August 04, 1999
Volume 5 -- Number 108

What follows is the case style or name, first paragraph, author's name, and the names of attorneys for the parties of each opinion released eletronically today to TBALink from Tennessee's three appellate courts.

This Issue (IN THIS ORDER):
 
01 New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Supreme Court
00 New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Supreme Court Workers' Compensation Panel
00 New Document(s) or Proposed Rule(s) from the Tennessee Supreme Court
02 New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Court of Appeals
03 New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals
00 New Judicial Ethics Opinion(s)
00 New Formal Ethics Opinion(s) from the Board of Professional Responsibility
 

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Lucian T. Pera
Editor-in-Chief, TBALink


ANTHONY P. GUILIANO
VS.
CLEO, INC.

Court:TSC

Attorneys:                          
For the Petitioner:         For the Respondent:

Frank L. Watson             James H. Stock, Jr.,         
Waring Cox, P.L.C.          Christopher E. Moore         
Memphis, Tennessee          Weintraub, Stock, Bennett,  
                            Grisham & Underwood, P.C.
                            Memphis, Tennessee
                            
Judge:BARKER

First Paragraph:

We granted this appeal to address the recovery of liquidated damages
where a plaintiff/employee alleges that he has been constructively
terminated from his employment.  The trial court in this case granted
summary judgment in favor of the appellant, Anthony P. Guiliano, based
upon a finding that he had been constructively terminated from his
employment and that he was entitled to recover the remainder of his
salary under Paragraph 9 of his employment contract.  The Court of
Appeals agreed that the appellant had been constructively terminated
from his employment, but concluded that he was not entitled to any
recovery.  The intermediate court held that Paragraph 9 of the contract
was a liquidated damages provision that imposed a penalty on the
appellee, Cleo, Inc., (Cleo).

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC/Gulnoapg_opn.WP6






ALEXANDER & ASSOCIATES, INC.
VS.
DEBRA BOND-OWENS

Court:TCA

Attorneys:                          
For the Petitioner:         For the Respondent:

Frank L. Watson             James H. Stock, Jr.,         
Waring Cox, P.L.C.          Christopher E. Moore         
Memphis, Tennessee          Weintraub, Stock, Bennett,  
                            Grisham & Underwood, P.C.
                            Memphis, Tennessee
                            
Judge:GODDARD

First Paragraph:

This is a suit initiated in the General Sessions Court for Davidson
County by Alexander & Associates, Inc., an insurance agency, seeking to
recover from Debra Bond-Owens, its former employee, reimbursement for
payments made to her which it contends were "unearned advanced salary in
the amount of $5701.37, plus interest."

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/Alexndra_opn.WP6






BARBARA CORNETT
VS.
DEERE & COMPANY,    
GENERAL EQUIPMENT and   
VERNON KEITH

Court:TCA

Attorneys:                          
HELEN LOFTIN CORNELL
3635 Woodmont Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37215

CHARLES E. HARDIMAN, JR.
309 West Due West Avenue
Madison, Tennessee 37115

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT

SAMUEL L. FELKER
JOHN C. HAYWORTH
BASS, BERRY & SIMS PLC
2700 First American Center
Nashville, Tennessee 37238

ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLEES

Judge:COTTRELL

First Paragraph:

This personal injury case arose when Plaintiff Barbara Cornett sustained
injuries while operating a lawn mower manufactured by Defendant Deere &
Company and sold by General Equipment and its owner Vernon Keith.  Ms.
Cornett sued,  alleging negligence, breach of warranty, and strict
liability.  She also sought punitive damages.  The first trial concluded
with a directed verdict for the defendants at the conclusion of the
evidence.  The trial court, however, granted Ms. Cornett a new trial. 
In the second trial, the court granted directed verdicts to Vernon Keith
on all issues, to both General Equipment and Deere & Company on the
issues of negligence and punitive damages and to General Equipment on
the strict liability claim.  The jury returned a defense verdict on the
remaining breach of warranty and strict liability claims.   Ms. Cornett
appeals, alleging ten errors.  We affirm. Barbara Cornett injured her 
right arm and left knee in June 1993, when she drove her father's riding
lawn mower off a three-foot embankment.  According to the trial court,
the parties stipulated that Ms. Cornett sustained injuries in the amount
of $5,000. The accident at issue occurred after the mower's third use as
Ms. Cornett was attempting to turn left and run the mower parallel to a
retaining wall.  Its steering purportedly locked and the mower would not
turn. Ms. Cornett maintained she had insufficient time to brake before
the mower careened over the embankment because  both the clutch and the
brake had to be engaged before the mower would stop.  

