Opinion FlashAugust 26, 2002Volume 8 — Number 148 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):
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Howard H. Vogel KECIA L. HILL v. CALSONIC YOURZU CORPORATION, et al. Court:TSC - Workers Comp Panel Attorneys: Mary B. Little and Timothy B. Pirtle, McMinnville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Calsonic Yorozu Corporation and ITT Specialty Risk Services, Inc. Eric J. Burch, Manchester, Tennessee, for the appellee, Kecia Hill Judge: LOSER First Paragraph: This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. S50-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting of findings of fact and conclusions of law. In this appeal, the employer contends the evidence preponderates against the trial court's finding of a permanent injury related to the claimant's incident at work and the award of seven and one-half percent disability to the body. As discussed herein, the panel has concluded the judgment should be affirmed. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_WCP/hillkecial.wpd SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Court:TSC - Rules http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_Rules/certlist_0826.wpd THOMAS PONCHIK v. DON PAUL, et al. Court:TCA Attorneys: Thomas Ponchik, Pro Se Tom Anderson, Jackson, For Appellees, Corrections Corporation of America, Don Paul, Jamison Burvee, Charles Howard, Judith Polk, Georgia Cross, Fred Figueroa, Julie Bass, and Linda Cooper Judge: CRAWFORD First Paragraph: Plaintiff, an inmate at a correctional facility, filed a complaint against the facility's private management company and its employees, alleging violations of prisoner's rights under the United States Constitution. The trial court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Inmate appeals. We affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/ponchikt.wpd DEBBIE RISNER v. NATHAN HARRIS Court:TCA Attorneys: Bruce Moss, Union City, Tennessee, for the appellant, Nathan Harris. David L. Hamblen, Union City, Tennessee, for the appellee, Debbie Risner. Judge: LILLARD First Paragraph: This is an action to recover personal property. The plaintiff and defendant lived together for seventeen years. In November 1999, the plaintiff moved out. She left personal property in the trailer in which the couple was living, in the nearby convenience store owned by the defendant, and in a storage unit in another town. In August 2000, the convenience store caught on fire, and the plaintiff's personal property in the store was destroyed. Soon thereafter, the defendant took possession of the plaintiff's other personal property that had been held in the storage unit and called her to come get it. In November 2000, the plaintiff filed a warrant in general sessions court to recover her personal property from the defendant. She claimed that the defendant had prevented her from retrieving any of her personal property. She received a judgment which was appealed to circuit court. The circuit court entered a judgment in favor of the plaintiff, awarded damages, and ordered the defendant to return certain items to the plaintiff. The defendant now appeals. We reverse the trial court's decision with respect to two of the items ordered returned and the property that the plaintiff had kept in the storage unit in another town, and affirm the remainder of the order. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/risnerd.wpd MICHAEL O. BROWN v. STATE OF TENNESSEE CORRECTED OPINION: Fixes the cover page of the opinion to show that Judge Tipton has a separate concurring opinion Court:TCCA Attorneys: Merrilyn Feirman, Nashville, Tennessee, and Andrew Jackson Dearing, III, Shelbyville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Michael O. Brown. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Jennifer L. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney General; W. Michael McCown, District Attorney General; and Weakley E. Barnard and Ann Filer, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WITT First Paragraph: The petitioner, Michael O. Brown, appeals the Lincoln County Circuit Court's denial of post- conviction relief. In his post-conviction petition, he challenged his 1996 conviction of selling cocaine by alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Because the record supports the trial court's denial of post-conviction relief, we affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/brownm_opn.wpd MICHAEL O. BROWN v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA TIPTON CONCURRING http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/brownm_con.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JIMMY LEE KING Court:TCCA Attorneys: Stephen D. Jackson, Huntingdon, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Jimmy Lee King. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; J. Ross Dyer, Assistant Attorney General; G. Robert Radford, District Attorney General; and Beth Boswell, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WITT First Paragraph: Jimmy Lee King stands convicted of the attempted first-degree murder of Billy Dwayne Pace. King received his conviction at the conclusion of a jury trial in the Benton County Circuit Court, and he was sentenced to a 20-year incarcerative term. Claiming that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction, he has appealed. Because we are unpersuaded, we affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/kingj.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ERNEST WILLIE MAYS Court:TCCA Attorneys: Didi Christie, Brownsville, Tennessee (on appeal), and William B. Lockert, III, District Public Defender (at trial), for the appellant, Ernest Willie Mays. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General; Dan M. Alsobrooks, District Attorney General; and Suzanne M. Lockert, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: GLENN First Paragraph: The defendant, Ernest Willie Mays, pled guilty to sale of cocaine, a Class C felony, and was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to five years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. He appeals his sentence, arguing that it is excessive and that the trial court erred in (1) refusing to consider that less restrictive measures than incarceration had not been tried unsuccessfully, (2) not applying any mitigating factors, (3) finding that the offense constituted a criminal enterprise, and (4) considering the fact that he had four children out of wedlock. We affirm the sentence imposed by the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/maysernestw.