Tennessee Bar Association Launches Campaign to Celebrate Constitution Week It's Constitution Week and Tennessee attorneys are talking to civic groups, school classes and other organizations about the importance of the constitution, the rule of law and our jury system. The effort is part of TBA President Bill Haltomâs ãStand Up and Deliverä initiative that encourages lawyers to remind citizens that what makes America great is not wealth, military might or national resources, but the rule of law. To make joining this effort easy, a sample Constitution Week speech and power point presentation are now posted on the TBA web site at: http://www.tba.org/standup    TODAY'S OPINIONS: Wednesday, September 21, 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. 01 - TN Supreme Court 00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals 00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules 06 - TN Court of Appeals 00 - 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 STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ANTONIO FULLER AND MARCELLUS BETTY Court: TSC Attorneys: Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; andElizabeth T. Ryan, Assistant Attorney General, for the Appellant, State of Tennessee. Thomas Jay Norman, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Antonio Fuller. Mike J. Urquhart, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Marcellus Betty. Judge: HOLDER The defendants were convicted of numerous offenses arising from a home invasion. We grantedreview to determine whether the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in reversing each defendantâs conviction for the especially aggravated kidnapping of one of the victims based on State v.Anthony, 817 S.W.2d 299 (Tenn. 1991). We conclude that the convictions do not violate due process under Anthony and its progeny. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court ofCriminal Appeals in part and reinstate the especially aggravated kidnapping convictions. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC/2005/fullerbetty92105.pdf WILL HENDERSON AND EXPRESS REFUNDS, INC., d/b/aHENDERSON TAX SERVICE v. CLEAR CHANNEL BROADCASTING, INC., JANICE FULLILOVE, AND BRUCE DEMPS Court: TCA Attorneys: Stephen R. Leffler, for the appellants Will Henderson and Express Refunds, Inc., d/b/a HendersonTax Service. Louis P. Britt and Keith R. Thomas, for the appellees Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc., JaniceFullilove, and Bruce Demps. Judge: KIRBY This is a defamation case. After listening to a local talk radio show, the plaintiffs filed alawsuit against the defendants, asserting that the defendants had broadcast defamatory material on the radio show concerning the plaintiffsâ business practices. There was no recording of the talkradio show. In a bench trial, many witnesses testified about statements made on the show. After the trial, the trial court found that there were so many different versions, there was no way todetermine what was actually said on the radio program. The trial court concluded that, assuming unflattering statements were made, they did not damage the plaintiffsâ reputations. The trial courtalso concluded that, even if the statements made were defamatory, the plaintiffs did not prove any injury. The plaintiffs appeal. We affirm, finding that the evidence does not preponderate againstthe trial courtâs decision. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/hendersonw92105.pdf STANLEY ARTHUR LAWSON v. VONDA LEA (LAWSON) MATTOX Court: TCA Attorneys: Mitchell Keith Siskin, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellant, Vonda Lea (Lawson) Mattox. Gary Wilton Nutt, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, for the appellee, Stanley Arthur Lawson. Judge: KOCH The mother has filed a Tenn. R. App. P. 10 application for an extraordinary appeal from an exparte Emergency Temporary Parenting Plan Order entered by the Chancery Court for Lawrence County on September 6, 2005. The mother asserts the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter theorder because it had transferred the case to the Chancery Court for Rutherford County in 2001. The father now agrees that the trial court lacks jurisdiction. We grant the application for anextraordinary appeal and vacate the Emergency Temporary Parenting Plan Order. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/lawsons92105.pdf BRENDA AND STANLEY MORRISON v. CITIZEN STATE BANK Court: TCA Attorneys: Hallie H. McFadden, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the appellants, Brenda and Stanley Morrison. J. Harvey Cameron, Jasper, Tennessee, for the appellee, Citizen State Bank. Judge: CLEMENT This is the third action between Stanley Morrison and Citizen State Bank concerning a series ofpromissory notes and security agreements. In the first action, Citizen State Bank filed a civil warrant in General Sessions Court against Stanley Morrison to recover a deficiency judgmentand repossess a truck that was collateral on a series of loans. The bank obtained a default judgment against Morrison and repossessed the truck when Morrison failed to appear in court.Morrison failed to timely appeal the default judgment. Thereafter, Morrison and his wife filed this action challenging the validity of the default judgment and seeking damages for fraud,misrepresentation, and conversion of property, contending four of six promissory notes and security agreements that the judgment was based upon were forgeries. The trial court held thisaction was barred by res judicata and dismissed it on summary judgment. We affirm the dismissal of this action on the basis of collateral estoppel. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/morrisonb92105.pdf MELVIN PERRY v.BRUCE WESTBROOKS, WARDEN, AND THE WEST TENNESSEE STATE PENITENTIARY DISCIPLINARY BOARD Court: TCA Attorneys: Melvin Perry, appellant, pro se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, and Arthur Crownover, II, Nashville,Tennessee, for the appellees, Bruce Westbrooks, Warden, and the West Tennessee State Penitentiary Disciplinary Board. Judge: KIRBY This is a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a prison inmate. The petitioner prisoner wasfound guilty on the charge of ãfailure to participateä in work as instructed by a prison official. He lost his prison job and was sentenced to a brief period of segregation and a $5.00 fine. Afterexhausting his administrative appeals, he filed an application for a writ of certiorari in the trial court, naming as respondents the warden and the disciplinary board. The trial court granted therespondentsâ motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The petitioner now appeals. We reverse and remand to the trial court for issuance ofthe writ. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/perrym92105.pdf THE TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY OF AMERICA, ET AL. v.MOORE & ASSOCIATES, INC. Court: TCA Attorneys: Kenneth S. Schrupp, Nashville, Tennessee, Paul Owens, Linda B. Foster, Atlanta, Georgia, forthe appellants, The Travelers Indemnity Company of America, Travelers Property Casualty Company of America f/k/a The Travelers Indemnity Company of Illinois, and The PhoenixInsurance Company. Eugene N. Bulso, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Moore & Associates, Inc. Judge: CAIN The insurer of a general construction contractor brought an action for a declaration that it had noduty to defend or indemnify the contractor against the claims raised against the contractor in ademand for arbitration. The Chancery Court for Sumner County, Tennessee, Judge Tom E. Gray, granted summary judgment to the contractor, holding that the insurer, as a matter of law,had a duty to defend the contractor in the arbitration. The court reserved ruling on whether theinsurer had a duty to indemnify the contractor for damages paid as a result of the arbitration settlement until after the arbitration proceeding. This Court affirms the trial courtâs judgment inall respects. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/travelers92105.pdf FREDERICK MARTIN UMANS v. DEBORAH LYNNE UMANS OPINION ON PETITION TO REHEAR Court: TCA Attorneys: Judge: COTTRELL Appellee, Deborah Umans, filed a Petition to Rehear her request for attorneyâs feesincurred on appeal. On August 23, 2005, this Court entered its Memorandum Opinion denying Mr. Umansâs appeal regarding child support, alimony, and attorneyâs fees awarded Ms. Umansby the trial court. Mr. Umans was successful only in appealing the trial courtâs finding of criminal contempt. The opinion did not address Ms. Umansâs request for attorneyâs feesincurred on appeal. OPINION ON PETITION TO REHEAR http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/umansf92105.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! 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