July 20, 2001 Volume 7 — Number 132 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 04 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. Howard H. Vogel Knoxville, Tennessee Editor-in-Chief, TBALink STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JERRY FLOYD CALDWELL Court:TCCA Attorneys: John Philip Parsons, Cookeville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jerry Floyd Caldwell. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Jennifer L. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney General; and John A. Moore, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: LAFFERTY First Paragraph: After trial, a Putnam County jury found Defendant guilty of the unlawful possession of a controlled substance, to wit: cocaine over .5 grams, for resale, driving under the influence of an intoxicant, the unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, and evading arrest. Further, the jury determined Defendant should pay fines of $100,000, $2,500, $2,500, and $1,500 for each respective offense. Subject to a sentencing agreement, the trial court imposed a sentence of nine (9) years on the cocaine offense and 11 months and 29 days for each misdemeanor. The trial court ordered the sentences to be served concurrently and imposed judgment for the fines in accordance with the verdict of the jury. Defendant presents two appellate issues: (1) Whether there is sufficient evidence to convict Defendant of sale of cocaine over 0.5 grams, driving under the influence and possession of drug paraphernalia?; and (2) Whether Defendant's fines are excessive? After a review of the entire record, briefs of the parties and applicable law, we affirm the trial court's judgment. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/caldwelljf.wpd GREGORY SCOTT CAUDILL v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Thomas v. Testerman, Newport, Tennessee, for appellant, Gregory Scott Caudill. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Patricia C. Kussmann, Assistant Attorney General; Al Schmutzer, Jr., District Attorney General; and James B. Dunn, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: SMITH First Paragraph: A Cocke County grand jury indicted the petitioner on four counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated assault. On November 28, 1994, the petitioner pled guilty to all six counts. Following a sentencing hearing, he received twelve years on each aggravated robbery and six years on each aggravated assault. The trial court then ran some of the sentences consecutively resulting in an effective sentence of thirty years as a Range I, standard offender. On direct appeal this Court modified the sentence to twenty-four years. State v. Gregory Scott Caudill, No. 03C01-9510-CC- 00338, 1997 WL 7009 at *7 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Knoxville, January 9, 1997). The petitioner's application for permission to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court was denied. Thereafter, he filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief alleging errors made with regard to his plea. Counsel was appointed to assist him; an amended petition was filed; and the trial court conducted a hearing thereon. At the conclusion of this hearing, the trial court dismissed the petition. Through this appeal the petitioner avers that the trial court failed to comply with Rule 11 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure in taking his plea. More particularly, he alleges that the trial court did not advise him of the mandatory minimum and maximum penalties that he could potentially receive. After reviewing the record, we find that the petitioner's specific claim lacks merit. However, through its brief the State observes that constitutionally mandated advice concerning the petitioner's confrontation rights was not provided by the trial court in its colloquy at the time of the petitioner's plea. Therefore, the State requests that this Court remand the case for a hearing to determine if this omission was harmless. We agree and remand the matter for this purpose. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/caudillgreg.wpd CHRISTOPHER STACY LONG v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Scott A. Hodge, Morristown, Tennessee, for the appellant, Christopher Stacy Long. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Jennifer L. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney General; C. Berkeley Bell, Jr., District Attorney General; and Chris Scruggs, Assistant District Attorney General; for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WEDEMEYER First Paragraph: The Petitioner pled guilty to first degree felony murder and to forgery, receiving concurrent sentences of life with the possibility of parole and one year's incarceration, respectively. The Petitioner subsequently petitioned the trial court for post-conviction relief. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied post-conviction relief. The Petitioner now appeals this decision. He argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when he entered his pleas of guilty, causing him to enter his pleas involuntarily and unknowingly. Having reviewed the record, we conclude that the Petitioner's representation was not deficient and thus affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/longcs.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ZAN RAY McCRACKEN Court:TCCA Attorneys: Steve McEwen, Mountain City, Tennessee (on appeal); Stephen M. Wallace, District Public Defender; and Terry L. Jordan, Assistant Public Defender (at trial and on appeal), for the Appellant, Zan Ray McCracken. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Mark A. Fulks, Assistant Attorney General; H. Greeley Wells, Jr., District Attorney General; and Tariq A. Zaidi, Assistant District Attorney General for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WITT First Paragraph: The defendant appeals from his Sullivan County Criminal Court conviction and sentence for driving under the influence (DUI), second offense, a Class A misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced the defendant to eleven months and 29 days, with a six-month period of confinement, 45 days of which had to be served in continuous confinement. After the six-month confinement period, the defendant would serve the balance of the sentence on supervised probation. The trial court approved a $1,200 fine recommended by the jury. In this direct appeal, the defendant complains that the evidence at trial was insufficient to support his conviction, that the trial court committed reversible error in the guilt phase by allowing the jury to be informed that the defendant previously had been convicted of DUI, and that his sentence is excessive. We affirm the judgment of the trial court but remand for entry of a conforming judgment. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/mccrackenzr.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. 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