| |
New courses tackle ethics issues in judicial campaigns
Considering a judicial campaign or working with someone who is? TennBarU is ready to help with five new interactive video programs that tackle the ethics issues involved in campaign finance reports, nominating petitions, free speech issues and more.
http://www.legalspan.com/tnbar/category.asp?CatalogID=&CategoryID=20051227-325567-1355130&UGUID=
|
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
04 - TN Court of Appeals
02 - 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. CLINTON BURNS, III
Corrected case; originally published 7/29/2005
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Mark E. Stephens, District Public Defender; and Robert C. Edwards, Assistant Public Defender,
Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Clinton Burns, III.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; and John H. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney
General, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: SUSANO
Clinton Burns, III, (DOB: 06/07/86), a juvenile, was adjudged delinquent by the Knox County
Juvenile Court, having been found to have committed the adult offense of aggravated robbery.
He appealed to the trial court, which, after a bench trial, affirmed the judgment of the juvenile
court. The defendant appeals, contending that the trial court erred in denying his motion to
suppress the testimony of the victim because of the unduly suggestive nature of the procedure
used to identify him. He further argues that the trial court erred in refusing to afford him a jury
trial. We hold that the trial court properly denied the defendant’s motion to suppress, but that it
erred in denying the defendant a jury trial. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order denying
the motion to suppress, but reverse the judgment of the trial court affirming the judgment of the
juvenile court. Case remanded for a new trial.
Corrected case; originally published 7/29/2005
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/burnsc1606.pdf
JAMES A. HODGE v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Wm. Kennerly Burger, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellant, James A. Hodge.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; and George
H. Coffin, Jr., Senior Counsel, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: KOCH
This appeal involves a motorcycle rider who was seriously injured while crossing two heavy steel
plates placed over the surface of a portion of a state highway that was under construction. The rider
filed a claim with the Tennessee Claims Commission asserting that the front tire of his motorcycle
became lodged in a gap between the two steel plates and that this gap was the dangerous condition
that caused his injuries. Following a hearing, a claims commissioner dismissed the claim after
concluding (1) that the rider had failed to prove that the State, rather than the highway contractor,
was responsible for maintaining the steel plates, (2) that the rider had failed to prove that the State
had notice of the gap between the plates, and (3) that the rider’s negligence exceeded that of the
State. The motorcycle rider has appealed. We have determined that the claims commissioner erred
by concluding that the State was not on notice of the dangerous condition on the highway and that
the motorcycle rider’s negligence exceeded the State’s negligence.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/hodgej1606.pdf
ELIZABETH S. F. MARTELLA v. DAVID R. MARTELLA
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Robert B. Pyle, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the appellant, Elizabeth S. F. Martella.
Timothy S. Priest, Winchester, Tennessee, for the appellee, David R. Martella.
Judge: KOCH
This appeal involves a parental dispute over the payment of child support for a fifteen-year-old child.
One year following the divorce, the child’s father filed a petition in the Circuit Court for Franklin
County seeking to modify his $2,100 per month child support obligation because his visitation with
his daughter had increased and because his daughter was receiving Social Security benefits as a
result of his retirement. Following a bench trial, the trial court determined that the father was
willfully unemployed and declined to lower his child support obligation. However, the court
determined that the father was entitled to an offset in the amount of the Social Security benefits that
the child was receiving as his dependent. Both the mother and the father take issue with the
judgment. The father asserts that the trial court erred by refusing to lower his child support
obligation. The mother insists that the court erred by giving the father credit for the Social Security
benefits the child was receiving. We affirm the judgment.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/martellae1606.pdf
ELIZABETH SOWELL NEEDHAM v. CHAD DEARMAN
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Jim Sowell, Dickson, Tennessee, for the appellant, Elizabeth Sowell Needham.
Janet S. Kelley, Dickson, Tennessee, for the appellee, Chad Dearman.
Judge: CAIN
Plaintiff appeals from failure of the trial court to allow interest on a child support arrearage judgment
pursuant to T.C.A. § 36-5-101(A)(5). The judgment of the trial court is reversed.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/needhame1606.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOSHUA PARKER
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Keith E. Haas, Assistant Public Defender, for the appellant, Joshua Parker.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Blind Akrawi, Assistant Attorney General; and
Al Schmutzer, Jr., District Attorney General; and James B. Dunn, Assistant District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: SMITH
The Cocke County grand jury indicted the defendant, Joshua Parker, on one count of aggravated
sexual battery. Following a jury trial, the defendant was found guilty as charged. He was sentenced
to twelve years to be served at 100% as a Range II multiple offender. The defendant appeals this
conviction. He argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction and that the State
committed prosecutorial misconduct in its closing argument. We have determined that the evidence
was insufficient to support a conviction for aggravated sexual battery. Therefore, we reverse and
dismiss the judgment of conviction for that offense. However, the evidence is sufficient to support
a conviction for attempt to commit aggravated sexual battery and we therefore reduce the conviction
to that of attempted aggravated sexual battery, and remand for entry of judgment to that effect and
re-sentencing.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/parkerj1606.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROBERT LEE ROBERTS
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Leslie W. Bailey, Jr., Kingsport, Tennessee, for the appellant, Robert Lee Roberts.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Leslie E. Price, Assistant Attorney General; H.
Greeley Wells, Jr., District Attorney General; and Ricky A.W. Curtis, Assistant District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: TIPTON
A Sullivan County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Robert Lee Roberts, of driving
under the influence (DUI), and the trial court sentenced him to eleven months and twenty-nine days,
suspending all but six months of the sentence. On appeal, the defendant contends the evidence is
insufficient. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/robertsr1606.pdf
|
|
 |
|
| TODAY'S NEWS |
|
Legal News
|
| Legal News |
| DA seeking to oust Meigs circuit clerk |
| Ninth Judicial District AG Scott McCluen filed ouster proceedings against Meigs County Circuit Court Clerk Debbie Smith alleging that she knowingly or willfully engaged in misconduct while in office and neglected to perform duties. A Jan. 27 hearing is set before Chancellor Frank V. Williams III in Wartburg, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press. |
06&ID=Ar01205
|
| Overton County announces election deadline |
| Overton County will hold elections for a number of judicial positions this year, including circuit court judge, 13th judicial district criminal court judge, 13th judicial district attorney general, 13th judicial district public defender, and county general sessions judge. Petitions must be filed by Feb. 16, according to the Livingston Enterprise. |
article.php?articleid=1
|
| New fee funds courtroom security in Sullivan County |
| A new state law authorizing counties to charge $2 each time a court case is reset will fund new security measures at the Sullivan County courthouse, reports the Kingsport Times-News. The new state law, which went into effect Jan. 1, adds $2 to the $5 continuance fee currently assessed. |
article.dna?_StoryID=3587156
|
| |
|
