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Mock Trial Underway; Justice Wade to Preside Over Finals
The 32nd annual Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Competition kicks off today at the Historic Davidson County Courthouse in Nashville. After prevailing at district competitions throughout the month of February, 13 teams from across the state are battling for the state championship title and the right to represent Tennessee at the National Mock Trial Competition May 3-6 in Albuquerque, N.M. The competition will wrap up Saturday evening with the championship round, which will be presided over by Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Gary Wade.
The lineup of teams is: Beech High School, Hendersonville; Chattanooga Southeast Tennessee Home Education Association (CSTHEA); Chattanooga; Columbia Academy, Columbia; Dyersburg High School, Dyersburg; Harpeth Hall, Nashville; Jefferson County High School, Dandridge; Kingsport Area Christian Home Education Association (KACHEA), Kingsport; McCallie School, Chattanooga; Montgomery Bell Academy, Nashville; Ravenwood High School, Brentwood; St. George's Independent School, Memphis; St. Mary’s Episcopal School, Memphis; and West High School, Knoxville. Watch for competition results on Monday. Learn more about mock trial
Today's Opinions
Click on the category of your choice to view summaries of today’s opinions from that court, or other body. A link at the end of each case summary will let you download the full opinion in PDF format.
You can obtain full-text versions of the opinions two ways. We recommend that you download the Opinions to your computer and then open them from there. 1) 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.
TN Court of Appeals
THE ESTATE OF NOEL C. HUNT, III, H. WAYNE GRANT, EXECUTOR v. TRISHA L. JOLLEY HUNT
Court: TN Court of Appeals
Attorneys:
Steven W. Grant, Kathleen V. Gibson and John P. Konvalinka, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for
the appellant, The Estate of Noel C. Hunt, III, H. Wayne Grant, Executor.
Marvin B. Berke and Megan C. England, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the appellee, Trisha
L. Jolley Hunt.
Appellant Estate sought declaratory judgment against Appellee widow for return of proceeds from the widow and Decedent’s jointly filed federal and state tax returns. The Estate contends that, under an Antenuptial Agreement entered by and between Decedent and Appellee, the income tax refunds were Decedent’s separate property, which thus belong to the Estate. Appellee widow contends that the filing of a joint tax return transmuted the separate property into marital property and, in the alternative, that a tenancy by the entirety was created in the tax refunds. The trial court found that, although the tax refunds were Decedent’s separate property under the Antenuptial Agreement, part of those proceeds should, nonetheless, pass to the wife. We conclude that the filing of a joint tax return does not create a property right, and that a tenancy by the entirety was not established. Consequently, as Decedent’s separate property, the tax refunds should have been awarded to the Estate. Reversed and remanded.
TN Court of Criminal Appeals
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CHRISTOPHER M. BLACK
Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals
Attorneys:
Richard Tennent, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Defendant-Appellant, Christopher M. Black.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth Bingham Marney, Assistant
Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; Deborah Housel and
Roger Moore, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Defendant-Appellant, Christopher M. Black, was convicted by a Davidson County Jury of two counts of aggravated rape, a Class A felony, and two counts of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony. For each aggravated rape conviction, Black received a twenty-year sentence to be served consecutively to one another. For each aggravated robbery conviction, Black received a ten-year sentence to be served concurrently with one another. The trial court ordered the aggravated rape sentences to be served consecutively to the aggravated robbery sentences, for an effective sentence of fifty years. On appeal, Black 1 argues that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions; (2) the prosecution failed to establish a legitimate chain of custody for the evidence swabs collected from the crime scene; (3) it was constitutionally improper to allow a witness, Dwight Brewer, to identify Black at trial; (4) it was improper to admit proof of the original “CODIS hit” without establishing a chain of custody; and (5) the imposition of consecutive sentencing was improper. We affirm Black’s convictions but remand for a resentencing hearing regarding Black’s sentencing status with respect the 2005 sentencing act and regarding the issue of consecutive sentencing.
