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| Monday, July 11, 2011 |
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Nominations being accepted for 2012 public service awards
Each year the Tennessee Bar Association recognizes outstanding service by attorneys who have donated their time to help others. Lawyers may be nominated in three categories: the Ashley T. Wiltshire Public Service Attorney of the Year Award, which recognizes an attorney who provided dedicated and outstanding services during the past year for an indigent client in either a civil or criminal defense case; the Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year Award, which recognizes significant pro bono work by a private attorney; and the Law Student Volunteer Award, which recognizes a student who has provided dedicated and outstanding pro bono services to an organization that is primarily engaged in providing legal representation to the indigent.
Award nominations are due by Aug. 15. Award winners will be honored at the Tennessee Bar Association's Public Service Luncheon Jan. 14 in Nashville.
Learn more or submit a nomination 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.
01 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
01 - TN Court of Appeals
05 - 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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SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Grants & Denials List
Court: TSC
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/certlist071111.pdf
COMMERCIAL BANK, INC., et al., v. HOLLIS FAY SUMMERS, et al.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Hollis-Fay Summers, Knoxville, Tennessee, pro se, for the appellants.
Dennis M. Robertson, Harrogate, Tennessee, for the appellees, Commercial Bank and Dennis Michael Robertson.
Judge: FRANKS
Plaintiffs alleged that defendants had borrowed money from the Bank and executed a trust deed to secure the loan and the property was properly foreclosed by the Bank as the
successful bidder. Further, that defendants then filed numerous documents in the Register of Deeds office to slander plaintiffs' title. Defendants never answered the Complaint and after several months plaintiffs moved for a default judgment which was granted at a hearing before the Trial Court. The Trial Court ruled that the various documents filed by the defendants in the Register of Deeds office were null and void and assessed costs to the defendants. Defendants appealed pro se, and we dismiss the appeal on the grounds that they failed to comply with any of the applicable rules of appellate procedure governing appeals.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/commercialbank_071111.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RAYMOND BRADLEY, JR.
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Mike J. Urquhart, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Raymond Bradley, Jr.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Nicholas W. Spangler, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and J.W. Hupp,
Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: MCLIN
The defendant, Raymond Bradley, Jr., appeals from the trial court's revocation of probation for failure to pay restitution. The defendant pleaded guilty in 2009 to facilitating aggravated burglary, a Class D felony, in exchange for a four-year suspended sentence, and the trial court ordered him to pay $15,500 in restitution. This court affirmed the trial court's judgment. On August 11, 2010, the trial court found that the defendant violated the terms of his suspended sentence and revoked his probation. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by revoking his probation without finding that the defendant had the ability to pay, that he willfully failed to pay, and that no alternative measure to incarceration was available. Following our review, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/bradleyr_071111.pdf
BRYANT GUARTOS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
J. David Wicker, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Bryant Guartos.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Lacy Wilber, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; Bret Gunn, Assistant District
Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WEDEMEYER
A Davidson County jury convicted the Petitioner, Bryant Guartos, of first degree felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, aggravated robbery, and conspiracy to commit
aggravated robbery, and the trial court sentenced him to an effective sentence of life plus forty-seven years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Petitioner filed an appeal, and this Court affirmed the trial court's judgments. State v. Bryant Guartos, M2003-03073-CCA-R3-CD, 2006 WL 163633, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Nashville, Jan. 24, 2006), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Aug. 28, 2006). Thereafter, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and remanded the Petitioner's case for further consideration in light of new
sentencing case law. Guartos v. Tennessee, 549 U.S. 1197 (2007). Upon review, this Court reversed the Petitioner's judgments for especially aggravated robbery, aggravated robbery, and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, and remanded the case for resentencing. State v. Bryant Guartos, No. M2003-03073-CCA-R3-CD, 2007 WL 4245084 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Nashville, Dec. 4, 2007), perm. app. denied (Tenn. July 7, 2008). The Petitioner then filed a petition for post-
conviction relief, which the post-conviction court denied after a hearing. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the trial court erred in failing to find that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/guartosb_071111.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CALVIN OLIVER
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Hershell D. Koger, Pulaski, Tennessee, for the appellant, Calvin Oliver.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Nicholas W. Spangler, Assistant Attorney General; Charles Frank Crawford, Jr., District Attorney General; and Weakley E.
(Eddie) Barnard, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WILLIAMS
The defendant, Calvin Oliver, appeals his effective sentence of twenty-two years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he asserts that the trial court erred in the imposition of consecutive sentencing. Following review of the record, we find no error and affirm the sentences as imposed.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/oliverc_071111.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. STEVEN Q. STANFORD
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Martha J. Yoakum, District Public Defender, and Charles Herman, Assistant Public Defender, for the appellant, Steven Q. Stanford.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Cameron L. Hyder, Assistant Attorney General; William Paul Phillips, District Attorney General; and Scarlett W. Ellis, Assistant
District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WILLIAMS
The defendant, Steven Q. Stanford, was convicted by a Campbell County jury of one count of initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine, a Class B felony, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor. Following a sentencing hearing, the defendant was sentenced, as a Range III offender, to serve thirty years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he raises the single issue of sufficiency of the evidence. Following review of the record, we find that the evidence presented at trial is
sufficient to support the convictions, and we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/stansfords_071111.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. LAKEISHA MARGARET WATKINS
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Jack Byrd (at trial) and James O. Martin, III, (on appeal) Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Lakeisha Watkins.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; Brian Holmgren, Assistant District
Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: WEDEMEYER
A Davidson County jury convicted the Defendant, Lakeisha Margaret Watkins, of attempted child neglect, four counts of aggravated child abuse, and two counts of aggravated child
neglect. The trial court sentenced her to an effective sentence of forty years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain her convictions for aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect; and (2) the trial court erred when it ordered her sentences to run consecutively. Because the Defendant's delay in seeking medical treatment for the victim, as proven in Count 5, did not cause serious bodily injury separate and apart from the serious bodily injury caused by the Defendant and proven in Count 4, we are constrained to reverse the conviction
for aggravated child neglect in Count 5. The trial court's judgments are affirmed in all other respects.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/watkinsl_071111.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Passages
Legal News
General Assembly News
Politics
Upcoming
TBA Member Services
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| Passages |
| Former Knoxville judge, Howard Bozeman, dies |
| C. Howard Bozeman, 93, of Knoxville, died July 10.
