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| Monday, August 01, 2011 |
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Comment on applicants for JNC through Aug. 15
The Administrative Office of the Courts has received 33 applications for the vacancy on the Judicial Nominating Commission, and you have until Aug. 15 at 4:30 p.m. CDT,
to submit comments about them. Read the list of applicants and their applications here.
Fifteen days later, Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey will appoint someone to the at-large seat, which may be filled by either an attorney or lay person. The term for this commissioner will expire on June 30, 2013.
The Administrative Office of the Courts has more
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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.
02 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
05 - TN Court of Appeals
00 - 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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DAVID CANTRELL v. JOE EASTERLING, WARDEN
With Concurring Opinion
Court: TSC
Attorneys:
Sharon Harless Loy, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, David Cantrell.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General & Reporter; Gordon W. Smith, Associate Solicitor General; Rachel E. Willis, Senior Counsel; for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: CLARK
We granted this appeal to determine if the defendant's four sentences for aggravated rape are illegal because each of the four uniform judgment documents designates the defendant as a "Multiple 35% Range 2" offender and does not designate the defendant as a "Multiple Rapist." Because the four uniform judgment documents indicate that the defendant is eligible for early release on parole, which is in direct contravention of a statutory provision, we hold that the four sentences are illegal and void. The defendant's underlying convictions of aggravated rape, which arose from a jury verdict before a court of competent jurisdiction, remain intact. We remand this matter to the sentencing court for the entry of four amended
judgment orders, each to set forth the legal sentence on each of the defendant's four convictions of aggravated rape, including the designation that the defendant is a "Multiple Rapist."
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/cantrelld_080111.pdf
WADE concurring
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/cantrelld_CON_080111.pdf
SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Grants & Denials List
Court: TSC
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/certlist_080111.pdf
LOUIS BONANNO, SR. v. WILLA FARIS
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Louis Bonanno, Sr., Jonesborough, Tennessee, appellant, pro se.
Dan R. Smith, Johnson City, Tennessee, for the appellee, Willa Faris.
Judge: MCCLARTY
The plaintiff requested a transcript of a deposition from the defendant, a court reporter. When the defendant notified the plaintiff that the transcript was ready and told him her fee, he neither retrieved the transcript nor paid her. After the defendant made several telephone
calls to the plaintiff in an attempt to obtain payment, the plaintiff brought an action against the defendant. The trial court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff appeals. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/bonannol_080111.pdf
WALTER JESSEE BRUMIT v. STEFANIE LYNNE BRUMIT (DURHAM)
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
G.P. Gaby, Greeneville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Walter Jessee Brumit.
Stefanie Brumit Durham, Duluth, Georgia, appellee, pro se.
Judge: MCCLARTY
This wife, Stefanie Lynne Brumit (Durham) ("Wife"), and husband, Walter Jessee Brumit ("Husband"), were divorced in the early 1990s. The parties had one child, and Husband was ordered to pay $1500 per month in child support. From that amount, Wife was ordered to
place $300 per month into an educational trust account for the child's benefit. In 2008, Husband filed a motion for contempt, asserting that Wife was $6,600 behind in the payments to the trust account. Wife claimed that she had fallen behind in the payments because of
financial difficulties and brought the trust account up to date prior to filing her response. In April 2009, the trial court, prior to hearing, dismissed the contempt motion and taxed the costs to Husband. Upon Husband's appeal, we vacated the trial court's judgment and remanded the case for a hearing on the merits before a new trial judge. On remand, the trial court found Wife in contempt of court. As Wife had brought the payments to the trust account up to date, the trial court ordered her to pay the interest income lost by the account
due to her delinquent payments and half of Husband's attorney's fees. Husband appeals. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/brumitw_080111.pdf
DENISE JEREMIAH and TIMOTHY JEREMIAH v. WILLIAM BLALOCK
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Vincent H. Peppe, Spring Hill, Tennessee, for the appellants, Denise Jeremiah and Timothy Jeremiah.
Cecilia West Spivy, Lewisburg, Tennessee, for the appellee, William Blalock.
Judge: COTTRELL
The plaintiff home buyer and defendant home seller entered into an agreement to repair a drain at some future date because it had been improperly piped out of the buyer's house. When the time for performance came, the drain was not moved, resulting in damages to the buyer's home. The buyer sued for breach of contract. The circuit court granted a directed verdict to the defendant on the ground that there was no consideration to support the contract. We find that the mutual promises made by the parties constituted adequate consideration. We accordingly reverse the trial court and remand this case for such further proceedings as necessary.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/jeremiahd_080111.pdf
JABARI ISSA MANDELA A/K/A JOHN H. WOODEN v. TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Jabari Issa Mandela a/k/a John H. Wooden, Petitioner/Appellant, Pro Se
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter, and Kellena Baker, Assistant Attorney General, for the Respondent/Appellee Tennessee Department of Correction
Judge: KIRBY
This is a petition for declaratory judgment filed by an inmate seeking review of the calculation of his prison sentence. The petitioner inmate filed two administrative petitions for a declaratory order challenging the calculation of his sentence, and the respondent Tennessee Department of Correction ("TDOC") denied both petitions. Thereafter, the
petitioner filed the instant petition for declaratory judgment, arguing that his sentence was improperly calculated. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of TDOC. The petitioner now appeals. We affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/mandelaj_080111.pdf
JEREMY MILLER v. JESSICA MILLER (TOLBE)
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Benjamin K. Dean, Clarksville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jessica Miller (Tolbe).