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CHRISTOPHER M. BLACK
Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals
Attorneys:
Richard L. Tennent, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Christopher M. Black.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Leslie E. Price, Assistant Attorney
General; Victor S. (Torry) Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Roger D. Moore,
Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
The defendant, Christopher Black, was convicted by a Davidson County jury of two counts of aggravated rape, a Class A felony, and two counts of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony, and sentenced to an effective term of fifty years imprisonment. On direct appeal, this court affirmed the convictions but remanded for a resentencing hearing “regarding [the defendant’s] sentencing status with respect to the 2005 sentencing act and regarding the issue of consecutive sentencing.” State v. Christopher M. Black, No. M2007-00970-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Crim. App., at Nashville, Feb. 26, 2010). Following a hearing on remand, the trial court, applying the single enhancement factor for prior criminal history, sentenced the defendant to twenty-five years for each count of aggravated rape and to ten years for each count of aggravated robbery. The court further found the defendant to be a dangerous offender and ordered that the two aggravated rapes be served consecutively, but concurrently to the sentences for robbery, again resulting in an effective sentence of fifty years. On appeal, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in the imposition of consecutive sentences. Following review of the record, we find no error and affirm the sentences as imposed.
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROBERT WAYNE COOPER
Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals
Attorneys:
Roger E. Nell, District Public Defender; Charles S. Bloodworth, Assistant Public Defender,
Clarksville, Tennessee, for the Defendant-Appellant, Robert Wayne Cooper.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Meredith Devault, Senior Counsel;
John W. Carney, Jr., District Attorney General; Arthur Bieber and Timothy J. Peters,
Assistant District Attorneys General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
The Defendant-Appellant, Robert Wayne Cooper, entered guilty pleas to four counts of burglary, a Class D felony, in the Montgomery County Circuit Court. The trial court sentenced him to forty-two months for each count, imposed concurrent sentences for three of the burglary counts, and ordered that these sentences be served consecutively to the remaining burglary count, for an effective sentence of eighty-four months in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, Cooper argues that the trial court erred by: (1) imposing a partially consecutive sentence alignment, and (2) imposing a sentence of total confinement. Upon review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments.
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. LATROY LEE ROBERTSON
Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals
Attorneys:
William E. Griffith (on appeal); and Thomas A. Longaberger (at plea and sentencing),
Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Latroy Lee Robertson.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Meredith Devault, Assistant Attorney
General; Victor S. Johnson III, District Attorney General; and Pamela Sue Anderson,
Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
In this delayed appeal, the defendant contends that the trial court erred by imposing a fullyincarcerative sentence of 12 years following his pleas of guilty to three counts of the sale of .5 grams or more of cocaine and three counts of the sale of 26 grams or more of cocaine. Discerning no error, we affirm.
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. BRANDON LLOYD RUSSELL
Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals
Attorneys:
Dan R. Alexander, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Defendant-Appellant, Brandon Lloyd
Russell.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; John H. Bledsoe, Senior Counsel;
Victor S. (Torry) Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Robert Homlar, Assistant
District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Following a bench trial, the Defendant-Appellant, Brandon Lloyd Russell, was convicted of two counts of violating a commercial fishing proclamation that prohibited cutting paddlefish to check for eggs or “roe.” The trial court sentenced Russell to two consecutive six-month sentences, which the trial court suspended and ordered him to serve on probation. In addition, the trial court allowed the State to retain the property that was seized as a part of these offenses, ordered Russell to serve eighty hours of community service, and suspended Russell’s hunting and fishing license for three years and his commercial fishing license for six years, retroactive to the date of the offenses. On appeal, Russell argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the charges because: (1) the General Assembly, in enacting Tennessee Code Annotated section 70-4-102, unlawfully delegated its legislative authority to enact criminal law, thereby violating the constitutional separation of powers doctrine; (2) the relevant wildlife proclamations were not valid because the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission was improperly constituted at the time that the proclamations were enacted; and (3) he had insufficient notice of the wildlife proclamations and, therefore, insufficient notice of the criminal offenses with which he was charged. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
MAURICE WILSON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals
Attorneys:
Maurice Wilson, Nashville, Tennessee, Pro Se.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Assistant Attorney
General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; Bret Gunn, Assistant District
Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
This matter is before the Court upon the State’s motion to affirm the judgment of the trial court by memorandum opinion pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner, Maurice Wilson, appeals the trial court’s dismissal of his motion to reopen his petition for post-conviction relief. Upon a review of the record, we are persuaded that the trial court was correct in finding that the Petitioner is not entitled to reopen his petition. This case meets the criteria for affirmance pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Accordingly, the State’s motion is granted, and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
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General Assembly News
'Conversation' Starts on Judicial Selection
Legislation, characterized by backers as a “conversation starter” on judicial selection, quickly emerged and cleared its first hurdle this week. HJR 753 by Rep. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, proposes to amend the Tennessee constitution to explicitly establish merit selection, performance evaluation and retention elections as the method for selecting appellate judges in Tennessee. The proposal also inserts a requirement that judges nominated by a commission and selected by the governor also be confirmed by both houses of the General Assembly before facing the voters. The Tennessee Bar Association has consistently and firmly expressed the view that it is critical that extension of the present plan be accomplished while a constitutional amendment is under discussion and that legislative confirmation causes practical problems of delay in filling vacancies while adding little to the process other than unwanted political influence.
