mississippi Supreme Court for relief. Finding no reversible error, the Court affirmed Hall's conviction. View "Hall v. Mississippi" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Darius Haynes on two counts: possession of cocaine while in possession of a firearm and possession of a weapon by a felon. Because the evidence was legally sufficient to support the conviction of possession of cocaine, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Haynes’ conviction for possession and the corresponding sentence. View "Haynes v. Mississippi" on Justia Law