Friday, April 04, 2008
Search our Database for Opinions and News Items
 
 
Memphis party to kick off Law Week activities

Join in the celebration of Law Week with a free kickoff party on April 25 in downtown Memphis. All members of the legal community are invited to the Court Square party, which will run from 5 to 7 p.m. and feature free barbeque, wine, beer, soft drinks and live music. The event is hosted jointly by the Tennessee Bar Association, Memphis Bar Association, Association for Women Attorneys, Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association, Memphis/Mid-South Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, Memphis Bar Foundation, Young Lawyers Division of the Memphis Bar Association, Association of Legal Administrators, Greater Memphis Paralegal Alliance and Memphis area court reporters. Download the flyer for more information.

http://www.tba2.org/tbatoday/news/2008/LawWeek_2008.pdf
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
04 - 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.
RICHARD L. HARMON and LOIS HARMON v. E.G. MEEK, SR., and LOUIS HOFFERBERT, TRUSTEE

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Michael J. Stanuszek, Knoxville, Tennessee, for appellant, E.G. Meek, Sr.

Donald K. Vowell, Knoxville, Tennessee, for appellees.

Judge: FRANKS

Plaintiffs executed a promissory note and trust deed on their property to a third party who subsequently began foreclosure proceedings on the property. Defendant purchased the note and trust deed from the third party and subsequently began foreclosure proceedings on the property which became the genesis of this action. Plaintiffs asked the Court to enjoin the foreclosure and the foreclosure was stayed by agreement. After prolonged negotiations between the parties, plaintiffs were finally able to sell the property to another third party. Plaintiffs charged defendant with violations of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act and the Trial Court awarded damages and attorney's fees, finding defendant had violated the Act in his dealings with the plaintiffs. On appeal, we affirm.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2008/harmonr_040408.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CEDRIC RURON SAINE

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Daniel D. Warlick, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Cedric Ruron Saine.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Mark A. Fulks, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Shannon Poindexter, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellant, State of Tennessee.

Judge: WELLS

This is a State appeal from an order dismissing the indictment against the Defendant, Cedric Ruron Saine. The Defendant was indicted for possession with the intent to sell more than 300 grams of cocaine. The issue presented for our review is whether the trial court erred in granting the motion to suppress evidence seized from the Defendant's residence and vehicle or, more specifically, whether the search warrant affidavit contained sufficient facts to establish probable cause that drugs were located inside the Defendant's home and, if not, whether the warrantless search of the Defendant's car was supported by exigent circumstances. After a review of the record and the applicable authorities, we affirm the order of the trial court granting the Defendant's motion to suppress the evidence discovered during the search of his residence, but we reverse the decision to suppress the drugs found during the search of the Defendant's car. We vacate the order dismissing the indictment, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2008/sainec_040408.pdf
MICHAEL S. SMITH v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Richard D. Dumas, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Michael S. Smith.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General & Reporter; Clarence E. Lutz, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, District Attorney General, and Roger Moore, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: SMITH

Petitioner, Michael S. Smith, appeals the post-conviction court's denial of his petition for postconviction relief in which he claimed that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that his guilty pleas were unknowingly and involuntarily entered into. Because we determine that Petitioner has failed to demonstrate through clear and convincing evidence that he received ineffective assistance of counsel or that his guilty pleas were unknowingly or involuntarily entered, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2008/smithm_040408.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. STEVEN RAY TALLENT

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

J. Liddell Kirk, Knoxville, Tennessee (on appeal); and Mack Garner, District Public Defender (at trial), for the appellant, Steven Ray Tallent.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Deshea Dulany, Assistant Attorney General; Michael L. Flynn, District Attorney General; and Ellen Berez, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: WITT

The defendant, Steven Ray Tallent, pleaded guilty to a charge of domestic assault and was sentenced in the Blount County Circuit Court to a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, which was suspended to supervised probation. On May 30, 2007, the court revoked the probation and ordered the defendant to serve 11 months and 29 days in confinement. From that order, the defendant appeals and claims a lack of evidence. Upon review, we affirm the judgment below.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2008/tallents_040408.pdf
Constitutionality of Exclusions from Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act

TN Attorney General Opinions

Date: 2008-04-03

Opinion Number: 08-80

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2008/ag_08_80.pdf
Constitutionality of Tenn. Code Ann. Section 50-2-103

