Kevin Leigh Williams v. State of Mississippi, 220 So. 3d 243

Kevin Williams pled guilty in 2008 to sexual battery and was required to register as a sex offender; he listed a Crystal Springs address as his primary residence.
In 2012 probation/parole officers attempted to verify his address; Officer Farrell and Investigator Tommy Roberts visited the Crystal Springs home and reported Williams was not present.
Williams was arrested September 18, 2012, for failing to register, detained, and convicted in March 2013; this Court later reversed his conviction based on an insufficient indictment and dismissed the charge.
Williams filed a civil claim under the Mississippi Wrongful Conviction Act seeking compensation for wrongful incarceration.
At the bench trial on the wrongful-conviction claim, Williams testified he continuously lived at the registered address and submitted the criminal-opinion reversing his conviction; the State introduced prior trial testimony and a recorded statement from Williams’s brother saying Williams did not live at the address.
The circuit court found Williams failed to prove by a preponderance that he did not commit the offense of failure to register; the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Williams satisfied section 11-44-7(1)(b) by proving he did not commit the felony (failure to register)	Williams: he continuously lived at the registered Crystal Springs address and thus did not fail to register	State: testimony and recorded statements show Williams was not at the registered residence when officers visited, undermining his claim	Court: Williams failed to prove by a preponderance that he did not commit the offense; judgment affirmed
Whether the circuit court’s factual findings were clearly erroneous	Williams: his testimony and reversal of conviction support relief	State: substantial, credible evidence supports court’s findings (officers’ testimony, recorded statement, choice not to call brothers)	Court: applied correct standard; findings supported by substantial evidence

Williams v. State, 169 So. 3d 932 (Miss. Ct. App. 2014) (criminal conviction reversed for insufficient indictment)
City of Jackson v. Lewis, 153 So. 3d 689 (Miss. 2014) (standard of review for bench trials/circuit court findings)
City of Jackson v. Sandifer, 107 So. 3d 978 (Miss. 2013) (deference to trial court findings)
City of Jackson v. Law, 65 So. 3d 821 (Miss. 2011) (bench-trial findings upheld when supported by substantial evidence)
Isaac v. State, 187 So. 3d 1009 (Miss. 2016) (procedural burdens in wrongful-conviction actions)
Hawkins v. Rye, 101 So. 2d 516 (Miss. 1958) (adverse inference when party fails to call witnesses whose testimony would likely be adverse)