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Attorney General Summers will not seek another term
Tennessee Attorney General Paul G. Summers announced today that he will step down when his term expires in August. In announcing the decision, Summers did not disclose plans for the immediate future beyond saying that he will continue to work with the Jason Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to the prevention of teenage suicide which he currently chairs.
http://www.tba2.org/tbatoday/news/2006/summers_050306.html
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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.
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00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR
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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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CHARLES BEARD, SR. v. FLORENCE ELAINE BEARD (STANLEY)
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Charles Beard, Sr., Chattanooga, Tennessee, pro se Appellant.
Erskine P. Mabee, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Appellee, Florence Elaine Beard (Stanley).
Judge: LEE
Charles Beard, Sr. (Father), acting pro se, appeals the trial court's judgment in this post-divorce action. Although it is difficult to ascertain from his appellate brief precisely what issues Father has attempted to raise for review, we have reviewed the entire record in this case and each
of the rulings made by the trial court. We find no error in the trial court's judgment finding Father has not paid any child support to his former wife, in violation of a prior order of the court; in awarding Florence Elaine Beard Stanley (Mother) a $21,330 judgment in child support
arrearages; in suspending Father's previously awarded parenting time until he completed a six-month counseling and anger management program; and in reducing Father's child support
payments based on his then-current income. However, we vacate the trial court's judgment
sentencing Father to ten days in jail for civil contempt of court, because the trial court did not
make a finding of his present ability to make the required payments.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/beardc050306.pdf
RICHARD BRADLEY STAATS v. NOEL ELIZABETH (STAATS) McKINNON
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Stanley A. Kweller, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Noel Elizabeth (Staats) McKinnon.
Helen Sfikas Rogers, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Richard Bradley Staats.
Judge: KOCH
This interlocutory appeal involves an interstate custody dispute over a nine-year-old child. The
child's mother was designated the primary residential parent when her parents were divorced in 2000
in Florida. In 2002, the father filed a petition requesting the Florida court to change custody. While
this petition was pending, the mother remarried, the mother moved to Massachusetts with her new
husband and the parties' child, and the father moved to Tennessee. In June 2004, the Florida court
granted the father's petition and designated him as the child's primary residential parent. As a result
of this order, the child began living with the father in Tennessee and has lived in Tennessee ever
since. In 2005, the Florida District Court of Appeal reversed the order changing custody and
remanded the case to the Florida trial court for further proceedings. Thereafter, the father filed a
petition in the Circuit Court for Davidson County seeking to modify the original Florida order
designating the mother as the child's residential parent. The mother responded by filing an
emergency petition in the Florida trial court to enforce the original custody order and by entering an
appearance in the Tennessee proceeding to contest the Tennessee trial court's subject matter
jurisdiction. Following a hearing and two conversations with the Florida trial court, the Tennessee
trial court entered orders asserting jurisdiction over the father's modification petition and designating
the father as the child's primary residential parent pending a final disposition of the father's petition.
