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Wednesday, August 02, 2006

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First applicant files for Supreme Court vacancy

Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge J.C. McLin is the first applicant to file in a second call for Supreme Court applicants, following Governor Phil Bredesen's decision to reject applicants presented to him last month. Details on the selection process, including the application deadline, are available on the court's Web site:

http://www.tncourts.gov

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
02 - TN Court of Appeals
01 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
04 - TN Attorney General Opinions
00 - Judicial Ethics Opinions
00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR

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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

GENE GRIFFIN v. TROY MENDIUS and STATE FARM INSURANCE COMPANY

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Curtis D. Johnson, Memphis, Tennessee, for Plaintiff/Appellant Gene Griffin.

Robert L. Moore and Dawn D. Carson, Memphis, Tennessee, for Defendant Troy Mendius and Defendant/Appellee State Farm Insurance Company.

Judge: KIRBY

This appeal involves Rule 11 sanctions. The plaintiff was injured in an automobile accident. The plaintiff filed a lawsuit against the other driver for his damages arising out of the accident. Believing the other driver to be uninsured, the plaintiff served the complaint on his own automobile insurance carrier pursuant to the uninsured motorist statute. Subsequently, the plaintiff was informed that the other driver was not uninsured as originally believed. The plaintiff nevertheless proceeded with the litigation under his uninsured motorist theory. After the plaintiff's claim was dismissed, the insurance company sought Rule 11 sanctions. The trial court awarded the insurance company its attorney's fees, costs, and expenses incurred after the date the plaintiff was notified that the other driver was insured. The plaintiff now appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by granting the Rule 11 sanctions. We affirm.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/griffing080206.pdf

FLOSSIE HOWARD and EZELL ROBERSON, as legal heirs of decedent MARTHA CULP v. KINDRED NURSING CENTERS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, f/k/a VENCOR NURSING CENTERS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP d/b/a HUNTINGDON HEALTH & REHABILITATION CENTER, and BAPTIST MEMORIAL HEALTH CARE CORPORATION, d/b/a BAPTIST MEDICAL HOSPITAL-HUNTINGDON

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Edward M. Bearman, Memphis, Tennessee, for Plaintiffs/Appellants Flossie Howard and Ezell Roberson.

Brett A. Hughes, Memphis, Tennessee, for Defendant/Appellee Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation.

Judge: KIRBY

This case involves a statute of limitations. The plaintiffs' decedent died in April 2000 at a nursing home. In February 2002, the plaintiffs filed this lawsuit against the nursing home in state court, alleging negligent care by the nursing home. The nursing home removed the action to federal court. Subsequently, the nursing home asserted fault against the hospital that treated the decedent prior to her death. The plaintiffs then amended their complaint to name the hospital as a defendant. Later, the federal court entered an order of dismissal as to the nursing home and remanded the remaining proceedings to state court. After that, the defendant hospital filed a motion to dismiss. The state court granted the motion to dismiss, ruling that the plaintiffs' action was a medical malpractice action and was not timely under the applicable statute of limitations. We affirm.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/howardf080206.pdf

SCOTT M. CRAIG v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Corrected Case

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Charles Richard Hughes, Jr., District Public Defender; and A. Wayne Carter, Assistant Public Defender, for the Appellant, Scott M. Craig.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Cameron L. Hyder, Assistant Attorney General; Jerry N. Estes, District Attorney General; and Steven Davis Crump, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: WITT

Aggrieved of his aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape convictions, the petitioner, Scott M. Craig, sought post-conviction relief, which was denied by the Criminal Court of Bradley County after an evidentiary hearing. On appeal, the petitioner presents several issues of the ineffective assistance of counsel. We affirm the denial of post-conviction relief.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/craigs_corr080206.pdf

Conflict of Interest in the Director of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy Acting as Executive Secretary of the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission

TN Attorney General Opinions

Date: 2006-08-01

Opinion Number: 06-120

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-120.pdf

Court Clerks' Fees

TN Attorney General Opinions

Date: 2006-08-01

Opinion Number: 06-121

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-121.pdf

Proration of Ad Valorem Taxes on Real Property at Time of Sale

TN Attorney General Opinions

Date: 2006-08-01

Opinion Number: 06-122

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-122.pdf

Morristown City Court Judge Serving as Juvenile Court Referee

TN Attorney General Opinions

Date: 2006-08-01

Opinion Number: 06-123

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2006/ag_06-123.pdf

TODAY'S NEWS

Election 2006
Legal News
BPR Actions
TBA Member Services

Election 2006

Federal observers to be present at polls

The U.S. Justice Department will have observers at the polls in Shelby County to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act. In announcing its decision, the department said it will be watching and recording activities at various polling locations in the city and that a Civil Rights Division attorney will be present to coordinate federal activities with local polling officials.

Election likely to produce record turnout

While early voting turnout varied considerably around the state, total turnout was up. This has led state election officials to predict that Thursday's election will produce a record turnout for an August primary.

Interested in early voting details?

For a county-by-county early voting report, check out the state Division of Elections' Web site:

http://state.tn.us/sos/election

Court spokesperson lauds retention system

Sue Allison, public information officer for the state Supreme Court, says that Tennessee's "yes/no" ballot setup is effective because judges are able to stay out of the political fray of campaigning and continue with their work during campaign seasons. Under the retention system, voters check "yes" or "no" on whether to keep each judge in office for another eight-year term.