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Thursday, February 17, 2011

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Learn latest in estate planning or tort & insurance

Two Tennessee Bar Association sections will be presenting their annual forums next week. If you practice in tort and insurance law or in estate planning, these day-long programs are a must. The Tort and Insurance Forum 2011 will be held next Thursday at the Tennessee Bar Center in Nashville, with programming starting at 9 a.m. On Friday, the Estate Planning Forum will return to the Nashville Doubletree Hotel for six hours of programming, starting at 8:30 a.m.

Find out about these courses and more from TennBarU

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.

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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.

ERIC BOONE ET AL. v. CITY OF LAVERGNE, TENNESSEE, ET AL.

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Jeffrey Michael Cranford and William Nelson Bates, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, City of LaVergne, Tennessee and LaVergne Sewer Department.

Kerry Knox and Thomas H. Castelli, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellees, Eric Boone and Anthony Corder.

Judge: BENNETT

Two former employees of the City of LaVergne claimed that the defendants retaliated against them in violation of the Tennessee Human Rights Act for complaining of race discrimination in the workplace and for filing claims with the EEOC. One of the plaintiffs asserted an additional claim for hostile work environment discrimination. The jury returned a verdict for both plaintiffs for retaliation and for hostile work environment for one plaintiff. The defendants appeal the trial court's admission of certain testimony and evidence about an alleged listening device as well as the jury verdict for hostile work environment and the amount of damages for humiliation and embarrassment. We find that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony, but that the error was harmless. The court did not err in admitting evidence about the alleged listening device. We conclude that there is material evidence to support the jury verdict's for a hostile work environment as well as the amount of the award for damages.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/boonee_021711.pdf

IN RE: CHLOE R.P.

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Rachel M. Stephens, Hixson, Tennessee, for the appellant.

Robert D. Bradshaw, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Guardian ad Litem, pro se.

Judge: FRANKS

In this action to terminate the parental rights of the mother, the petitioner alleged statutory grounds for termination of the mother's parental rights. The mother answered, defending her right to remain a parent. At trial, the parties stipulated that there were statutory grounds for termination of the mother's parental rights. The only issue at trial, was whether or not it was in the best interest of the child for the mother's rights to be terminated. Following the evidentiary hearing, the Trial Court found that it was in the best interest of the child to terminate the mother's parental rights by clear and convincing evidence. On appeal, we concur with the Trial Court that there was clear and convincing evidence that it was in the best interest of the child to terminate the mother's parental rights.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/chloerp_021711.pdf

JAMES AND PATRICIA CULLUM, ET AL. v. BAPTIST HOSPITAL SYSTEMS, INC., ET AL.

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Steven R. Walker, Memphis, Tennessee, and Joseph P. Bednarz, Sr., Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, James Cullum and Patricia Cullum.

James E. Looper, Jr., Brandy Marie Burnette, and John Everette Hall, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellees, Baptist Hospital Systems, Inc., and Baptist Women's Health Center, LLC.

Judge: DINKINS

This is an appeal from a jury verdict in a medical malpractice case. Plaintiffs, parents of child who suffered severe, permanent brain injuries during the course of his labor and delivery, filed suit against their physician, physician's employer, and related hospitals. The physician and her employer settled prior to trial, leaving the related hospitals as the only defendants. This case has been tried twice. Following the first trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of defendants, which the trial court set aside pursuant to the thirteenth juror rule. The second trial resulted in a verdict for plaintiffs, with the jury assigning 3.75 percent of fault to the defendants and 96.25 percent of fault to the non-party physician. Because the evidence shows that the members of the jury agreed to be bound by the result of a predetermined averaging process, we have concluded that the jury reached a quotient verdict, which is impermissible. Consequently, we reverse and remand the case for a new trial.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/cullumj_021711.pdf

W.T. WALKER ET AL. v. CSX TRANSPORTATION, INC.

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Thomas F. Bloom, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, W.T. Walker and Patsy B. Walker.

Jonathan Cole and Sonya R. Smith, for the appellee, CSX Transportation, Inc.

Judge: BENNETT

The Walkers, the appellants, sued the appellee railroad seeking a declaration that an easement already existed over the railroad tracks so that appellants could have access to a public road without contracting for an easement from the railroad. The jury found that the easement contract was not valid and that the appellants had an easement by necessity and implication. The trial court granted the railroad a judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the existence of the easement. The Walkers appealed. We reverse the trial court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/walkerw_021711.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MICHAEL AARON JENKINS AND PERLEY WINKLER, JR.

