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Learn what non-smoking act will mean to your clients
When Tennessee's new Non-Smoker Protection Act goes into effect Oct. 1 it will ban the use of tobacco products in the workplace for the first time in the state's history. Find out what this means to employers and others in a one-hour TennBarU seminar produced by an attorney who was involved in development of the legislation. Vance W. Cheek Jr. of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz will break down this new legislation and review what modifications and amendments are already being whispered about at legislative plaza.
https://www.tnbaru.com/CLE/catalog_course_details.php?course=5442
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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 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
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
01 - TN Court of Appeals
03 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
00 - 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.
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RANDAL REYNOLDS, Administrator of the Estate of William Reynolds, Jr. v. FREDDIE VOLNER, ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Sam J. Watridge, Humboldt, TN, for Appellant.
Jeffrey A. Smith, Trenton, TN, for Appellees.
Judge: HIGHERS
This appeal involves a sale of equipment, made by a decedent to his friend, eleven days before he died. The administrator of the decedent's estate filed a complaint to set aside the sale alleging fraud, undue influence, and inadequate consideration. Following a bench trial, the trial court set aside the sale and ordered the estate to reimburse the purchase money to the buyers. We reverse.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2007/reynoldsw_091107.pdf
KIRBY dissenting
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2007/reynoldsw_dis_091107.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOHN HARVEY JENNINGS
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Mark C. Scruggs, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, John Harvey Jennings.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Preston Shipp, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Brian Holmgren, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: OGLE
The appellant, John Harvey Jennings, pled guilty in the Davidson County Criminal Court to two counts of rape, and he received a sentence of eight years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Subsequently, he filed a motion for suspension of sentence, which motion was denied. On appeal, the appellant challenges the trial court's denial of his motion for suspension of sentence. Upon our review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/jenningsj_091107.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. GRADY W. LEWIS
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Stephen M. Wallace, District Public Defender, and Joseph F. Harrison, Assistant Public Defender, for the appellant, Grady W. Lewis.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Cameron L. Hyder, Assistant Attorney General; H. Greeley Wells, Jr., District Attorney General; and Brandon Haren, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WILLIAMS
The defendant, Grady Wayne Lewis, appeals the trial court's denial of alternative sentencing stemming from his guilty plea to one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of violation of the open container law. After review, we affirm the judgments from the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/lewisg_091107.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RICKY E. SCOVILLE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Scott C. Williams and Matthew W. McInteer, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Ricky E. Scoville.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Lacy Wilber, Assistant Attorney General; Weakley E. Barnard, District Attorney General Pro Tem, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: HAYES
The Appellant, Ricky E. Scoville, appeals his misdemeanor convictions by a Marshall County jury for the crimes of aggravated criminal trespass and criminal littering. On appeal, Scoville raises two issues for our review: (1) whether evidence of prior acts by Scoville was improperly admitted at trial; and (2) whether the evidence presented at trial was legally sufficient to support the convictions. Following a review of the record, we conclude that Scoville's first issue is waived, as it was not raised in the motion for new trial. We further conclude that the evidence presented at trial was more than sufficient to support the convictions. Accordingly, the judgments of conviction are affirmed.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2007/scoviller_091107.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Disciplinary Actions
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| Legal News |
| Attorneys ask court to halt Holton execution |
| Arguing that there is a "very serious question whether electrocution violates the evolving standards of the Eighth Amendment and the Tennessee Constitution," 68 attorneys petitioned the Supreme Court this afternoon to exercise its inherent authority to withdraw the execution order in the case of Daryl Keith Holton and (1) declare that electrocution is unconstitutional or (2) order an expeditious review of its constitutionality. Holton is scheduled to die by electrocution Wednesday morning.
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Download the petition
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| AG nominee likely to be named next week |
| President Bush is expected to announce his choice to replace Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General by the middle of next week, and sources say that former solicitor general Theodore Olson is a leading contender for the job. Other names mentioned include D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Laurence Silberman, Solicitor General Paul Clement, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and former deputy attorneys general George Terwilliger III and Larry Thompson.
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The Washington Post has more
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| Gibson county judge accused of sexual battery |
| A complaint filed against Gibson County General Sessions Judge James Webb alleges that he committed sexual battery on or about Aug. 17 in northwest Madison County. Webb has not been charged in the case but is the subject of an investigation by the Madison County sheriff and the state attorney general. Webb has acknowledged that he acted inappropriately but denied he committed battery.
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Read more in the Jackson Sun
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| New practice area emerges as laptop thefts rise |
| An epidemic of computer laptop thefts has helped launch a new area of legal practice: data security. With as many as 1.5 million laptops stolen annually, an increasing number of lawsuits are being filed over the loss of data. |
The Denver Business Journal looks at the issue
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| Jurors have strong opinions about Knox commission |
| Jury selection began this morning in a lawsuit by the Knoxville News Sentinel and nine citizens against the Knox County Commission for alleged violations of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. The first order of business was to ferret out jurors with preconceived opinions about the commission, county government or the newspaper. But that was proving difficult: the first dozen questioned had strong opinions, including calling the commission a "good ol' boys network," and saying the meeting to replace term-limited officials was "a circus."
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The News Sentinel reports
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| Delinquent child support may mean losing license |
| More than 14,000 Tennessee parents who have not paid child support face losing their driver's, professional and/or recreational licenses if they don't make a payment within 90 days, reports the Department of Human Services. |
Chattanoogan.com has more
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| DOJ rep tours Jackson-Madison schools |
| A representative from the U.S. Department of Justice, which is a party to the Jackson-Madison County School system's 44-year-old desegregation lawsuit, visited several county schools late last week but declined to give a reason for the visit. The county school board, however, has been seeking an end to the desegregation order.
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The Jackson Sun has details
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| Dickson courts to receive security funds |
| Dickson County courts will receive as much as $175,000 in funding for new security measures, which will be used to purchase walk-through metal detectors, hand-held detectors and panic buttons for county offices. |
The Tennessean carried the story
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| Memphis CASA finds new home |
| In early July, Juvenile Court officials informed Court Appointed Special Advocates of Memphis and Shelby County that it would need to find new office space by Oct. 1. This week the organization announced it would move its operations to the administration building at Porter-Leath Children's Center at 868 N. Manassas St. A second agency asked to vacate the courthouse -- the Commission on Missing and Exploited Children -- is still looking for alternative space. |
The Memphis Daily News has more
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| Lawyer arrested after stand-off with police |
| Murfreesboro lawyer David Goad was taken into custody early yesterday morning after an all-night standoff with police. Goad, whose law license was suspended in March 2005, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault according to the Murfreesboro Post. |
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| Disciplinary Actions |
| Mississippi lawyer censured |
| Robert B. Gaia was publicly censured by the Board of Professional Responsibility on Aug. 30, for failing to move with reasonable diligence, communicate with clients and properly withdraw as counsel. Based on a second complaint from the Court of Criminal Appeals, the board found that he also failed to timely file a brief and pay costs due the court.
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Read the BPR release
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