August 6, 2001 Volume 7 — Number 143 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 03 New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals 02 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 SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Court:TSC http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_Rules/certlist_0806.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 STATE OF TENNESSEE v. GERALD STOVALL Court:TCCA Attorneys: Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; R. Stephen Jobe, Assistant Attorney General; Jerry N. Estes, District Attorney General and Shari Lynn Taylor, Assistant District Attorney for appellant, State of Tennessee. Charles M. Corn, District Public Defender and Lee E. Ledbetter, Assistant District Public Defender, for appellee, Gerald Stovall. Judge: SMITH First Paragraph: The Monroe County grand jury indicted the defendant on two counts of selling or delivering over .5 grams of cocaine. At the conclusion of a bench trial, the trial court found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had sold cocaine in the alleged amounts on the dates in question. However, immediately after making this determination, the trial court sua sponte announced that it was dismissing the indictment because of a fatal wording error. Through this appeal the State contends that the dismissal was erroneous and asks that the case be remanded for sentencing. Following our review of the record and applicable caselaw, we find the State's issue to have merit and, therefore, reverse the trial court's dismissal and grant the requested remand for sentencing http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/stovallgerald.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ERNEST EUGENE THOMAS, alias: VICTOR KNABLE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Albert J. Newman, Jr., Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Ernest Eugene Thomas, alias, Victor Knable. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Mark A. Fulks, Assistant Attorney General; Randall E. Nichols, District Attorney General; and Leon Franks, Assistant District Attorney General; for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WEDEMEYER First Paragraph: In 1997, pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, the Defendant pled guilty to possession of more than seventy pounds of marijuana with the intent to sell, a Class B felony, and received a twelve-year sentence as a Range II multiple offender, to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On March 3, 2000, the Defendant filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence, alleging that he should have been sentenced as a Range I standard offender rather than a Range II multiple offender because two prior Pennsylvania convictions that were the basis for his Range II sentencing were misdemeanors rather than felonies. Following a hearing on the Defendant's motion, the trial court dismissed the motion, finding that "the Defendant may plead outside the range" and that the Defendant had sufficient qualifying felonies. Finding no error by the trial court, we affirm the judgment of the trial court dismissing the Defendant's motion. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/thomasee.wpd Responsibilities of District Attorneys General in Municipal Courts Date: July 31, 2001 Opinion Number: 01-120 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/OP120.pdf Definition of Political Campaign Committee Date: July 31, 2001 Opinion Number: 01-121 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/OP121.pdf 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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