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
07	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. JOHN W. ARCHEY

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

David O. McGovern, Assistant Public Defender, Jasper, Tennessee, for
the Appellant, John W. Archey.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth T. Ryan,
Assistant Attorney General; James Michael Taylor; District Attorney
General; and William Copeland, Assistant District Attorney General,
for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.                      

Judge: WEDEMEYER

First Paragraph:

A Franklin County jury convicted the Defendant of reckless driving. 
On appeal, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting
evidence.  The Defendant also claims that the trial court's jury
instruction for reckless driving was in error.  After a careful review
of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. BARRY F. BRADEN

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:    

Michael H. Sneed, Nashville, Tennessee (on appeal) and Nathaniel
Koenig, Nashville, Tennessee (at trial) for the appellant, Barry F.
Braden.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; John H. Bledsoe,
Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney
General; Katrin Miller, Assistant District Attorney General; and Bret
Gunn, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of
Tennessee.
                     
Judge: WOODALL

First Paragraph:

Defendant, Barry F. Braden, was convicted by a Davidson County jury of
six counts of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony.  He was ordered to
serve consecutive ten year sentences for counts one, two, four, five
and six, to be served concurrently with a ten-year sentence in count
three, for an effective sentence of fifty years.  Defendant appeals
his convictions and sentences, presenting the following issues for
review: (1) whether the prosecutor's inquiry on cross-examination and
comments during closing argument on Defendant's failure to submit
fingerprints and his failure to take a polygraph examination
constituted reversible error; (2) whether the evidence was sufficient
to sustain his convictions; (3) whether the trial court erred by
admitting a witness's extraneous statement at trial; (4) whether the
trial court erred by ordering consecutive sentences for five of
Defendant's six convictions; and (5) whether the trial court erred by
failing to sever the offenses for trial.  After a thorough review of
the record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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

CHARLES BRYANT v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Charles Bryant, Nashville, Tennessee, pro se.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Christine M. Lapps,
Assistant Attorney General; and C. Michael Layne, District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: WOODALL

First Paragraph:

Petitioner/Appellant, Charles Bryant, filed a petition for
post-conviction relief on August 3, 2001, attacking his conviction on
July 18, 1997, for violation of the Motor Vehicle Habitual Offender
Act.  According to the allegations in the petition, there was no
appeal from the conviction to which he pled guilty and received a
sentence of four years as a multiple Range II offender.  The trial
court summarily dismissed the petition because it was filed outside of
the applicable statute of limitations.  We affirm.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. STANLEY R. FINE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:     

Cynthia A. Driver, Jasper, Tennessee, for the appellant, Stanley R.
Fine.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Thomas E. Williams,
III, Assistant Attorney General; and J. Michael Taylor, District
Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.                     

Judge: WELLES

First Paragraph:

The Defendant, Stanley R. Fine, pled guilty to the offenses of
burglary and aggravated burglary.  His plea agreement provided that he
would serve a four year sentence for the aggravated burglary, with one
year to be served in the county jail and the balance of three years to
be served in the community corrections program.  With respect to the
burglary charge, the plea agreement included an agreed sentence of
four years to be served in the community corrections program
consecutive to the sentence for aggravated burglary, resulting in an
effective sentence of eight years. Following the Defendant's violation
of the terms of his community corrections sentence, the trial court
revoked the Defendant's community corrections status and ordered that
the remainder of his sentence be served in the Department of
Correction.  The Defendant now appeals the trial court's ruling.  We
affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROBERT GENTRY GALBREATH

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Larry F. Wallace, Jr., Shelbyville, Tennessee (on appeal), and Richard
Dugger, Shelbyville, Tennessee (on appeal and at trial), for the
Appellant, Robert Gentry Galbreath.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Helena Walton
Yarbrough, Assistant Attorney General; William M. McCown, District
Attorney General; and Michael D. Randles, Assistant District Attorney
General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.                    

Judge: WEDEMEYER

First Paragraph:

A Bedford County jury convicted the Defendant of twelve counts of
obtaining a controlled substance, Hydrocodone, by fraud during the
period from August 15, 2000 through September 8, 2000.  The trial
court sentenced the Defendant  to twelve years on each count and
imposed a fine of $2,000 for each count.  The trial court ordered that
counts 1-4 run concurrently; that counts 5-8 run concurrently, but
consecutive to counts 1-4; and that counts 9-12 run concurrently, but
consecutive to all other counts, for an effective sentence of
thirty-six years.  On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence
is not sufficient to support eleven of his twelve convictions for
fraud and that the trial court erred in sentencing him to thirty-six
years in prison.  Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the
trial court.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TIMOTHY M. HODGE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Ken Quillen, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Timothy M.
Hodge.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner,
Assistant Attorney General; Ronald L. Davis, District Attorney
General; and Kenneth K. Crites, Assistant District Attorney General,
for the appellee, State of Tennessee.                          

Judge: RILEY

First Paragraph:

The defendant appeals his conviction for driving under the influence. 
He raises two issues: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to
support his conviction; and (2) whether the trial court erred in its
instruction to the jury regarding the definition of "physical control"
of a vehicle.  After a review of the record, we affirm the judgment of
the trial court.

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

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOEL WAYNE JACKSON AND JOEL KEITH RUSSELL

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:  

Chadwick G. Hunt, Savannah, Tennessee, for the appellant, Joel Wayne
Jackson.

Mike Mosier, Jackson, Tennessee, for the appellant, Joel Keith
Russell.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Mark A. Fulks,
Assistant Attorney General; Robert "Gus" Radford, District Attorney
General; and John W. Overton, Jr., Assistant District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: MCGEE OGLE

First Paragraph:

The appellants, Joel Wayne Jackson and Joel Keith Russell, were each
convicted in the Hardin County Circuit Court of one count of
possessing more than .5 grams of cocaine with intent to sell.  They
were each sentenced to eight years incarceration in the Tennessee
Department of Correction with the sentences to be served on supervised
probation after serving ninety days in confinement.  On appeal,
Jackson challenges the correctness of his sentence and Russell
contests the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. 
Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the
judgments of the trial court.

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

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