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Court narrows attorney general candidates to 3
The Tennessee Supreme Court will invite three candidates for attorney general back for a second interview. The three finalists are Margaret L. Behm, a Nashville attorney; Robert E. Cooper Jr., Gov. Phil Bredesen's legal counsel; and Joseph E. (Jef) Feibelman, a Memphis attorney. Find out more about the three candidates at
http://www.tba2.org/tbatoday/news/2006/agfinalists_102306.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 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
03 - TN Court of Appeals
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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
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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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SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Grants & Denials List
Court: TSC
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2006/certlist_102306.pdf
JEAN FRAZER v. HORTON AUTOMATICS, A DIVISION OF OVERHEAD DOOR CORPORATION, ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Richard L. Duncan and Cary L. Bauer, Knoxville, Tennessee for the Appellant, Jean Frazer
W. Mitchell Cramer and Carrie S. O’Rear, Knoxville, Tennessee for the Appellee, Chattanooga
Bone & Joint Surgeons, P.C.
Judge: SWINEY
Jean Frazer (“Plaintiff”) sued Horton Automatics, a Division of Overhead Door Corporation;
Carolina Door Controls, Inc.; and Chattanooga Bone & Joint Surgeons, P.C. (“Chattanooga Bone
& Joint”) regarding injuries Plaintiff received while attempting to enter Chattanooga Bone & Joint’s
facility through an automatic sliding door. Chattanooga Bone & Joint filed a motion for summary
judgment, which the Trial Court granted finding and holding that Chattanooga Bone & Joint “had
no duty relative to the automatic doors.” The case is before us on interlocutory appeal. We vacate
the grant of summary judgment to Chattanooga Bone & Joint and remand.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/frazerj_102306.pdf
IAIN HISCOCK v. SUE E. HISCOCK
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
H. Wayne Grant, Steven W. Grant, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the appellant, Iain R. Hiscock
Clinton H. Swafford, Winchester, Tennessee, for the appellee, Sue E. Hiscock
Judge: CAIN
Husband appeals the type and amount of alimony awarded to Wife after the termination of a twenty-
seven year marriage. The decision of the trial court is affirmed as modified.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/hiscocki_102306.pdf
JAMES PETERSON, ET AL. v. PUTNAM COUNTY, TENNESSEE
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Henry D. Fincher, Cookeville, Tennessee, for the appellants, James Peterson and Winnie Peterson
Jeffrey G. Jones, Cookeville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Putnam County, Tennessee
Judge: SUSANO
Property owners, James Peterson and his wife, Winnie Peterson, brought this action against Putnam
County, alleging claims for inverse condemnation, temporary nuisance, and violations of the
Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act (“the GTLA”). The trial court granted the county
summary judgment, finding, inter alia, (1) that the plaintiffs’ proper remedy was a claim for inverse
condemnation, rather than a claim for nuisance; (2) that the plaintiffs’ inverse condemnation claim
was barred by the statute of limitations; and (3) that the GTLA claim fails because the plaintiffs do
not fall within the protected class of persons. The plaintiffs appeal. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2006/petersonj_102306.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. THURMAN RANDOLPH
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Jeff Mueller, Jackson, Tennessee, for the appellant, Thurman Randolph
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Sophia S. Lee, Assistant Attorney General;Jerry
Woodall, District Attorney General; and Shaun A. Brown, Assistant District Attorney General, for
the appellee, State of Tennessee
Judge: SMITH
The appellant, Thurman Randolph, was arrested in February of 2005 for rape. After a preliminary
hearing in the Madison County Municipal Court the charge was dismissed. Subsequently, the State
presented the matter to the Madison County Grand Jury, which returned an indictment on two counts
of rape. The appellant was later re-indicted by the Madison County Grand Jury on two counts of
rape and two counts of statutory rape. Upon learning that part of the audiotape of the preliminary
hearing was not available due to a technical glitch in the recording, the appellant filed a motion
seeking dismissal of the indictment and a remand of the matter to the Jackson Municipal Court for
a new preliminary hearing pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 5.1(a). The trial court
denied the motion and the appellant sought an interlocutory appeal. In this interlocutory appeal, the
appellant asserts that the trial court improperly denied the motion to dismiss the indictment and
remand the matter to the Jackson Municipal Court. Because the trial court properly denied the
motion to dismiss the indictment, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2006/randolpht_102306.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
BPR Actions
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
| Scalia blasts press, raises questions of judicial independence |
| Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said the idea of judicial independence is sometimes applied too broadly and that "the press is never going to report judicial opinions accurately," during a speech Saturday sponsored by the National Italian American Foundation. |
Read more from the Associated Press and Editor & Publisher
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| Court's purpose may not translate |
| Nearly three dozen states have formed a group hoping to set national certification standards for court interpreters, but various problems remain, including a lack of funding. The impetus came from cases like Rafael Camargo's capital murder trial. In 1995, a jury sentenced the Mexican national to death. His appeals never mentioned the language barrier, but the Arkansas Supreme Court noted on its own that defendants who don't speak English deserve to hear legal proceedings in their own language. |
Read the AP story in the Commercial Appeal
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| Lab backlog frustrating Chattanooga investigators |
| Slow turnaround from an overloaded crime lab at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is frustrating Hamilton County police and fire investigators, who are hopeful that funding obtained in the last legislative session for new facilities and personnel will shorten the wait time. |
Read about it in the Chattanooga Times Free Press
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| Rule of law remains vital, columnist says |
| Nashville lawyer Barbara Moss uses a column in the Tennessean to explain the "rule of law," and how she believes it applies to the Nashville Airport Authority's decision to suspend a program that set percentage goals for awarding contracts to small, woman- or minority-owned businesses. |
Read her column
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| Big money erodes judges' credibility |
| USA Today writes in a recent editorial that judges should be chosen by appointment based on merit or through publicly financed elections, because "special interest money erodes the legal system's credibility." |
Read the opinion
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| BPR Actions |
| Maury County lawyer suspended |
| On Oct. 17, Maury County lawyer Matthew Q. Bastian was suspended from the practice of law for six months by a Tennessee Supreme Court order. He will be placed on probation for five months, 29 days after the suspension and will be required to obtain errors and omissions insurance coverage with limits of $100,000 or greater. The discipline followed a Board of Professional Responsibility hearing that found he had violated RPC 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.15, 1.16 and 3.2. |
Read the BPR release
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| TBA Member Services |
| Make the most of your TBA membership |
| Contact Membership Director Sarah Stair for more information on our money saving member benefits. Call 800.899.6993 or email sstair@tnbar.org |
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