Opinion FlashSeptember 21, 2004Volume 10 — Number 182 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 BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE v. EDWARD A. SLAVIN, JR. CORRECTED OPINION Court:TSC Attorneys: Edward A. Slavin, Jr., St. Augustine, Florida, and David A. Stuart, Clinton, Tennessee, for the appellant, Edward A. Slavin, Jr. Laura L. Chastain, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Board of Professional Responsibility. Judge: BIRCH First Paragraph: We have this case on direct appeal pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, section 1.3, from an order of the Chancery Court suspending Edward A. Slavin, Jr., Esq., from the practice of law for three years. Slavin appeals, raising the following issues: (1) whether Chancellor Richard E. Ladd erred in refusing to recuse himself; (2) whether Slavin's in-court speech is protected by the First Amendment; and (3) whether the sanctions imposed by the Chancellor are excessive. CORRECTED OPINION http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC/slavinedward.wpd SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Court:TSC - Rules http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_Rules/certlist_0920.wpd MICHAELA BABB v. HAMILTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION Court:TCA Attorneys: Jeffrey D. Boehm, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Michaela Babb D. Scott Bennett, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Hamilton County Board of Education Judge: LEE First Paragraph: This is a suit brought by a school teacher against the Hamilton County Board of Education under the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act wherein the teacher alleges negligence on the part of the Board of Education as a result of an assault on her by a student who was re-enrolled in school and re-placed in her classroom despite the fact the student had assaulted her the previous month and been suspended from school. The trial court granted the Board of Education's motion for summary judgment. We hold that the decision to place the student back in the teacher's classroom, despite the previous assault, was a discretionary action for which the Board of Education was immune from liability. Accordingly, we affirm and remand to the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/babbmich.wpd SHEILA FRAZIER, ET AL. v. LEWIS COUNTY BEER BOARD Court:TCA Attorneys: J. Todd Faulkner and K. Cody Allison, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Sheila Frazier and Dwight Frazier. Wm. Landis Turner, Hohenwald, Tennessee, for the appellee, The Lewis County Beer Board. Judge: KOCH First Paragraph: This appeal involves a dispute between the owners of a convenience store and the Lewis County Beer Board over a permit to sell beer. After the Beer Board denied their application because their store was within two thousand feet of a church, the owners filed a petition for review in the Chancery Court for Lewis County asserting that the Beer Board was selectively enforcing its distance rule. The owners appealed after the trial court granted the Beer Board's motion to dismiss. We have determined that this appeal is now moot because the persons applying for the permit sold the store while this appeal was pending. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/fraziersheila.wpd IN THE MATTER OF: J.J.S., O.J.S., A.L.S., AND C.M.S. Court:TCA Attorneys: Janet D. Powell; M. Keith Siskin, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellants, J.S. and M.S. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Douglas Earl Dimond, Senior Counsel, for the appellee, State of Tennessee, Department of Children's Services. Judge: COTTRELL First Paragraph: Because of questions regarding the trial court's denial of appointed counsel in this proceeding that resulted in the termination of parental rights, the Department of Children's Services has acknowledged that the trial court's judgment must be vacated. We agree. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/jjsojs.wpd IN RE: THE ESTATE OF DILLARD PHILLIPS, Deceased, LEROY PHILLIPS, v. CORA CHITWOOD Court:TCA Attorneys: Brian J. Hunt, and Mark S. Cizek, Clinton, Tennessee, for Appellant. Johnny V. Dunaway, LaFollette, Tennessee, for Appellee. Judge: FRANKS First Paragraph: In this action to contest a Will, the Trial Court granted proponent summary judgment. On appeal, we vacate and remand. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/phillipsdest.wpd IN RE: P.M. Court:TCA Attorneys: Dana Michelle Ausbrooks, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellant, J.M., the father. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; and Brent M. Hayes and Richard M. Murrell, Assistant Attorney Generals, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Robert H. Plummer, Jr., Franklin, Tennessee, Guardian Ad Litem. Judge: CLEMENT First Paragraph: Father appeals termination of his parental rights. Father conceded and the juvenile court found that grounds exist for termination of Father's parental rights. The juvenile court also found that termination of Father's parental rights was in the child's best interest. Father appeals the finding that termination was in the child's best interest. We affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/pm.wpd DEBORAH LYNN (KATZ) SMITH v. STEVEN WHITE SMITH Court:TCA Attorneys: Michael W. Edwards, Russell E. Edwards, Hendersonville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Deborah Lynn (Katz) Smith. Roger A. Sindle, Hendersonville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Steven White Smith. Judge: COTTRELL First Paragraph: Wife appeals the trial court's distribution of marital property as inequitable in view of her contribution to the acquisition of the only significant asset, the marital home. The trial court clearly recognized that without Wife's contribution from her separate property, the parties would have been unable to buy the house. We modify the trial court's award of the equity in the house and affirm as modified. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/smithdeborahl.wpd IN RE: T.A.R. AND D.F.R. Court:TCA Attorneys: Kelli Barr Summers, Brentwood, Tennessee; J. Stephen Mills, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, V.R.H. and B.R. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Juan G. Villasenor, Assistant Attorney General, for the appellee, Tennessee Department of Children's Services. Thomas H. Miller, guardian ad litem. Judge: COTTRELL First Paragraph: The trial court terminated the parental rights of both Mother and Father, and both appealed. Because statutory grounds were proved by clear and convincing evidence and it was also shown by clear and convincing evidence that termination of parental rights was in the best interest of the children, we affirm the decision of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/tardfr.wpd SYLVESTER YOUNG, v. BANK ONE, N.A. Court:TCA Attorneys: Sylvester Young, pro se. William Timothy Hill, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee. Judge: FRANKS First Paragraph: The Trial Court awarded possession to purchaser of property at foreclosure sale and dismissed possessor's action to rescind foreclosure. On appeal, we affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/youngsilv.wpd DORIAN SORIANO BAUTISTA v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: S. Jason Whatley, Columbia, Tennessee, for the appellant, Dorian Soriano Bautista. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth T. Ryan, Senior Counsel; William Michael McCown, District Attorney General; and Michael David Randles, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: TIPTON First Paragraph: The petitioner, Dorian Soriano Bautista, appeals from the Bedford County Circuit Court's dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief from his conviction for theft over one thousand dollars, a Class D felony. He contends that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorneys failed to explain to him the adverse consequences that his guilty plea and conviction could have on his resident alien status, which led to his deportation. We affirm the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/bautistadorians.wpd RAYMOND MITCHELL v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court:TCCA
Attorneys:
Jack Davis, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Raymond Mitchell.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney,
Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney
General; and Dan Hamm, Assistant District Attorney General, for the
appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: GLENN
First Paragraph:
The petitioner, Raymond Mitchell, was convicted in 1996 of two counts
of rape and one count of attempted rape. He pled nolo contendere to a
third rape charge, which was reduced to sexual battery. He received a
total effective sentence of fifteen years as a Range I, standard
offender, and his convictions were affirmed on direct appeal.
Subsequently, he filed a petition for declaratory judgment in the
Chancery Court for Davidson County, alleging he was entitled to earn
sentence reduction credits and challenging his classification as a
"multiple rapist." The trial court dismissed the petition and he
appealed. The Court of Appeals held that the Department of Correction
("DOC") did not err by classifying the petitioner as a multiple rapist
and determining he was not eligible for sentence reduction credits.
The petitioner then filed a petition for post-conviction relief,
alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct,
improper jury instructions, double jeopardy violations, and again
challenging the sentence enforcement by the DOC. Following a hearing,
the post-conviction court denied the petition, and this appeal
followed. We affirm the order of the post-conviction court denying
the petition but remand for entry of corrected judgments in Counts 2
and 3 to reflect that the petitioner is a "multiple rapist," and his
sentences are to be served as such.
http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/mitchellraymond.wpd
THOMAS R. WARREN, JR. v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Thomas R. Warren, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee, Pro Se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Jennifer L. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney General; and Lawrence Ray Whitley, District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: TIPTON First Paragraph: The petitioner, Thomas R. Warren, Jr., appeals the Sumner County Criminal Court's dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. He claims that the trial court erred by denying his petition to test evidence pursuant to T.C.A. S 40-30-303 (2003), the Post-Conviction DNA Analysis Act of 2001. We affirm the trial court's dismissal of the petition. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/warrenthomasr.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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