Litigation Updates
Appellate:
Hall v. Tim Mitchell & Alcorn County, Miss., No. 2024-CA-00667-COA, (Miss. Ct. App. Sept. 16, 2025)
Counsel defending Tim Mitchell and Alcorn County in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a motorcycle collision. After first filing suit against the driver of the SUV that struck and killed her decedent, Hall joined Mitchell and the County to the suit after the driver of the SUV claimed her view of the road was blocked by a county-owned truck. Hall claimed that Mitchell, while in the course of his employment with Alcorn County, negligently parked his truck in a way that contributed to the collision.
After a full two-day bench trial featuring testimony by multiple witnesses, photographic and video evidence, 3-D renderings recreating the accident, and opinion testimony by an expert qualified in accident reconstruction and line of site analysis, Circuit Court Judge Kelly Lee Mims found that the parked truck was not a proximate cause of the accident and that the driver of the truck was not liable. Finding sufficient evidence in the record to support the trial court’s determination, the Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed.
Aldridge v. S. Tippah Cty. Sch. Dist., 403 So. 3d 103, No. 2023-CA-00418-COA, (Miss. Ct. App. Aug. 20, 2024) cert. denied, 2023-CT-00418-SCT (Miss. Feb. 27, 2025)
Counsel defending South Tippah County School District. Aldridge sued the School District for negligent supervision after her son sustained injuries when he was stabbed by another student in the locker room before basketball practice. After briefing and argument, Judge Grady F. Tollison, III , granted summary judgment to the School District as there was no evidence that anybody had notice that the assailant had a knife or that there was any animosity between the plaintiff’s son and the assailant; thus, there was no evidence that any alleged breach of duty by the school district was the proximate cause of plaintiff’s son’s injuries. The Mississippi Court of Appeals affirmed and denied rehearing. The Mississippi Supreme Court unanimously denied certiorari.
Federal:
Bailey v. Mask, et al., No. 3:24-cv-00155-MPM-RP, 2025 LX 460019 (N.D. Miss. Oct. 14, 2025)
Counsel for the Defendants in this §1983 brought by Bailey alleging deprivation of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment civil rights to be secure against unreasonable search and seizures arising from his search and arrest pursuant to warrants on May 30, 2021 for felony drug and gun possession charges. After briefing, District Court Judge Micheal Mills granted summary judgment to the Defendants and dismissed the case with prejudice, finding that the search warrant was amply supported by probable cause as determined by a neutral magistrate based on extensive evidence, including undercover drug purchases from Bailey, that Bailey's indictment by a grand jury negated his false arrest claim, that Bailey failed to meet his burden to rebut the qualified immunity defense raised by the individual defendants, and that Bailey failed to demonstrate that any alleged constitutional violation resulted from a County policy or custom such that his municipal liability claims likewise failed.
Taylor v. Preciado, et al., No. 3:23-cv-00401-DMB-RP, 2025 LX 444583 (N.D. Miss. Sep. 30, 2025)
Counsel defending Marshall County, Rick Preciado, and Sarah Jean Liddy. After she was arrested and lost custody of her minor child, Hailey Taylor sued Marshall County, Marshall County Department of Child and Family Services, some county officers and employees, and other individuals under §1983, alleging they conspired to deprive her of numerous constitutional rights, including the right to custody of her child. After briefing, District Court Judge Debra Brown granted the County Defendant’s motion to dismiss, finding that the statute of limitations had expired as to her claims against Preciado, that Preciado and Liddy were immune from suit, and that Hailey failed to provide the County Defendants with the requisite Mississippi Tort Claims Act notice, requiring dismissal.
Jones v. Tate County, Mississippi, et al., No. 3:24-cv-00297-MPM-RP, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 135500 (N.D. Miss. July 16, 2025) (N.D. Miss. July 16, 2025)
Counsel defending Tate County, Mississippi and Deputy Ben Bryok. Kellisa Jones sued the Defendants under §1983 alleging wrongful death of the decedent Keith Cole, who was fatally shot during an exchange with the Deputy. After Cole had fled a lawful traffic stop instituted due to an outstanding arrest warrant, had led the Deputy on a foot chase down residential streets and through wooded areas during which Cole continuously disobeyed direct orders, repeatedly made furtive gestures, and had fired his weapon twice at the Deputy, Cole suddenly lunged at the Deputy and grabbed the Deputy's gun, resulting in two shots being fired by the Deputy in self-defense. After briefing, District Court Judge Micheal Mills granted summary judgment to the Defendants and dismissed the case with prejudice, finding the Deputy’s use of deadly force against Keith Cole was objectively reasonable and no constitutional violation occurred under the Fourth Amendment as Cole lunged toward the Deputy’s gun at close range, posing an imminent threat to the officer's life, and finding that the plaintiff failed to show that any county policies were the "moving force" behind a constitutional violation, and therefore failed to establish municipal liability.
