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, October 17, 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 01 - TN Supreme Court - Rules 03 - TN Court of Appeals 01 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals 04 - 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 ABU-ALI ABDURâRAHMAN v. PHIL BREDESEN, ET AL. Court: TSC Attorneys: Bradley A. MacLean and Cynthia W. MacLean, Nashville, Tennessee, and William P. Redick, Jr., Whites Creek, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Abu-Ali AbdurâRahman. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Joseph F. Whalen, Associate Solicitor General; and Stephanie R. Reevers, Associate Deputy Attorney General, for the Appellees, Phil Bredesen, Quenton White, Ricky Bell, Virginia Lewis, and Tennessee Department of Correction. Stephen J. Zraleck and Melody Fowler-Green, Nashville, Tennessee, for Amici Curiae, American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and Sidelines Newspaper. Peter D. Heil, Nashville, Tennessee, for Amicus Curiae, Tennessee Medical Professionals. Judge: ANDERSON We granted review to address several issues regarding the Tennessee Department of Correctionâs protocol for executing inmates who have been sentenced to death by lethal injection. After our review of the record and applicable authority, we conclude that the lethal injection protocol in Tennessee, which includes intravenous injections of sodium Pentothal, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride, (1) does not violate the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution or article I, section 16 of the Tennessee Constitution, (2) does not violate due process provisions under the United States or Tennessee Constitutions, (3) does not deny access to the courts in violation of the United States or Tennessee Constitutions, (4) does not violate the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, (5) does not violate the Nonlivestock Animal Humane Death Act, (6) does not violate provisions governing the practice of medicine and provision of healthcare services, and (7) does not violate the Drug Control Act or Pharmacy Practice Act. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC/2005/rahmana101705.pdf SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Court: TSC-Rules http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_Rules/2005/certlist101705.pdf ANDRE MATTHEWS v. SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT Court: TCA Attorneys: Gerald S. Green of Memphis for Appellant, Andre Matthews M. Dell Stiner, Assistant Shelby County Attorney, for Appellee, Shelby County Government Judge: CRAWFORD Appellant filed suit against the county alleging violations of the Tennessee Human RightsAct, and the case was dismissed for failure to prosecute. Approximately three years later, Appellant filed a Tenn. R. Civ. P. 60.02 motion for relief from the order of dismissal. The trialcourt denied the motion, and Appellant appeals. We affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/matthewsa101705.pdf JASON SIMMS v. INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH AMERICA Court: TCA Attorneys: J. Arnold Fitzgerald and Andrew F. Tucker, Dayton, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Jason Simms. Thomas E. LeQuire and Robert C. Denny, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Insurance Company of North America. Judge: LEE The issue in this case is whether the trial court correctly granted the Defendant Insurance Company of North America (ãICNAä) summary judgment based on its finding that the claimant, Jason Simms, failed to follow the loss provisions of the insurance policy and that ICNAâs agent did not possess authority to waive the loss provisions. We hold there exists a genuine issue of material fact regarding the apparent authority of ICNAâs agent, and therefore vacate the summary judgment and remand for trial. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/simmsj101705.pdf GARY JOHN WHITE, JR., ET AL. v. JERRY KELVIN FARLEY Court: TCA Attorneys: Clark Lee Shaw, Marco Island, Florida, and Steven D. Qualls, Cookeville, Tennessee, for the Appellants, Gary John White, Jr. and Doreen Klimo White. Allison M. Barker, Crossville, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Jerry Kevin Farley. Judge: LEE This appeal involves the parental rights of a father to his eight-year-old daughter. When the child was approximately 17 months old, the mother moved with the child to Ohio. The father did not know their whereabouts for many months. In the partiesâ divorce, the mother was awarded custody of the child and the father was awarded specific visitation privileges. The father failed to exercise his visitation rights and failed to visit or support the child for more than four months. The mother, who had remarried, filed a petition to terminate the fatherâs rights on the grounds of abandonment. Father presented proof at trial of his meager earnings due to a physical impairment, limited education and the loss of his job. Father also presented proof that he had tried to contact the child by telephone but was unable to do so. The trial court declined to terminate the fatherâs parental rights because there had not been proof by clear and convincing evidence of abandonment or that termination of the fatherâs parental rights was in the childâs best interest. After a careful review of the record and the applicable law, we agree with the trial court that the fatherâs lack of visitation and support was not willful and that termination of the fatherâs parental rights was not in the childâs best interest. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/whiteg101705.pdf STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MICHAEL LEBRON ANDERSON CORRECTED OPINION - ORIGINALLY ISSUED 1-27-2005 Court: TCCA Attorneys: Ardena J. Garth, District Public Defender; Donna Robinson Miller and Lorrie Miller; AssistantDistrict Public Defenders, for the appellant, Michael Lebron Anderson. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Assistant Attorney General;William Cox, District Attorney General; and Bob Patterson, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: MCLIN The defendant, Michael Lebron Anderson, was convicted of burglary of a building other than ahabitation, a Class D felony, and was sentenced to twelve years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant contends that the trial court erred by allowing hearsay statements ofeyewitnesses to be introduced through the testimony of a police officer as an excited utterance, thereby violating his right to confront witnesses against him. After careful review of the recordand the partiesâ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. CORRECTED OPINION http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/andersonm101705.pdf Public Records: Access to Recordings of 911 Calls and Law Enforcement Radio Transmissions TN Attorney General Opinions Date: 2005-10-13 Opinion Number: 05-155 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2005/op155.pdf Delinquent Tax Sales Conducted by Clerk and Master TN Attorney General Opinions Date: 2005-10-13 Opinion Number: 05-156 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2005/op156.pdf Conflict of Law - Mental Capacity TN Attorney General Opinions Date: 2005-10-14 Opinion Number: 05-157 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2005/op157.pdf Tenn. Code Ann. ¤ 49-2-301(b)(GG) TN Attorney General Opinions Date: 2005-10-14 Opinion Number: 05-158 http://www.tba.org/tba_files/AG/2005/op158.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. 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