April 6, 2000 Volume 6 -- Number 052 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. This Issue (IN THIS ORDER):   00 New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Supreme Court 01 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 Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Attorney General (PDF format) 00 New Judicial Ethics Opinion(s) 00 New Formal Ethics Opinion(s) from the Board of Professional Responsibility   There are three ways for TBALink members to get the full-text versions of these opinions from the Web: Do a key word search in the Search Link area of TBALink. This option will allow you to view and save a plain-text version of the opinion. Browse the Opinion List area of TBALink. This option will allow you to download the original version of the opinion. Click the URL at end of each Opinion paragraph below. This option will allow you to download the original document. Lucian T. Pera Editor-in-Chief, TBALink CECILIA NAULT VS. MOOTZ, INC., d/b/a SEASONS RESTAURANT & OHIO CASUALTY GROUP Court:TSC - Workers Comp Panel Attorneys: For the Appellant: For the Appellee: J. Troy Wolfe William A. Lockett 615 Houston Street 530 Pioneer Bank Bldg. Chattanooga, TN 37403 801 Broad Street Chattanooga, TN 37402 Judge: BYERS First Paragraph: This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated S 50-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_WCP/nault_opon.wpd DARRON SMITH VS. ED MULLIKIN, Adminstrator Ad Litem of the Estate of KASSIE WILLIAMS, Deceased Court:TCA Attorneys: Nathan W. Kellum, Lucinda S. Murray Fones; Memphis, For Appellant, Ed Mullikin, Administrator Ad Litem of the Estate of Kassie Williams, Deceased Curtis D. Johnson, Memphis, For Appellee, Darron Smith Judge: CRAWFORD First Paragraph: This appeal involves the application of Tenn. R. Civ. P. 25.01. After plaintiff obtained judgment in general sessions court, defendant appealed to circuit court for a de novo trial. While the case was pending in circuit court, defendant died, and a suggestion of death was duly filed by defendant's counsel. Upon failure of plaintiff to substitute a party defendant, defendant moved to dismiss the action pursuant to Tenn. R. Civ. P. 25.01(1). The trial court denied defendant's motion and granted plaintiff's oral motion in open court to dismiss the appeal and to reinstate the general sessions judgment. Defendant has appealed. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/SMITHW~1.wpd IDA FAYE WINSTEAD, et al. VS. GOODLARK REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, INC. Court:TCA Attorneys: Thomas M. Pinckney, Jr. and Susan D. Bass, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Goodlark Regional Medical Center, Inc. Joe Bednarz and Joe Bednarz, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellees, Ida Faye Winstead and Don Winstead. Judge: KOCH First Paragraph: This appeal involves a pedestrian who slipped and fell on a brightly painted sloping access ramp cut into the sidewalk near the entrance of the Goodlark Regional Medical Center in Dickson. The pedestrian and her husband filed suit in the Circuit Court for Dickson County alleging that the hospital=s maintenance of the ramp had created a dangerous condition on the sidewalk. A jury found the hospital sixty percent at fault and awarded the pedestrian and her husband $103,800. The trial court denied the hospital=s motions for a new trial, a judgment in accordance with its motion for a directed verdict, or a remittitur. The hospital asserts on this appeal that the trial court erred by failing to grant its motion for a judgment in accordance with its motion for a directed verdict. We have determined that the trial court properly denied the hospital=s post-trial motions and, accordingly, we affirm the judgment. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/Winsteadif.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE VS. JACKIE D. OZIER Court:TCCA Attorneys: Clifford K. McGown, Jr., Waverly, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jackie D. Ozier, on appeal. George Morton Googe, District Public Defender, Jackson, Tennessee, and Stephen P. Spracher, Assistant Public Defender, Jackson, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jackie D. Ozier, at trial and of counsel on appeal. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, J. Ross Dyer, Assistant Attorney General, James G. (Jerry) Woodall, District Attorney General, Shaun Alan Brown and James W. Thompson, Assistant District Attorneys, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WILLIAMS First Paragraph: The defendant appeals his revocation of probation and requests this Court to place him on intensive probation. We reject this request and affirm the revocation on the grounds that the defendant failed to report his February 10, 1999 arrest. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/OZIERJ.wpd FRANKLIN DAN RICKMAN VS. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Franklin Dan Rickman, pro se, Only, Tennessee. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Patricia C. Kussmann, Assistant Attorney General, C. Phillip Bivens, District Attorney General, and James Lanier, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WOODALL First Paragraph: Petitioner was convicted of theft and felony escape, and brought a post-conviction proceeding challenging his convictions. The petition was denied by the trial court. We affirm the dismissal of the petition. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/RICKMA~1.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE VS. ANTWONE TERRY Court:TCCA Attorneys: C. Michael Robbins, Memphis, Tennessee, Jim. W. Horner, District Public Defender and H. Tod Taylor, Assistant Public Defender, Dyersburg, Tennessee, for the appellant, Antwone Terry. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter and Clinton J. Morgan, Counsel for the State, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: LAFFERTY First Paragraph: The defendant/appellant, Antwone Terry, appeals as of right from a conviction for aggravated assault by a Lake County jury. The Lake County Circuit Court imposed a sentence of ten (10) years, Range III, to run consecutively to the current sentences the defendant is presently serving in the Department of Correction. The defendant presents one appellate issue: whether the trial court erred in permitting oral testimony as to the contents of the defendant's alleged written and tape-recorded statement, where neither an original nor a copy of either was placed in evidence, over the defendant's objection. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/TERRYA.wpd PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL! Feel free to forward this Opinion Flash on to anyone you know of with an e-mail address. GET A FULL-TEXT COPY OF AN OPINION! See the intrsuctions at the beginning of this edition of Opinion Flash. JOIN TBALink! While Opinion Flash is a free service of the Tennessee Bar Association, you must be a subscriber to TBALink, the premier Web site for Tennessee attorneys, in order to access the full-text of the opinions or enjoy many other features of TBALink. TBA members may join TBALink for just $50 per year. To join, go to: http://www.tba.org/join.html/ SUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH! 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