Opinion Flash

March 7, 2003
Volume 9 — Number 041

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
01	New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Court of Appeals
08	New Opinion(s) from the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals
06	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

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MASON MANOR APARTMENTS v. TAWANA ANTHONY

Court:TCA

Attorneys:  

Mary C. Mayham, Covington, For Appellant, Tawana Anthony

T.D. Forrester, Covington, For Appellee, Mason Manor Apartments                        

Judge: CRAWFORD

First Paragraph:

Appellee, a privately owned, government subsidized apartment complex,
filed an unlawful detainer action seeking to evict Appellant for
numerous infractions of the lease.  On the same day that the action
was filed, Appellee had given Notice to Vacate to Appellant.  The
Notice to Vacate gave Appellant thirty (30) days to vacate the
apartment.  The General Sessions Court of Tipton County and the
Circuit Court of Tipton County, on appeal, entered judgment for
possession in favor of Appellee.  Appellant appeals on the basis that
the unlawful detainer action was filed prematurely in light of the
additional thirty (30) days given by the Notice to Vacate.  We reverse
and remand.

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

								
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JARED MICHAEL CHRISTEIN
Corrected Opinion

Court:TCCA

Attorneys: 

Mark D. Slagle, Johnson City, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jared
Michael Christein.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney,
Assistant Attorney General;  H. Greeley Wells, Jr., District Attorney
General; and Doug Godbee, Assistant District Attorney General, for the
appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: MCGEE OGLE

First Paragraph:

The appellant, Jared Michael Christein, was convicted by a jury in the
Sullivan County Criminal Court of second degree murder, felony murder,
and especially aggravated robbery.  The appellant's second degree
murder conviction was merged into his felony murder conviction and he
was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Tennessee Department of
Correction.  The trial court also sentenced the appellant to
twenty-five years incarceration for the especially aggravated robbery
conviction.  On appeal, the appellant raises the following issues for
our review: whether sufficient evidence existed to support his
convictions and whether the trial court properly charged the jury on
the appropriate lesser-included offenses.  Upon review of the record
and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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

								
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROGER D. HARRISON

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Judson W. Phillips, Franklin, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Roger D.
Harrison.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael Moore,
Solicitor General; Christine M. Lapps, Assistant Attorney General;
Roger L. Davis, District Attorney General; and Matt Colvard, Assistant
District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.                         

Judge: HAYES

First Paragraph:

The Appellant, Roger D. Harrison, was convicted, following a bench
trial, of DUI, second offense.  On appeal, Harrison challenges his
conviction upon grounds that: (1) the trial court erred by denying his
motion to suppress evidence of driving under the influence because
there was insufficient probable cause to stop his vehicle and his
pre-arrest period of detention was excessive and unreasonable, and (2)
the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction.  Although not
raised as an issue on appeal, we find it necessary to address the
question of whether a federal law enforcement officer, when acting
beyond his assigned federal duties and jurisdiction, may lawfully stop
or seize a person who commits a state traffic offense in his presence.
 After review, we find the federal officer in this case had state
authority to stop Harrison's vehicle.  Moreover, finding Harrison's
issues on appeal without merit, the judgment of the trial court is
affirmed.

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

								
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CHARLES DAVID LONG

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Robert S. Peters, Winchester, Tennessee, for the appellant, Charles
David Long.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; P. Robin Dixon, Jr.,
Assistant Attorney General; J. Michael Taylor, District Attorney
General; and Steven M. Blount, Assistant District Attorney General,
for the appellee, State of Tennessee.                         

Judge: WELLES

First Paragraph:

Upon his plea of guilty, the Defendant was convicted of operating a
motor vehicle after having been ordered not to under the terms of the
Motor Vehicle Habitual Offenders Act.  For this Class E felony, the
Defendant was sentenced as a Range II multiple offender to serve four
years in the Department of Correction.  In this appeal, the Defendant
argues that the trial court erred by not allowing his sentence to be
served in community corrections.  We affirm the judgment of the trial
court.

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

								
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. STEVE PAIGE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys: 

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; P. Robin Dixon, Jr.,
Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney
General; Mike Davis, Assistant District Attorney General; and David
Zak, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellant, State of
Tennessee.

Steven W. Pittman, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellee, Steve Paige. 
                       
Judge: WOODALL

First Paragraph:

In an indictment returned by the Shelby County Grand Jury on August 9,
2001, Defendant, Steve Paige, was charged with two counts of
aggravated assault.  The indictment alleged that both offenses
occurred on January 16, 1999.  At a hearing on December 6, 2001, the
criminal court, sua sponte,  dismissed the indictment because of the
State's failure to prosecute.  In its order of dismissal, the criminal
court found that Defendant was arrested on January 16, 1999, the case
was bound over to the grand jury on May 25, 1999, but he was not
indicted until twenty-seven months later.  The trial court further
found that Defendant was arraigned on November 13, 2001, but the State
did not have a file on the case and it had to be continued twice for
that reason.  When the case was called on December 6, 2001, the State
could still not produce a file on the case.  Accordingly, the trial
court dismissed the case with prejudice for the State's failure to
prosecute pursuant to Rule 48(b) of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal
Procedure.  The State appealed.  After review, we affirm the trial
court's order dismissing the case, but reverse that portion of the
order dismissing the case with prejudice, and remand this case for the
trial court to enter an amended order dismissing the case without
prejudice.

