Pryer v. Mississippi
Annotate this Case
Timothy Pryer sought from the circuit court: “the Order givin[g] Carol Gates the Office of Judge de facto or pro tempore and the order givin[g] Carol Gates authority to appoint indigent counsel for December 2, 2004 [hearing] and the names of the 40 plus souls and their addresses according to the record.” The Itawamba County Circuit Court issued an order “denying Pryer records and construing a request for records as a petition for Post-Conviction Relief (PCR)." Pryer then filed a petition for writ of mandamus to the Supreme Court, requesting that it direct the circuit judge to enter an order on a “Motion to Show Cause.” The Supreme Court granted the petition for writ of mandamus, and the circuit court proceeded to enter an order that denied Pryer’s motion, explaining that the documents requested were “not contained with the Circuit Clerk’s file” and that “[t]his motion contains the exact same requests as the previously filed motions.” The court continued, “the Motion to Show Cause contains completely unfounded and slanderous allegations against several court officials.” The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the Itawamba County Circuit Court, holding that “we have no reason to believe that any such documents do exist. It further appears that Pryer is merely on a ‘fishing expedition’ for grounds upon which to attack his conviction and sentence.” Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court's decision.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.