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
00	New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Court of Appeals
03	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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RICKY LEE HALL

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Dale M.Quillen, Ken D. Quillen, and Michael Flanagan, Nashville,
Tennessee, for the appellant, Ricky Lee Hall.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Christine M. Lapps,
Assistant Attorney General;  Victor S. (Torry) Johnson III, District
Attorney General; and David G. Vorhaus, Assistant District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.                      

Judge: WILLIAMS

First Paragraph:

The defendant contests the trial court's revocation of his probation,
more specifically its failure to dismiss the probation revocation
warrant.  We conclude the trial court did not err in not dismissing
the warrant.  We affirm the judgment of the trial court with
instructions to enter a formal order revoking probation.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DARYL KEITH HOLTON

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

John E. Appman, Jamestown, Tennessee (at trial and on appeal), and
Donna Hargrove, A. Jackson Dearing, III, and Larry F. Wallace, Jr.,
Fayetteville, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant, Daryl Keith
Holton.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore,
Solicitor General; Mark E. Davidson, Assistant Attorney General; W.
Michael McCown, District Attorney General; and Weakley E. Barnard,
Robert G. Crigler, and Ann L. Filer, Assistant District Attorneys
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.                        

Judge: MCGEE OGLE

First Paragraph:

The appellant, Daryl Keith Holton, was convicted by a jury in the
Bedford County Circuit Court of four counts of first degree
premeditated murder.  The same jury imposed a sentence of death for
each count of murder.  The appellant now appeals both his convictions
and sentences, presenting the following issues for our review: (1)
whether the evidence adduced at trial is sufficient to support the
jury's verdicts; (2) whether the statute setting forth the defense of
insanity in Tennessee is violative of the United States Constitution
in the context of a prosecution for first degree premeditated murder;
(3) whether under the United States Constitution inadequate acoustics
in the courtroom during his trial denied the appellant his right to a
fair trial; (4) whether under the United States and Tennessee
Constitutions the imposition of a sentence of death violates a
criminal defendant's fundamental right to life; (5) whether the
evidence adduced during the guilt/innocence and sentencing phases of
the appellant's trial supports the jury's imposition of sentences of
death; and (6) whether the appellant's sentences of death are
comparatively disproportionate.  Following a thorough review of the
record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial
court.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. WADE P. TUCKER

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Robert S. Peters, Winchester, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Wade P.
Tucker.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Helena Walton Yarbrough,
Assistant Attorney General; J. Michael Taylor, District Attorney
General; and Steve Blount, Assistant District Attorney General, for
the Appellee, State of Tennessee.                        

Judge: WITT

First Paragraph:

The defendant, Wade P. Tucker, appeals from his Franklin County
Circuit Court convictions of especially aggravated robbery and
aggravated burglary.  These convictions resulted from a bench trial in
which the facts were stipulated by the defendant and the state.  On
appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting
evidence.  We conclude that sufficient evidence supports the
conviction of especially aggravated  robbery; however, we hold that
the conviction of aggravated burglary is infirm because the defendant,
as an owner of the property, effectively consented to his entry into
the house where the crime took place.  Accordingly, we reverse and
vacate the conviction of aggravated burglary but affirm the conviction
of especially aggravated robbery.

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

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