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/Cornett_opn.WP6






STATE OF TENNESSEE
VS.
MAURICE E. BOYD

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:                          

FOR THE APPELLANT:          FOR THE APPELLEE:

JENNIFER LYNN THOMPSON      PAUL G. SUMMERS 
715 Crescent Road           Attorney General & Reporter
Nashville, TN  37205
                            CLINTON J. MORGAN
                            Assistant Attorney General
                            2nd Floor, Cordell Hull Building
                            425 Fifth Avenue North 
                            Nashville, TN  37243

                            VICTOR S. JOHNSON, III
                            District Attorney General

                            GRADY MOORE 
                            Assistant District Attorney General
                            Washington Square, Suite 500
                            222 2nd Avenue North 
                            Nashville, TN  37201-1649
                            
Judge:WOODALL

First Paragraph:

From the trial court's order revoking the Defendant's sentence in the
community corrections program, the Defendant appeals as of right.  In
his sole issue, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred by
finding that he had violated conditions of his placement in the
community corrections program.  We affirm the judgment of the trial
court.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/Boydme_opn.WP6






LUTHER E. FOWLER
VS.
STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:                          
FOR THE APPELLANT:          FOR THE APPELLEE:

John Allen Brooks           John Knox Walkup
736 Georgia Avenue          Attorney General & Reporter
Suite 600                   
Chattanooga, TN  37402      Todd R. Kelley
                            Assistant Attorney General
                            425 Fifth Avenue, North
                            Nashville, TN  37243

                            William H. Cox, III
                            District Attorney General
                        
                            David Wayne Denny
                            Assistant District Attorney General
                            600 Market Street, Suite 310
                            Chattanooga, TN  37402
                        
Judge:LAFFERTY

First Paragraph:


The appellant, Luther Fowler, referred herein as "the petitioner,"
appeals as of right from the denial of his petition for post-conviction
relief by the Hamilton County Criminal Court.  In 1992, the petitioner
was convicted in a jury trial of the offense of felonious assault to
commit murder first degree.  After a sentencing hearing, the trial court
imposed a sentence of forty years as a Range III, career offender in the
Department of Correction.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/Fowlerle_opn.WP6






RANDY DALE HILL
VS.
STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:                           
FOR THE APPELLANT:          FOR THE APPELLEE:

RANDY DALE HILL             JOHN KNOX WALKUP
TDOC# 245286                Attorney General & Reporter
B.M.C.X.-M.C.               
P. O. Box 20                KIM R. HELPER 
Wartburg, TN  37887-2000    Assistant Attorney General
                            425 Fifth Avenue North
                            Nashville, Tennessee  37243-0493
                        
                            VICTOR S. (TORRY) JOHNSON III
                            District Attorney General

                            ROGER MOORE
                            Assistant District Attorney General
                            Washington Square, Suite 500
                            222 Second Avenue North
                            Nashville, TN  37201-1649
                    
Judge:WILLIAMS

First Paragraph:

The petitioner, Randy Dale Hill, appeals the dismissal of his petition
for habeas corpus.  In 1995, the petitioner pleaded nolo contendere to
one count of aggravated child abuse, a Class B felony.  The Criminal
Court of Dickson County sentenced him as a mitigated offender to eight
years in either the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) or the
Dickson County workhouse, and the petitioner began service in the
workhouse.  The TDOC subsequently advised him that he could not serve in
the workhouse.  In 1998, the petitioner filed a writ of habeas corpus
with the Criminal Court of Davidson County, alleging that improper
sentencing merited habeas corpus relief.  The post-conviction court
dismissed the writ without a hearing.  The petitioner appeals, asserting
that (1) the post-conviction court erroneously dismissed the writ
without a hearing, because that writ alleged grounds for relief, and (2)
the sentence imposed by the trial court was void.  The petitioner's
second issue comprises a claim regarding the plea agreement:  He asserts
that since he entered his plea anticipating service in the workhouse, an
option precluded by statute, that plea was not knowing and voluntary. 
We AFFIRM the dismissal of the writ.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/Hillrand_opn.WP6

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