January 02 , 2001 Volume 7 -- Number 001 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 00 New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Supreme Court Workers' Compensation Panel 01 New Document(s) or Proposed Rule(s) from the Tennessee Supreme Court 00 New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Court of Appeals 09 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 SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Court:TSC - Rules http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_Rules/certlist_0102.wpd SHELLY BREEDEN v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: James D. Hutchins, Dandridge, Tennessee, for the appellant, Shelly Breeden. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; R. Stephen Jobe, Assistant Attorney General; Al C. Schmutzer, Jr., District Attorney General; and James Bruce Dunn, Assistant District Attorney, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WILLIAMS First Paragraph: The petitioner pled guilty to one count of second degree murder, a Class A felony, and one count of conspiracy to commit second degree murder, a Class B felony. Tenn. Code Ann. SS 39-12-107(a); 39-13-210. The petitioner was sentenced to concurrent sentences of twenty-five (25) years and twelve years (12), respectively. The petitioner subsequently filed a petition for post-conviction relief. After a hearing, however, the petition was dismissed. The petitioner now appeals the post- conviction court's dismissal of her petition. In this appeal the petitioner alleges ineffective assistance of counsel, because trial counsel allowed her to plead guilty without the use or benefit of a court ordered psychological evaluation. After a careful review of the record, we affirm the trial court's dismissal of the petitioner's petition for post-conviction relief. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/breedens.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TOSCAR C. CARPENTER, SR. Court:TCCA Attorneys: Larry D. Drolsum, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellant, Toscar C. Carpenter, Sr. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Russell S. Baldwin, Assistant Attorney General, Sharon Guffee, Assistant District Attorney General, and Ronald L. Davis, District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: OGLE First Paragraph: The appellant, Toscar C. Carpenter, Sr., pursuant to a bench trial, was convicted of one count of theft over $1000, a class D felony. The trial court sentenced the appellant as a career offender to twelve years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The appellant presents the following issue for our review: whether, considering the inconsistency and nature of the testimony of the prosecution's witnesses, there was sufficient evidence to convict the appellant of theft over $1000. Based upon a review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/carpentertc.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. NELSON KEITH FOSTER Court:TCCA Attorneys: Mark H. Toohey, Kingsport, Tennessee, for the appellant, Nelson Keith Foster. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Clinton J. Morgan, Counsel for the State; H. Greeley Wells, Jr., District Attorney General; and Joseph Eugene Perrin, Assistant District Attorney, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WILLIAMS First Paragraph: The defendant pled guilty to three counts of violating the Motor Vehicle Habitual Offender Act, and was sentenced to three consecutive three-year sentences. Tenn. Code Ann. S 55-10-601. The defendant raises the following issues in this appeal: 1) whether the trial court erred by not allowing him to withdraw his guilty pleas after the trial court imposed his sentence, but before the judgment became final; and 2) whether the trial court erred by denying the defendant alternative sentencing and imposing consecutive sentences. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/fosternk.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MATAU GOINS Court:TCCA Attorneys: Scott A. Hodge, Morristown, Tennessee, for the appellant, Matau Goins. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Clinton J. Morgan, Counsel for the State; C. Berkeley Bell, Jr., District Attorney General; and Michelle Gillen Green and John Douglas Godbee, Assistant District Attorneys, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WILLIAMS First Paragraph: The petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Specifically, the petitioner alleges that when his attorney informed him that a particular witness was going to testify against him he was scared into pleading guilty. We agree with the post-conviction court's findings that the plea was voluntarily, understandably, and intelligently made. We affirm the post-conviction court's dismissal of the petition. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/goinsm.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. THOMAS LAWRENCE AND JOSEPH HATTON Court:TCCA Attorneys: Hershell D. Koger, Pulaski, Tennessee, for the appellant, Thomas Lawrence. William M. Haywood, Lewisburg, Tennessee, for the appellant, Joseph Hatton. