The Hinds County Circuit Court will see two new judges in January, with election runoff winners Faye Peterson and Adrienne Wooten joining the bench. Three of the county’s four judges will have something in common–and I’m not talking about being African-American women. Peterson, Wooten and Circuit Judge Tomie Green all held elected office before winning… Continue Reading
Trying to get election results for down ballot races in Mississippi is tough. I watched WLBT’s website last night and early this morning. Now (5:20 a.m.) it’s results are down. And now back up here. Before I get into it, take all this for what it’s worth. The way results came in for local races… Continue Reading
The Clarion-Ledger’s Jimmie Gates reports on Governor Bryant’s appointment of Joseph Sclafani from a field of 11 applicants to fill the retired Judge Bill Gowan’s seat on the Hinds County Circuit Court. Sclafani has practiced at Brunini in Jackson since 2003. He will run for a 4-year term in the November election. The article notes… Continue Reading
On Friday Hinds County Senior Judge Tomie Green rendered a defense verdict in Nickerson v. Univ. of Miss. Medical Center. Here is the Court’s Memorandum Opinion and Order. The decision was from a 2016 trial of a medical malpractice case against UMMC that Plaintiff filed in 2004. The case involved the 2003 death of a… Continue Reading
On Friday a Hinds County Circuit Court jury returned a $2.2 million verdict in Moton v. Leguire and Climate King, LLC. Facts: Plaintiff was traveling on I-55 south on August 3, 2016 when the pickup truck she borrowed from her brother to drive to work experienced mechanical difficulties. It was later determined the fuel filter… Continue Reading
On Thursday a Hinds County Circuit Court jury returned a total verdict of $3,108,000 in Crogier v. Heritage Properties. $3 million of the verdict was for pain and suffering, so the total verdict will presumably be reduced to $1,108,000 in the judgment. The case involved a home invasion at an apartment complex in Jackson. Plaintiff… Continue Reading
Last week a Hinds County Circuit Court jury returned a plaintiff verdict of $6,000 in Slaughter v. Nichols-Cohn. As of Friday, the jury verdict and judgment was not on MEC. Here is the Pretrial Order. The case involved a car wreck in the employee parking garage adjacent to St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson. Both parties… Continue Reading
On Friday a Hinds County jury returned a defense verdict in Brown v. Waffle House, Inc. Disclaimer: Personally, I think Waffle Houses are awesome. They could open one on the moon and it would always be at least half full. Here is the Pre-Trial Order. The plaintiff was shot in the knee in a gunfight… Continue Reading
About a month ago a Hinds County jury returned a $75,000 verdict in Taylor v. Stubblefield. Here is the Complaint. The Defendant, who lives in Hinds County, rear-ended the Plaintiffs in Magee. It appears to have been a low impact rear-ender. My understanding is that the Defendant was going approximately 3 mph. The Defendant admitted… Continue Reading
I received a report last week of a $1.3 million verdict in Hinds County in a medical malpractice case. I have been hampered in putting together a report on the verdict because the Complaint predates electronic filing in Hinds County and the judgment and verdict are not on file yet. The case is Sanders v.… Continue Reading
Back in 2013 I wrote here and here about a Hinds County medical malpractice trial where the bailiff gave the wrong set of written jury instructions to the jury during deliberations. Here is how I described it: After reading the instructions to the jury, Judge Weill placed them on the bench so the parties could… Continue Reading
Yesterday I posted about a defense verdict last week in a Hinds County nursing home case. Here is some more information on the verdict. The case was a re-trial of a case originally tried in 2011. In the original trial the jury rendered a plaintiff verdict of $1.2 million, which the Court later lowered to… Continue Reading
As discussed here, two weeks ago a Hinds County jury in Judge Winston Kidd’s courtroom rendered a defense verdict in a nursing home / medical malpractice case. Last week, there was a another trial of a nursing home case in Hinds County, this one in Judge Tommie Green’s courtroom. The result was another defense verdict.… Continue Reading
On Friday a Hinds County jury rendered a defense verdict in a case against Lakeland Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Dr. David Flemming. Here is the jury’s verdict. I watched the trial for several hours Friday morning while the nursing home was putting on its case. The case involved a 79-year-old woman who died two… Continue Reading
As reported by TBA, yesterday the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled on the brouhaha between the Hinds County Public Defender’s office and Judge Jeff Weill. Lest anyone think this was a real fight comes this ABA Journal report on a fight between a judge and public defender in Florida. The Florida fight involved a “highly unlikable… Continue Reading
I have shied away from blogging about the ongoing dispute between Hinds Circuit Judge Jeff Weill and the Hinds County Public Defender’s office because: there is a back story here that I don’t know; and I am not a criminal lawyer. But I listened to the recording of the hearing last week posted on Jackson… Continue Reading
On Thursday a Hinds County jury rendered a $1 million verdict in Clark v. Arlington Properties, Inc. The case involved a car-jacking of a woman on May 23, 2013 at the Park at Moss Creek Apartments in northeast Jackson off Ridgewood Road. It was a gated property. The gate was supposed to be closed 24/7.… Continue Reading
The Clarion-Ledger reported last week that former NBA and USM basketball star Clarence Weatherspoon has won a Hinds County lawsuit against two rap artists. From the article: Donald Sharp, a.k.a. “Cadillac Don,” and Tiyon Rogers, a/k/a “J Money;” filed the lawsuit in 2011 against Weatherspoon and his company, 3535 Entertainment LLC, claiming Weatherspoon owed the… Continue Reading
A few weeks ago a Hinds County jury rendered a verdict of $4,568,116 in Walls v. Williams-Pyro, Inc. The trial involved a fire suppression device that attached underneath stove vent hoods. The device activates when flames from a stove top fire trigger a fuse on the device that causes a pyrotechnic explosion and fire suppressant… Continue Reading
Last week a Hinds County jury rendered a $500,000 verdict in McFarland v. Target Corp. Here is the Verdict Form. Lesa McFarland alleged that she fell in Target on August 4, 2011 on the See Spot Save dollar aisle. This was a high traffic aisle that was often ransacked with items on the floor because….who doesn’t… Continue Reading
On Thursday afternoon a Hinds County jury rendered a $52 million verdict in a case against Dorel Juvenile Group, Inc. and the driver of a vehicle. The trial started on September 3. The plaintiff was paralyzed at age 4 while riding in a belt positioning booster seat manufactured by Dorel. The jury apportioned 50% fault to… Continue Reading
I wrote in May about a Hinds County medical malpractice trial where the jury was given the wrong set of written instructions. Here is the post. Last week Hinds Circuit Court Judge Jeff Weill ordered a new trial in the case. Here is Judge Weill’s order and judgment. The order solved one mystery: it was Plaintiff’s… Continue Reading
On Friday afternoon a Hinds County medical malpractice trial took one of the weirdest turns imaginable. First, the the non-weird part. Dr. Paul Bracey treated Patrina Reynolds at the St. D emergency room in 2007. Dr. Bracey ordered an antibiotic and sent Ms. Reynolds home. Ms. Reynolds ended up getting very sick and going… Continue Reading
On April 25, 2013, Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd rendered a bench verdict of $194,154.95 in W&G Properties, LLC v. Hinds County Economic Development District. Here is the Court’s opinion and order. The trial was in June 2011. The case facts would be great for a contracts class in law school. HCEDD sold land… Continue Reading