John Terrance Maher, Clarksville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Jeremy Miller.
Judge: COTTRELL
A Colorado court granted a divorce to married parents who were both active-duty members of the armed forces. The court named the mother as the primary residential parent of their two minor children, and a parenting plan with flexible provisions was fashioned in the event of overseas deployment by one or both parents. Both parties were deployed overseas at
various times during the next five years. The children spent the majority of that time in the care of the father, or, during father's deployments, in the care of his mother or his new wife. The father moved to Clarksville, Tennessee in April of 2007, and after living there with the children for eighteen consecutive months, he filed a petition in the Tennessee court for
registration of the Colorado judgment and modification of the parenting plan. He asked the court to name him as the children's primary residential parent. After a hearing, the trial court granted the father's petition. The mother argues on appeal that the trial court erred in finding that there had been a material change of circumstances which was unanticipated at the time
of the divorce, and she contends that the father had therefore failed to meet the statutory threshold before a change in a parenting plan may be ordered under Tennessee law. See Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-6-101(a)(2)(B). She also argues that Tenn. Code Ann. section 36-6-113 limits the authority of the trial court to permanently modify the custody and visitation
arrangements for the children of a mobilized parent. We affirm the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/millerj_080111.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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Legal News
Passages
TBA Member Services
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| Legal News |
| Opinion: State's plan for electing judges is working |
| In an opinion piece, Tennessee Bar Association President Danny Van Horn answers the criticisms of merit selection, performance evaluation and retention election of appellate judges.
"Those making the attacks are promoting a particular brand of partisan political elections," he writes.
"The arguments advanced are ones that have been rejected by every court that has been asked to review the constitutionality of our current law." |
Read it in the Tennessean
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| 2 takes on change of pay for indigent defense |
| On July 1, the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts filed a proposed change to Rule 13, which would allow contracting services in some cases rather than the hourly fee usually charged by attorneys. Some criminal defense attorneys think it's a bad idea, including
Robert Foster who says the proposal is too vague, doesn't specify types of cases and creates an indigent defense "czar" that would have authority to expand or alter the program.
But AOC spokesperson Laura Click says there is a misunderstanding and that the goal is to streamline the system and save money from the growing Tennessee Indigent Defense Fund. |
The Times Free Press reports
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| Governor trusts Congress to fix Amazon sales tax issue |
| Gov. Bill Haslam, unlike many people, believes Congress will deliver a remedy for the states on what has gradually come to be known simply as "the Amazon issue." Amazon.com, the online retail company, does not want to collect sales taxes in Tennessee on its transactions.
The U.S. Supreme Court has said Congress can act under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution regarding the states' ability to collect the taxes.
In an interview with TNReport recently, Haslam said emphatically that he believes Congress will do the right thing and help the states. |
Read more
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| Music-streaming revenue at heart of lawsuit |
| A group of songwriters and music publishers has filed suit in Nashville's U.S. District Court against music streaming website Grooveshark in hopes of defining what is permissible in the new frontier of
free online music streaming. |
The Tennessean reports
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| 'Litigation session' underway |
| Columnist Tom Humphrey lists what he calls "the litigation session," which follows right after the legislative session. Entries include the latest lawsuit, which came when the Constitution Party and the Green Party went to U.S. District Court at Nashville to challenge a law passed in response to a judge's ruling last year. |
The News Sentinel has his column
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| The changing rules of the Facebook/employment game |
| Knoxville lawyer Chris W. McCarty explains what's different this year from last year when it comes to disciplining or firing an employee for criticizing a supervisor or workplace on Facebook. |
The News Sentinel has his column
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| 33 percent decline in job offers for summer associates |
| A drop in summer associates hired last summer contributed to a 33 percent decline in full-time job offers, according to a survey of large law firms.
A recent report says 1,791 summer associates got job offers last year, compared to 2,679 the year before. |
The American Lawyer has the story
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| Passages |
| Civil rights groundbreaker, Perry, dies |
| South Carolinian Matthew Perry, a civil rights lawyer who went from sitting in the courtroom balcony waiting for his cases to be heard because he was black to having the federal courthouse in Columbia named in his honor, has died. He was 89. |
Read his obituary in TriCities.com
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| TBA Member Services |
| New TBJ details summary judgment, tort changes |
| The August Tennessee Bar Journal explores two changes to the state's civil law: summary judgment standards and tort law in articles by Andree Sophia Blumstein and John W. Elder and Joshua R. Walker. This month's columnists cover financial literacy (Kathryn Reed Edge), evidence based on habits (Don Paine), the need for notice to trust beneficiaries (Dan Holbrook) and the ability for a client to "lawyer up" with 15 minutes' notice (Bill Haltom). Marnie Huff reviews "Lawyering with Planned Early Negotiation" and TBA President Danny Van Horn urges lawyers to stand together for the good of the profession. Don't miss the coverage from the TBA's annual convention in Chattanooga. Look in your mailbox |
... or read it online
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| Avis benefits 'try harder' |
| TBA members are offered a rental car discount through Avis. Enroll in the Avis Preferred Service at www.avisawards.com to bypass the rental counter and go directly to your car for a faster, easier rental experience. Enter code AWD# A570100.
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Discontinue your TBA Today subscription? ... Surely not!
But if you must, visit the TBALink web site at:
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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 2011 Tennessee Bar Association
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