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| Thursday, April 21, 2011 |
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Freedom Riders' 50th anniversary celebrated
Fifty years ago the civil rights movement's Freedom Rides made history when students, black and white, rode commercial buses into the deep south. At stake was the right of African-Americans to travel across state lines on trains and buses while using the same facilities as whites. Among those watching were President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who dispatched his right-hand man, John Seigenthaler, to Alabama. Seigenthaler, now the Tennessean's chairman emeritus, talks about the experience in this article from today's paper.
Other remembrances include an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, scheduled to air May 4, which will feature some of the riders, and a PBS documentary on May 16. In addition, from May 6 to 16 a group of 40 college students from across the country, including Jayanni Webster from the University of Tennessee, will retrace the rides. The reenactment stops in Nashville on May 12.
Follow the 2011 reinactment ride here
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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
00 - TN Court of Appeals
03 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals
00 - TN Attorney General Opinions
00 - Judicial Ethics Opinions
00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR
00 - TN Supreme Court - Disciplinary Orders
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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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MICHAEL DEON MILLS AND KENNETH ALLEN SPENCER
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Douglas A. Trant, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Michael Deon Mills, and Joshua D. Hedrick, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Kenneth Allen Spencer.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Rachel West Harmon, Assistant Attorney General; Randall E. Nichols, District Attorney General; and Phillip Morton, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: OGLE
A Knox County Criminal Court jury convicted the appellants, Michael Deon Mills and Kenneth Allen Spencer, of two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, one count of especially aggravated robbery, and one count of aggravated burglary. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the appellants to effective sentences of twenty-five years
in confinement to be served at one hundred percent. On appeal, Mills argues that the prosecutor committed plain error during closing arguments by referring to his failure to
testify. Spencer contends that (1) the trial court erred by admitting into evidence a document not provided to him during discovery; (2) the trial court erred by allowing evidence about weapons that were not used to commit the crimes; (3) an accomplice's testimony did not provide sufficient corroboration to support the convictions; and (4) the convictions for especially aggravated kidnapping and especially aggravated robbery violate due process. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties' briefs, Mills' convictions are affirmed. However, Spencer's convictions are reversed and the charges are dismissed because there is insufficient corroboration to sustain the convictions.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/millsm_042111.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DWIGHT A. SHANKLE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
J. McMurray Johnson, Athens, Tennessee, for the appellant, Dwight A. Shankle.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Senior Counsel, Criminal Justice Division; Robert Steven Bebb, District Attorney General; and Andrew M.
Freiberg, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WILLIAMS
The defendant, Dwight A. Shankle, was convicted of facilitation of promotion of the manufacturing of methamphetamine, a Class E felony. He was sentenced to four years in the Tennessee Department of Correction as a Range III, persistent offender. On appeal, he argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction and that the indictment was faulty. After careful review, we affirm the judgment from the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/shankled_042111.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. SAMUEL SHERRILL
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Stanley K. Pierchoski, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, for the appellant, Samuel Sherrill.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Lindsy Paduch Stempel, Assistant Attorney General; Mike Bottoms, District Attorney General; and Joel Douglas Dicus, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: THOMAS
The Defendant, Samuel Sherrill, was indicted for second degree murder, a Class A felony. Following a jury trial, the Defendant was convicted of reckless homicide, a Class D felony. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to four years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred in
refusing to admit testimony from two witnesses regarding the victim's specific acts of prior violence in support of his assertion that the victim was the first aggressor. Following our
review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/sherrills_042111.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Upcoming
Legal News
General Assembly News
TBA Member Services
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| Upcoming |
| Memphis Law Week party moved indoors tonight |
| Because of rainy weather, the Law Week kick-off party today in Memphis will be held in the lobby of the Lincoln-American Tower, located just off Court Square, instead of in Court Square. The event will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. and will offer food, drinks and music by the Paul Taylor Jazz Trio.
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| Legal News |
| Knox County courts face $67M in uncollected fees |
| Last month there was news that Wilson County had $59 million in uncollected court fees. This month the microscope turns to Knox County where millions of dollars in fines and court costs aren't being collected. According to a new study by the National Center for State Courts, as much as $67 million could be outstanding. The study and a report from the county law director's office offer suggestions for better collection methods. |
Learn more in this article from the Metro Pulse
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| Riley tapped to mediate Memphis schools case |
| Former state criminal appeals court Judge Joe G. Riley has been chosen as mediator to sort out the
federal lawsuit brought by Shelby County Schools against the Shelby County Commission, the City of Memphis, the Memphis City Council, Memphis City Schools, the U.S. departments of Education and Justice and the Tennessee Department of Education.
The most immediate issue involves a dispute over whether the county commission can move forward with plans to appoint a unified school board. The parties have until May 3 to complete mediation on that point. |
The Commercial Appeal has more
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| McWherter launches government news website |
| Last year's Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike McWherter is launching a daily e-mail service called "Out of the Blue," which is being billed as a one-stop source for political and government-related news stories. McWherter said the stories, aggragated from print, radio, TV and online media sources, will focus on government while legislators are in session, and then turn to current affairs. McWherter said he began working on the concept in December and hopes it will ultimately make government more accountable. |
Tennessee Report has more
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| U.S. asks for dismissal of execution drug suit |
| On Wednesday the government urged a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for allowing the importation of drugs used in death row executions. The suit, brought by six death row inmates, alleges that state importation of the drug is illegal because the drugs have not been approved by the FDA. The government argues that the FDA's decision to not block importation was well within its discretion and is not subject to judicial review. |
WREG-TV Memphis has this story from Reuters
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| Wisconsin court challenger to seek recount |
| Wisconsin Supreme Court challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg asked election officials Wednesday for a statewide recount in her bid against Justice David Prosser, a race that became a referendum on the state governor's controversial union rights law. Final tallies from last week showed Prosser holding a 7,316-vote lead over Kloppenburg, who alleges that "widespread anomalies" occurred in the election. |
WRCB-TV Chattanooga has an overview of the race
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| General Assembly News |
| Senate committee begins debate on tort bill |
| The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing this week on Gov. Bill Haslam's tort reform bill during which Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, produced an article written by Fred Thompson (who is lobbying against the bill) advocating tort reform to stop the exit of doctors in Texas. Thompson, who was testifying before the committee, acknowledged he wrote the piece in 2007 saying "I will give you a 'gotcha' on that, but I'll be back next week, and we'll talk about it some more." |
Read about the hearing in the Tennessee Report
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| Bill would end teachers' collective bargaining |
| The state Senate Education Committee approved a revised version of a collective bargaining bill by a vote of 6-3 yesterday. While Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Brentwood, cast the revised version as a major concession to teachers, the bill still repeals the state's collective bargaining law and ends contract negotiations. When asked about the revisions, Jerry Winters, lobbyist for the Tennessee Education Association, said "We do not view this in any positive light." |
The City Paper has more
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| TBA Member Services |
| Ship directly from Microsoft Office Outlook with FedEx QuickShip |
| Now you can ship your FedEx packages directly from the Microsoft Office Outlook application -- and save money doing it. It's a fast and convenient way to easily access some of the most popular features on fedex.com using Microsoft technology. That's why you should Think FedEx First.
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Take advantage of your member discounts on select FedEx shipping services and FedEx OfficeSM business services
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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 2011 Tennessee Bar Association
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