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Taylor v. State1/25/2000
the practical presumption that the authorities do not sustain the proposition, else they would have been cited. The courts frequently speak of such unsupported propositions as having been waived because of the failure to properly present them. There are several reasons which make it necessary to give weight to the foregoing considerations, one of which is that no Supreme Court could ever keep up with its docket if the judges were put to the tasks of briefing those cases of which the parties themselves have thought too little to brief. Id.
Moreover, I see no reason to conclude that the relevant legal authorities for arguments that are not self-evident must always be case citations. Those precedents may be nothing more than restating what is in fact the actual controlling authority, a statute or other rule.
. The following are the issues that are considered waived by the majority under this citation doctrine. The authority for the fourth issue concerning the composition of the grand jury appears to be a reference to West Publishing Company "Key Numbers." Even if those are the correct sections of the Mississippi Digest, I find this to be nothing more than an invitation for us to research the question, a question which would not need to be answered anyway since the evidentiary basis for it is speculation as to the racial makeup of the grand jury.
. The authority for the fifth issue dealing with interlocutory appeals is a quote of Appellate Rule 5. If in fact the terms of the rule clearly applied to the situation at hand, I find that solely referring to the rule more than adequate, even admirable for its simplicity. However, this is not an obvious violation of the rule. Even if the rule were to be applied to criminal cases, the rule does not appear to have been violated. I would respond to the authority cited, i.e., the rule itself, and conclude that no error occurred.
. The next issue that is considered waived is an argument that the two-year statute of limitations applicable to this case was not followed. That is straight-forward. The statute is cited and quoted. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-1-5 (Rev. 1994). This is an embezzlement case, and if the quoting of the statute proved to us that the statute of limitation applicable to embezzlement barred this prosecution, then we should consider the issue regardless of case citations. In other words, we do not need a precedent to conclude that the statute means what it says. Like the argument as to Appellate Rule 5, this issue is resolved by the plain language of the authority quoted. The statute states that the two-year limitation period does not apply to embezzlement. Id. I would not dismiss the issue because Taylor has cited no case authority, but rule on the issue since the authority cited demonstrates that no error occurred.
. The next two barred issues are that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction. That is a factual question. I suppose that the appellant could have cited some precedents that refer to the standard of review for sufficiency of evidence, but I find that to be one of the self-evident propositions for which no authority is needed. Whether evidence is insufficient requires a factual evaluation of the record, measuring what is discovered against the elements of the offense. Taylor set out in her statement of the facts what the evidentiary shortcomings were alleged to be. Case authority adds nothing unless a specific legal question existed as to the significance of certain facts. I find the issue properly raised, but I reject it on the merits because the evidence supported conviction.
. The purpose of the "no authority" rule is that we should not have to do a litigant'
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