Opinion FlashApril 10, 2002Volume 8 — Number 065 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 ESTELLA AKINS v. DWAINE PETERS, et al. Court:TCA Attorneys: Jimmy W. Bilbo, Cleveland, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Estella Akins. Clifford E. Wilson, Madisonville, Tennessee, for the Appellees, Dwaine Peters and Carolyn Peters. Judge: SWINEY First Paragraph: Estella Akins ("Plaintiff") sued Dwaine Peters and Carolyn Peters ("Defendants") for the wrongful death of her husband, Leon Akins ("Decedent"). At the time of his death, Decedent was feeding hay to Defendants' cattle using Defendants' tractor. One of the tractor's rear tires rolled onto the Decedent, killing him. The Trial Court granted Defendants' motion for directed verdict at the close of Plaintiff's proof. Plaintiff appeals. We affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/akinse.wpd ANTIONE HARBISON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: George Travis Hawkins, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellant, Antione Harbison. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Gill Robert Geldreich, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Dan Hamm, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: GLENN First Paragraph: The petitioner, Antione Harbison, appeals the denial of post-conviction relief from the Davidson County Criminal Court. The petitioner pled guilty on August 13, 1999, to aggravated rape and attempted first degree murder. For the aggravated rape charge, the petitioner waived his sentence range, and the court sentenced him as a violent offender to thirty years with 100% of the sentence to be served. For the attempted first degree murder charge, the court sentenced the petitioner as a Range 1, standard offender and imposed a concurrent fifteen-year sentence. The petitioner appeals his denial of post-conviction relief, claiming that (1) his "defense counsel at the time of the plea was ineffective in failing to investigate [petitioner's] mental health and his ability to understand the nature of the charges against him, the guilty plea he entered, and the sentence he was to serve" and (2) the post-conviction court "erred in the post-conviction proceeding by denying [petitioner] an ex parte mental evaluation of the [petitioner's] competency by a private expert." http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/harbisonantione.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOHN CHARLES JOHNSON Court:TCCA Attorneys: Wendy Tucker, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, John Charles Johnson. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Bret Gunn, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WOODALL First Paragraph: Defendant, John Charles Johnson, was convicted by a Davidson County jury of second degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, and facilitation of aggravated kidnapping. The trial court sentenced him to consecutive sentences of twenty-five years for second degree murder and five years for facilitation of aggravated kidnapping, to be served concurrently with a twenty year sentence for especially aggravated robbery. On appeal, our Court affirmed the conviction and the lengths of each sentence, but reversed the order of consecutive sentencing and remanded to the trial court for a new hearing solely on the issue of consecutive or concurrent sentencing. See State v. John Charles Johnson, No. M2000-00529-CCA-R3-CD, 2000 WL 208512, Davidson County (Tenn. Crim. App., Nashville, March 1, 2001) perm to appeal denied (Tenn. 2001). On remand, the trial court resentenced Defendant to consecutive sentences of twenty five years for second degree murder and five years for facilitation of aggravated kidnapping. In this appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court erred by again ordering the sentences to be served consecutively. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/johnsonjohnc.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. STEVEN KELLY MEZO Court:TCCA Attorneys: Gary M. Williams, Hendersonville, Tennessee (on appeal), and Randy P. Lucas, Gallatin, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant, Steven Kelly Mezo. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Jennifer L. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney General; and Sallie Wade Brown, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WADE First Paragraph: The defendant, Steven Kelly Mezo, who was charged with two counts of the aggravated sexual battery of his daughter, A.M., was convicted of one count of aggravated sexual battery and one count of assault. The trial court ordered concurrent sentences of eight years and 11 months and 29 days, respectively. In this appeal of right, the defendant asserts that (1) he was denied his constitutional right of assistance of counsel of his choosing; (2) he was denied the effective assistance of counsel with regard to a pre-trial settlement offer; (3) the evidence was insufficient; and (4) the trial court erred by admitting hearsay statements. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/mezosteven.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMES LEE PARTON Court:TCCA Attorneys: Edward C. Miller, District Public Defender; and Susanne Bales, Assistant Public Defender, Dandridge, Tennessee, for the appellant, James Lee Parton. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Thomas E. Williams, III, Assistant Attorney General; Al C. Schmutzer, Jr., District Attorney General; and Charles E. Atchley, Jr., Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WOODALL First Paragraph: Defendant pled guilty to one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, a Class A felony, and two counts of vehicular assault, a Class D felony. Defendant was ordered to serve consecutive sentences of twenty-four years for aggravated vehicular homicide, and three years for each count of vehicular assault, for an effective sentence of thirty years. Defendant challenges his sentence, raising the following three issues on appeal: (1) whether the trial court erred by refusing to allow mitigation for Defendant's severe, debilitating alcoholism; (2) whether the trial court erred by imposing the near- maximum sentence on each conviction; and (3) whether the trial court erred by ordering all three sentences to be served consecutively. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/partonjameslee.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. FARON DOUGLAS PIERCE Court:TCCA Attorneys: J. Liddell Kirk, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Faron Douglas Pierce. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Thomas E. Williams, III, Assistant Attorney General; Randall Eugene Nichols, District Attorney General; and Robert L. Jolley, Jr., Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WILLIAMS First Paragraph: Defendant appeals his conviction for robbery. Defendant contends that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction and (2) that the trial court erred in admitting testimony regarding prior inconsistent statements. We affirm the trial court judgment. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/piercefd.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ALFRED FREDDIE WILCOX Court:TCCA Attorneys: Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Angele M. Gregory, Assistant Attorney General; Joe C. Crumley, Jr., District Attorney General; and Steven R. Finney, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellant, State of Tennessee. A. Scott Pratt, Johnson City, Tennessee, for the appellee, Alfred Freddie Wilcox. Judge: TIPTON First Paragraph: The state appeals from the Washington County Criminal Court's granting of the defendant's motion to suppress evidence that was obtained pursuant to a traffic stop. The state contends that contrary to the trial court's finding, the arresting officer had reasonable suspicion to justify stopping the defendant. We agree and reverse the trial court's ruling. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/wilcoxalfredfreddie.wpd 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! 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