Three convictions upheld
The state Court of Appeals has upheld the sentence given a Warren County man for a wreck that killed a Vicksburg mother of three.
Albert Brisco was convicted in 2013 of culpable negligent homicide in a crash that killed 31-year-old Latoshia Haggan. Haggan was a passenger Brisco’s SUV that crashed into an embankment in 2011.
Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick sentenced Brisco to 17 years.
Prosecutors say before the crash, Brisco drove through a checkpoint set up by Warren County deputies. In a video shown at trial, Brisco told deputies that he ran because he was drunk.
Prosecutors say Brisco had alcohol, marijuana and ecstasy in his system.
Brisco argued prosecutors didn’t prove his guilt.
The Appeals Court said Tuesday there was ample evidence Brisco was driving recklessly, including running a police roadblock and losing control of the SUV.
Brisco is serving his sentenced in Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections records. He is slated for release in 2029.
In other legal action, the state upheld convictions of a Vicksburg man convicted of rape and another convicted of aggravated driving under the influence.
Eddie Lee Harris, 30, was convicted in 2013 of rape and burglary in a home invasion in the early morning of Oct. 26, 2011 in the 2200 block of Drummond Street.
Circuit Judge M. James Chaney sentenced him to 60 years in prison.
Harris claimed before the state Court of Appeals that prosecutors failed to prove his guilt, however, the court ruled that both DNA and footprints tying him to the crime scene were sufficient evidence.
Harris is serving his sentence in Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. He is set for release in 2072.
The Mississippi Supreme Court also upheld the aggravated driving under the influence conviction of Frank Gideon Whitaker IV, 29.
Chaney sentenced Whitaker to 15 years in prison for a DUI-related crash that severely injured a woman on Oak Ridge Road in October 2012.
On appeal, Whitaker argued that a blood sample taken from him while he was unconscious should have not been admitted into evidence.
Whitaker is serving his sentence at Parchman and is slated for release in 2026, according to MDOC records.

In Warren County Circuit Court for the week ending Friday:
• Christopher Henderson, 40, 1005 Urban Court, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced by Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick to five years’ probation, $18,000 restitution, and $384.50 in costs. Henderson was indicted in July.
• Zane Key, 29, 521 Inglewood Drive, pleaded guilty to sale of a controlled substance and was sentenced by Patrick to five years in prison followed by three years’ probation, a $5,000 fine and $685.50 in costs. Key was indicted in October 2012.