Judge Bozeman was a judge in Knox County for more than 25 years, from 1948-1966 and 1974-1982.
He was a 1941 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law.
The body will lie in state at Rose Mortuary Broadway Chapel today from 6 to 8 p.m., where the family will receive friends.
A funeral service will be conducted at 6 p.m. July 12 at First Baptist Church of Knoxville. The family will receive friends with a reception immediately following the funeral service at the church. At 9 a.m. on July 13 there will be a Masonic Interment Service at Greenwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Shrine Children's Hospitals, The Great Smoky Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts, The Sertoma Center or First Baptist Church of Knoxville. |
Read his obituary
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| Legal News |
| Shelby clerk indicted for official misconduct |
| Shelby County General Sessions Clerk Otis Jackson has been indicted by a grand jury on four counts of official misconduct and was arrested this morning. He is accused of requiring his employees to donate or solicit funds for his re-election campaign. The alleged offenses took place during the fall of 2010, according to an indictment. His attorney, Howard Wagerman, said Jackson will plead not guilty.
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The Commercial Appeal has more
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| 'Health Care Heroes' named |
| Nashville lawyers Christy Crider of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC;
Angela Humphreys of Bass, Berry & Sims; and Charles W. Bone of Bone McAllester Norton were named "Health Care Heroes" by the Nashville Business Journal.
Gordon Bonnyman, Tennessee Justice Center, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award. |
Read the list
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| 'Anarchy' vandalism painted on judicial building |
| A woman has been arrested in Murfreesboro for vandalizing several government buildings and a war monument. Police say she
spray-painted an anarchy sign on the door of the Rutherford County Judicial Building. |
The Tennessean has the story
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| General Assembly News |
| Lawmakers plan to push 'Caylee's Law' |
| Two Tennessee lawmakers will file a bill, "Caylee's Law," named after a 2-year-old Florida girl whose death led to the murder trial of her mother in Florida. The law would make it a crime for parents not to report missing children.
The bill was filled by State Sen. Eric Stewart (D-Belvidere) and House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley). |
The News Sentinel carries this story
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| Election-related bills increased this year |
| Election-related bills spiked in the Tennessee General Assembly this year, and the 2012 presidential election is one of the reasons, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. |
The Times-News has more
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| Republicans to pursue immigration reform, redistricting next year |
| Republican lawmakers say they intend to pursue legislation beginning in January on immigration enforcement at the state level, denying state taxpayer benefits to illegal aliens, an English-only driver's license process and an effort to seek clarification on whether a child born here to illegal aliens should be considered a citizen, as has generally been the practice. Read more from the Tennessee Report.
The legislature's Republican majority is also considering redistricting plans. Rutherford and Williamson counties are expected to gain seats, and district lines could be scrambled in Davidson County. |
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| Politics |
| Herron: Fincher decision is 'partisan coverup' |
| Democratic state Sen. Roy Herron says "there's a big difference between an exoneration and a partisan cover-up," after the Federal Election Commission decided last week that there is "insufficient evidence" to back up complaints that Rep. Stephen Fincher violated election laws during his campaign last fall.
Herron, who filed the complaint against Fincher's campaign last September,
said "there's no question" that Fincher violated federal election laws by reporting that a $250,000 loan to his campaign came from personal funds.
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The Jackson Sun has more
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| Upcoming |
| Memphis Law alumni hold dinner, award ceremony |
| The Alumni Board of the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of
Law will hold its annual Celebration of Excellence in the Law and honor the
2011 Pillars of Excellence on Aug. 13. The event will be at the
University of Memphis Holiday Inn. Attorneys being honored
by the group include Leo Bearman Jr. with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell
& Berkowitz; David E. Caywood, attorney at law; W.J. Michael Cody with
Burch, Porter & Johnson; Robert Green with Allen, Summers, Simpson, Lillie &
Gresham; John Paul Jones, attorney at law; Shelby County General Sessions
Judge Russel B. Sugarmon; and Charles Tuggle with the First Horizon National
Corporation. All are from Memphis. Tickets are $75 per person or $600 for a
table of eight. Class of 2011 alumni may purchase tickets for $35 per
person.
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Get more information or purchase tickets here
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| TBA Member Services |
| New solutions for your insurance needs |
| Working with Graham Swafford III, the TBA Member Insurance Solutions Program is able to provide members with exclusive benefits, personalized service, and pricing discounts for disability income insurance, business overhead expense insurance, life and long-term care insurance with other employee related benefits. TBA Member Insurance Solutions can also provide an objective review of your current health insurance program, evaluate your needs, and recommend the most cost effective solution. |
Learn more about TBA Insurance Solutions now
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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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