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Judicial pay upgrade included in state budget
The state budget presented last week by Gov. Phil Bredesen and now being worked on in the legislature includes enough money to fund the 15 percent increase in the salaries of state judges being sought by the leadership of the Judicial Conference. The TBA-backed plan would raise the base pay for trial judges from $122,000 to $140,000. Intermediate appellate judges salaries would go to $145,000. Supreme Court justices would see a boost to $150,000. The chief justice would get a $5,000 supplement under the plan and the presiding judge of each of the intermediate appellate courts gets $2,500 for the extra workload. The current statutory mechanism for cost of living adjustments would stay in place.
Since the state constitution provides that judicial salaries may not be raised or lowered during the eight-year term, the statue setting the salaries and the budget must both set the rates until September 2014. TBA President Bill Haltom, joining in a meeting today with Chief Justice Mickey Barker and several leaders from the bench and bar, expressed full support of the TBA for the effort.
Read TBA Today tomorrow for more in a series of stories highlighting this issue.
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TODAY'S OPINIONS
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Howard H. Vogel
Knoxville, Tennessee
Editor-in-Chief, TBALink
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JANINE A. BILYEU v. CITY OF NASHVILLE, METRO LEGAL, REPRESENTED BY JENNIFER BOZEMAN, ATTORNEY, METRO NASHVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, REPRESENTED BY DR. JULIE WILLIAMS, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT, and METROPOLITAN NASHVILLE EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION, REPRESENTED BY HARRY McMAKIN, Former President, 2002 and MARTHA CHILDS, ATTORNEY
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Janine A. Bilyeu, Nashville, Tennessee, pro se.
Karl F. Dean, Director of Law, Department of Law of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, and
Laura T. Kidwell, Metropolitan Attorney, Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellees.
Judge: HERSCHEL PICKENS FRANKS
The Trial Court granted judgment to defendants on grounds inter alia that the plaintiff had not exhausted her administrative remedies. On appeal, we vacate the summary judgment and remand.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/bilyeuj021606.pdf
ROBERT RAY JOYCE v. ROBIN SUE COLLINS, ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Mitzi L. Sweet, Morristown, Tennessee, for the appellants, Helen Joyce Grooms and James Grooms.
Denise Terry Stapleton, Morristown, Tennessee, for the appellee, Robert Ray Joyce.
Judge: CHARLES D. SUSANO, JR
This litigation is essentially a dispute between siblings – the plaintiff Robert Ray Joyce (“Joyce Son”) and the defendant Helen Joyce Grooms (“Joyce Daughter”) – the surviving children of Robert C. Joyce (“the deceased”). Joyce Son filed this action alleging (1) that his sister, Joyce Daughter, secured the execution of their father’s power of attorney by exercising undue influence over him; and (2) that Joyce Daughter’s transfer of the deceased’s real estate to her husband, the defendant James Grooms – which deed was executed during the deceased’s lifetime, and, according to Joyce Daughter, in her father’s presence and at his direction – was intended to deprive Joyce Son of his share of the deceased’s estate. The trial court set aside the deed, stating that the transfer was made without consideration and in gross violation of the applicable statutes. Joyce Daughter and her husband appeal. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/joycer021606.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOSEPH EDWARD COLE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Rachele Scott, Trenton, Tennessee, for the appellant, Joseph Edward Cole.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General; Gary Brown, District Attorney General; and Edward L. Hardister, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: DAVID H. WELLES
After a bench trial, the Defendant was convicted of burglary, a Class D felony, and theft of property under the value of five hundred dollars, a Class A misdemeanor. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§39-14-402, -103, -105(1). After conducting a sentencing hearing, the Defendant was sentenced as a Range III, persistent offender to serve ten years in the Department of Correction for his burglary conviction. He received a concurrent sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days in the county jail for his theft conviction. In this appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient as a matter of law to support his convictions and that the trial court erred by ordering him to serve a mid-range sentence for the burglary conviction. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/colej021606.pdf
CHUNCY L. HOLLIS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
George Morton Googe, District Public Defender, and Gregory D. Gookin, Assistant Public Defender, for the appellant, Chuncy L. Hollis.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General; James G. (Jerry) Woodall, District Attorney General; and Alfred L. Earls, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS
