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| Thursday, October 13, 2011 |
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High court: Varlan's ruling will stand in flag ban case
The U.S. Supreme Court this week refused to consider the case of a former Anderson County High School student who insisted a ban on the display of the Confederate flag violated his constitutional right to free speech.
The high court's decision not to accept the case leaves intact U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan's 2009 ruling that the school system had the right to restrict students' exercise of their free speech rights in the interests of school safety.
The News Sentinel 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.
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TRIANGLE AMERICAN HOMES v. SAMUEL B. HARRISON, ET AL.
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
A. Wayne Henry (at trial and on appeal), Loudon, Tennessee, and Stephanie L. Nemeth (on appeal) and Jason W. Cottrell (at trial), Mishawaka, Indiana, for the appellant, All American
Homes of Tennessee, LLC.
Jack M. Tallent, II, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Triangle American Homes, Inc.
Judge: MCCLARTY
In this indemnity case, Jere Krieg ("Builder"), through Triangle American Homes, Inc., initially filed a complaint for attachment and damages against Samuel and Lauren Harrison
(collectively "the Harrisons") relating to the construction of a modular home. When the Harrisons filed a counterclaim, arguing that Builder had failed to perform pursuant to their
contract, Builder brought a third-party complaint against All American Homes of Tennessee, LLC ("Seller"), alleging that Seller should indemnify Builder. Builder and the Harrisons
entered into a settlement agreement. In the remaining suit for indemnification, Seller argued that Builder was not entitled to indemnity because the damages and losses sustained by Builder were a result of Builder's actions. Following a bench trial, the trial court held that Builder was entitled to damages in the amount of $45,000 and attorney fees in the amount of $45,000, for a total award of $90,000. Seller appeals. We modify the award of attorney fees to $18,084 and affirm the decision of the trial court in all other respects.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/triangle_101311.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. REBECCA ANN GALYEAN
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
William A. Cameron, Cookeville, Tennessee, for the Defendant-Appellant, Rebecca Ann Galyean.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Lindsy Paduch Stempel, Assistant Attorney General; Randall York, District Attorney General; and Anthony Craighead, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: MCMULLEN
The Defendant-Appellant, Rebecca Ann Galyean, was convicted by a Putnam County jury of one count of vehicular homicide by intoxication, a Class B felony, two counts of
vehicular assault by intoxication, a Class D felony, and two counts of driving under the influence, a Class A misdemeanor. The trial court merged the convictions for driving under
the influence into the conviction for vehicular homicide. The Defendant-Appellant received an effective eleven-year term of imprisonment in the Tennessee Department of Correction.
In this appeal, the Defendant-Appellant presents the following issues for our review: (1) whether the trial court erred by admitting evidence that the Defendant-Appellant's blood analysis tested positive for "less than 0.25 μg/ml" of Tramadol; (2) whether the trial court erred by not declaring a mistrial based on the removal of Defendant-Appellant's mother from the courtroom during trial; and (3) whether the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. Upon our review, we affirm the Defendant-Appellant's convictions; however, we conclude that the trial court erroneously sentenced her beyond the statutory maximum for vehicular assault. Therefore, we modify the Defendant-Appellant's sentences for vehicular assault to four years, the maximum in the range, and remand to the trial court for entry of corrected
judgments.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/galyeanr_101311.pdf
RICHARD R. BAUMGARTNER, BPR 005980
Court: TSC-Disciplinary_Order
Judge: KOCH
Disbarment
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2011/baumgartnerr_101311.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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General Assembly News
Legal News
Passages
Celebrate Pro Bono
Disciplinary Actions
TBA Member Services
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| General Assembly News |
| Todd resigns as chair of firearms task force |
| State Rep. Curry Todd has stepped down as chairman of a House Republican Caucus Firearms Task Force in the wake of his arrest late Tuesday on charges of drunken driving, possession of a handgun while under the influence and refusing to take a breath alcohol test.
Todd is also chairman of the powerful House State and Local Government Committee. Today Senate Speaker
Ron Ramsey told reporters
that Todd should be "punished to the fullest extent of the law," and suggested House Speaker Beth Harwell should remove Todd as a committee chairman. |
The Commercial Appeal reports
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| Legal News |
| Marsh first woman president of mortgage attorneys group |
| Nashville lawyer Darlene T. Marsh has been elected president of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA). She will be inducted as the first woman president of the association at its annual meeting Oct. 13-15 in San Diego, Calif.