Both the trial court and this court granted the mother's application for a Tenn. R. App. P. 9
interlocutory appeal. We have concluded: (1) that the Florida trial court no longer has exclusive,
continuing jurisdiction over the custody of this child because the child and her parents have not lived
in Florida since 2003; (2) that Tennessee became the child's home state while she was living with
her father during the pendency of the Florida appeal; (3) that the Tennessee trial court was not
required to decline to exercise its jurisdiction to modify the original Florida custody decree; and (4)
that the father was not required to return the child to her mother in Massachusetts following the
reversal of the Florida trial court's change of custody order. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's
assertion of subject matter jurisdiction and remand the case for the consideration of the father's
petition to modify custody.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/staatsn050306.pdf
RICKIE BOYD v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Britton J. Allan, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Rickie Boyd.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Assistant Attorney General;
William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Tracey Jones, Assistant District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: MCLIN
The petitioner, Rickie Boyd, appeals from the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. On
appeal, he contends that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Following our review of
the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court denying
post-conviction relief.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/boydr050306.pdf
JOHN W. CASEY v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
D. Michael Dunavant, Ripley, Tennessee, for the appellant, John W. Casey.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Preston Shipp, Assistant Attorney General;
Elizabeth T. Rice, District Attorney General, and Tracey A. Brewer-Walker, Assistant District
Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: OGLE
The petitioner, John W. Casey, pled guilty in the Lauderdale County Circuit Court to possession of
.5 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to sell and possession of drug paraphernalia. He received
a total effective sentence of eight years. Subsequently, the petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that his trial counsel was ineffective and his pleas were not knowing and
voluntary. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and the petitioner appeals. Upon our
review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/caseyj050306.pdf
JAMES C. JOHNSON v. TONY PARKER, WARDEN
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Jim W. Horner (at trial and on appeal) and Patrick McGill (on appeal), Dyersburg, Tennessee, for
the appellant, James C. Johnson.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General,
and C. Phillip Bivens, District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: OGLE
The petitioner, James C. Johnson, was convicted of rape of a child, and he received a twenty-year
sentence. Subsequently, he filed for habeas corpus relief, alleging that the Tennessee Department
of Correction impermissibly changed his release eligibility from thirty percent to one hundred
percent, his sentence is void because of Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S. Ct. 2531
(2004), and his sentence is void because the State failed to file a notice of enhancement prior to trial.
The habeas corpus court denied the petition, and the petitioner now appeals. Upon our review of the
record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/johnsonj050306.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. SHANE M. MCANALLY
With Dissenting Opinion
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Randall W. Morrison, Tullahoma, Tennessee, for the Appellant Shane M. McAnally.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Assistant Attorney General;
Mike McCown, District Attorney General; and Richard Cawley, Assistant District Attorney
General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: SMITH
The appellant, Shane M. McAnally, was convicted by a Bedford County jury of misdemeanor
vandalism and was sentenced to a term of eleven months and twenty-nine days, with sixty days
to be served in confinement. On appeal, McAnally raises two issues for our review: (1) whether
the evidence is sufficient to support the conviction; and (2) whether the sixty-day period of
confinement is excessive. Following review of the record, we conclude that the evidence is
sufficient to support McAnally's conviction for vandalism, and therefore affirm the judgment of
the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/mcanallys050306.pdf
HAYES DISSENTING
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/mcanallys_dis050306.pdf
MILTON K. PERKINS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
David M. Hopkins, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Milton K. Perkins.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Sophia S. Lee, Assistant Attorney General;
Victor S. (Torry) Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Kathy Morante, Assistant District
Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: TIPTON
The petitioner, Milton K. Perkins, appeals from the Davidson County Criminal Court's dismissal
of his petition for post-conviction relief from his guilty plea to aggravated robbery, a Class B
felony, for which he received a twenty-year sentence. He contends that he received the
ineffective assistance of counsel, rendering his guilty plea unknowing and involuntary. We
affirm the judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/perkinsm050306.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. THOMAS RICHARDSON, JR.
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Robert Wilson Jones, District Public Defender; and Tony N. Brayton, Assistant Public Defender, for
the appellant, Thomas Richardson, Jr.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Sophia S. Lee, Assistant Attorney General;
William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Charles W. Bell, Jr., Assistant District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WILLIAMS
The defendant, Thomas Richardson, Jr., appeals his conviction for first degree felony murder. In
support of his appeal, the defendant presents three issues: (a) The evidence is insufficient to support
the conviction; (b) Two photographs of the victim were improperly admitted; and (c) Hearsay
statements were improperly admitted.
After a full review of the record, we have found no reversible error. We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court as entered.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/richardsont050306.pdf
Casino Gambling on Land Held by Federally Recognized Indian Tribe Under Lease Agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-05-01
Opinion Number: 06-080
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-080.pdf
Interlocal Agreements under Tenn. Code Ann. Section 12-9-101, et seq.
