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Friday, September 05, 2008

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Swearing-in ceremony highlight of TBA Academy

A select group of Tennessee attorneys will soon experience the honor of being admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court in a private swearing-in ceremony at the 25th Annual TBA Academy. This year's Academy is scheduled for Dec. 14-15. Join TBA President Buck Lewis and other leaders in the Tennessee legal community in this exciting program.

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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
01 - 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.

MARY JO PATTERSON v. CLARKSVILLE-MONTGOMERY COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM

Court: TWCA

Attorneys:

David J. Silvus, Clarksville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Clarksville-Montgomery County School System.

Peter M. Olson, Clarksville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Mary Jo Patterson.

Judge: HARRIS

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) (Supp. 2007) for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court found that the employee complied with the notice requirement of Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-201(a) (Supp. 2003). It further found that she had sustained a compensable injury to her lower back and awarded 30% permanent partial disability. The employer has appealed, contending that the claim is barred by failure to provide timely notice and that the evidence preponderates against the finding of causation. We affirm the judgment.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC_WCP/2008/pattersonm_090508.pdf

PATSY WICKS DAWSON v. ISAAC DALE DAWSON

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

James S. Smith, Jr., Rockwood, Tennessee for the Appellant, Patsy Wicks Dawson.

Browder G. Williams, Kingston, Tennessee for the Appellee, Isaac Dale Dawson.

Judge: SWINEY

After more than eighteen years of marriage, Patsy Wicks Dawson ("Wife") sued Isaac Dale Dawson ("Husband") for divorce. After a trial, the Trial Court entered an order, inter alia, awarding Husband a divorce and distributing the marital property. Wife appeals raising an issue regarding the distribution of the marital property. We vacate the distribution of the marital property and remand this case to the Trial Court to value items of marital property as necessary to effectuate an equitable division of marital property under the facts of this case such that Husband receives 60% and Wife receives 40%. The remainder of the Trial Court's Final Decree of Divorce is affirmed.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2008/dawsonp_090508.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ARMAND E. BOOKER

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Robert Jolley, Knoxville, Tennessee (at trial), and F. Chris Cawood, Kingston, Tennessee (on appeal) for the appellant, Armand E. Booker.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Benjamin A. Ball, Assistant Attorney General, and Edward P. Bailey, Jr., District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: WITT

On April 6, 2006, an Anderson County Criminal Court convicted the defendant, Armand E. Booker, of one charge of selling less than .5 grams of cocaine, a Class C Felony. The defendant now appeals, alleging that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction, that the police and State engaged in outrageous conduct in their dealings with the defendant, that the trial court erred in failing to dismiss the charge because of the State's failure to comply with discovery, and that the trial court erred in not indicating when the defendant's sentence should begin if it was to run consecutively to his two prior sentences. Discerning no error in the judgment of the trial court, we affirm.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2008/bookera_090508.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RAFAEL L. MAZYCK

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

J. Liddell Kirk, Knoxville, Tennessee (on appeal); and R. Mack Garner, District Public Defender (at trial), for the appellant, Rafael L. Mazyck.

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

Judge: TIPTON

The defendant, Rafael L. Mazyck, pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to two counts of theft over $1000, a class D felony, and one count each of felony reckless endangerment and felony evading arrest, both class E felonies. He received a total sentence as a Range I, standard offender of four years, which was suspended after sixty days of confinement. In this appeal, the defendant challenges the trial court's revoking his probation and ordering him to serve his entire sentence in confinement. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2008/mazyckr_090508.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE V. JAMES BERNARD SIMPSON

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Deborah B. Lonon, Assistant Public Defender, Blountville, Tennessee, for appellant, James Bernard Simpson

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Leslie E. Price, Assistant Attorney General; Greeley Wells, District Attorney General; and Brandon Haren, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: SMITH

Appellant, James Simpson, pled guilty to violation of an habitual traffic offender order, violation of vehicle registration and driving under the influence ("DUI"), second offense. The trial court sentenced Appellant to three years as a Range II Multiple Offender for violation of an habitual traffic offender order, thirty days with a seventy-five percent release eligibility for violation of vehicle registration, and eleven months and twenty-nine days at seventy-five percent release eligibility of which forty-five days were to be served day-for-day for DUI, second offense. Appellant requested a hearing on alternative sentencing. Following a hearing, the trial court denied all versions of alternative sentencing based upon the length and nature of Appellant's prior criminal history, as well as his past failures to conform to conditions when given probation or after having his drivers' license revoked. We have reviewed the record on appeal and find that it supports the trial court's decision. Therefore, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2008/simpsonj_090508.pdf

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Chancellor says no to English language referendum

A controversial referendum to make English the official language of Nashville isn't eligible for the Nov. 4 election ballot, Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman ruled Thursday. The Metro councilman who is championing the issue says he will appeal the decision today, then get to work on a new petition drive geared toward a later election.