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Child support variance rule retained
The Department of Human Services has retained its 15 percent income change variance criterion for seeking a modification of child support orders that were set to expire on Dec. 31. The action came by emergency rule and deletes the provision that
could have led to a flood of modification petitions tied to the operation of the new income shares model. The emergency rule is effective immediately.
Other recommended changes to the child support guidelines are expected shortly based upon work of the department's advisory committee.
http://www.tba2.org/tbatoday/news/2005/childsupport_12_2005.pdf
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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. To search all opinions in the TBALink database, go to our OpinionSearch page. If you have forgotten your password or need to obtain a password, you can look it up on TBALink at http://www.tba.org/getpassword.mgi.
00 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
00 - TN Court of Appeals
04 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
01 - 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
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JAMES DUBOSE v. TONY PARKER, Warden, STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
James DuBose, Pro Se.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Seth P. Kestner, Assistant Attorney General;
and Phillip Bivens, District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WELLES
The Defendant, James DuBose, appeals the denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
The Defendant, serving a sentence of life in prison for first degree murder, raises four issues on
appeal: 1) that the claims raised in his petition for habeas corpus relief were not previously
adjudicated; 2) that his judgment of conviction is void because his indictment failed to allege an
offense; 3) that his judgment of conviction is void because it is based on an unconstitutional
statute; and 4) that the trial court erred in failing to appoint counsel for his habeas corpus
proceedings. Finding the denial of the Defendant’s petition was appropriate, we affirm the
judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/dubosej121305.pdf
JERRY FAULKNER a/k/a JOSEPH FAULKNER v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Jerry Faulkner a/k/a Joseph Faulkner, Appellant, Pro Se.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Jennifer L. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney
General; and William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of
Tennessee.
Judge: WITT
On January 27, 2004, the Shelby County Criminal Court accepted the guilty pleas of Jerry
Faulkner, also known as Joseph Faulkner, the petitioner, on three counts of aggravated robbery
and a single count of aggravated rape. The effective 20-year sentence was imposed to run
concurrently with another state sentence and “all Federal convictions.” On April 13, 2004, the
petitioner, who was incarcerated in a federal facility in Memphis, filed a petition in the
conviction court for a writ of habeas corpus. Because the petitioner was in federal custody, the
habeas corpus court dismissed the petition, and the petitioner appealed. Following our review,
we affirm the order of the habeas corpus court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/faulknerj121305.pdf
JAMES EMMETT MOSES, JR. v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
James Emmett Moses, Jr., Appellant, Pro Se.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Brian C. Johnson, Assistant Attorney General;
and Elizabeth T. Rice, District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WITT
The petitioner, James Emmett Moses, Jr., pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, two counts of
robbery, and theft of property under $500, for which he received an effective 26-year
incarcerative sentence. On direct appeal, the petitioner unsuccessfully challenged his sentences
as excessive. See State v. James Emmett Moses, Jr. v. State, No. W1999-01509-CCA-R3-CD
(Tenn. Crim. App., Jackson, Mar. 7, 2000) (hereinafter Moses I). The petitioner then sought and
was denied post-conviction relief. See James Emmett Moses, Jr. v. State, No. W2001-01394-
CCA-R3-PC (Tenn. Crim. App., Jackson, Feb. 22, 2002) (hereinafter Moses II). The petitioner
subsequently filed a habeas corpus petition alleging that he received an illegal sentence pursuant
to Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004), and the habeas corpus court
summarily dismissed the petition. The petitioner now brings the instant appeal challenging that
denial, and after a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of
the lower court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/mosesj121305.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CURTIS PALMER
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Mark Mesler, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Curtis Palmer.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney
General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; Phillip Gerald Harris, Assistant District
Attorney General; and Patience Branham, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee,
the State of Tennessee.
Judge: WOODALL
Following a jury trial, Defendant, Curtis Palmer, was convicted of first degree felony murder in
the perpetration of aggravated burglary in count one of the indictment and first degree felony
murder in the perpetration of theft of property in the second count, and was sentenced to life
imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The trial court merged Defendant’s conviction
for felony murder in count two into his conviction for felony murder in count one. In his appeal,
Defendant argues (1) that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction on the charge of
felony murder; (2) that he was denied his right to a speedy trial; (3) that the trial court erred in
denying his motions to suppress; (4) that the trial court erred in its evidentiary rulings; (5) that
the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included
offense of the charged offenses; and (6) that the prosecution engaged in prosecutorial misconduct
during closing argument. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the
trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/palmerc121305.pdf
The Legal Duty of Pharmacies to Allow Inspection of Methamphetamine Precursor Registries
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2005-12-13
Opinion Number: 05-174
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2005/OP174.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Online CLE
Upcoming CLE Programs
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| Legal News |
| Celebration ceremony honors Justice Clark |
| Several hundred members of the Tennessee legal community gathered in Nashville's Hermitage Hotel today for an Investiture Celebration for new Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Cornelia Clark. The event was jointly sponsored by the Tennessee Bar Association, the Lawyers' Association for Women and the Tennessee Lawyers' Association for Women. |
clark_12_2005.html
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| Speculation follows Knox judge's retirement announcement |
| The pending retirement of Sessions Court Judge Brenda Waggoner has rumors flying in Knox County, with speculation about Circuit Court Clerk Cathy Quist moving into the position and creating an opening the clerk's office, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports. |
0,1406,KNS_347_4310486,00.html
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| Judge's retirement sparks interest in election |
| Judge Steven H. Jones' Monday announcement that he will retire rather than seek re-election is sparking considerable interest in the Sullivan County election, the Kingsport Times-News reports.
Learn who is considering filing for the seat and for other races. |
article.dna?_StoryID=3579187
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| Online CLE |
| New TennBarU online video courses focus on real estate |
| Brush up on your real estate law knowledge with three new courses available online from TennBarU. Available in a video format are: High Risk Practices in Real Estate (1 hour dual), Tennessee Real Estate Case Law Update (.5 hour) and How Do I Surrender Manufactured Home Titles in Tennessee (.5 hour). |
tnbar/
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| Upcoming CLE Programs |
| Special offer for last-minute CLE program |
| TennBarU is offering more than 150 hours of video replays (100+ ethics hours) between Dec. 27 and Dec. 30 at the Tennessee Bar Center in Nashville. We still need moderators to fill some of the three hour shifts -- moderators will earn 6 hours credit for each shift. Interested? Call TennBarU Administrator Kathleen Caillouette at (615) 383-7421 and schedule your shift today. |
endofyear_2005.html
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