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National Center for Justice and the Rule of Law Criminal Appeals Program |
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Case Reversals
On December 2, 2010, the Supreme Court of Mississippi reversed and remanded the case of James C. Newell, Jr. v. State on grounds that "[t]he trial court committed reversible error in one of its evidentiary rulings [a toxicology report] and in refusing one of Newell’s requested jury instructions on the newly revised statutory presumption under the "Castle Doctrine.". . . We hold that the jury should have been instructed that, if it believed Newell’s version of the events surrounding his altercation with Boyette, then it should presume that Newell used defensive force against Boyette because he “reasonably feared imminent death or great bodily harm, or the commission of a felony upon him . . . or against the vehicle which he was occupying . . . .” Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-15(3) (Rev. 2006). . . So the refusal of instruction D-22 necessitates a new trial." Student/Lawyers John Baker and Jamiel Wiggins (Class of '10) wrote the Brief of the Appellant. Link to decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/HDList/..%5COpinions%5CCO64409.pdf On March 25, 2010, the Supreme Court of Mississippi reversed and rendered the case of Vincent Carnell Hudson v. State on grounds that "[t]his certiorari review arises from Vincent Hudson’s conviction of possession of a 'trace' amount of cocaine found in his clothes. Because the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to show that he knew the cocaine was present and that he consciously and intentionally had possessed it, we reverse and render Hudson’s conviction and the Winston County Circuit Court’s imposition upon him of a life sentence without the possibility of parole. . . Because the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Vincent Hudson was aware of the presence and character of the 'trace' amount of cocaine in his pockets, or that he consciously and intentionally possessed it, the evidence put forth at trial was insufficient to support his conviction for possession of the cocaine. Therefore, we reverse the Court of Appeals and reverse and render Hudson’s conviction and sentence and order him discharged." Student/Lawyers Tameika Cooper and Harriett Johnson (Class of '08) wrote the Brief of the Appellant. Link to decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/HDList/..%5COpinions%5CCO61747.pdf On December 9, 2008, the Court of Appeals of Mississippi affirmed the case of Annie Ivory v. State, in which the Criminal Appeals Clinic was ordered to file an Amicus Curiae brief on the issue of “what effect the expiration and re-enactment of the statute governing the Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) as it relates to the claim that the Appellant received an illegal sentence and, if the application of the statute failed to comport with her rights, what remedy is appropriate.” The Court adopted the position of the clinic's brief and held that although she was not entitled to probation, the circuit court’s sentencing decision was not “illegal” because “[p]resumptively, had Ivory completed the ISP, the circuit court would have then resentenced her and suspended the remaining fifteen years of Ivory’s sentence. Regrettably, Ivory never made it to that point.” Student/Lawyers Angela Gallagher and Jay Hurdle (Class of '07) wrote the brief on behalf of the Clinic. Link to decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/HDList/..%5COpinions%5CCO53296.pdf On November 12, 2008, the Court of Appeals of Mississippi reversed and remanded for a new trial the case of David Brooks v. State on grounds that "the amendments to the indictments [made immediately before trial removing the 'overt act' language of an attempted aggravated assault] were in error, and that the trial court should have granted Brooks’s proposed jury instruction as to the lesser non-included offense of reckless driving." Student/Lawyers Jennifer Suzanne Forman and Christi Gammage (Class of '07) wrote the Brief of the Appellant and Andrew Drew Lewis and Daniel McLeroy (Class of '07) presented oral argument in the case. Link to decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/HDList/..%5COpinions%5CCO52453.pdf The Court of Appeals decision in the Brooks case was affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded to the Oktibbeha County Circuit Court for a new trial by the Mississippi Supreme Court by a grant of a writ of certiorari on October 8, 2009, on grounds that "If the jury found that Brooks did intend to injure the officers, he would be guilty of aggravated assault based on his attempt to do so. However, if the jury found that Brooks did not intend to injure the officers, he would be not guilty of aggravated assault but guilty of reckless driving. The two crimes require proof of different elements, and the jury should have been given a choice between them. Thus, we agree with the Court of Appeals and hold that, based on the evidence presented at trial, Brooks should have been allowed to instruct the jury as to the lesser, nonincluded offense of reckless driving." The Mississippi Supreme Court also specifically overruled a long line of cases concerning the amendment of attempt indictments. Link to decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/HDList/..