The petitioner, Chuncy L. Hollis, originally pled guilty to possession of cocaine greater than .5 grams with intent to sell, a Class B felony, in exchange for a sentence of eight years. Thereafter, he filed and was denied post-conviction relief. The petitioner now appeals the post-conviction court’s order, claiming that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel which resulted in an unknowing and involuntary plea.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/hollisc021606.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOHNNY E. PORTER
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Guy T. Wilkinson, District Public Defender, and Richard W. DeBerry, Assistant Public Defender, for the appellant, Johnny E. Porter.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General; Robert G. Radford, District Attorney General; and John W. Overton, Jr., Chief Deputy District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS
The defendant, Johnny E. Porter, was convicted of possession of over .5 grams of a Schedule II controlled substance (cocaine) with intent to sell, a Class B felony, and possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor. He received concurrent sentences of nine years and eleven months, twenty-nine days on the charges, respectively. On appeal, the defendant contests the sufficiency of the evidence and contends that the trial court erred in enhancing his sentence on Count One from eight years to nine years based solely upon his prior criminal record. Upon review, we affirm the conviction and sentence.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/porterj021606.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. WILLIE WILSON
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Robert Wilson Jones, District Public Defender; Garland Ergüden, Assistant Public Defender; and Timothy Albers, Assistant Public Defender, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Willie Wilson.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Tracye Jones, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: THOMAS T. WOODALL
Following a jury trial, Defendant, Willie Wilson, was found guilty of two counts of aggravated robbery. He received concurrent sentences of nine years for each conviction. In his appeal, Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that the aggravated robbery convictions should be merged into a single conviction and the case remanded for entry of corrected judgments consistent with this opinion. In all other respects, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/wilsonw021606.pdf
Legality of Amendment to Mineral Severance Tax
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-02-16
Opinion Number: 06-33
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-33.pdf
Liability of TRICOR Board Members
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-02-16
Opinion Number: 06-34
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-34.pdf
Retroactive Application of New DUI Punishment
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-02-16
Opinion Number: 06-35
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-35.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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| Legal News |
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| The Tennessee Supreme Court took a big step in moving to electronic filing of court documents this week when it filed an order seeking comment on the establishment of a pilot project that would allow e-filing in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals. |
Read more about it.
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| It's official: Person to run for juvenile court judge |
| State Sen. Curtis Person has announced he'll run for juvenile court judge, held by retiring judge Kenneth Turner. Get the story in the |
Commercial Appeal.
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| Judicial races heating up in Sullivan |
Assistant District Attorney General Rob Montgomery made it official Wednesday that he will seek election to the criminal court judge position in Sullivan County. Montgomery is a former TBA Board of Governors member.
Sullivan County Assistant District Attorney Ricky Curtis resigned from his state job Wednesday in order to run for Circuit Judge, challenging Judge Jerry Beck.
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Read about the criminal court race in the Kingsport Times
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Read about the circuit court race in the Kingsport Times
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| Volunteer for Nashville mock trial this weekend |
| The Young Lawyers Division of the Nashville Bar Association is in need of volunteers -- "desperate need," in fact -- for this weekend's Davidson County Mock Trial Competition. Lawyers are needed to be scorers, judges and bailiffs Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and Feb. 18 at 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m., and 2:30 p.m. To help, contact Mary Taylor Gallagher at mtgallagher@gsrm.com or Sara Reynolds at sreynolds@walkerbryant.com |
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| Inmate challenges injection procedure |
| Tennessee death-row inmate Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman filed an appeal yesterday to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the lethal injection procedures the state uses. |
The Tennessean has the story.
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| Passages |
| Legal pioneer Dorothy Osradke dies |
| Dorothy Osradker, or "Miss Dorothy" as she was known around Memphis' City Hall, died Tuesday in Memphis. She was 87. She earned her law degree from Southern Law University (now University of Memphis) in 1942. Read more about her in the |
Commercial Appeal.
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