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-05-01
Opinion Number: 06-081
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-081.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Election 2006
Legislative News
BPR Actions
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| Legal News |
| Justice says judicial watchdog is 'scary' idea |
| U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Tuesday that a proposal in Congress to create a watchdog for the federal courts is a "really scary idea." Ginsburg spoke at a gathering of the American Bar Association and called on lawyers to stick up for judges when they are criticized. Legislation to establish an inspector general to monitor judges' ethical conduct was introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate recently.
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The Associated Press has the story
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| Suit tests application of Voting Rights Act |
| For the first time since its passage in 1965, the U.S. Justice Department is using the Voting Rights Act to allege racial discrimination against whites. The case accuses the head of the Noxubee County, Miss., Democrat party of waging a campaign to defeat white voters and candidates with tactics including intimidation and coercion.
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The Bristol Herald Courier has the full AP story
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| University of Memphis moot court team places second at nationals |
| The University of Memphis School of Law's national moot court team placed second out of 186 teams at the National Moot Court finals earlier this spring. Team members were Shannon McKenna, Todd Richardson and Mark Thompson. Thompson also won an individual distinction as the best oral advocate in the final round. |
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| Vanderbilt 2Ls win Bass, Berry & Sims moot court competition |
| Taylor Ford and Ashley Ebersole won this year's intramural moot court competition, which forced students to confront First Amendment issues involving the subpoenaing of reporters and the confidentiality of sources. Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Cornelia A. Clark, Court of Appeals Judge Patricia J. Cottrell and U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe B. Brown judged the competition. Fellow students Jihan Walker, Paul Nii-Amar Amamoo, Mary Helen Wimberly and Ashley Grovert were recognized as semifinalists. Joy Royes and Joshua Tatum received the best brief award and Elizabeth Gonser was named best oralist.
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| Election 2006 |
| Shelby County primary results |
| The results are in for all of Shelby County's 279 precincts.
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View them in the Commercial Appeal
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| Knox County election results |
| Election workers counted paper ballots into the early morning hours today, while difficulty retrieving data from voting machines left virtually every Knox County Commission race up in the air. The election was already complicated by legal questions over term limits and an extraordinary number of write-in candidates.
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Read more in the the Knoxville News Sentinel
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| For a break-down of early results in the various Knox County races, the News Sentinel has the line-up.
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Click here
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| Davidson County sees low voter turnout in primary |
| In one of the lowest turnouts ever, slightly more than 10 percent of Davidson County's registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday's primary election. Election results in Davidson County and the surrounding areas of Nashville are tallied in the Tennessean. |
View the results here
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| Elections results for Hamilton and surrounding counties |
| The Chattanooga Times Free Press has a roundup of election results for Hamilton County and surrounding counties. |
See the results
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| Sullivan County elects new chancellor, criminal court judge |
| Rob Montgomery defeated Ray Conkin to become the new criminal court judge, and E.G. Moody defeated David Tipton for the chancellor slot. |
Read the Kingsport Times-News report
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| Bruceton to have new town attorney |
| After over 20 years as Bruceton's town attorney, Donald Parish resigned from the position effective May 1 to prepare for taking the bench as Circuit Court Judge Part II in the 24th Judicial District, an office for which he is running unopposed in the Aug. 1 general election. Read more in the |
Carroll County News-Leader
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| Legislative News |
| Bill would allow troopers to enforce immigration laws |
| The Tennessee Department of Safety would be allowed to enforce federal immigration and customs laws under legislation approved this week by the Senate Transportation Committee. The bill, sponsored by Senator Joe Haynes, D- Goodlettsville, would authorize the state to negotiate an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice allowing enforcement by highway patrol troopers.
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Read the story at WMCTV Channel 5's website
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| Track legislation of interest to Tennessee attorneys |
| The TBA Action List tracks bills in the General Assembly that the TBA has a direct interest in. This means it has either initiated the legislation, taken a postiion on the bill or has a policy on the issue. The TBA Watch List is a broader list of bills of interest to the Tennessee legal community. |
TBA Bill Tracking Service
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| BPR Actions |
| Gallatin lawyer suspended |
| William N. Ligon was suspended from the practice of law on April 20 based on the court's determination that he posed a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public. |
Read the BPR's press release
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