Montgomery v. Lowndes County, Mississippi, et al., No. 1:24-CV-196-SA-RP, 2025 LX 154926 (N.D. Miss. June 2, 2025)
Counsel defending Lowndes County, Mississippi, and the Board of Supervisors in this action brought by Christopher Montgomer under §1983 alleging claims for violations of his First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights related to a traffic stop which resulted in his arrest for driving with a suspended license, no proof of insurance, and for possession of drug paraphernalia on April 14, 2022. The Board and the County filed a motion to dismiss, which District Court Judge Sharion Aycock granted on July 2, 2025, finding that the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors lacks the legal capacity to be sued separately from Lowndes County, and that because Montgomery’s complaint failed to identify any official policy or custom attributable to the County, a policymaker with knowledge of such policy, or how such a policy was the moving force behind the alleged constitutional violations, but instead merely alleged employment of the officer, which is insufficient to establish municipal liability as respondeat superior does not apply, that Montgomery failed to adequately allege municipal liability against Lowndes County. After Montgomery failed to attempt to correct these deficiencies through filing an amended complaint, Judge Aycock fully dismissed the claim against the County on October 20, 2025.
Jones v. Quitman Cty., No. 3:23-cv-00455-GHD-JMV, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2240 (N.D. Miss. Jan. 6, 2025)
Counsel defending Quitman County, the Sheriff, and individual defendants. Jones sued the Defendants under § 1983 action for her decedent’s suicide that occurred at the Quitman County Jail. After briefing, District Court Judge Glen H. Davidson granted Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, finding the plaintiff failed to show that the defendants were deliberately indifferent to the detainee's risk of suicide, and therefore failed to establish a constitutional violation necessary to overcome qualified immunity for the individual defendants, and that the plaintiff failed to show that any county policies were the "moving force" behind a constitutional violation, and therefore failed to establish municipal or supervisory liability.
Murry v. City of Indianola, No. 4:23-CV-97-DMB-DAS, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 186614 (N.D. Miss. July 19, 2024)
Counsel defending City of Indianola, Mississippi, Chief Ronald Sampson, and Officer Greg Capers. After her 11-year-old son, A.M., was shot by police responding to a domestic violence call at her home, Nakala Murry sued Defendants alleging various federal and state law claims. After extensive briefing, District Court Judge Debra Brown granted Defendants’ dispositive motion, finding that because Murry did not allege nor show that Capers intentionally shot A.M., she failed to sufficiently state claims for Fourth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment violations based on excessive force, that the individual defendants were entitled to qualified immunity, that because Murry did not sufficiently state a constitutional violation, she failed to state a claim for municipal liability, and that Murry’s state law claims are procedurally barred for failure to provide notice as required by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. Murry was given an opportunity to seek leave to file an amended complaint, which was later denied as futile. Murry has since instituted two new suits on the same facts, which remain pending in both state and federal court.
State:
K.L.B. (minor) through Tonia Sims-Bush (mother) v. Davis, et. al., No. 25-188 (Cir. Ct. Sunflower County, Miss. Sept. 16, 2025)
Counsel for Defendants in this action brought by Tonia Sims-Bush, asserting claims for negligence per se for allegedly failing to comply with Miss. Code Ann. § 25-61-2, for negligence per se for allegedly failing to comply with Miss. Code Ann. §37-9-14(c), and for negligent infliction of emotional distress. The case involved a student-voted personality contest at a local high school where the parent to the runner-up candidate demanded the electronic voting results with each participating student’s digital footprint and personally identifying information after the school officials had provided her with the information allowed under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (“FERPA”). After briefing and a hearing, Circuit Court Judge Richard Smith granted the Defendants Motion for Summary Judgment, finding that the plaintiff failed to comply with the Mississippi Tort Claims Act’s statutory notice requirements before instituting this suit, that the Defendants were immune to all of Plaintiff’s claims under numerous provisions of the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, that the Plaintiff was given the information she requested and was given all that she was entitled to receive under controlling law such as FERPA, and that the Plaintiff’s claims failed on the merits. Soon thereafter, Judge Smith also awarded the Defendants their attorneys’ fees due to the frivolous filings by the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff has appealed, and this case remains pending on appeal.
