Mississippi Litigation Review & Commentary : Mississippi Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Phillip W. Thomas Law Firm : MS Litigation Review & Commentary

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Fellow bloggers NMC and Bardwell agree: Hinds County Circuit Judge Malcolm Harrison should have done a better job explaining his ruling in favor of the proposed November 2011 “personhood” ballot initiative. Bardwell states:

Specifically, the tenacity with which the court dodges the case's central question is downright astonishing.

Neither NMC nor Bardwell mention an underlying factor that could have weighed heavily on why judge Harrison ruled in the manner that he did: he is involved in a contested judicial election that is less than one week away.

There are only a few contested circuit court judge elections in the entire state. Judge Harrison was appointed by Governor Barbour to replace Bobby De Laughter and faces a challenge from Jackson lawyer Bill Gowan.

The personhood initiative involves all kinds of controversial constitutional issues that evoke strong feelings among many people. To me, it was unfair for Judge Harrison to draw the case. The case should have gone to Judge Yerger (who is retiring) or Judges Green or Kidd (who do not have opponents). Ultimately, everyone knows this issue will be decided by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The case is in the Circuit Court only because there has to be an appealed case for the Supreme Court to decide.

It was a no win situation for Judge Harrison and he was going to be under the microscope and criticized no matter what he did.

The moral of the story for me is not that Judge Harrison is lazy or dodges central issues. The moral of the story is that this is an example of why we should have appointed judges in Mississippi—so elections have no influence or appearance of influence on court rulings. People who thinks that the fact Mississippi's state court judges have to run for election and re-election does not impact rulings are kidding themselves.

Incidentally, Judge Harrison is receiving high marks from lawyers on both the plaintiff and defense side. Both plaintiff and defense lawyers are finding his rulings to be balanced and fair. This is a hard tight-rope for judges to walk and most state court judges cannot do it.

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Ashley Odgen has done it again. On Thursday a Hinds County jury awarded $1.5 million to Ogden's client who injured his hip in a fall at Bailey Lumber & Supply in Jackson.

Michael Baxter and Mason Montgomery of Copeland Cook defended the case. The trial judge was Judge Malcolm Harrison.

For a complete description of the case as provided by plaintiff's counsel, click here.

For information on other recent verdicts obtained by Ogden, click here.

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On Tuesday Hinds County Circuit Judge Malcolm Harrison directed a verdict for the defendant in Brown v. Anderson.

The case was a breach of contract case where the plaintiffs (the Browns) sued James Anderson over a house that Anderson sold to the Browns. At the closing, Mr. Brown signed a document—the only document that he signed—stating that he had conducted a walk-thru of the house and found that all electrical, plumbing and HVAC were functioning. The Browns knew that they could have the home inspected before the closing, but did not.

Three weeks after the closing, the Browns hired a home inspector who found numerous alleged problems with the home's electrical, plumbing and HVAC. After the sale, the Browns lived in the house for four years without paying a house note, insurance or taxes until the house was foreclosed by the lender.

The Browns sued Anderson for breach of contract and tortious breach of contract. The Browns sought $90,000 in economic damages (sale price of the house) and personal injury damages. Anderson's defense was that the Browns did not prove a defect at the time of the sale and signed a document at the closing that stated that there were no defects.

The plaintiffs rested on the second day of trial and Judge Harrison granted Anderson's motion for directed verdict. Judge Harrison agreed with Anderson that the Browns failed to establish a prima facie case of breach of contract or tortious breach of contract.

Pieter Teeuwissen of Jackson represented Anderson. Anderson is an employee of the City of Jackson and Teeuwissen, who is the City Attorney, represented Anderson on a pro bono (free) basis.

David McCarty and Drew Martin (?- not Drew Malone as earlier reported) of Jackson represented the plaintiffs.    

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There was a jury verdict of $900,000 last week in the Hinds County Circuit Court in a premises liability case. The rumor around town this week has been that the verdict was for $2 million, but my investigation revealed a verdict of $900,000.

Judge Malcolm Harrison was the trial judge.

The plaintiffs were victims of armed robbery at the Crossings Apartment on Ridgewood Road in Jackson. The jury's verdict was for one of the two victims. Judge Harrison will determine the damages for the other plaintiff, but I do not know why.

I do not know what the injuries/ damages were. There were no punitive damages in the case.

Precious Martin of Jackson represented the plaintiff. James Holland from Page Kruger in Flowood represented the defendant.

One interesting tidbit I'm hearing is that the spouse of a prominent Jackson defense attorney was on the jury.

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There is a rumor circulating that Jackson lawyer Ashley Ogden has decided not to run for Hinds County Circuit Court Judge. In an article as recent as two weeks ago, Ogden was quoted as saying that he intended to run for the seat being vacated by the retirement of Judge Swan Yerger:

 Jackson lawyer Ashley Ogden, who ran against Yerger four years ago, told The Clarion-Ledger in January he is preparing another run.

"I have an interest in Jackson's crime problem being solved, and that's why I ran in the first place," he said then.

But now comes word that Ogden will not run, effectively handing the seat to Jackson City Councilman Jeff Weill.

Weill is the only person who has qualified to run for the seat. The qualifying deadline is May 7.

There will be a lot of people disappointed by Ogden’s telling people for four years that he is running and then backing out at the last minute. As of yesterday, Ogden even still had his campaign web site running on the Internet. Some will argue that this kept other candidates out of the race.

Ogden’s decision, however, is not a big surprise to many Jackson lawyers. Ogden’s law firm occupies a large building on Capital Street and has numerous employees, including former Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Smith. The future job prospects of Ogden’s employees in a down legal market could have weighed on his decision to not run.

As for Weill, I have been impressed with him on the City Council and expect him to be a good judge.

In other Hinds County Circuit Court races, Judges Green and Kidd are not expected to have opponents. Judge Malcolm Harrison, who was recently appointed by Governor Barbour, is expected to be opposed by Bill Gowan.