Opinion Flash

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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Howard H. Vogel
Knoxville, Tennessee
Editor-in-Chief, TBALink

GEORGE THURMAN HAYNIE, JR. v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

George Thurman Haynie, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee, pro se (on appeal);
and J. Todd Faulkner, Nashville, Tennessee (at trial).

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Gill Robert Geldreich,
Assistant Attorney General; Ronald L. Davis, District Attorney
General; and Derek K. Smith, Assistant District Attorney General, for
the appellee, State of Tennessee.                         

Judge: WOODALL

First Paragraph:

Petitioner, George Thurman Haynie, Jr., filed a petition for
post-conviction relief attacking a felony conviction for passing a
worthless check and a misdemeanor conviction for passing a worthless
check.  The Circuit Court of Williamson County dismissed the petition
and Petitioner now appeals.  After a thorough review of the record,
the pro se brief filed by the Appellant, the brief filed by the State,
and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. BRIAN LEIDERMAN

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Philip A. Condra, District Public Defender, and David O. McGovern,
Assistant District Public Defender, for the appellant, Brian
Leiderman.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley,
Assistant Attorney General; James Michael Taylor, District Attorney
General; and Steven H. Strain, Assistant District Attorney General,
for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: GLENN

First Paragraph:

The defendant was convicted in January 2001 of aggravated assault and
sentenced to four years in community corrections.  Subsequently, while
confined in the Grundy County Jail, he was charged with assaulting
another inmate, which generated a probation revocation warrant. 
Following a hearing, the court revoked the community corrections
sentence and ordered that he serve the sentence imposed for his
aggravated assault conviction.  He appealed the revocation, arguing
that the evidence was insufficient to justify it and that his due
process rights were violated because the trial court did not provide
in its revocation order a written statement as to the evidence relied
upon.  We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KENDRICK JERMAINE MERRITT

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Dwight E. Scott, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Kendrick
Jermaine Merritt.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Christine M. Lapps,
Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney
General; and Sharon Brox, Assistant District Attorney General, for the
Appellee, State of Tennessee.                        

Judge: WITT

First Paragraph:

Kendrick Jermaine Merritt appeals from his Davidson County conviction
of second degree murder for the killing of Julia Lynn Baskette.  He
claims on appeal that the evidence at trial supports a guilty verdict
of no offense greater than voluntary manslaughter and that the trial
court excessively sentenced him to a maximum, 25-year term of
incarceration.  Because we disagree in both respects, we affirm.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ANTHONY L. ROGERS

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:  

Robert S. Peters, Winchester, Tennessee, for the appellant, Anthony L.
Rogers.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Mark A. Fulks,
Assistant Attorney General; and C. Michael Layne, District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.                        

Judge: GLENN

First Paragraph:

The defendant, Anthony L. Rogers, was indicted for attempted second
degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.  He pled guilty to
one count of aggravated assault, a Class C felony, and the remaining
counts were dismissed.  The trial court sentenced the defendant as a
Range II, multiple offender to eight years in the Tennessee Department
of Correction.  As his sole issue on appeal, he argues that the trial
court erred in ordering his sentence to be served consecutively to a
federal sentence.  We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMES BRADLEY WARNER

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Merrilyn Feirman, Nashville, Tennessee (on appeal); Donna L. Hargrove,
District Public Defender; and Andrew Jackson Dearing, III, Assistant
District Public Defender (at trial and on appeal), for the appellant,
James Bradley Warner.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley,
Assistant Attorney General; William Michael McCown, District Attorney
General; and Michael D. Randles, Assistant District Attorney General,
for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: GLENN

First Paragraph:

The defendant was convicted of theft of property over $500, after
being observed leaving a Wal-Mart store with merchandise for which he
had not paid.  In his appeal, he alleges that the proof of the value
of the items was insufficient and that the trial court erred in ruling
that certain of his prior convictions could be used for impeachment
and in sentencing.  We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ARCHIE JUNIOR WEATHERFORD

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:  

David Allen Doyle, District Public Defender, Gallatin, Tennessee (on
appeal) and Edgar Taylor, Hartsville, Tennessee (at trial) for the
appellant, Archie Junior Weatherford.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Patricia C. Kussmann,
Assistant Attorney General; Lawrence Ray Whitley, District Attorney
General; and Thomas Dean, Assistant District Attorney General, for the
appellee, State of Tennessee.                        

Judge: WOODALL

First Paragraph:

Defendant, Archie Junior Weatherford, appeals the Sumner County
Criminal Court's revocation of his probationary sentence.  Following a
review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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

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