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Kevin E. Miller, Madisonville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Michael Aaron Jenkins, and Charles W. Pope, Jr., Athens, Tennessee, for the appellant, Perley Winkler, Jr.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Rachel West Harmon, Assistant Attorney General; R. Steven Bebb, District Attorney General; and Andrew Freiberg, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: OGLE

A Monroe County Circuit Court jury convicted the appellants, Michael Aaron Jenkins and Perley Winkler, Jr., of two counts of attempted first degree premeditated murder and one count of attempted aggravated arson. After sentencing hearings, Jenkins received an effective seventeen-year sentence and Winkler received an effective forty-year sentence. On appeal, the appellants contend that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions and that the trial court erred by prohibiting them from questioning one of the victims, David Senn, about a prior felony conviction. In addition, Jenkins contends that the trial court should have allowed him to cross-examine Senn in front of the jury about Senn's untruthfulness during an offer of proof, that the trial court should have granted his motion to sever his trial from that of his co-defendant, and that the State committed prosecutorial misconduct during its closing argument. Winkler contends that the trial court erred by allowing the State to question a second victim about a threatening message Winkler allegedly left on a cellular telephone and that his sentence is excessive. After a review of the record and the parties' briefs, we conclude that the evidence is sufficient to support the convictions and that the trial court properly sentenced Winkler. The appellants' remaining issues are waived because the appellants failed to provide an adequate record on appeal.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/jenkinsm_021711.pdf

TODAY'S NEWS

Tenn. Government
Legal News
Career Opportunities
Disciplinary Actions
TBA Member Services

Tenn. Government

Haslam unveils first legislative agenda

Gov. Bill Haslam unveiled his first legislative agenda today. Among its provisions, the proposal would limit damages in civil suits against businesses as part of an effort to attract more companies to Tennessee. Under the plan, non-economic damages would be capped at $750,000. Tony Thompson, a lobbyist for the Tennessee Association for Justice, responded saying the group is not convinced that civil damages are a problem in Tennessee or are keeping businesses from moving into the state.

Legal News

New federal unit to focus on civil rights cases

The U.S. Justice Department has created a Civil Rights Unit in Memphis to deal with a growing number of civil rights cases, including cold cases, hate crimes, human trafficking and public corruption. The unit, which will be housed in the U.S. Attorney's Office, also will handle some civil matters such as mortgage and housing discrimination. The effort will be a collaboration of local, state and federal officials.

WREG-TV has the story

Baumgartner inquiry focuses on relationship with defendant

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe of Judge Richard Baumgartner reportedly is looking into allegations of illegal procurement of prescription pills as well as a relationship between the judge and a former Knox County Drug Court defendant. The defendant, Deena Castleman, told the Knoxville News Sentinel that the two became close friends and that she looked at him as a father figure, but there was nothing inappropriate about their relationship. Others are questioning whether Baumgartner showed her favoritism.

The paper has the story

Ex-Roane judge seeks restoration of rights

Former Roane County General Sessions Judge Thomas Alva Austin is seeking restoration of his citizenship rights after serving a 42-month sentence for extortion. Austin, who served on the bench for 28 years, was convicted of taking $14,000 in kickbacks from operators of a driving school he created and a probation program. He now argues that he has fully paid his debt to society. Roane County District Attorney General Russell Johnson is opposing the petition, arguing that Austin needs to spend more time repairing the damage he did to the justice system.

The News Sentinel reports

Industry forms video game bar association

The Video Game Bar Association, the first organization of its kind, is bringing together lawyers specializing in the video game and interactive media industries. The association will have its inaugural meeting March 2 at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. It plans to offer networking events and legal education seminars. Lawyers who want to join the association must be recommended by a board member or two other association members.

Read a press release about the new organization

Obion County bar elects officers

The Obion County Bar Association has elected new officers for 2011. They are: President Charles Anthony "Tony" Maness, Vice President John Miles and Secretary/Treasurer David Hamblen. They all are solo practioners in Union City.

Ramos argues for end to immigration program

Nashville lawyer Gregg Ramos writes in today's Tennessean that a legal challenge brought by Daniel Renteria against the Davidson County Sheriff's Department for its involvement in a federal immigration deportation program is long overdue. Arguing that the Metro Charter prohibits the sheriff's office from investigating crimes or making arrests, Ramos suggests the case offers the best challenge against the law.
Read his opinion piece here

A counterpoint opinion argues that strict enforcement of the country's immigration laws is essential to protect American workers, and that this task is more important than debating the nuances of a city's charter.