Opinion Flash

Following this index are summaries of each case, including its name, first paragraph, author's name, and the names of attorneys for the parties of each opinion.

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
04	New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Court of Appeals
01	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

 

TBA members can get the full-text versions of these opinions three ways detailed below. All methods require a TBA username and password. If you have forgotten your password, you can look it up on-line at http://www.tba.org/getpassword.mgi . If you are a TBA member, but do not have a username and password, you can receive one online at http://www.tba.org/signup.mgi. Here's how you can obtain full-text version.

Click the URL at end of each Opinion paragraph below. This option will allow you to download the original document.

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.

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

DIANNA BOARMAN v. GEORGE JAYNES

Court:TCA

Attorneys: 

K. Erickson Herrin, Johnson City, for the appellant, George Jaynes.

Arthur M. Fowler, Johnson City, for the appellee, Dianna Boarman.                         

Judge: SUSANO

First Paragraph:

Dianna Boarman, Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court for Washington
County, brought this lawsuit pursuant to T.C.A. S 8-20-101, et seq.
(1993 & Supp. 2001), seeking salary increases for her three chief
deputy clerks.  Defendant George Jaynes, the Washington County
Executive ("the County Executive"), answered, denying that salary
increases were necessary to enable Boarman to properly and efficiently
conduct the affairs and transactions of her office.  The County
Executive also filed a counterclaim, seeking the elimination of a
deputy clerk position in Boarman's office.  The trial court decreed
salary increases for Boarman's three chief deputy clerks and denied
the County Executive's counterclaim.  We affirm the trial court's
denial of the County Executive's counterclaim; but reverse the trial
court's judgment increasing the salaries of Boarman's three chief
deputy clerks.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/boarmand.wpd

MAGDALENE A. MILLER, et al. v. MT. LAUREL CHALETS, INC., et al.

Court:TCA

Attorneys:

W. I. Howell Acuff, Cookeville, Tennessee, for the appellants,
Magdalene A. Miller and Robert Miller.

James W. Harrison, Morristown, Tennessee, for the appellee, Mt. Laurel
Chalets, Inc.

Linda J. Hamilton Mowles, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Bob
Light.

Judge: SUSANO

First Paragraph:

Magdalene A. Miller fell down a flight of stairs at a rental chalet in
Gatlinburg.  She and her husband, Robert Miller, sued Bob Light, the
owner of the chalet, and Mt. Laurel Chalets, Inc., the rental agent
for the chalet.  Both defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. 
Both motions were granted.  We affirm.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/millerma.wpd

CORRECTION:
IN RE: THE ESTATE OF J. CRAWFORD MURPHY 

Court:TCA

Attorneys:

John T. McArthur, and Martha S. L. Black, Maryville, Tennessee, for
the Appellant, Matthew Thompson

Edward H. Hamilton, Sevierville, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Robert
A. Murphy, Executor of the Estate of J. Crawford Murphy

Judge: GODDARD

First Paragraph:

In this case the Probate Court held that the personal representative
of the Estate of Mae Thompson Murphy did not have authority to dissent
from the will of her husband, J. Crawford Murphy, and thereby take an
elective share of his Estate.  We find that T.C.A. 31-4-105 gives the
personal representative this right and reverse the judgment of the
Trial Court.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/murphyjcra.wpd

STATE OF TENNESSEE, et al. v. FLORENCE E. HARRELL

Court:TCA

Attorneys:   

Paul G. Summers and Stuart F. Wilson-Patton, Nashville, Tennessee, for
the Appellant, State of Tennessee ex rel Thomas J. Harrell

Byron Douglas Bryant, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Florence
E. Harrell                       

Judge: GODDARD

First Paragraph:

In this appeal from the Chancery Court for Union County the
Petitioner/Appellant, the State of Tennessee ex rel. Thomas J.
Harrell, contends that the Chancery Court erred in denying the State a
judgment against the Respondent/Appellee, Florence E. Harrell, for
retroactive child support and for reimbursement of AFDC benefits paid
by the State on behalf of Mr. Harrell and his and Ms. Harrell's two
minor children.  We affirm the judgment of the Chancery Court.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/stateharrell.wpd

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DONALD RAY HICKEY

Court:TCCA

Attorneys: 

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Thomas E. Williams,
III, Assistant Attorney General; Randall E. Nichols, District Attorney
General; and Philip H. Morton, Assistant District Attorney General,
for the Appellant, State of Tennessee.

Mark Stephens, Public Defender, Knoxville, Tennessee (on appeal); and
Randall J. Kilby, Assistant Public Defender, Knoxville, Tennessee (on
appeal and at trial), for the Appellee, Donald Ray Hickey.                         

Judge: WEDEMEYER

First Paragraph:

The Knox County Grand Jury indicted the Defendant for driving under
the influence, fifth offense,  driving on a revoked license, driving
on a suspended license, driving on a cancelled license, and driving
without a license.  Claiming that the arresting officer stopped him
illegally, the Defendant moved to suppress any evidence resulting from
the stop.  The trial court granted the motion, and the State appealed.
 We conclude that the trial court committed no error in its
determination that the arresting officer lacked reasonable suspicion
supported by specific and articulable facts to justify an
investigatory stop of the Defendant's automobile.  We further conclude
that a "seizure" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment to the
United States Constitution and article I, S 7 of the Tennessee
Constitution occurred when a police officer stopped her patrol car
directly behind the Defendant's van and activated the blue lights and
siren on her patrol car, but the Defendant drove away and did not
submit to the officer's authority.  Thus, we affirm the judgment of
the trial court.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/hickeydr.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 THE TENNESSEE BAR ASSOCIATION!
While Opinion Flash is a free service of the Tennessee Bar Association, you must be a member of the Tennessee Bar Association in order to access the full text of the opinions or enjoy the many other features of TBALink.

To join the TBA go to: http://www.tba.org/join_bar.mgi

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! Sign up for text or HTML version.

Visit the TBALink web site at: http://www.tba.org/op-flash.mgi

UNSUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH? ... SURELY NOT!

But if you must, visit the TBALink web site at: http://www.tba.org/op-flash.mgi