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Early voting ends Saturday; Wilks urges participation
Early voting for the Aug. 3 election ends Saturday, and TBA President Larry Wilks urges Tennessee attorneys and their staffs to take part. "Judicial retention elections are only held every eight years in Tennessee, and the legal community has a responsibility to support the judges and justices they believe are playing a positive role in our justice system," Wilks said. "We encourage attorneys to actively participate in the election and to give their staff members time off to vote."
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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
01 - 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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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DANIEL W. LIVINGSTON
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; David H.
Findley, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, District Attorney General; and Bret Gunn,
Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellant, State of Tennessee.
Charles E. Walker, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Daniel W. Livingston.
Judge: BIRCH
The defendant was indicted for evading arrest, a Class E felony. The State filed a Notice of
Enhanced Punishment pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated Section 40-35-202, listing fourteen
prior convictions by case number, offense, date of offense, and jurisdiction. Thereafter, a
superseding indictment was issued elevating the felony evading arrest charge to Class D felony
evading arrest. The State did not amend the notice of intent to seek enhancement. A jury convicted
the defendant of Class D felony evading arrest, and the trial court sentenced the defendant as a career
offender to twelve years for that offense. We granted this appeal to determine whether the Notice
of Enhanced Punishment filed under the original indictment was sufficient to inform the defendant
of his exposure to enhanced punishment in the event of a conviction for evading arrest. Because we
find that such notice was sufficient, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals and
reinstate the trial court's judgment.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/livingstond072806.pdf
COLETTE CALMELET v. MARCEL YEMBA ELUHU
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Eddie Davidson of Nashville, Tennessee for Appellant, Colette Calmelet.
Larry Hayes, Jr. of Nashville, Tennessee for Appellee, Marcel Yemba Eluhu.
Judge: CRAWFORD
This is a parental relocation case. Mother/Appellant appeals from the trial court's order denying her request to relocate with the parties' three minor children on the grounds that the
relocation had no reasonable purpose as required by T.C.A. Section 36-6-108. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/calmeletc072806.pdf
MEMPHIS HEALTH CENTER, INC., by Sadie Davis and Cornelia Berry, Directors, and Morristein J. Holman, Chief Executive Officer and Director v. GREGORY GRANT, DEAN JOHNSON, CYNTHIA COMBS, CLAUDETTE BRANCH, ERNEST HUGHES, LEAOLA CRUTCHFIELD, BETTY MILLER, FREDERICK SANDERS, EDDIE DANDRIDGE, DYRIE GOODS, and BROWN McGHEE, individually and in their capacity as the Board of Governors of Memphis Health Center, Inc.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Kathleen L. Caldwell, Memphis, Tennessee, for Defendants/Appellants, Gregory Grant, Dean
Johnson, Cynthia Combs, Claudette Branch, Ernest Hughes, Leaola Crutchfield, Betty Miller,
Frederick Sanders, Eddie Dandridge, Dyrie Goods, and Brown McGhee, individually and in their
capacity as the Board of Governors of Memphis Health Center, Inc.
Robin H. Rasmussen, Memphis, Tennessee, for Plaintiff/Appellee, Memphis Health Center, Inc.,
by Sadie Davis and Cornelia Berry, Directors, and Morristein J. Holman, Chief Executive Officer
and Director.
Judge: KIRBY
This is a derivative action. The board chairman of a nonprofit health care center was found guilty
of submitting false claims in violation of federal law. Thereafter, the health care center's chief
executive officer and two of its board members filed a derivative action on behalf of the health care
center against the chairman and health care center's remaining board members for violating their
fiduciary duties to the corporation. The derivative suit sought, inter alia, injunctive relief to require
the board to take action against the board chairman, and to enjoin the board from allegedly violating
the CEO's employment agreement by terminating her. The trial court issued a temporary restraining
order, enjoining the board from violating the health care center's bylaws, from violating federal
regulations, and from terminating the employment of the CEO. Subsequently, the trial court found
the defendant board members guilty of contempt for violating that order and entered a permanent
injunction against the defendants. The permanent injunction awarded in the contempt action
removed the defendants from the board and permanently barred them from the premises. The
defendants appealed. We affirm, finding that the trial court's action was warranted in the face of the
board’s failure to take action regarding the board chairman after the federal judgment for filing false
claims was entered against him.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/memphishealth072806.pdf
HENRY KENT SUDBERRY v. ROYAL & SUN ALLIANCE, ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
David H. Dunaway, LaFollette, Knoxville, for the appellant, Henry Kent Sudberry.
Larry G. Trail, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellees, Royal & Sun Alliance, Investigations and
Intelligence Services, Inc.
