Susan Renee Lee, General Guardian of Emily Renee Lawson, a Minor and Sole Wrongful Death Beneficiary of Randy Clay Lawson, Deceased v. Sheriff Andrew Thompson, Individually; Sheriff Andrew Thompson, in His Official Capacity as Sheriff of Coahoma County; the Coahoma County Sheriff's Department; Tracy A. Vance; Norman Harris; Jerry Hampton; Sammie Davis; Sabrea L. Broom; Addie Evans; Raechele D. Scott; and Everett L. Langdon, in Both Their Individual and Official Capacities

Summary

The Supreme Court of Mississippi reviewed the dismissal of a wrongful-death action brought by Susan Renee Lee on behalf of her minor daughter, arising from the death of the child’s father while incarcerated in the Coahoma County Jail. The court addressed Mississippi Tort Claims Act immunity, intentional and criminal conduct by governmental employees, the minors’ savings statute, and applicable statutes of limitations. The judgment of the Circuit Court of Coahoma County was affirmed, although the Supreme Court relied in part on reasoning different from that of the trial court.

Holdings

1. Mississippi's minors' savings statute, Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-59, applies to wrongful-death actions, but once the first wrongful-death suit was commenced by a person qualified to represent the beneficiaries, the minor beneficiary was governed by the same limitations period as the personal representative and could not use the savings statute to support a later separate action.
2. The Mississippi Tort Claims Act's jail-inmate exemption bars claims based on nonintentional or noncriminal acts allegedly committed against an inmate by governmental employees acting within the course and scope of their employment. It does not bar claims based on alleged intentional criminal acts outside the scope of employment.
3. A wrongful-death action predicated on an intentional tort, including assault and battery, is governed by the one-year limitations period in Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-35 rather than the general three-year period in § 15-1-49.
4. The pendency of the prior federal action did not save the later state-court claims because Lee elected not to amend the federal complaint within the time allowed and instead filed a new action asserting intentional-tort claims for the first time after the applicable limitations period had expired.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Mississippi's minors' savings statute, Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-59, applied to the wrongful-death action.
2. Whether the Mississippi Tort Claims Act's jail-inmate exemption, Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-9(1)(m), barred claims based on nonintentional conduct alleged to have occurred while Lawson was detained.
3. Whether the intentional-tort claims were timely under the one-year statute of limitations in Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-35.
4. Whether the pendency of the prior federal action tolled the applicable statutes of limitations or permitted refiling of the newly asserted intentional-tort claims.

Disposition

affirmed