 |
| Friday, May 07, 2010 |
|
| |
| |
TBA board to fill Dixon's seat
The Tennessee Bar Association Board of Governors will appoint a member to fill the vacancy created by the election of Jackie Dixon as vice president of the TBA. The appointment will be made at the board's June 5 meeting. Any member who lives or practices in the 5th District (Davidson County) is eligible for appointment. To indicate your interest in the seat, contact TBA Executive Director
Allan Ramsaur
no later than May 31. The new board member will serve until the elections, which will take place in spring 2011.
|
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.
01 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
03 - TN Court of Appeals
00 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
02 - 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
TERRANCE LAVAR DAVIS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General & Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; and Mark A. Fulks, Senior Counsel, for the appellant, the State of Tennessee.
Jay Norman, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Terrance Lavar Davis.
Judge: CLARK
We granted permission to appeal in this habeas corpus case to address the legality of a pleabargained sentence requiring the defendant, being sentenced for two cocaine offenses committed in a school zone, to serve twenty-two years of a Range I sentence at "100%." The defendant alleges that his sentence is illegal because it makes no provision for the possibility of early release on parole. The trial court denied relief. On appeal, the Court of Criminal
Appeals reversed the trial court and remanded for further proceedings. We hold that the defendant's sentence is not illegal, and he is therefore not entitled to habeas corpus relief. We reverse the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2010/davist_050710.pdf
WADE concurring
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2010/davist_CON1_050710.pdf
LEE concurring
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2010/davist_CON2_050710.pdf
IN THE MATTER OF: KEMPTON, L.D.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Vanessa Cross, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Kempton Lamonte Daniels
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter, Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General, Amy T. McConnell, Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, State of Tennessee, ex rel Sherrie Morneet Alexander.
Judge: HIGHERS
While cohabitating with Appellant, Mother gave birth to a child, and shortly thereafter, Appellant acknowledged paternity. Several years later, a DNA test allegedly indicated that Appellant was not the child's biological father. After receiving the DNA test results, Appellant waited more than two years to file a petition to disestablish paternity, which the juvenile court denied. Because Appellant failed to file his petition for Rule 60.02 relief
"within a reasonable time," we affirm the decision of the juvenile court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2010/kempton_050710.pdf
CITY OF MURFREESBORO v. THOMAS LEON NORTON
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Joe M. Brandon, Jr., Smyrna, Tennessee, for the appellant, Thomas Leon Norton
William E. Squires, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellee, City of Murfreesboro
Judge: HIGHERS
This case involves an appeal from a judgment entered by a city court following a traffic citation. The circuit court found that the defendant had not violated the city ordinance
alleged to have been violated, but the court sua sponte determined that the defendant had violated a different city ordinance. The defendant appeals. We reverse and remand.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2010/nortont_050710.pdf
ALLISON J. PERSON, AS ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE OF EFFIE J. WOOTEN, Deceased, ET AL. v. KINDRED HEALTHCARE, INC., d/b/a PRIMACY HEALTHCARE AND REHABILITATION CENTER, ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
William Lee Maddux, T. Ryan Malone, Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the appellants, Kindred Healthcare, Inc., Kindred Healthcare Services, Inc., Kindred Healthcare Operating, Inc., Kindred Nursing Centers limited Partnership, George A. Munchow, J. David Marchant and
Melisa Lucinda Hall.
Cameron C. Jehl, Deborah Truby Riordan and Carey Lynn Acerra, Little Rock, Arkansas, for the appellee, Allison J. Person.
