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Friday, October 07, 2011

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Commission proposes limited scope representation

Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Janice Holder says the Court's Access to Justice Commission is working on a proposal to make it easier for litigants to temporarily hire a lawyer to handle the most critical aspects of their cases. Such arrangements are already allowed in Tennessee, but the commission hopes it can encourage more lawyers to participate by formalizing guidelines for "limited scope representation," she says. Under a draft proposal discussed by the commission Thursday, lawyers could file a form notifying the court that they are making a limited appearance in the case. Once specified issues are resolved, the lawyer's obligation would be over, and the only requirement would be to notify the court within five days of withdrawing from the case.

The Tennessean has the story and video

TODAY'S OPINIONS
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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.

IN RE: ASKIA K. B.

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Shantell Sharay Suttle, Esq., Cordova, TN for Respondent/Appellant K.B.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter, Joshua Davis Baker, Assistant Attorney General, for Petitioner/Appellee Tennessee Department of Children's Services

Judge: KIRBY

This appeal concerns the termination of parental rights. While the appellant father was incarcerated, the child was taken into protective custody because of the mother's drug use. The mother surrendered her parental rights. The father remained incarcerated. After a trial, the father's parental rights were terminated on several grounds, including failure to comply with the permanency plan. The father appeals, and on appeal the State waives all grounds except for failure to comply with the permanency plan. After review of the record, we conclude that this ground for termination was not established because the record does not show clear and convincing evidence that the Department of Children's Services made reasonable efforts to assist the father and to reunify parent and child. Therefore, we reverse.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/askiakb_100711.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DEANGELO M. RADLEY

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Joshua L. Brand, Nashville, Tennessee (on appeal); Scott Saul, Nashville, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant, Deangelo M. Radley.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Benjamin A. Ball, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson III, District Attorney General; and Ben Ford, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: WITT

The defendant, Deangelo M. Radley, pleaded guilty in the Davidson County Criminal Court to one count of unlawful possession of a weapon, see T.C.A. section 39-17-1307 (2006), and attempted to reserve the right to appeal a certified question of law, see Tenn. R. Crim. P. 37(b)(2), concerning the legality of the vehicle stop leading to his arrest. Following our review, we conclude that the defendant failed to properly certify a question of law that is dispositive of the case. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/radleyd_100711.pdf

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Judge Leon Ruben dies

Davidson County General Sessions Judge Leon Ruben died today. A member of the court since his appointment in 1981, Judge Ruben received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in 1956 and his law degree from the Nashville School of Law in 1962. Details about arrangements are not available at this time.

Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors will announce the vacancy at the Metro Council's Oct. 18 meeting, according to council attorney Jon Cooper. From there, the council would begin accepting nominations, which can come from citizens outside the council. Nominations then go to the Nashville Bar Association, which will conduct a poll among its members. Cooper said the council would likely vote on Ruben's replacement by the second council meeting in November.

The City Paper has the story

Legal News

8 apply for Criminal Appeals vacancy; public meeting set

Eight West Tennessee attorneys have applied to fill the judicial vacancy on the Court of Criminal Appeals created by the death of Judge J.C. McLin. The Judicial Nominating Commission will hold a public meeting on Oct. 24 to interview the following candidates: Mischelle Alexander-Best, Richard Joseph Averwater, J. Robert Carter Jr., J. Ross Dyer, Elizabeth Garland Ingram Erguden, Roger A. Page and John D. Stevens.

The AOC has more

Former death row inmate Gaile Owens is free

At 9:22 a.m. today Gaile Owens walked through the gates of the Tennessee Prison for Women to freedom after serving 26 years on Death Row. Owens, now 59, was scheduled to be executed, but had her sentence commuted to life by then-Gov. Phil Bredesen in 2010. Recently she was granted parole. In a statement, her son thanked many people, including her lawyers, Gretchen Swift, Kelly Henry, Brad MacLean and George Barrett.

The Tennessean has this video

Bar results now available

There are 529 new lawyers in Tennessee. Results are now available from the July Tennessee bar exam.

See results on the TBA website

Editorial: Juror no-shows should go to jail

A murder trial set this week in Sevier County was postponed because not enough jurors showed up. In an editorial the Mountain Press says those who didn't show up should not only be fined for contempt of court -- as Judge Rex Henry Ogle is planning to do -- they should go to jail as well. The maximum sentence for that crime is 10 days, and the maximum fine is $50, the paper says. "It's a pity they won't be required to pay the expenses of the attorneys and witnesses who prepared for the case, or for [the defendant's] stay in jail from Tuesday to the day of the trial."

Read the editorial

Lee Bowles new General Sessions judge

Marshall County commissioners on Thursday night elected Lee Bussart Bowles to be the county's General Sessions Court judge. She has been in law practive with her father, former state appeals court judge Walter Bussart, who swore her in this morning (Friday) in the county courthouse. She succeeds Steve Bowden who served as sessions court judge for nearly 34 years. Bowles is a member of the TBA Young Lawyers Division board. Bussart is a former member of the TBA Board of Governors.

The Marshall County Tribune reports

A C Wharton wins

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton beat nine challengers in a decisive election to his first full term in office. Wharton, a former public defender and two-time mayor of Shelby County, now has four years to pursue his agenda of job growth and redeveloping the core of Memphis while restructuring city government for the future.