TN Attorney General Opinions

Date: 2008-04-03

Opinion Number: 08-81

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2008/ag_08_81.pdf
Tenn. Code Ann. Section 37-1-128(e)

TN Attorney General Opinions

Date: 2008-04-03

Opinion Number: 08-82

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2008/ag_08_82.pdf
Prohibition in Tenn. Code Ann. Section 2-12-201

TN Attorney General Opinions

Date: 2008-04-03

Opinion Number: 08-83

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2008/ag_08_83.pdf
TODAY'S NEWS
Legal News
Your Practice
Politics
TennBarU CLE
TBA Member Services
Legal News
Galligan named to Tennessee Judicial Council
Gov. Phil Bredesen today named McMinnville lawyer Michael D. Galligan to the Tennessee Judicial Council. A University of Tennessee College of Law graduate, Galligan is a member of the firm Galligan & Newman.
Court upholds 2006 election
The Tennessee Court of Appeals this week upheld a lower court's ruling once again declaring Hendersonville Alderman Lance Wray the winner in a hotly contested 2006 city election. Read more in the Tennessean
Read the full opinion
Washington firm opens Nashville office
Washington D.C.-based Reno & Cavanaugh is opening a new downtown Nashville office, led by former Stites & Harbison lawyers Dwayne Barrett and Hannah Cassidy. The firm works on economic and community development projects across the country, advising clients on federal, state and local regulatory requirements.
Learn more at the Nashville Post.com
Juris jobs moving to N.C.
LexisNexis is relocating most of the Brentwood staff affiliated with its Juris software product to its Cary, N.C., technology center. LexisNexis bought then Brentwood-based Juris nine months ago. The firm provides management software to small to midsized law firms.
Read more in the Nashville Post.com
More legal jobs headed offshore, research firms says
Forrester Research projects that 29,000 legal jobs will move offshore by the end of the year and as many as 79,000 by 2015. Time magazine reports on the trend and India's move up the corporate food chain, from call centers to legal and other professional services.
Read more in Time
Your Practice
Billable hours 'corrupting' profession Calif. bar president says
The problem of billable hours is a common lament. Lawyers at large law firms often complain of the toll exacted by heavy workloads driven by the pressure to bill more hours. Now the president of the State Bar of California is citing another reason to put an end to the billable hour: its corrupting influence on the profession.
The ABA's Online Journal has more
Politics
Petition short, Armstrong without opponent in primary
Former legislator and county commissioner Pete Drew fell five voters short on his qualifying petition, Knox county elections Administrator Greg Mackay says, leaving State Rep. Joe Armstrong, a Democrat representing the 15th House District, without an opponent in the Aug. 7 primary. The Knoxville News Sentinel offers a roundup of filings for state and area races.
Read the roundup in the Knoxville News Sentinel
Cohn draws challengers for Memphis seat
Incumbent Steve Cohen drew four challengers for the Democratic primary as he runs for a second two-year term. Read a recap of filings from the Memphis area in the Memphis Daily News.
The Memphis Daily News has more
TennBarU CLE
New immigration laws and your clients
As immigration has heated up in political debates, federal and state enforcement activity has increase dramatically. New federal regulations increase penalties on employers violating immigration laws including tough new criminal sanctions. Tennessee has ratcheted up the pressure as well through a new employer sanctions law that is one of the nation's toughest. Learn how all of this affects your clients, whether they are employers or involved in mergers and acquisitions.
Register or learn more now
TBA Member Services
Program offers savings on auto insurance
See how being a member of the TBA could help you save 8 percent on car insurance. GEICO offers 24-hour sales, service and claims. Call GEICO at (800) 368-2734
or get an online rate quote

 
 
Discontinue your TBA Today subscription? ... Surely not!
But if you must, visit the TBALink web site at:
http://www.tba2.org/tbatoday/unsub_tbatoday.php

Questions, comments: Email us at TBAToday@tnbar.org

About this publication: Today's News is a compilation of digests of news reports of interest to Tennessee lawyers compiled by TBA staff, links to digested press releases, and occasional stories about the TBA and other activities written by the TBA staff or members. Statements or opinions herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Tennessee Bar Association, its officers, board or staff.
© Copyright 2008 Tennessee Bar Association