February 26, 2001
Volume 7 -- Number 035

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
00 New Document(s) or Proposed Rule(s) from the Tennessee Supreme Court
00 New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Court of Appeals
06 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
 

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Lucian T. Pera
Editor-in-Chief, TBALink



STATE OF TENNESSEE v. WILLIAM D. BRITT

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:           

Julie A. Rice (on appeal) and Andy Kennedy, Assistant Public Defender
(at trial), for the appellant, William D. Britt.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Clinton J. Morgan,
Assistant Attorney General; H. Greeley Wells, Jr., District Attorney
General; and Barry P. Staubus, Assistant District Attorney General,
for the appellee, State of Tennessee.               

Judge: WITT

First Paragraph:

The defendant appeals from his Sullivan County Criminal Court sentence
for Class C felony theft over $10,000 but less than $60,000.  Tenn.
Code Ann. SS 39-14-103, -14-105(4) (1997).  The trial court sentenced
the defendant as a Range I standard offender to three years in the
Department of Correction and ordered restitution to the victim of the
theft in the amount of $7,000.  On direct appeal, the defendant
presses his claim that the trial court incorrectly imposed an
incarcerative sentence rather than some form of alternative
sentencing.  We affirm the judgment of the trial court.


http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/brittwd.wpd





LUTHER ROBERT BROWN, III v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:         

Mary Katherine Harvey, for the Appellant, Luther Robert Brown, III.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Clinton J. Morgan,
Counsel for the State; H. Greeley Wells, District Attorney General;
Terry L. Jordan, Assistant District Attorney General, for the
Appellee, State of Tennessee.                 

Judge: WITT

First Paragraph:

The petitioner, Luther Robert Brown, III, appeals from the Sullivan
County Criminal Court's summary dismissal of his petition for the writ
of habeas corpus.  Brown seeks relief from a "parole hold" that
Tennessee officials have caused to be placed upon him within the
Virginia prison system.  According to the allegations of his petition,
the parole hold has resulted in the Virginia prison system denying him
inmate privileges to which he would otherwise be entitled.
Additionally, he complains that he has not been granted a Tennessee
parole hearing even though he has served his Tennessee sentence past
the release eligibility date.  Because we agree with the lower court
that these complaints are not cognizable in a habeas corpus
proceeding, we affirm the lower court's dismissal of the petition.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/brownlr.wpd





JOSEPH WHITWELL v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:  

Larry B. Felts, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Joseph
Whitwell.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Marvin E. Clements,
Jr., Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District
Attorney General; Roger Moore, Assistant District Attorney General;
and Sarah Carran Daughtrey, Assistant District Attorney General, for
the appellee, State of Tennessee.                        

Judge: WOODALL

First Paragraph:

Petitioner, Joseph Whitwell, filed a Petition for Post-Conviction
Relief in the Davidson County Criminal Court, which the
post-conviction court subsequently denied.  Petitioner challenges the
denial of his petition, raising the following issue: whether the trial
court erred in dismissing his Petition for Post-Conviction Relief,
based upon a ruling that Petitioner's allegations of ineffective
assistance of counsel were without merit.  After a thorough review of
the record, we find that the Petitioner did not receive the
ineffective assistance of counsel.   We therefore affirm the trial
court's denial of the Petitioner's Petition for Post-Conviction
Relief.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/coffeyj.wpd





STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CHRISTOPHER JOSEPH JOHNSON

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:                          

Christopher Joseph Johnson, Pro Se.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; R. Stephen Jobe,
Assistant Attorney General; Randall E. Nichols, District Attorney
General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: WITT

First Paragraph:

The defendant appeals the trial court's dismissal of his motions
seeking relief from the collection of litigation taxes and trial court
costs.  Because we have no jurisdiction to entertain a Rule 3 appeal,
we dismiss the appeal.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/johnsoncj.wpd





STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROBERT LEE MALLARD

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:   

Jim Wiseman, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (on appeal) and Gerald L. Melton,
District Public Defender; and Brion J. Payne, Assistant Public
Defender, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (at trial) for the appellant, Robert
Lee Mallard.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley,
Assistant Attorney General; William C. Whitesell, Jr., District
Attorney General; Paul A. Holcombe, III, Assistant District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.                       

Judge: WOODALL

First Paragraph:

In a two count indictment, Defendant was charged in Rutherford County
Circuit Court with attempting to tamper with or fabricate evidence,
and with resisting arrest.  Following a jury trial, he was convicted
of both offenses.  In this appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial
court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence and he further
asserts that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the conviction
for attempting to tamper with or fabricate evidence.  After a review
of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the
trial court.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/mallardrl.wpd





JOSEPH WHITWELL v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:    

Larry B. Felts, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Joseph
Whitwell.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Marvin E. Clements,
Jr., Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District
Attorney General; Roger Moore, Assistant District Attorney General;
and Sarah Carran Daughtrey, Assistant District Attorney General, for
the appellee, State of Tennessee.                      

Judge: WOODALL

First Paragraph:

Petitioner, Joseph Whitwell, filed a Petition for Post-Conviction
Relief in the Davidson County Criminal Court, which the
post-conviction court subsequently denied.  Petitioner challenges the
denial of his petition, raising the following issue: whether the trial
court erred in dismissing his Petition for Post-Conviction Relief,
based upon a ruling that Petitioner's allegations of ineffective
assistance of counsel were without merit.  After a thorough review of
the record, we find that the Petitioner did not receive the
ineffective assistance of counsel.   We therefore affirm the trial
court's denial of the Petitioner's Petition for Post-Conviction
Relief.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/whitwellj.wpd

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