Opinion FlashFebruary 20, 2002Volume 8 — Number 032 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.
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Howard H. Vogel ANGELA LEMMONS v. P & P ENTERPRISES, LLC Court:TSC - Workers Comp Panel Attorneys: James M. Balthrop, Springfield, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Angela Lemmons. Sean Hunt, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellee, P & P Enterprises, LLC. Judge: PEOPLES First Paragraph: This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. S 50-6-225(e) for hearing and reporting of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The employee appeals the finding of the trial court that she failed to carry her burden of proof that her injuries arose out of and in the course of her employment. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_WCP/lemmonsangela.wpd JARRETT WILLIAM UTLEY v. BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE Court:TSC - Workers Comp Panel Attorneys: Mark A. Baugh, Bruce, Weathers, Corley & Lyle, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Jarrett William Utley. Terry L. Hill, Manier & Herod, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Bridgestone/Firestone. Judge: PEOPLES First Paragraph: This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. S 50-6- 225(e) for hearing and reporting of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The employee appeals and contends the trial court erred (1) in finding his claim for a work-related repetitive injury was barred by the statute of limitations, and (2) in concluding that his injury on September 20, 1997 did not result in any permanent disability. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_WCP/utleyjarrettwilliam.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ANNETTA BELL Court:TCCA Attorneys: James O. Martin, III (on appeal), and George J. Duzane (at trial), Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Annetta Bell. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney General; and Sharon Guffey, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WADE First Paragraph: The defendant, Annetta Bell, was convicted after a bench trial of theft of property having a value less than $500.00. The trial court imposed a sentence of 11 months and 29 days. All but six months was suspended. In this appeal as of right, the defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support her conviction. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/bellannetta.wpd BARRY DUNHAM v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Jennifer L. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney General; Tom P. Thompson, Jr., District Attorney General; Guy Yelton and Robert N. Hibbett, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellant, State of Tennessee. E. Guy Holliman, LaFayette, Tennessee, for the appellee, Barry Dunham. Judge: MCGEE OGLE First Paragraph: On October 5, 1998, the defendant, Barry Dunham, pled guilty in the Macon County Criminal Court to one count of second degree murder and received a sentence of twenty-five years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The defendant filed for post-conviction relief which was granted by the post-conviction court. The State now appeals. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand for new trial. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/dunhamb.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. GONZALO MORAN GARCIA Court:TCCA Attorneys: Richard McGee, James Holt Walker, and Bobby Ballinger, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Gonzalo Moran Garcia. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and John Zimmerman, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: MCGEE OGLE First Paragraph: The appellant, Gonzalo Moran Garcia, appeals his conviction by a jury in the Davidson County Criminal Court of one count of possession of one thousand grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, a class A felony. He raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether the trial court erred in denying his pre-trial motion to suppress; (2) whether the trial court erred in admitting at trial the testimony of Daniel A. Rosales, an officer employed by the Houston Police Department in Texas; (3) whether the evidence underlying the appellant's conviction is sufficient; and (4) whether the trial court erred in rejecting his proposed jury instructions. Following a thorough review of the record and the parties' briefs, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand this case to the trial court for a new trial. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/garciagm3_opn.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. GONZALO MORAN GARCIA WILLIAMS DISSENTING http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/garciagm3_dis.wpd KENNETH R. GRIFFIN v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Kenneth R. Griffin, Pikeville, Tennessee, pro se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney General; Joe C. Crumley, Jr., District Attorney General; and Victor J. Vaughn, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WOODALL First Paragraph: Petitioner, Kenneth R. Griffin, appeals from the trial court's summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-30-206, the trial court entered an order dismissing the petition without an evidentiary hearing. In its order, the trial court made a finding of fact that the petition contained no verification of any facts under oath. Since the petition was devoid of verified facts upon which the trial court could grant relief, it concluded that a dismissal was required. On appeal, the State agrees with Petitioner that the trial court's judgment should be reversed. After a thorough review of the record, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand this case for further proceedings. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/griffenkennethr.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KENNETH HERRING Court:TCCA Attorneys: Robert H. Stovall, Jr., Assistant Public Defender, Pulaski, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Kenneth Herring. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Thomas E. Williams, III, Assistant Attorney General; T. Michel Bottoms, District Attorney General; and J. Douglas Dicus, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WEDEMEYER First Paragraph: The Defendant was convicted in Wayne County Circuit Court of five counts of rape of a child and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. The Defendant received an effective sentence of seventy- five years incarceration. This Court subsequently reversed the five rape of a child convictions and remanded the case to the trial court to determine whether the remaining two twelve-year sentences for aggravated sexual battery should be served consecutively or concurrently. The trial court determined that the sentences should be served consecutively for an effective sentence of twenty-four years incarceration. The Defendant now appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in ordering that the Defendant's sentences for aggravated sexual battery run consecutively. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/herringk.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TIMOTHY A. JOHNSON Court:TCCA Attorneys: C. Dawn Deaner, Assistant Public Defender (on appeal), Nashville, Tennessee; and Jerrilyn Manning, Assistant Public Defender (at trial), Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Timothy A. Johnson. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Gill Robert Geldreich, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Jason Lawless, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WEDEMEYER First Paragraph: Pursuant to a plea agreement, the Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of possessing with intent to sell less than 0.5 grams of a substance containing cocaine, and the trial court sentenced him as a Range I standard offender to five years incarceration in the workhouse. The trial court suspended the sentence and placed the Defendant on probation for five years. Approximately four months later, a warrant was issued against the Defendant alleging that he had violated the terms and conditions of his probation. The warrant alleged that the Defendant had been arrested for evading arrest and aggravated assault, that the Defendant had failed to report these arrests to his probation officer, and that the Defendant had failed to report to his probation officer after being released from jail. Following a hearing on the warrant, the trial court revoked the Defendant's probation and ordered him to serve the remainder of his sentence in confinement. The Defendant now brings this appeal, in which he challenges the trial court's order requiring him to serve the remainder of his sentence in confinement. Because we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/johnsonta.wpd CAMILLA RAY v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Albert J. Newman, Jr., Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Camilla Ray. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney General; Randall E. Nichols, District Attorney General; and Robert L. Jolley, Jr., Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: TIPTON First Paragraph: The petitioner appeals from the Knox County Criminal Court's denying her post-conviction relief from her especially aggravated robbery and especially aggravated kidnaping convictions and resulting concurrent fifteen-year sentences that she received in 2000 based upon her pleas of guilty. She contends that her guilty pleas resulted from the ineffective assistance of counsel in that counsel misadvised her about the percentage of her sentence that she would have to serve in confinement. We affirm the trial court's denial of relief. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/raycamilla.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. GREG STEWART Court:TCCA Attorneys: Robert S. Peters, Winchester, Tennessee, for the appellant, Greg Stewart. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Angele M. Gregory, Assistant Attorney General; C. Michael Layne, District Attorney General; and Doug Aaron, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: MCGEE OGLE First Paragraph: Pursuant to a bench trial, the appellant, Greg Stewart, was convicted of two counts of simple possession of a controlled substance. The trial court sentenced the appellant to two concurrent terms of eleven months and twenty-nine days incarceration in the Coffee County Jail. On appeal, the appellant contests the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress the drug evidence due to the lack of proper consent to the search. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/stewartg.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MICHAEL D. WRIGHT Court:TCCA Attorneys: John H. Henderson, District Public Defender, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellant, Michael D. Wright. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney General; Ronald L. Davis, District Attorney General; and Mark K. Harvey, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WOODALL First Paragraph: In this appeal, Defendant raises the following issues: (1) whether the trial court incorrectly applied two enhancement factors, thereby causing his sentences to be excessive, and (2) whether the trial court erred by ordering that certain of his sentences run consecutively. Following a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/wrightmichaeld.wpd Legislator's Oath of Office Date: February 5, 2002 Opinion Number: 02-014 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/OP14.pdf Obligation of County Jail to Accept Prisoners Date: February 6, 2002 Opinion Number: No. 02-015 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/OP15.pdf Confidentiality and Disclosure of Social Security Numbers Date: February 6, 2002 Opinion Number: 02-016 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/OP16.pdf Collection of Litigation Taxes in Misdemeanor Speeding Cases Under Tenn. Code Ann. S 55-8-152 Date: February 6, 2002 Opinion Number: 02-017 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/OP17.pdf Social Security Numbers on Applications for Drivers Licenses Date: February 13, 2002 Opinion Number: 02-018 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/OP18.pdf Interpretation of Proposed Lottery Amendment Date: February 13, 2002 Opinion Number: 02-019 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/OP19.pdf PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL! GET A FULL-TEXT COPY OF AN OPINION! JOIN TBALink! SUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH! For the HTML Text Version: UNSUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH? ... SURELY NOT! To STOP receiving TBALink Opinion-Flash: Home • Contact Us • PageFinder • What's New • Help |
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