Free Legal Help in Mississippi

Houston v. City of New Orleans, 682 F.3d 361 (5th Cir. 2012) (substituted on panel rehearing for 675 F.3d 441, which was withdrawn)

After the district attorney entered nolle prosequi on the charges, the Fifth Circuit VACATED the Rule 12 dismissal of Houston's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 procedural due process and Second Amendment claims seeking return of his lawfully seized firearm, and REMANDED -- reasoning that Louisiana's La. Rev. Stat. §§ 40:1798(D) and 15:41 mandate return of non-contraband property to its lawful owner once the government's use or need for it in a criminal proceeding has ended. The court did not hold that Houston was entitled to the firearm; it held only that his complaint survived dismissal.

Cited on: Getting a Seized Firearm Back After Mississippi Charges Are Dismissed

Memorial Hospital at Gulfport v. Guardianship of Proulx ex rel. Proulx, 121 So. 3d 222 (Miss. 2013)

Where a minor was injured in a car accident, the parents obtained letters of guardianship and petitioned the chancery court for authority to compromise and settle his personal-injury claim, and asked the court to dismiss medical providers' claims against the settlement proceeds, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of the hospital's claim because the hospital had no assignment, lien, or other legal right to payment from the settlement proceeds. The opinion illustrates that a minor's injury settlement is compromised through a court-supervised guardianship petition, and that a medical provider cannot reach the proceeds absent an assignment, a statutory lien, or a contractual right.

Cited on: Spending a Minor's Injury Settlement in Mississippi