Mississippi Supreme Court, 1956

Matthews v. Matthews

Mississippi Supreme Court · Decided March 26, 1956 · Arrington, Ethridge, Gillespie, Kyle, McGehee

227 Miss. 358; 86 So. 2d 462; 1956 Miss. LEXIS 698

Cases that cite this one

7 later published cases cite this decision.

Justin McPhail v. Collette E. McPhail (Miss. 2023)
Charles Irvin Bruton, Jr. v. Allison Hipwell Bruton (Miss. Ct. App. 2018)
Curtis Henry Johnson v. Paul Benton (Miss. Ct. App. 2021)
Kimberlyn Seals, Felecia Perkins, Esq., Jessica Ayers, Esq. and Derek D. Hopson, Sr., Esq. v. Ernest B. Stanton, II (Miss. 2022)
Hanshaw v. Hanshaw (Miss. 2011)
Riley v. Wiggins (Miss. Ct. App. 2005)
Shirley Ann James Hanshaw v. Larry Hanshaw (Miss. 2005)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Gillespie, J.

On a hearing for contempt for failure to comply with a decree requiring appellant to support his infant child, appellee made a prima facie case of contempt on the part of appellant; thereupon the burden shifted to appellant to produce exculpatory proof. The chancellor was justified in finding that appellant failed to exonerate himself by making the proof required under *360the rule stated in Kincaid v. Kincaid, 213 Miss. 451, 57 So. 2d 263, and we hold that the case should be affirmed. No hard and fast rule can be stated that would apply to the various situations arising in the lower courts in cases of this kind, and we think the chancellor should be allowed wide latitude in the exercise of sound discretion when exerting his coercive powers to enforce his decrees.

Affirmed.

McGehee, Ú.J., and Kyle, Arrington and Ethridge, JJ., concur.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.