November 21, 2001 Volume 7 — Number 216 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 08 New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Court of Appeals 00 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 CHARLES BOBO v. TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et al. Court:TCA Attorneys: Charles Bobo, Mountain City, Tennessee, Pro Se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; and Dawn Jordan, Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellees, Tennessee Department of Correction, Northeast Correctional Complex and State Prison Disciplinary Board. Judge: CAIN First Paragraph: Appellant, a prison inmate, filed, in the Chancery Court of Davidson County, a Petition for Writ of Certiorari questioning disciplinary actions against him by the Department of Corrections. The petition was dismissed by the Chancellor with costs assessed against Appellant. Appellant then sought exemption of his inmate trust account from execution for costs asserting that Tennessee Code Annotated Section 26-2-103 rendered his trust account and personal property to a value of $4,000 exempt from execution for court costs. The Chancellor held Tennessee Code Annotated Section 26-2-103 to be inapplicable, and we affirm the Chancellor. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/bobocharles.wpd JON D. HALL v. BILL MCLESKY, et al. Court:TCA Attorneys: Jon D. Hall, Nashville, Tennessee, Pro Se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Mark A. Hudson, Senior Counsel, for the appellees, Bill McLesky, Howard Brandon, Robert Waller, Ricky Bell, Charles Tracey, Sharon Johnson, Jim Rose, Opus Correctional, LLC. Judge: CANTRELL First Paragraph: A death row inmate filed a Petition for Declaratory Judgment, claiming that employees of the Department of Correction had caused his attorney's phone number to be removed from an approved calling list, and had refused to restore the number to the list in a timely way. The inmate named seven employees of the Department and a private telephone company as defendants, and demanded monetary damages. The trial court dismissed the action, because the petitioner failed to comply with the mandatory requirements of the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act. Because we do not believe the petitioner was entitled to relief under any of the theories he advanced, we affirm the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/halljd.wpd TEX HELTON, et al. v. COLONIAL LOAN ASSOCIATION, INC., et al. Court:TCA Attorneys: Phillip L. Boyd, Rogersville, Tennessee, for the Appellants, Tex Helton and wife, Judy Helton H. Scott Reams, Morristown, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Colonial Loan Association, Inc. Judge: GODDARD First Paragraph: Tex Helton and his wife sue Colonial Loan Association, Inc., and Lakeview Motors, Inc., seeking damages in connection with Colonial Loan's repossession of an automobile sold to them by Lakeview Motors. The Trial Court granted a summary judgment as to Colonial Loan. The claim as to Lakeview Motors has been concluded and this appeal only concerns the granting of a summary judgment in favor of Colonial Loan. We vacate the order granting summary judgment and remand. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/heltontex.wpd ANTHONY McNABB and Wife SHERRY McNABB v. HIGHWAYS, INC., and A&H SAFETY SUPPLY, PAUL HARRISON v. HIGHWAYS, INC., and A&H SAFETY SUPPLY Court:TCA Attorneys: Andrew R. Tillman, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellants. Donald W. Strickland, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for Appellee, Highways, Inc. Judge: FRANKS First Paragraph: Plaintiffs' action for damages for personal injury allegedly due to defendant's negligence, was dismissed by the Trial Judge for failure of plaintiffs to join all alleged tort feasors in one action. On appeal, we vacate and remand. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/mcnabba.wpd JOHNETTA PATRICE NELSON, et al. v. INNOVATIVE RECOVERY SERVICES, INC. Court:TCA Attorneys: Robert L. Whitaker, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Johnetta Patrice Nelson and Ruby Nelson. Rhonda M. Whitted, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Innovative Recovery Services, Inc. Judge: CAIN First Paragraph: This is a declaratory judgment action by Ruby Nelson against Innovative Recovery Services, Inc. ("IRSI"), subrogation recovery agent for Tennessee Coordinated Care Network, d/b/a Access ..MedPLUS ("TCCN"), a health maintenance organization under TennCare. TCCN paid $6,266.75 in medical expenses for Ruby Nelson and, under TennCare statutes, had a subrogation interest in this amount as to any third party recovery by Ms. Nelson. The Complaint asserts that TCCN is liable to attorneys for Ruby Nelson for attorney's fees in the amount of one-third of the subrogation interest. The Chancellor held TCCN not liable for attorney's fees to the attorneys representing Ruby Nelson, and we affirm the judgment of the Chancellor. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/nelsonjohnetta.wpd JAMES SAYLOR v. TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION Court:TCA Attorneys: James Saylor, Pro se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General and Dawn Jordan, Assistant Attorney General, for the appellee, Tennessee Department of Correction. Judge: FARMER First Paragraph: Appellant, a prison inmate, filed an action challenging the Department of Correction's calculation of his sentence. The action was dismissed in the trial court and costs were assessed against Appellant. He petitioned the trial court to rule that he was entitled to claim the personal property exemption provided for in Tenn. Code Ann. S 26-2-103 (2000). The trial court denied this relief and this appeal resulted. We affirm the court below. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/saylorjames.wpd KENNETH EUGENE VARNEY v. HEATHER LOUISE VARNEY ROEMER Court:TCA Attorneys: Connie Reguli, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Kenneth Eugene Varney. J. Robin McKinney, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Heather Louise Varney Roemer. Judge: COTTRELL First Paragraph: This is a post-divorce custody case in which Father alleged a change of circumstances due to step- father disciplining the two minor children in an inappropriate manner, Mother not being able to provide a stable and consistent home and school environment, the children experiencing emotional problems while in Mother's home, and Mother voluntarily relinquishing custody. The trial court found that Father failed to demonstrate a change of circumstances warranting change of custody. Although the two children had been living with Father, the court refused to change the initial award of custody to Mother. We find that the evidence preponderates against the trial court's determination regarding changes in circumstances and that, by focusing on one alleged incident of inappropriate discipline, the court failed to consider other circumstances relevant to the inquiry. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/varneyk.wpd JIMMY WAYNE WILSON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCA Attorneys: Jimmy Wayne Wilson, Wartburg, Tennessee, Pro Se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter and Arthur Crownover, II, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Tennessee Department of Correction. Judge: CAIN First Paragraph: By opinion of this Court dated August 27, 1999, dismissal by the trial court of Plaintiff's Petition for Declaratory Judgment or Common Law Writ of Certiorari complaining about computation of his sentence reduction credits was affirmed with costs assessed against Petitioner. He then attempted to have his inmate trust account shielded from collection of court costs by claiming exceptions under Tennessee Code Annotated section 26-2-101, et seq. The trial court denied his application and he filed timely appeal. We affirm the trial judge. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/wilsonjimmy.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! Would you like to receive the TBALink Opinion Flash free each day by e-mail? Anyone, whether a TBA member or not, is welcome to subscribe ... it's free! For the Plain Text Version: 1) Send an e-mail message to: Opinion-Flash@tba.org 2) In the SUBJECT of the message type: SUBSCRIBE 3) Leave the body of the message blank For the HTML Text Version: 1) Send an e-mail message to: Opinion-Flash@tba.org 2) In the SUBJECT of the message type: SUBSCRIBE HTML 3) Leave the body of the message blank UNSUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH? ... SURELY NOT! To STOP receiving TBALink Opinion-Flash: 1) Send an e-mail message to: Opinion-Flash@tba.org 2) In the SUBJECT of the message type: UNSUBSCRIBE 3) Leave the body of the message blank © Copyright 2001 Tennessee Bar Association