Judge: FARMER
This is an action for negligence and wrongful death filed against a nursing home by the administrator of decedent patient's estate. The trial court denied Defendant nursing home's motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment upon finding decedent patient was not competent to execute the power of attorney pursuant to which decedent's daughter had executed an arbitration agreement with Defendant. Defendant appeals. We dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2010/persona_050710.pdf
Constitutionality of Amendment to Grandparent Visitation Statute
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2010-05-07
Opinion Number: 10-62
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2010/ag_10_62.pdf
Comptroller's Service on Proposed State Procurement Commission
TN Attorney General Opinions
Date: 2010-05-07
Opinion Number: 10-63
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/AG/2010/ag_10_63.pdf
|
|
 |
|
| TODAY'S NEWS |
|
Legal News
Flood Impact
Legislative News
TBA in the News
TBA Member Services
|
| Legal News |
| How to best choose judges examined on O'Connor site |
| A new web site devoted to information and news about the escalating national debate over the best way to select judges is available from an initiative spearheaded by retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Called the O'Connor Judicial Selection Initiative, it seeks to boost state-level efforts to end the practice of electing judges. |
Check out the web site here
|
| Yarbrough lines up firm job, Martin gets through committee |
| Ed Yarbrough, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, will become a partner in the Nashville law firm of Walker Tipps & Malone PLC when he leaves his current position, NashvillePost.com reports today. Nashville attorney Jerry E. Martin, who was nominated by President Obama, was approved by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in a voice vote yesterday and awaits confirmation by the full Senate. |
NashvillePost.com has more [subscription required]
|
| West given 2 extra weeks to answer about execution date |
| Today the Supreme Court granted a motion by Stephen Michael West to extend the time he has to respond to the state's motion to set his execution date. The court gave him until May 24 to file a response. |
Download the documents from the AOC
|
| Jobs in legal sector down again |
| The Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest figures report the loss of approximately 1,000 law jobs in March and 1,100 jobs in April, with a loss of 28,000 legal jobs in the past 12 months. |
Read the numbers from the BLS
|
| Kelvin Jones to leave Metro Human Relations Commission |
| Metro Human Relations Committee Executive Director Kelvin Jones resigned today, effective June 30. The Nashville lawyer and former candidate for public defender has done the job for six years, but the past 10 months have been "bumpy," the Tennessean's political blog, reports. |
Read more from the InSession blog
|
| Flood Impact |
| Baker, Donelson and Miller Martin back in Nashville offices |
| Some Nashville firms that had temporarily closed because of flood damage or power outages are back in business. Baker Donelson and Miller Martin report they are back in their spaces. |
|
| 27 counties now federal disaster areas |
| Gov. Bredesen announced last night the federal government has authorized a major disaster declaration for six additional Tennessee counties, bringing the total number of counties declared to 27. This action makes federal assistance available to individuals in Benton, Dickson, Humphreys, Maury, Sumner and Rutherford counties. |
Learn more from TennesseeAnytime.gov
|
| Legislative News |
| Opinion: NRA drove vote for 'guns in bars' bill |
| In this editorial, the Tennessean urges voters to "cast your vote this fall for candidates who will stand up to the National Rifle Association,"
saying that on Wednesday night when legislators voted for the bill, it became apparent that they "pursued this terrible law" at the behest of special interests, not voters. |
Read the editorial
|
| TBA in the News |
| Word getting out on free legal assistance |
| Word of the free legal assistance organized by the Tennessee Bar Association, other bar associations and other legal organizations is spreading. Volunteer attorneys and paralegals answer questions, give advice, make referrals and sometimes offer extended service in filing insurance claims, applying for assistance, replacing documents and other flood-related issues at clinics across the state. You can see what is available or volunteer to help at
www.tba.org/volunteer. More information is available on the National Disaster Legal Aid web site and news is also spreading in the popular media, like this story in the |
Commercial Appeal.
|
| TBA Member Services |
| CompuPay offers deals for TBA members |
| CompuPay is proud to serve as the official payroll services provider for the Tennessee Bar Association. To serve Tennessee attorneys the company is offering two months of free payroll processing for all TBA members and waiving set up fees for members with up to 99 employees. |
Learn more about CompuPay's benefits
|
| |
|
| |
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 2010 Tennessee Bar Association
|
|
|