Elizabeth Fitts v. Marshall County, Mississippi, No.: 24-CV-243 (Cir. Ct. Marshall County, Miss., Aug. 8, 2025)
Counsel defending Marshall County in a premises liability case brought by Elizabeth Fitts, in which she alleged that in May of 2023 she fell and broke her hip exiting the front door of the Marshall County Historical Museum in Holly Springs due to the threshold between a step and a landing that had settled, creating a height difference of approximately 1-1.5 inches. After briefing and arguments, Circuit Court Judge Kelly Luther granted the County’s Motion for Summary Judgment under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, finding that the l-1.5 inch height difference was not a dangerous condition, and that even assuming that a dangerous condition did exist, Fitts could not satisfy the remaining elements necessary to overcome the County’s immunity as she could not establish that the dangerous condition was caused by the negligent or other wrongful conduct of a Marshall County employee, that the County had either actual or constructive notice of the defect, that the County had an adequate opportunity to protect or warn of this defect, nor that the condition was not open and obvious to one exercising due care.
Simpson County School District by and Through the Simpson County Board of Eduaction, et al., v. Simpson County Board of Supervisors, et al., No. 24-cv-00401 (Cir. Ct. Simpson County, Miss. July 14, 2025)
Counsel for the Simpson County Board of Supervisors in this appeal to Circuit Court and Petition for Writ of Mandamus brought by the School District related to the County’s ad valorem tax levy for fiscal year 2024-2025. After briefing and a hearing, Circuit Court Judge Matthew G. Sullivan granted the Board of Supervisors’ Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and dismissed the case with prejudice, finding that Article 6, Section 172A of the Mississippi Constitution, which is aptly titled “Court order for tax levy or tax increase prohibited” specifically prohibited the relief requested by the Simpson County School District in its Notice of Appeal and Petition for Writ of Mandamus, that the Board of Supervisors properly interpreted and applied the school funding statutes, that the Board of Supervisors’ decision was supported by substantial evidence, and that the Board of Supervisors’ decision was neither arbitrary nor capricious and was within the Board of Supervisors’ exclusive and discretionary powers of taxation. The School District has appealed dismissal, and this case remains pending on appeal.
Christopher Long v. Calhoun County, Mississippi, et al., No. CV-2022-000071-L (Cir. Ct. Calhoun County, Miss., May 20, 2025)
Counsel defending Calhoun County in this action brought by Christopher Long asserting claims against related to an incident on July 24, 2021, in which Plaintiff negligently drove past multiple warning signs and then drove at a high rate of speed directly into the open and obvious dirt barricade put in place to prevent travel across a closed bridge. After briefing and argument, Circuit Court Judge Kelly Luther granted Calhoun County’s Motion for Summary Judgment and dismissed the case with prejudice, finding that the County was immune under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, including under discretionary function immunity for the County’s conduct in placing signs and reflective devices warning of the bridge closure and regularly inspecting and replacing the signs when needed, and under its the open-and-obvious exemption of the Mississippi Tott Claims Act. Judge Luther further found that even if the County had not taken precautions to warn drivers of the road’s condition, it could not be held liable for failing to warn of a dangerous condition which is open and obvious to one exercising due care, and Plaintiff Long, as the driver, bore the ultimate responsibility of operating the vehicle in a prudent manner and keeping an appropriate lookout.
Olivier v. Scarber, No. 2024-0204 (Cir. Ct. Sunflower County, Miss., Feb. 5, 2025)
Counsel defending the Chief of Ruleville Police, Ernie Scarber, in this action brought by Plaintiff Ronald Olivier under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act, asserting a claim of negligence against Defendant related to a motor vehicle accident that occurred on October 20, 2022. After a hearing on the Defendant’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, Circuit Court Judge Richard Smith granted the Defendant’s motion and dismissed the case with prejudice, finding that the plaintiff failed to comply with the Mississippi Tort Claims Act’s statutory pre-notice requirements before instituting this suit, and that the Defendant was wholly immune to Plaintiff’s claims pursuant to law enforcement immunity because the Chief was engaged in police protection activities while acting solely in the course and scope of his employment with a governmental entity at all times relevant and the Plaintiff could not show that the Chief acted in reckless disregard.