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TBA SearchLink now more powerful than ever
Our new Google search engine allows TBA members to search our database of Tennessee appellate court decisions from 1995, attorney general opinions from 2001, Tennessee Bar Journal articles from 1996 and more. In addition, you can open a text version of all opinions, whether they were created in Word Perfect or PDF format.
http://www.tba.org/tba_searchlink.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.
01 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
03 - 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
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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DELAWRENCE WILLIAMS
Corrected. The correction is as follows: On page seven (7), in the last paragraph, fourth line, the sentence that reads "Second, the affidavit did establish Taylor's reliability," has been changed to "Second, the affidavit did not establish Taylo
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
Charles M. Agee, Jr., Dyersburg, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Delawrence Williams.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael R. Moore, Solicitor General; Mark A. Fulks, Assistant Attorney General; and C. Phillip Bivens, District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: E. RILEY ANDERSON
We granted this interlocutory appeal to review (1) whether the information used to obtain a search warrant to search the defendant’s residence was provided by a “citizen informant” and thus presumptively reliable; and (2) whether the information, if not provided by a “citizen informant,” nonetheless established probable cause under State v. Jacumin, 778 S.W.2d 430 (Tenn. 1989). The trial court denied the defendant’s motion to suppress after finding that the information had not been provided by a citizen informant but that it nonetheless established probable cause under Jacumin. The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that the information was presumptively reliable because it had been given by a citizen informant and upheld the denial of the motion to suppress without applying Jacumin. After reviewing the record and applicable authority, we hold (1) that the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals properly granted the interlocutory appeal pursuant to Rule 9 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure and (2) that although the information used to obtain the search warrant for the defendant’s residence was not provided by a “citizen informant,” it established probable cause under Jacumin. The judgment is, therefore, affirmed for the reasons herein.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/williamsdCORR060806.pdf
ZULA M. DUNN v. NORMAN E. DUNN
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Harold R. Gunn, Humboldt, Tennessee, for the appellant, Norman E. Dunn.
Mark L. Agee and Jason C. Scott, Trenton, Tennessee, for the appellee, Zula M. Dunn.
Judge: DAVID R. FARMER
Husband appeals the trial court’s distribution of marital property and award of alimony in futuro. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/dunnz060806.pdf
THOMAS JACKSON v. TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Thomas Jackson, Pro Se
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Jennifer L. Brenner, Office of Attorney General for Appellees, Tennessee Department of Correction, Sgt. Lucy Simpson, Warden David G. Mills and George M. Little
Judge: W. FRANK CRAWFORD
This appeal involves a petition for writ of certiorari filed by a state prisoner. The prisoner was found guilty of money laundering by the prison Disciplinary Board, and placed in punitive segregation for ten days, ordered to pay a $5.00 fine, and was recommended him for involuntary administration segregation. The prisoner filed a petition for common law writ of certiorari in the Chancery Court of Lauderdale County alleging that the Disciplinary Board committed multiple violations of its own disciplinary procedures. The trial court issued an order granting certiorari, and respondents filed a certified copy of the disciplinary record for the prisoner with the trial court. After reviewing the record, the trial court held that the Petitioner had failed to prove that the Disciplinary Board exceeded its jurisdiction or acted illegally, fraudulently or arbitrarily, and quashed the petition. Prisoner appeals. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/jacksont060806.pdf
CHIVOUS ROBINSON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Corrected
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Joseph Liddell Kirk, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Chivous Robinson.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Blind Akrawi, Assistant Attorney General; Randall E. Nichols, District Attorney General; Philip H. Morton and Takisha M. Fitzgerald, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: DAVID G. HAYES
The Appellant, Chivous Robinson, appeals the judgment of the Knox County Criminal Court denying post-conviction relief. Robinson was convicted of second degree murder and solicitation to commit first degree murder and subsequently sentenced to an effective thirty-four year sentence. On appeal, Robinson argues that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel, specifically arguing that counsel was ineffective by: (1) not raising the issue of newly discovered evidence on direct appeal; and (2) not seeking jury instructions on the lesser included offenses of reckless homicide and criminally negligent homicide and not appealing the failure of the trial court to instruct on these lesser offenses. After review, the judgment of the post-conviction court is affirmed.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/robinsoncCORR060806.pdf
GRENDA RAY HARMER v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Douglas A. Blaze, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the petitioner, Grenda Ray Harmer.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee Turner, Assistant Attorney General; Randall E. Nichols, District Attorney General; and Phillip H. Morton, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: J.C. MCLIN
