Decker v. State

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

DICKINSON, Presiding Justice,

for the Court:

¶ 1. The grand jury indicted Vanessa Decker under the Mississippi Vulnerable Adults Act of 1986,1 for using her mother’s money “without her consent.” But at trial, the evidence established that she had obtained her mother’s consent to use the money, so the State requested — and the trial judge granted — a jury instruction that allowed the jury to find Decker guilty, even if her mother had given her permission to use the money. Decker was convicted by the Clay County Circuit Court and sentenced to serve a term of four years in the…