Opinion FlashNovemmber 10, 2003Volume 9 — Number 206 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):
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. Howard H. Vogel SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Court:TSC - Rules http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_Rules/certlist_1110.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TAMMY HART Court:TCCA Attorneys: Thomas McKinney, Jr., Kingsport, Tennessee, for the appellant, Tammy Hart. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael Moore, Solicitor General; Brent C. Cherry, Assistant Attorney General; Joe C. Crumley, Jr., District Attorney General; Ken Baldwin and Tony Clark, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WEDEMEYER First Paragraph: The Johnson County Grand Jury indicted the Defendant, Tammy Hart, for child endangerment, vehicular homicide, and aggravated vehicular homicide after the Defendant's car collided "head-on" with another car, killing the other driver. A Johnson County jury convicted the Defendant of child endangerment and vehicular homicide. The Defendant waived her right to a jury trial on the third count of the indictment, and the trial court found the Defendant guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide and merged the vehicular homicide conviction with the aggravated vehicular homicide conviction. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to eleven months, twenty-nine days for child endangerment, all of which was suspended except for thirty days, and twenty-three years for the aggravated vehicular homicide conviction and ordered the sentences to run consecutively. On appeal, the Defendant contends the following: (1) that the trial court erred by denying the Defendant's motion to suppress her medical records; (2) that the trial court erred in admitting the Defendant's medical records into evidence; (3) that the Defendant's constitutional right of confrontation was violated by the admission of her medical records into evidence; and (4) that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to sustain her convictions. Finding no reversible error and concluding that sufficient evidence exists in the record to support the Defendant's convictions, we affirm the trial court's judgments. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/hartt.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. THERESA C. RUNION Court:TCCA Attorneys: Raymond Mack Garner, District Public Defender; and Shawn G. Graham, Assistant District Public Defender, for the appellant, Theresa C. Runion. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Jennifer L. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney General; Michael L. Flynn, District Attorney General; and Edward P. Bailey, Jr., Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: OGLE First Paragraph: The appellant pled guilty to simple burglary. At sentencing, the trial court imposed a two-year sentence with sixty days to be served in the county jail followed by probation. In this appeal, the appellant argues the trial court erred: (1) in denying judicial diversion; and (2) in denying full probation. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/runiont.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ANDREW PHILLIP STOVER Court:TCCA Attorneys: Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General; and Joe C. Crumley, Jr., District Attorney General, for the appellant, State of Tennessee. Mark D. Slagle, Johnson City, Tennessee, for the appellee, Andrew Phillip Stover. Judge: GLENN First Paragraph: The defendant pled guilty to the sale of less than .5 gram of a Schedule II controlled substance, a Class C felony, and two counts of the sale of a Schedule VI controlled substance, Class E felonies, receiving an effective sentence of five years in the Department of Correction. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court granted the defendant's request for judicial diversion, concluding he was eligible for diversion because he had not previously been convicted of a felony or a Class A misdemeanor and his history and circumstances demonstrated he was a suitable candidate for judicial diversion. The State appealed, arguing that the defendant was eligible for diversion only because the trial court modified his prior conviction from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class C misdemeanor. Following our review, we affirm the order of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/stoverandrewp.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROBERT MICHAEL WINTERS Court:TCCA Attorneys: Philip L. Duval and Melanie Snipes, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Robert Michael Winters. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Peter M. Coughlin, Assistant Attorney General; William H. Cox, III, District Attorney General; and Lila Statom and Dean Ferraro, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WITT First Paragraph: Robert Michael Winters appeals his Hamilton County convictions of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery relative to events which culminated in the death of Vernise Sheffield, for which the defendant is serving concurrent sentences of life with the possibility of parole and 12 years, respectively. In this direct appeal, Winters alleges that his convictions are unsupported by sufficient evidence, that the trial court erroneously instructed the jury on criminal responsibility, that the trial court erroneously admitted a letter from the defendant to his wife which was properly subject to the marital communications privilege, and that the trial court erroneously admitted a prior consistent statement to rehabilitate a state's witness. Because we are unconvinced that harmful error occurred, we affirm the defendant's first-degree felony murder and aggravated robbery convictions. However, instructional error with respect to the first-degree premeditated murder conviction requires that we reverse that count and remand for a new trial. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/wintersrobertm.wpd 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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