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. WILSON NEELY Court:TCCA Attorneys: Marvin E. Ballin, Memphis, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Wilson Neely. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Lee Coffee, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WITT First Paragraph: Convicted at a jury trial of first-degree, premeditated murder and presently serving a life sentence, Wilson Neely appeals from the Shelby County Criminal Court. He claims that his conviction is improperly based upon uncorroborated and insufficient testimony of accomplices. Because we disagree, we affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/neelyw.wpd JOHN EARL SCALES v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: John Earl Scales, Pro Se, Only, Tennessee. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Kim R. Helper, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, District Attorney General; and Jon Seaborg, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: SMITH First Paragraph: The appellant, John Earl Scales, was convicted by a Davidson County jury of felony murder and attempted aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder with a concurrent three-year term for the attempted aggravated robbery conviction. On direct appeal this Court affirmed the convictions and sentences. State v. John Earl Scales, No. 01C01-9709-CR-00412 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Nashville Feb. 24, 1999), 1999 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 168, at *28. On November 20, 2000, Scales filed a petition for post-conviction relief. On December 19, 2000, the post-conviction court summarily dismissed the petition. From that dismissal the appellant perfected the instant appeal. We find that the post-conviction court erred in summarily dismissing the appellant's claims regarding the alleged ineffectiveness of his appellate counsel on the grounds of waiver or previous determination. Moreover, we find that the post-conviction court's order indicating that such allegations do not state "colorable claims" does not set forth with sufficient specificity the court's findings with regard to the allegations concerning the alleged ineffectiveness of appellate counsel. We therefore remand this case for entry of an appropriate order in accordance with this opinion. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/scalesjohn.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MICHAEL L. TAYLOR Court:TCCA Attorneys: Guy T. Wilkinson, District Public Defender; and Richard W. DeBerry, Assistant Public Defender, for the appellant, Michael L. Taylor. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Mark A. Fulks, Assistant Attorney General; G. Robert Radford, District Attorney General; and John W. Overton, Jr., Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WILLIAMS First Paragraph: Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, the defendant pled guilty to possession of crack cocaine with the intent to resell, distribute or manufacture, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and four counts of the sale of over .5 grams of crack cocaine. The defendant was sentenced as agreed to nine (9) years for each felony count and eleven months and twenty-nine days for each misdemeanor count. The agreement also provided that all of the sentences would be served concurrently for an effective nine-year sentence. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court denied alternative sentencing. In this appeal, the defendant challenges the denial of alternative sentencing. We affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/taylorml.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. VERNON DEWAYNE WALLER Court:TCCA Attorneys: C. Dawn Deaner and Joseph E. Clifton, Assistant Public Defenders, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Vernon Dewayne Waller. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael Moore, Solicitor General; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. (Torry) Johnson III, District Attorney General; and Bret Gunn, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: HAYES First Paragraph: A Davidson County jury convicted the Appellant, Vernon Dewayne Waller, of sale of a counterfeit controlled substance, a class E felony. The trial court sentenced Waller as a career offender to six years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, Waller presents the following issues for review: (1) Did the trial court err in ruling that if the Defendant chose to testify, his prior felony drug convictions would be admissible to impeach his credibility; (2) Did the trial court err in allowing the State to introduce a substance alleged to be cocaine and a lab report identifying it as such through a witness other than the technician who tested the substance; and (3) Did the trial court err in finding the Defendant was a career offender. After a review of the record, we find that Waller's issues are without merit. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/wallervernond.wpd Application of State Sales Tax Rate to Goods Delivered On or After July 15, 2002 Date: August 20, 2002 Opinion Number: 02-087 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2002/OP87.pdf TennCare Coverage of Drug Treatment Date: August 20, 2002 Opinion Number: 02-088 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2002/OP88.pdf Legality of Vending Machine Distributing Instant Win Cards Date: August 21, 2002 Opinion Number: 02-089 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2002/OP89.pdf PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL! GET A FULL-TEXT COPY OF AN OPINION! JOIN THE TENNESSEE BAR ASSOCIATION! SUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH! UNSUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH? ... SURELY NOT! But if you must, visit the TBALink web site at: http://www.tba.org/op-flash.mgi Home • Contact Us • PageFinder • What's New • Help |
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