Judge: COTTRELL
Trial court granted motion to dismiss tort claims as barred by statute of limitations where the injury
alleged was loss of employment. To the extent the employee alleged he had a contract for continued
employment, his complaint was not subject to Tenn. R. Civ. P. 12.02(6) dismissal because the three
year statute of limitations applies to cases involving loss of property, including contractual rights.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/sudberryh072806.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RICHARD BARROM
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
C. Michael Robbins (on appeal) and Ted Hansom (at trial), Memphis, Tennessee, for the
appellant, Richard Barrom.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David E. Coenen, Assistant Attorney General;
and Lance E. Webb, Assistant District Attorney General Pro Tem, for the appellee, State of
Tennessee.
Judge: GLENN
Following a jury trial, the defendant, Richard Barrom, was convicted of assault by causing
extremely offensive or provocative physical contact, a Class B misdemeanor. The trial court
deferred sentencing, placed the defendant on diversion for eleven months, twenty-nine days, and
ordered him to perform thirty hours of community service work and complete an anger
management program. On appeal, he argues that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his
conviction; (2) the trial court erred in overruling his objection to hearsay testimony; (3) the trial
court improperly removed a juror based on race; and (4) his conviction was barred by prior
jeopardy. Additionally, the State argues that the trial court erred by granting judicial diversion.
Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/barromr072806.pdf
Allocation of Funds to School Board
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2006-07-27
Opinion Number: 06-118
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-118.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Election 2006
BPR Actions
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
| Finalists for ethics commission post named |
| The state Ethics Commission has narrowed its search from more than 100 candidates to four, reports the Tennessean. They are: Bruce A. Androphy, general counsel to the New York State Ethics Commission; Carol Carson, chief of the communications and public education division of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission; William Walter Hunt III, disciplinary counsel for the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility; and Bruce Rasmussen, retired inspector general for the chief of naval personnel. Candidates are scheduled to be interviewed in public hearings next month.
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| TBA Today, YLD program win top honors |
| Two Tennessee Bar Association programs were honored today with top awards from the Tennessee Society of Association Executives. TBA Today, the electronic newsletter you are reading right now, was recognized as the best newsletter produced by the state's largest associations. Also honored at the group's annual awards luncheon was the YLD's educational series for lawyers in the early years of their practice. The 4L/Skills Enhancement program was named the best educational series for large associations.
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| Threats against judges on the rise |
| Threats against federal judges are on a record-setting pace this year, reports the Associated Press.
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Read about the situation in an article in the Bristol Herald Courier
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| Child support collections reach record levels |
| The Tennessee Department of Human Services collected nearly half a billion dollars in child support last fiscal year as technology and improved enforcement tools contribute to increased collections, reports the Chattanoogan.com.
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Read about what DHS is doing to improve collection rates
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| Chattanooga police sentenced in state suit |
| Two former Chattanooga police officers -- already sentenced in federal court for stopping Hispanic drivers and stealing their money -- received two-year prison sentences in a state court plea deal. The officers were sentenced this week by Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern.
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Read about their crime in the News Sentinel
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| Former jailers indicted |
| Two former White County jail officers have been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly mistreating a jail inmate two years ago.
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The Cookeville Herald-Citizen has the story
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| Election 2006 |
| Survey helps Memphis voters |
| Voters in Memphis judicial elections can use information from a Memphis Bar Association survey to help guide their decisions. Learn more about the survey and Shelby County judicial elections in a Memphis Daily News story. |
Read the full story
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| Proposal would let voters decide term limits |
| Voters would decide which offices are subject to term limits under a proposal discussed Thursday by members of the Knox County Charter Review Committee. If the committee approves this approach, each office would be listed separately on the November ballot with a question whether term limits should apply.
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The Knoxville News Sentinel has the story
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| BPR Actions |
| Lebanon lawyer censured |
| Lebanon lawyer Adam Wilding Parrish received a censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility on July 18 for co-mingling trust funds with personal funds and using his trust account as an operating account. |
Read the BPR release
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| Brentwood attorney censured |
| The Board of Professional Responsibility censured Steven T. Raney of Brentwood on July 18 for practicing law while suspended. |
Learn more about the case
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| Maryville lawyer censured |
| Maryville attorney Charles M. Clifford was censured on July 24 for failing to timely file an appellate brief and failing to respond to disciplinary counsel. |
Read the BPR release
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| TBA Member Services |
| New TBA benefit: Lawyers professional liability insurance |
The TBA is now offering TBA Member Insurance Solutions, administered by Clay & Land Insurance. The new program will provide TBA members a highly rated carrier, access to 25 other markets providing professional liability insurance, qualified and experienced agents and risk management seminars for CLE credit.
"Our recent survey of Tennessee attorneys showed that almost 50% of our members believe that lawyers professional liability coverage is an important and valuable benefit," TBA Executive Director Allan Ramsaur said in announcing the new program. "This partnership is just another way for the TBA to further serve every lawyer every day."
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Learn more about this program
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