Gordon by Lewis v. Wheat
| Decision Date | 20 March 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 55467,55467 |
| Citation | 465 So.2d 1087 |
| Parties | Mike L. GORDON, a Minor, by Next Friend, Willie Mae LEWIS v. Moses WHEAT. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Gail C. Lowery, Jackson, for appellant.
No brief filed for appellee.
Before WALKER, P.J., and DAN M. LEE and ROBERTSON, JJ.
On November 17, 1981, Mike L. Gordon, a minor by next friend, Willie Mae Lewis, 1 filed a petition for an order of filiation and child support against Moses Wheat. At the close of Gordon's case, Wheat moved for a directed verdict on the grounds that Gordon failed to put on any evidence as to the gestation period of the child, i.e., medical evidence of whether the child was premature, overdue, or when it was conceived. The County Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Jack A. Travis presiding, sustained Wheat's motion and Gordon appeals. We reverse.
We begin by noting that Wheat has failed to file a brief in this cause with this Court. That failure is tantamount to a confession of error. Price v. Price, 430 So.2d 848 (Miss.1983).
Willie Mae Lewis met Moses Wheat in 1963. Lewis was 14 years old and Wheat was an adult. Lewis and Wheat had sexual intercourse twice during the month of May and once in June in the year 1964. Gordon was allegedly conceived during one of these encounters. Lewis had a menstrual period on May 11, 1964, but missed her June period. She soon realized that she was pregnant and on February 19, 1965 and gave birth to Gordon.
Wheat acknowledged he was Gordon's father on numerous occasions, beginning in July, 1964 when Lewis told him she was pregnant. At that time, Wheat gave her $50 with which to have an abortion. Lewis decided instead to have the baby. When the child was born, Wheat paid the mid-wife's expenses for the delivery. Periodically Wheat gave small sums of money to Lewis to help care for the child. He visited with the child on numerous occasions and Gordon often stayed with Wheat's mother during the summer. Furthermore, Wheat occasionally referred to Gordon as his son, and had intimated such in letters he had written to him.
Contrary to Wheat's position at trial, Gordon presented evidence which amply supported the implication of a normal gestation period. In addition, Gordon set out facts which at the very least presented a prima facie case that Wheat was the father of the child. Most notably, it was not disputed that there was sexual intercourse between the mother and the alleged father; no birth control was used; the mother's menstrual periods stopped after this intercourse; the child was born in what could easily be deemed a normal gestation period following the intercourse; and the alleged father made declarations and admissions acknowledging the child.
A motion for directed verdict requires that this Court accept as true the testimony for the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Royal Oil Co., Inc. v. Wells
...opposed to the motion. That credible evidence tending to support the non-movant's case must be presumed true. Gordon by Lewis v. Wheat, 465 So.2d 1087, 1088 (Miss.1985); Thomas v. Deviney Construction Co., 458 So.2d 694, 697 (Miss.1984); Torabi v. J.C. Penney, Inc., 438 So.2d 1354, 1356 (Mi......
-
Trammell v. State
...of State/Park Bureau to reply to the issue is tantamount to a confession that Trammell's position is correct. See Gordon by Lewis v. Wheat, 465 So.2d 1087 (Miss.1985), and Jackson v. Walker, 240 So.2d 606 SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY Sovereign immunity is an eroding doctrine. See Tucker v. City of Ok......
-
State Highway Com'n of Mississippi v. Rankin County Bd. of Educ.
...confidence after considering the record and brief of appealing party, that there was no error. Id. at 717. See also Gordon By Lewis v. Wheat, 465 So.2d 1087 (Miss.1985). Applying the holding Dethlefs to the facts at hand, I strongly suggest that the appellee herein has made "a confession of......