The petitioner, Grenda Ray Harmer, appeals the post-conviction court’s denial of post-conviction relief. On appeal, he alleges that (1) he received the ineffective assistance of counsel with respect to his suppression hearing; and (2) his constitutional rights were violated by the loss and destruction of evidence relevant to the suppression hearing. Following our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the order of the post-conviction court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/harmerg060806.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DANIEL POTIN
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Robert Wilson Jones and Tony N. Brayton (on appeal), and Jennifer Johnson and Tim Albers (at trial), Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Daniel Potin.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Brian Clay Johnson, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General, and Greg Gilbert, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: NORMA MCGEE OGLE
The appellant, Daniel Potin, was found guilty by a jury in the Shelby County Criminal Court of possession of .5 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to sell. The trial court sentenced the appellant to nine years in the Tennessee Department of Correction and imposed a fine of $20,000. On appeal, the appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, the trial court’s designation of a witness as an expert, and the fine imposed. Upon review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/potind060806.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legislative News
Legal News
TBA Member Services
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| Legislative News |
| Dixon found guilty in corruption trial |
| A former state senator was convicted today of extortion for taking payoffs in the Tennessee Waltz corruption investigation. Memphis Democrat Roscoe Dixon was charged with taking $9,500 in bribes. The federal court jury began deliberations Wednesday morning and returned a verdict this afternoon.
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Read more in the Tennessean
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| Legal News |
| March guilty on all counts |
| The jury in the Perry March murder-for-hire trial reached guilty verdicts on all counts this afternoon.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and two counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
March showed no emotion as the verdict was read.
March, 45, a former Nashville lawyer, was accused of masterminding a failed jailhouse plot to kill his former wife's parents, Carolyn and Lawrence Levine. |
The Tennessean has the story
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| Technicality could delay marriage amendment |
| A technicality could derail a two-year effort to place on the November ballot a constitutional amendment defining marriage in Tennessee as the union between one man and one woman.
The state Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee that argues the amendment was not approved and published within the time frame required by the state constitution. A decision is pending. |
Find out more from the Tennessean
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| U.S. House leaders say search unwarranted |
| House leaders from both parties asked a federal judge Wednesday to declare the late-night search of Rep. William Jefferson's office unconstitutional, a move that could undermine part of a lengthy bribery investigation of the Louisiana Democrat.
On Tuesday Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended the FBI's search, saying it was an "unusual step" but a necessary one.
The late-night visit was the first time in congressional history that a search warrant had been executed on a House member's Washington office. |
Read more in the Knoxville News Sentinel
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| Winkler's court process to begin June 12 |
| The McNairy County Grand Jury will take up Mary Winkler's first degree murder case on June 12. Winkler is the 32-year-old Selmer woman who is accused in the shooting death of her husband, 31-year-old Matthew Winkler, who served as minister of Selmer's Fourth Street Church of Christ. Follow the story in the |
Carroll County News-Leader
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| Millington Justice Center in the works |
| Millington hopes to have its new Justice Center by August, which will consolidate the police station and courthouse offices. "It's a security move for us," said Police Chief Rick Jewell. "Over here, they will be contained and under supervision and taken straight from their cell to the court." Currently, Jewell said, as many as 10 prisoners require transport to and from hearings on Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings, when court is in session. |
The Millington Star has the details
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| Public defender files challenge to anti-meth law |
| A motion filed by a public defender challenging Tennessee's year-old methamphetamine law could end up delaying cases across the state dealing with purchases of products used to make the illegal drug, a prosecutor said.
Phil Condra, public defender in the 12th Judicial District, filed a motion challenging the constitutionality and clarity of the law on behalf of Gary Kouns of Marion County, one of about 80 people charged in April with promoting manufacture of the addictive stimulant. |
Read more in the Tennessean
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| TBA Member Services |
| Let JobLink help you with your next career move |
| A career service for Tennessee attorneys and law students, TBA JobLink is a job seeking and recruitment tool available at no charge. Whether you have a position to fill or are seeking employment, this site will guide you through a simple process to post your information. |
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