CITY OF SOUTHAVEN, STATE OF MISSISSIPPI v. BILLY HUGHEY COCKRELL, CAROLYN VIRGINIA COCKRELL AND WILLIAM JEFFREY COCKRELL, A MINOR CHILD.

Eminent Domain case. By letter dated July 31, 1987, the Memphis-Shelby County
Airport Authority's Noise Compatibility Program advised some 1,300 households in the vicinity of the airport subject to noise levels in excess of 75 Ldn that they were eligible for relocation under a five-year $100 million Property Acquisition Program. The Cockrells were among the families affected by the program. On June 4, 1987 and December 28, 1988, they transferred title to their two lots to their infant son, William Jeffery Cockrell. Apparently, the Airport Authority donated some fifty-nine acres of land it had acquired through the Noise Compatibility Program to the City of Southaven for use as a public park. The City then sought to acquire, through eminent domain proceedings, three remaining parcels of land which the Airport Authority had been unable to obtain through its negotiated "buy-out" program, including the Cockrell residence, to eliminate non-conforming property usage within the designated park area. Thus, eminent domain proceedings were instituted by the City of Southaven.

A jury of the Special Court of Eminent Domain awarded the Cockrells compensation and damages in the amount of $66,000 for their house. Although noting that their motion for a new trial or j.n.o.v. was
neither timely filed nor in proper form, the Special Judge of the Special Court of Eminent Domain granted the motion on March 31, 1995 because of an unqualified juror. That order was set aside by the Special Court in an April 12, 1995 order granting the City's motion to reconsider and holding the March 3, 1995 judgment to be in full force and effect.

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Subsequent to the decision of the Special Court of Eminent
Domain, the Cockrells filed a series of actions in the United
States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
against the Airport, the City, the Court of Eminent Domain, and
various City and Airport officials, alleging a panoply of civil
rights violations. Some of these actions were dismissed on January
11, 1996, while the remaining claims were dismissed by the
District Court in an opinion and order filed June 5, 1996. The
District Court's various orders were appealed to the Fifth
Circuit, where two of the Cockrells' appeals were dismissed
and in two others, the court affirmed the lower court's
orders without written opinion. The City filed an Affidavit of Eviction on
February 7, 1996. An Order Setting Return Date of
Eviction was entered nunc pro tunc September 13, 1996, with a
motion hearing and trial set in County Court for October 2, 1996.
The County Court, fearing a conflict in interest between the minor
child and his father, appointed a guardian ad litem and attorney
for him. On October 7, 1996, the County Court entered an Order of
Removal, ordering the Cockrells to put the property in the
possession of the City of Southaven by January 17, 1997. At the
same time, an order denying the Cockrells' various motions for
recusal, dismissal, summary judgment and a jury trial was entered.
The Cockrells appealed the County Court decision to the
Circuit Court of DeSoto County, which, by order dated September 4,
1997, affirmed the lower court's decision and directed that court
to issue a warrant of removal not before October 4, 1997, so as to
allow the Cockrells time for appeal and to petition to the Supreme Court of Mississippi.

The Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed. See: 730 So.2d 1119 (Miss. 12-31-1998). The date shown above is the date of the appellate court decision and not the trial date. Reported by JAB.