Lawrence R. Ahern III will be inducted into the College as a fellow, and has been elected Bankruptcy Committee co-chair of ACMA. Both are partners with Burr & Forman LLP. |
Read more from the firm
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| Trial date set for family that sent Russian boy back |
| Jan. 3, 2012, is the day when attorneys representing Torry and Nancy Hansen -- the family that sent an adopted Russian boy back to Moscow last year, sparking an international incident -- and a Washington state adoption agency will appear in Bedford County Circuit Court for trial.
But a hearing has been set for Oct. 27, when Judge Lee Russell will consider two motions -- a Rule 12 motion to dismiss the case, as well as a motion to amend the petition. |
The Shelbyville Times-Gazette has the story
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| Howard Vogel elected airport authority chair |
| The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority's board of commissioners has elected Knoxville lawyer Howard H. Vogel chairman.
Vogel, who has been a board member since January 2007, will serve a two-year term as chairman, overseeing all board activities, the Airport Authority announced today. Vogel is a former Tennessee Bar Association president. |
The News Sentinel has more
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| Opinion: 'Pre-Anita' workplace a coarser place for women |
| Categorizing women in the work force as "pre-Anita" and "post-Anita," columnist Vivia Chen celebrates the 20th anniversary of Clarence Thomas's confirmation hearings for the U.S. Supreme Court by recalling what her workplace was like before the 1991 hearings changed everything.
"As bad as sexism might be today, it was far worse back before Anita Hill shined a glaring light on what goes on behind the heavy doors of those lofty offices," she writes.
"Thanks to Anita Hill, my daughter will have to put up with a lot less nonsense." |
Read the column in the LawJobs.com blog
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| No warrant needed for cell phone info, judge rules |
| Prosecutors do not need a warrant to compel a cellular phone service provider to turn over data about call location, a federal judge in Washington said in a ruling unsealed Wednesday. Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia did not rubberstamp the government's request, submitted under the Stored Communications Act. Instead, he said prosecutors must present additional evidence to prove the requested data is material to the armed robbery investigation. The burden is lower than the one a warrant would require. |
The Blog of Legal Times has more
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| Passages |
| Services set for Al Knight |
| Services have been set for Alfred K. Knight, 74, who died earlier this week.
A memorial service will be held Oct. 19, 2011 at Wightman Chapel at the Scarritt Bennett Center, 1008 19th Ave. S., in Nashville at 5 p.m. Visitation with the family will be from 3 to 5 p.m. in the adjacent Bennett Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Elephant Sanctuary, of which Mr. Knight was a founding member. |
Read his obituary in the Tennessean
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| Celebrate Pro Bono |
| Sign up to help with legal aid phone-a-thon |
| The Legal Aid Society and Nashville Pro Bono Program will be holding their bi-annual fundraising phone-a-thon Oct. 18-20 and Oct. 25-27 (9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. all days) and are in need of volunteers. Shifts are two hours long and all materials/training are provided at the Legal Aid Society office, 300 Deaderick St., Nashville. The phone-a-thon is an important part of raising money to meet the 2011 goal of $720,000 set by Campaign Chair Gail Vaughn Ashworth. Please contact Cindy Durham, director of development, at (615) 780-7125 or cdurham@las.org if you can volunteer two hours of your time. |
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| Legal Aid and Chattanooga trial lawyers partner for event |
| The Chattanooga Trial Lawyers Association and Legal Aid of East Tennessee will sponsor a Consumer Law Community Education program and Social Service Agency Outreach on Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. It will be at Partnership for Families, Children and Adults, 1800 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga 37404. For information, contact Charlie McDaniel at 423-756-4013, ext. 1113 or at cmcdaniel@laet.org. |
See a full schedule of Celebrate Pro Bono Month events
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| Disciplinary Actions |
| Baumgartner disbarred |
| On Oct. 12, the Tennessee Supreme Court entered an prder of enforcement for the disbarment of Richard R. Baumgartner of Knoxville. Through counsel, Baumgartner delivered to the Board of Professional Responsibility an affidavit consenting to disbarment because he could not successfully defend against a Petition for Final Discipline based on his guilty plea to official misconduct or the board's investigation of other misconduct. His actions violate Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 8, Rules of Professional Conduct 8.4 (misconduct). |
Download the court's order
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| TBA Member Services |
| The Bar Plan is TBA's endorsed insurer |
| The Tennessee Bar Association endorses only The Bar Plan Mutual Insurance Company for lawyers' professional liability insurance. For 26 years, The Bar Plan has specialized in providing malpractice insurance to lawyers and therefore understands the needs and challenges you face as a practicing attorney. Contact Mark Bockius by email or phone at (314) 288-1050 to ask how your practice can be protected by The Bar Plan.
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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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