Legal News
AG Holder Promises More Resources to Middle Tennessee Office
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said today in Nashville that the traditionally understaffed U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee will be getting new resources to fight crime in the region. Holder, along with U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin, met with Nashville reporters to discuss health care fraud initiatives nationally and locally when he made the commitment. “This district is one of 25 that we have determined to be ‘distressed,’” said Holder, promising that Martin and his district would receive additional personnel to remedy the situation. NashvillePost.com has the story
Nashville Lawyer Wins Athena Award
Andrea Perry, a lawyer with Bone McAllester Norton in Nashville, was awarded the 2012 Athena Young Professional Leadership Award this week. Perry is a Vanderbilt University Law School graduate and a member of the Tennessee Bar Association's Leadership Law Class of 2008. Her candidacy for the Athena award was sponsored by the Marion Griffin Chapter of the Lawyers Association for Women. NashvillePost has more
State Supreme Court to Look Into Attorney Ethics Rules Violations, More
The Tennessee Supreme Court granted review in four cases this week. The two criminal cases involve the issue of whether a violation of the attorney’s ethical rules may constitute a basis for criminal contempt, and whether a conviction can be based solely upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. The two civil cases concern subject matter jurisdiction based on breach of contract claim in a will contest, and federal pre-emption in state tort claims. The Raybin-Perkey Hot List offers details and analysis.
Rutgers Student Convicted of Hate Crime
A jury today convicted former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi of hate crimes for using a webcam to spy on his roommate kissing another man in their dorm room. Ravi’s roommate, Tyler Clementi, jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge three days after Ravi viewed him on the webcam. The case became a symbol of the struggles facing gay, lesbian and bisexual teenagers and the problem of cyberbullying in an era when laws governing hate crimes have not kept up with evolving technology. The New York Times tells you more
Flooding Causes Court Closure in Memphis
Heavy rains today caused flooding in the basement of the Shelby County Courthouse in Downtown Memphis, prompting the cancellation of cases scheduled in General Sessions Civil Division courts. The court will reopen Monday, and cases have been rescheduled for March 23. Read more from the Commercial Appeal.
Davidson Election Commission Hopes for Electronic Campaign Reports
The Davidson County Election Commission is working on a proposal that would allow campaign financial disclosure reports to be posted online. The plan would provide easy access for Davidson County residents who want to check the financial disclosures of candidates, and local campaign committees filing such disclosures. Currently the Election Commission maintains only paper copies of the reports, and some say the process for making copies of the forms is tedious. The Tennessean has more
Chattanooga Launches Mentoring Program
The Chattanooga Bar Association this month is launching a mentoring program to help its younger members tap into the collective wisdom of some of its elders. “I hope a younger lawyer would see value in bouncing things off an experienced attorney, and in asking a mentor, ‘I’m having trouble with a client. What am I missing?’” Chattanooga attorney David Kesler says. Read more from the Hamilton County Herald.
Baker Donelson Center Sold for $47.1 Million
The building that houses the Nashville office of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz -- known as the Baker Donelson Center -- has been sold for $47.1 million. It was owned by the Mathews Co. and Ayers Asset Management and sold to the Toronto-based Sun Life Financial. The Tennessean has more
Davidson Election Commission Hopes for Electronic Campaign Reports
The Davidson County Election Commission is working on a proposal that would allow campaign financial disclosure reports to be posted online. The plan would provide easy access for Davidson County residents who want to check the financial disclosures of candidates, and local campaign committees filing such disclosures. Currently the Election Commission maintains only paper copies of the reports, and some say the process for making copies of the forms is tedious. The Tennessean has more
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