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Elizabeth T. Ryan, Assistant Attorney General, and Weakley E. Barnard, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: OGLE First Paragraph: The appellant, Thomas Lawrence, was convicted by a jury in the Marshall County Criminal Court of one count of possession of cocaine with intent to sell, a class C felony, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced Lawrence, as a Range II offender, to eight years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction for the possession of crack cocaine conviction and assessed a $2000 fine. The trial court further sentenced Lawrence to eleven months incarceration in the Marshall County Jail for the possession of drug paraphernalia conviction. The trial court ordered Lawrence to serve these sentences concurrently. The appellant, Joseph Hatton, was convicted by a jury in the Marshall County Criminal Court of two counts of selling crack cocaine, a class C felony, one count of possession of crack cocaine with the intent to sell, a class C felony, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced Hatton, as a Range I offender, to four years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction for each sale of crack cocaine conviction and four years incarceration for the possession of crack cocaine with the intent to sell conviction. The court assessed a total of $4250 in fines. The trial court further ordered Hatton to serve his sentences for selling crack cocaine concurrently with each other but consecutive to the sentence for possession of crack cocaine with the intent to sell. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/lawrencetandhattonj.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ANTHONY LAYNE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Robert S. Peters, Winchester, Tennessee, for the appellant, Anthony Layne. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Elizabeth T. Ryan, Assistant Attorney General, C. Michael Layne, District Attorney General, and Steve Weitzman, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: OGLE First Paragraph: The appellant, Anthony Layne, was convicted by a jury in the Coffee County Circuit Court of one count of criminal trespass, a class C misdemeanor, and one count of theft of property less than $500, a class A misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced the appellant to thirty days incarceration in the Coffee County Jail for the criminal trespass conviction. The trial court also sentenced the appellant to eleven months and twenty-nine days incarceration in the Coffee County Jail for the theft conviction and assessed a $1000 fine. The appellant raises the following issue for our review: whether the evidence in this case was sufficient to support the appellant's convictions. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/laynea.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. GREGORY LYNN REDDEN Court:TCCA Attorneys: C. Diane Crosier, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellant, Gregory Lynn Redden. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Russell S. Baldwin, Assistant Attorney General, Jeff P. Burks and Mary Katherine Harvey, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: OGLE First Paragraph: The appellant, Gregory Lynn Redden, pled guilty in the Williamson County Circuit Court to one count of burglary, a class D felony. The trial court sentenced the appellant as a Range III persistent offender to eleven years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The trial court further ordered the appellant to serve this sentence consecutively to the appellant's unserved sentences imposed in Greene County, Missouri, in the United States District Court in the Northern District of Ohio, and in Robertson County, Tennessee. The appellant raises the following issue for our review: whether the trial court erred in ordering the appellant to serve his sentence in this case consecutively to his other sentences. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/reddengl2.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MICHAEL HARLEY SMITH Court:TCCA Attorneys: Edward C. Miller (on appeal), Public Defender, Fourth Judicial District, and Lu Ann Ballew (at trial), Assistant Public Defender, for the appellant, Michael Harley Smith. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney General; and Charles L. Murphy, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WADE First Paragraph: The defendant, Michael Harley Smith, was charged with aggravated burglary and one count of theft over $1,000. See Tenn. Code Ann. SS 39-14-403, 39-14-103. The state denied his application for pretrial diversion. Upon petition for writ of certiorari, the trial court found that the assistant district attorney general had not abused his discretion. Because the office of the district attorney failed to properly consider the defendant's application, the judgment of the trial court is reversed. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/smithmh.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. AMELIA KAY STEM Court:TCCA Attorneys: J. Daniel Freemon, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, for the appellant, Amelia Kay Stem. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General, Robert C. Sanders and James G. White, II, Assistant District Attorneys General, and T. Michael Bottoms, District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: OGLE First Paragraph: The appellant, Amelia Kay Stem, entered a plea of nolo contendere in the Lawrence County Circuit Court to one count of second degree murder. The trial court sentenced the appellant to twenty-five years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The appellant raises the following issue(s) for our review: whether the trial court erred in sentencing the appellant by incorrectly applying enhancement factors, by failing to apply mitigating factors, and by neglecting to make specific findings of fact on the record. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/stemak.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! 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