Miss. court to hear appeal of $1.1M judgment

State News

September 4, 2010

Associated Press Associated Press Sat Sep 04, 2010, 07:42 PM CDT

JACKSON — Miss. court to hear appeal of $1.1M judgment

JACKSON (AP) — Horseshoe Casino has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to overturn at $1.1 million judgment related to a fatal accident in Tunica County in 2002.

The money was awarded in February in connection with a 2002 accident along U.S. Highway 61 in which three people died. Circuit Judge Albert Smith found Horseshoe and its owner at the time, Robinson Property Group, liable under Mississippi’s “dram shop” law.

That law allows business owners to be held liable if they serve alcohol to intoxicated patrons who later injure or kill others. According the court records, the motorist cited in the accident had been drinking at the casino before the wreck.

Horseshoe Casino is now owned by Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., which is not involved in the suit.

The Supreme Court has scheduled arguments in the case for Sept. 22 in Jackson.

The case is among those the Supreme Court will consider during its September-October term.

Other cases include:

— Hyundai Motor Co.’s appeal of a $4.5 million judgment stemming from a 1995 accident in Coahoma County. Court records show a jury last August cited the automobile manufacturer for a defect in a 1993 Excel that was involved in the accident that killed three people.

— Larry Setzer’s appeal of his 2009 convictions in DeSoto County on two counts of manslaughter with culpable negligence and one count of DUI causing permanent injury related to the death of two brothers in a 2002 accident.

Setzer was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the death of one of the boys and was given a suspended 15-year sentence for the second death.

— Kevin Buckel’s appeal of the dismissal of his lawsuit that sought to force the state Department of Insurance to release records that would show the dollar amount of Hurricane Katrina claims denied by insurance companies. A Hinds County judge dismissed the lawsuit last year.

Court documents show Buckel requested records showing the total amount of damages homeowners claimed, the total amount paid and the total amount denied by private property insurance companies. The agency said it did not have such records.

— The Holmes County district attorney’s appeal of the 2009 dismissal of extortion charges against a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper. Johnny Delaney was accused in 2008 of taking money in exchange for dismissing tickets. A judge threw out the charges citing a state law requiring that law officers receive a probable cause hearing before indictment.

— Appeals by Rodney Sands and Aqui Demetrius Rhodes of their 2009 convictions in Jefferson Davis County on charges stemming from a 2006 shooting that left two dead and one injured.

Rhodes was convicted of two counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to two life sentences and 20 years for aggravated assault. Sands was convicted of two counts of manslaughter and one count of aggravated assault and sentenced to 60 years.

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