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Monday, July 16, 2007

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Final: 21 file for Koch seat

The deadline to apply for the opening on the Middle Division Court of Appeals was this afternoon. Twenty-one candidates have applied for the seat held by William Koch until his appointment to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Read the final list here.

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 or to obtain a text version of each opinion, 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 the TBA's Membership Central.

00 - TN Supreme Court
01 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
01 - TN Court of Appeals
05 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
01 - TN Attorney General Opinions
00 - Judicial Ethics Opinions
00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR

You can obtain full-text versions of the opinions two ways. We recommend that you download the Opinions to your computer and then open them from there. 1) 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. 2) 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.

BI-LO, LLC v. LARRY VAN FOSSEN

Court: TWCA

Attorneys:

Thomas O. Sippel, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for Appellant Bi-Lo, LLC.

Michael A. Anderson, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for Appellee, Larry Van Fossen.

Judge: BLACKWOOD

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6- 225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The employer asserts that the trial court erred in (1) finding that the employee's work injury of October 15, 2003, rather than his non-work injury of March 2004 caused his permanent disability; (2) assessing 60 percent vocational disability for the employee's injury; and (3) assessing the employer for the medical treatment received by the employee by Doctors Smith and Hodges. We agree with the findings of the trial court and in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-225(2), affirm the judgment of the trial court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC_WCP/2007/fossenl_071307.pdf

DORIS JONES AND BILLY J. JONES v. SUSANNAH P. JOHNSON

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Donald A. Donati and William B. Ryan, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellants, Doris Jones and Billy J. Jones.

Deana C. Seymour and Todd D. Siroky, Jackson, Tennessee, for the appellee, Susannah P. Johnson.

Wesley A. Clayton and William B. Palmertree, Jackson, Tennessee, for the unnamed defendant/appellee, Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company.

Judge: KIRBY

This is a personal injury case involving the Tennessee suspension statute. On August 27, 2003, the defendant rear-ended the plaintiff's vehicle. On August 23, 2004, the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the defendant for damages arising out of the accident. On the same date, a summons was issued to the defendant at her last known address in Tennessee. A few days later, the summons was returned with a notation indicating that the defendant had moved to Georgia. The plaintiffs failed to renew process within one year of the original date of service. Finally, in March 2006, an alias summons was issued and served on the defendant in Georgia. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment based on the one-year statute of limitations. The trial court granted the defendant's motion. The plaintiffs now appeal, arguing that the statute of limitations was tolled pursuant to the suspension statute, T.C.A. Section 28-1-111, because the defendant lived in another state when suit was filed. We affirm, concluding that the suspension statute is inapplicable in this case.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2007/jonesd_071807.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. GRADY WAYNE MEALER

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Michael J. Collins, Shelbyville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Grady Wayne Mealer.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General; W. Michael McCown, District Attorney General; and Weakley E. Barnard and Brooke Grubb, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: OGLE

A Marshall County Circuit Court jury convicted the appellant, Grady Wayne Mealer, of burglary and two counts of theft of property valued more than one thousand dollars but less than ten thousand dollars, all Class D felonies. The trial court merged the theft convictions, and the appellant agreed to an effective twelve-year sentence to be served at sixty percent and consecutively to any previous sentences. On appeal, the appellant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions. Based upon the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/mealerg_071607.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CLEO PATTERSON

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Cleo Patterson, pro se.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: WEDEMEYER

The Petitioner, Cleo Patterson, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for writ of error coram nobis and motion to reopen for post-conviction relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. We conclude the State's motion has merit. Accordingly, the motion is granted and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/pattersonc_071607.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RICKY LYNN PAYNE

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

David Brady, District Public Defender; John B. Nisbet, III, Assistant District Public Defender, for the Appellant, Ricky Lynn Payne.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Assistant Attorney General; William E. Gibson, District Attorney General; Beth Willis and William M. Locke, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: WEDEMEYER

A White County jury convicted the Defendant of attempted first degree murder, and he was sentenced to twenty years in prison. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction; (2) the trial court improperly allowed the 911 operator to testify and improperly admitted the 911 tape; (3) the trial court improperly instructed the jury on "flight"; (4) the trial court improperly instructed the jury to consider offenses in sequential order; and (5) the trial court should have declared a mistrial due to the State's use of leading questions. Further, we review the Defendant's sentence based upon the existence of plain error. After a thorough review, we affirm the Defendant's conviction, but we vacate his sentence and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/payner_071707.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MICHAEL COLLINS REED

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Nathan Moore, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Michael Collins Reed.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Rob McGuire, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: OGLE

The appellant, Michael Collins Reed, pled guilty in the Davidson County Criminal Court to attempted aggravated robbery and received an eight-year sentence to be served as ten years on probation. Subsequently, the trial court revoked his probation and ordered that he serve the sentence in confinement. On appeal, the appellant admits that he violated probation but claims the court erred by not reinstating his probation and by ordering him to serve his sentence in confinement. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/reedm_071607.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DAVID B. TODD, III, and DAVID JOHN

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

B. Todd, III, and Glenn R. Funk and James O. Martin, III, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, David John.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and James W. Milam and Russell Thomas, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee

Judge: OGLE

The appellants, David B. Todd, III, and David John, were convicted of theft of property over $60,000 and conspiracy to commit theft of property valued at $60,000 or more. Additionally, Todd was convicted of passing a worthless check valued at $1,000 or more but less than $10,000. He was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to a total effective sentence of nine years in the Department of Correction. John was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to a total effective sentence of nine years in the Department of Correction, all suspended except 200 days. On appeal, Todd argues that the trial court erred by (1) allowing testimonial evidence from a non-testifying codefendant; (2) failing to instruct the jurors that one of the State's witnesses was an accomplice as a matter of law; and (3) allowing the State to present evidence of prior uncharged criminal acts. John argues that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction; (2) the trial court erred by allowing proof of other bad acts; (3) the trial court erred by allowing the State to present rebuttal testimony; (4) the trial court erred by disallowing evidence that the premises had been searched for a dead body; (5) the State committed prosecutorial misconduct during the trial; and (6) the trial court erred by not granting him a fully suspended sentence. We conclude that there are no reversible errors and affirm the judgments of the trial court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/toddd_071607.pdf

Ability of Out-of-State Health Care Professionals to Provide Emergency Assistance in Tennessee

TN Attorney General Opinions

Date: 2007-07-13

Opinion Number: 07-107

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2007/ag_07-107.pdf

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Legal News

Bakers denied by federal judge

U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Mays has denied a habeas corpus petition filed by Jerry and Louise Baker, who are trying to retain custody of 8-year-old Anna Mae He. Mays issued a 40-page order late Friday that said the federal court lacked jurisdiction because the Bakers can still file an appeal with the Tennessee Supreme Court regarding Anna's constitutional rights.