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

								
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROBERT A. SISSON

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Joseph S. Ozment, Memphis, Tennessee, for appellant, Robert A. Sisson.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Braden H. Boucek,
Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney
General; and James Powell, Assistant District Attorney General, for
appellee, State of Tennessee.                        

Judge: SMITH

First Paragraph:

The appellant, Robert A. Sisson, pleaded guilty to third offense
driving under the influence of an intoxicant and was sentenced to
eleven months and twenty-nine days with actual incarceration for 120
days followed by probation.  The appellant, pursuant to Tennessee Rule
of Appellate Procedure 37(b)(2)(i), reserved a certified question of
law for appeal to this court.  That question is whether the 1998
amendments to Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-10-403(a)(1)
regarding penalties for D.U.I. convictions violate the ex-post facto
and/or due process clauses of the federal and state constitutions. 
Those amendments increase from ten to twenty years the age of prior
D.U.I. convictions that may be used to enhance D.U.I. penalties. 
Because we find that the defendant committed the instant offense after
the effective date of the amendments in question, we find no ex- post
facto or due process violations occurred in this case.  The judgment
of conviction is therefore affirmed.

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

								
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MARTEL THOMAS

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Lance R. Chism, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Martel Thomas.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; P. Robin Dixon, Jr.,
Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney
General; and Glenn Baity, Assistant District Attorney General, for the
appellee, State of Tennessee.                       

Judge: WOODALL

First Paragraph:

Appellant, Martel Thomas, filed a petition pursuant to Tennessee Code
Annotated section 55-10- 615(c), in which he moved the Criminal Court
of Shelby County to restore his privilege to operate a motor vehicle
in Tennessee.  In 1994, Appellant had been declared an Habitual Motor
Vehicle Offender.  In his petition, which is the subject of this
appeal, Appellant alleged that he did not have the requisite number of
prior convictions to establish his status as an Habitual Motor Vehicle
Offender.  The trial court denied the petition and this appeal
followed.  We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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

								
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. LOUIS G. TURNER

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:  

Cynthia M. Fort (on appeal) and G. Wayne Davis (at trial), Nashville,
Tennessee, for the appellant, Louis G. Turner.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Helena Walton
Yarbrough, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III,
District Attorney General; and Jason W. Lawless and Lisa Naylor, 
Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of
Tennessee.                        

Judge: RILEY

First Paragraph:

The defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence after being
convicted by a Davidson County jury of premeditated first degree
murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.  We affirm the judgment of
the trial court.

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

								
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RICKY WOODS

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:

Clifford K. McGown, Jr., Waverly, Tennessee (on appeal); George Morton
Googe, District Public Defender; and Stephen P. Spracher, Assistant
District Public Defender (at trial and on appeal), for the appellant,
Ricky Woods.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; John H. Bledsoe,
Assistant Attorney General; James G. (Jerry) Woodall, District
Attorney General; and Jody S. Pickens, Assistant District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.                        

Judge: RILEY

First Paragraph:

A Madison County jury convicted the defendant, Ricky Woods, of
aggravated burglary, theft of property valued over $500, and vandalism
of property under $500.  The trial court sentenced the defendant as a
Range II multiple offender for the convictions for aggravated burglary
and theft and imposed concurrent sentences of eight years for
aggravated burglary, three years for theft, and eleven months and
twenty-nine days for vandalism.  On appeal, the defendant contends (1)
the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions; and (2) the
sentences are excessive.  We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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

								
Interpretation of Tenn. Code Ann. SS 63-8-101, et seq.

Date: February 24, 2003

Opinion Number: 03-021                         

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2003/OP21.pdf
								

								
Licensure Requirements and Powers of Private Security Officers Who
Work for a Security Company Contracting With Federal, State or Local
Governments.

Date: February 25, 2003

Opinion Number: 03-022                         

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2003/OP22.pdf
								

								
Extraterritorial Zoning by Memphis and Shelby County under Growth Law

Date: February 25, 2003

Opinion Number: 03-023                         

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2003/OP23.pdf
								

								
Blount County Ordinance

Date: March 3, 2003

Opinion Number: 03-024                         

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2003/OP24.pdf
								

								
Annual Event for Several 501(c)(3) Organizations

Date: March 5, 2003

Opinion Number: 03-025                         

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2003/OP25.pdf
								

								
Charitable Lotteries: "Annual Event"

Date: March 5, 2003

Opinion Number: 03-026                         

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2003/OP26.pdf

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