Dial in to great CLE seminars The TennBarU Teleseminar series offers you the chance to hear leading national experts discuss timely topics from the convenience of your office or home. All TennBarU Teleseminars are broadcast via telephone at noon central time. http://www.tba.org/TennBarU    TODAY'S OPINIONS: Monday, September 19, 2005 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. 00 - TN Supreme Court 00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals 00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules 00 - TN Court of Appeals 07 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals 00 - TN Attorney General Opinions 00 - Judicial Ethics Opinions 00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR 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 or need to obtain a password, you can look it up on-line at http://www.tba.org/getpassword.mgi Here's how you can obtain full-text version. We recommend you download the Opinions to your computer and then open them from there. Click the URL at end of each Opinion paragraph below. This should give you the option to download the original document. If not, you may need to right-click on the URL to get the option to save the file to your computer. Do a key word search in the Search Link area of TBALink. This option will allow you to view and save a plain-text version of the opinion. Browse the Opinion List area of TBALink. This option will allow you to download the original version of the opinion. Howard H. Vogel Knoxville, Tennessee Editor-in-Chief, TBALink AARON T. BURTON v. VIRGINIA LEWIS, WARDEN Court: TCCA Attorneys: Aaron T. Burton, Pikeville, Tennessee, Pro se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Seth P. Kestner, Assistant Attorney General; James Michael Taylor, District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WITT The petitioner, Aaron T. Burton, appeals from the trial court's order dismissing his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The state has filed a motion requesting that this court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The petitioner has failed to establish that he is entitled to habeas corpus relief. Accordingly, the state's motion is granted and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/burtona91905.pdf JUAN ALFONZO HILL v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court: TCCA Attorneys: William L. Francisco, Johnson City, Tennessee, for the appellant, Juan Alfonzo Hill. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David E. Coenen, Assistant Attorney General; Joe C. Crumley, Jr., District Attorney General; and Dennis Brooks, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: MCLIN The petitioner appeals from the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. On appeal, he contends that: (1) he was denied the effective assistance of trial counsel, and (2) the post-conviction court and the district attorney general erred in failing to comply with the Post Conviction Procedure Act, which caused him prejudice. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction court denying post-conviction relief. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/hillj91905.pdf STATE OF TENNESSEE v. NATHANIEL ROBINSON, JR. Court: TCCA Attorneys: Stephen M. Wallace, District Public Defender; and Terry Jordan, Assistant District Public Defender, for the Appellant, Nathaniel Robinson, Jr. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Assistant Attorney General; H. Greeley Wells, Jr., District Attorney General; and B. Todd Martin, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WITT The defendant, Nathaniel Robinson, Jr., stands convicted of driving under the influence (DUI), third offense and driving on a revoked license, second or subsequent offense. For these convictions, the trial court imposed two consecutive sentences of 11 months and 29 days. The court ordered that the sentence for driving on a revoked license be suspended upon service of the sentence for driving under the influence; that the defendant be eligible for release after 75 percent service; and that fines imposed by the jury be reduced to $1,000 for each offense. After the defendantâs motion for a new trial was denied, he timely filed a notice of appeal. On appeal, he challenges the validity of a pretrial hearing, the denial of a motion to dismiss, jury instructions on the stateâs duty to preserve evidence, and the denial of alternative sentencing. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the lower court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/robinsonn91905.pdf STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JEFFERY SCOTT SHERRILL Court: TCCA Attorneys: Phillip A. Condra, District Public Defender; and B. Jeffery Harmon, Assistant District PublicDefender, for the Appellant, Jeffery Scott Sherrill. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Seth P. Kestner, Assistant Attorney General;and James Michael Taylor, District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WITT The defendant, Jeffery Scott Sherrill, pleaded guilty to second degree murder. After conductinga sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the defendant to serve a 25-year sentence as a Range I violent offender. Aggrieved of his sentence, the defendant brings the instant appealchallenging his sentence as excessive. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the lower court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/sherrillj91905.pdf STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JERRY DALE TIGNER, JR. Court: TCCA Attorneys: C. Anne Tipton, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jerry Dale Tigner, Jr. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Assistant AttorneyGeneral; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Lance E. Webb, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WILLIAMS The defendant, Jerry Dale Tigner, Jr., was indicted for second degree murder, a Class A felony,and was convicted by a jury as charged and sentenced as a Range I, violent offender to seventeen years in confinement. The defendant appeals his conviction and sentence, claiming that: (1) theevidence is insufficient to support the conviction; (2) the sequential jury instructions on second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter are unconstitutional; (3) the trial court erred insentencing by failing to consider all mitigating factors; and (4) the State committed Brady violations with regard to a witness. Upon review, we find no reversible error and affirm theconviction and sentence. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/tignerj91905.pdf XAVIER S. TODD v. STATE OF TENNESSEE, COUNTY OF SHELBYAND DISTRICT ATTY. GENERAL PAUL SUMMERS Court: TCCA Attorneys: Xavier S. Todd, pro se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Brian Clay Johnson, Assistant AttorneyGeneral, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WILLIAMS The Petitioner, Xavier S. Todd, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for habeas corpusrelief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. After review, we concludethat the Petitioner is statutorily prohibited from seeking state habeas corpus relief as he is in federal custody and is being restrained under an order of a federal court. Accordingly, the State'smotion is granted and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/toddx91905.pdf STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DARNELL LAVELLE WELCH AKA "PLATINUM" Court: TCCA Attorneys: Gary F. Antrican, District Public Defender, and David S. Stockton, Assistant Public Defender,for the appellant, Darnell Lavelle Welch aka ãPlatinum.ä Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; J. Ross Dyer, Assistant Attorney General;Elizabeth T. Rice, District Attorney General; and David S. Stockton, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WILLIAMS The defendant, Darnell Lavelle Welch, was indicted for premeditated first degree murder. Ajury convicted the defendant as charged, and he was sentenced to life in prison. The defendant now appeals his conviction, alleging that the evidence was insufficient to support the convictionin two respects: (1) that self-defense was not rebutted beyond a reasonable doubt; and (2) that premeditation was not proven. Upon review, we conclude that the jury was justified in rejectingself-defense and in finding that the defendant acted with premeditation in killing the victim. Therefore, the defendantâs conviction is affirmed. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/welchd91905.pdf   PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL! Feel free to forward this Opinion Flash on to anyone you know of with an e-mail address. GET A FULL-TEXT COPY OF AN OPINION! See the instructions at the beginning of this edition of Opinion Flash. JOIN THE TENNESSEE BAR ASSOCIATION! While Opinion Flash is a free service of the Tennessee Bar Association, you must be a member of the Tennessee Bar Association in order to access the full text of the opinions or enjoy the many other features of TBALink. To join the TBA go to: http://www.tba.org/join_bar.mgi SUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH! Would you like to receive the TBALink Opinion Flash free each day by e-mail? Anyone, whether a TBA member or not, is welcome to subscribe ... it's free! Sign up for text or HTML version. Visit the TBALink web site at: http://www.tba.org/op-flash.mgi UNSUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH? ... SURELY NOT! But if you must, visit the TBALink web site at: http://www.tba.org/op-flash.mgi TBALink Home • Contact Us • PageFinder • What's New • Help © Copyright 2005 Tennessee Bar Association