%5COpinions%5CCO58306.pdf On September 9, 2008, the Court of Appeals of Mississippi reversed and remanded for a new trial the case of Raymond L. Pannell v. State on grounds that his "Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to counsel were violated by a police-initiated interrogation, which resulted in Pannell's confession and occurred after Pannell asserted his right to have counsel present during questioning. For this reason, the confession, which was made without the benefit of counsel, should have been suppressed." Student/Lawyers Casey L. Butts and Clare Smith Rush (Class of '07) wrote the Brief of the Appellant. Link to decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/HDList/..%5COpinions%5CCO49101.pdf On September 2, 2008, the Court of Appeals of Mississippi reversed and rendered the case of Derrick Luckett v. State on grounds that the prosecution failed to establish a legally sufficient case of embezzlement in a case involving a stolen vehicle from an automobile dealership at which the Appellant worked. The Court found "[a]t best, the evidence presented by the prosecution might have shown the actual theft of property, but it did not prove embezzlement." Student/Lawyers Lane Campbell and Debra Giles (Class of '08) wrote the Brief of the Appellant and Angela Gallagher and Jay Hurdle (Class of '08) argued the case. Link to decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/HDList/..%5COpinions%5CCO50918.pdf On June 26, 2008, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and remanded for a new trial the case of Kenneth Brown v. State on grounds that the prosecuting attorney made "numerous inappropriate statements to the jury during closing argument" when "the prosecutor argued with the trial judge, falsely representing to her that every decision from this Court allowed him to make 'send-a-message' arguments to the jury." Student/Lawyers Will Montgomery and Rebecca Gurner (Class of '07) wrote the Brief of the Appellant. Link to decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/HDList/..%5COpinions%5CCO49592.pdf On May 17, 2007, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and remanded for a new trial the case of Tabitha Miller v. State on grounds that her self-defense theory was not allowed to be fully presented to the jury through the testimony by police officers of the prior instances of domestic abuse committed against the appellant by the deceased, thereby depriving her of a fair trial. Student/Lawyers Teri Covington and William Hicky (Class of ‘07) wrote the Brief of the Appellant. Link to decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/Opinions/CO41430.pdf On August 11, 2005, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed Ardes Johnson v. State, remanding it for a new trial on grounds that two instructions on self-defense and “pre-arming” did not correctly state the law to the jury for their deliberations on the charge of murder. Student/Lawyers Tiffany Kilpatrick and Douglas Jennings, (Class of '05) wrote the Brief of the Appellant . Link to decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/HDList/..%5COPINIONS%5CCO27989.PDF After the re-trial, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and rendered the case on July 31, 2008, thereby discharging Mr. Johnson from the penitentiary, holding that the Appellant had conclusively established necessary self-defense in the killing under the Weathersby rule, a "longstanding, seldom-applied, legal doctrine. . ." Link to the opinion: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/HDList/..%5COpinions%5CCO49972.pdf On June 27, 2004, the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed and remanded for a new trial the case of Freddie Walker v. State on grounds that physical evidence admitted by the trial court over defense objection was irrelevant, highly prejudicial, and deprived the client of a fair trial. The Brief of the Appellant was written by Student/Lawyer Carl D. Gordon (Class of ’03). Link to opinion: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/Opinions/CO17328.pdf On May 25, 2004, the Court of Appeals of Mississippi reversed and rendered Zacharia Dambrell v. State because the evidence failed to show that a weapon was “exhibited,” as defined by prior Mississippi case law. The Mississippi Supreme Court subsequently reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals, specifically overruling the 1999 case of Gibby v. State, which required “a victim must have definite knowledge that a deadly weapon exists to uphold a conviction.” Link to the decision: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/OPINIONS/CO23318.PDF
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