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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

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Memphis law curriculum undergoes major change

Starting with the class that enters in the fall of 2012, students at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law will have more flexibility in the classes they take earlier in their education. The curriculum, the school contends, will better reflect what really is happening in the practice of law. "For many, many years, most law schools were geared toward a traditional litigation model," David Romantz, associate dean for academic affairs, said. "But certainly in modern practice, there's a lot more transactional work, and even within litigation there's a lot more alternative to litigation such as negotiation and mediation."

The Daily News has the details

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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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.

411 PARTNERSHIP, v. KNOX COUNTY, TENNESSEE, et al.

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Arthur G. Seymour, Jr., and Benjamin C. Mullins, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, 411 Partnership.

Daniel A. Sanders, Deputy Knox Law Director, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellees, Knox County, Tennessee, and the Knox County Board of Zoning Appeals.

Judge: FRANKS

The Knox County Board of Zoning Appeals denied plaintiff's use on review application for a proposed shopping center. Plaintiff appealed the decision to the Circuit Court by way of a Writ of Certiorari. The Trial Court upheld the Board of Zoning Appeals' decision and plaintiff appealed to this Court. We reverse the decision of the Circuit Court on the grounds the record before the Board of Zoning Appeals does not contain substantial material evidence to uphold the Board's ruling. We reverse the Judgment of the Trial Court and remand.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/411partnership_111611.pdf

DR. PEPPER PEPSI-COLA BOTTLING COMPANY OF DYERSBURG, LLC v. REAGAN FARR, COMMISSIONER OF TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Matthew P. Cavitch, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Dr. Pepper Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Dyersburg, LLC

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Joseph F. Whalen, Associate Solicitor General, Gregory O. Nies, Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Commissioner of Revenue

Judge: HIGHERS

An in-state bottled soft drink manufacturer argues, pursuant to the bottler's tax statute, that the in-state distributor to which it sells may pay the bottler's tax on such sales and utilize its own franchise and excise tax credit. Absent this flexibility, the manufacturer contends, equal protection guarantees are offended. The trial court granted summary judgment to the Department of Revenue, finding that the manufacturer bore the tax burden and that it could not utilize the distributor's credit. We affirm.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/drpepper_111611.pdf

DONNA LYNN LUND v. JOHN FREDRIK LUND

Court: TCA

Attorneys:

Ben H. Houston, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Donna Lynn Lund.

Kimberlee A. Waterhouse, Lenoir City, Tennessee, for the appellee, John Fredrik Lund.

Judge: MCCLARTY

This is the second appeal of this post-divorce case to this court. Donna Lynn Lund ("Wife") and John Fredrik Lund ("Husband") were divorced in 2008. In the first appeal of the trial court's classification of marital property, this court held that the increase in value of Husband's pre-marital annuity was separate property. On remand, the trial court divided the property as consistent with this court's opinion. Wife filed post-judgment motions and a subsequent motion for Rule 60.02 relief, asserting that the order on remand contained errors of law and that she mistakenly failed to file a timely notice of appeal. The trial court denied the Rule 60.02 motion. Wife appeals. We affirm the decision of the trial court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2011/lundd_111611.pdf

TIMMIE DARRELL BOSTON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

J. Chase Gober, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Defendant-Appellant, Timmie Darrell Boston.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Meredith Devault, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. (Torry) Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Amy Eisenbeck, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: MCMULLEN

The petitioner, Timmie Darrell Boston, appeals the Davidson County Criminal Court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. After trial, a jury convicted him of rape of a child, a Class A felony, and assault by offensive or provocative contact, a Class B misdemeanor. He was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender and received an effective twenty-year sentence. In this appeal, the petitioner claims that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel based on trial counsel's failure to (1) object to the prosecution's use of leading questions when examining the victim, and (2) impeach the testimony of the victim. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/bostont_111611.pdf

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. LARRY EDWARD MOORE, JR.

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Dawn Deaner, District Public Defender; Emma Rae Tennent, Assistant Public Defender; Ginny Flack, Assistant Public Defender; and Katie Weiss, Assistant Public Defender, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Larry Edward Moore, Jr.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. (Torry) Johnson III, District Attorney General; Deborah Housel, Assistant District Attorney General; and Latasha Alexander, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, the State of Tennessee.

Judge: WOODALL

Defendant, Larry Edward Moore, Jr., was convicted of carjacking, a Class B felony and was sentenced to serve thirty (30) years as a Range III, career offender. This Court affirmed the conviction and sentence in State v. Larry Edward Moore, Jr., No. M2008-00703-CCA-R3- CD, 2010 WL 457493 (Tenn. Crim. App., filed Feb. 10, 2010) (hereinafter "Moore I"). From that judgment, Defendant filed an application for permission to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 11. In his application, Defendant presented only one specific issue, which is set forth below. In its order concerning the Rule 11 application, the Supreme Court ordered a supplementation of the record on appeal. The Supreme Court also remanded the case to this Court for reconsideration, in light of the supplemental record, of Defendant's "argument that the trial court erred in not redacting from [the supplemented exhibit] certain portions of [Defendant's] statement to police." Upon reconsideration of Defendant's "redaction" issue, which we initially held was waived for multiple reasons, we conclude the trial court erred, but the error was harmless. Accordingly, we again affirm the judgment of the trial court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/moorel_111611.pdf

RICHARD L. WILLIAMS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Court: TCCA

Attorneys:

Dumaka Shabazz, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Petitioner-Appellant, Richard L. Williams.

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Clark B. Thornton, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. (Torry) Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Katrin Miller, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: MCMULLEN

The Petitioner, Richard L. Williams, appeals from the Davidson County Criminal Court's denial of post- conviction relief from his guilty plea to second degree murder and twenty-five year sentence. In his appeal, the petitioner argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and did not enter his guilty plea knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily due to the various failures of trial counsel. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2011/williamsr_111611.pdf

TODAY'S NEWS

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Legal News

Jameson elected to fill Judge Ruben's seat

Former Metro Councilman Mike Jameson was elected by the Metro Nashville Council on Tuesday to fill a seat vacated when Judge Leon Ruben died last month at the age of 77. Jameson won 24-16 on the second ballot, defeating fellow attorney Blake Freeman.

The Tennessean has the story

Robinson gets highest marks in NBA poll for circuit judge

The Nashville Bar Association today released the results of a member poll for the Circuit Court Judge position made vacant by Judge Barbara Haynes' impending retirement. The poll showed the highest numbers for Nashville family law attorney Phillip Robinson, who was "highly recommended" or "recommended" by 55.8 percent of the 996 members who participated in the questionnaire.

Download the results

Will court allow cameras for health care arguments?

The U.S. Supreme Court has received two requests to permit live televised coverage of oral arguments in the litigation over the health care reform law set for next March. In separate letters to Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., C-SPAN chairman and CEO Brian Lamb and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) asked that the court allow cameras to record the proceedings for immediate broadcast, a first for the high court.

The Blog of Legal Times reports

Legal issues at center of 'Occupy' crackdowns

New York State Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman upheld Tuesday's eviction of the city's Occupy Wall Street protesters. Some experts known as supporters of First Amendment rights said the judge had it right. "The short legal answer to these situations in New York City and other places today is that there are broad rights to protests, to march, to demonstrate and to be heard," said Floyd Abrams, a First Amendment lawyer. "There is no right to occupy a public area on a full-time basis, including housing facilities and sleeping there." Of course, not everyone agrees. "There is no such thing as a beginning, middle and end to free speech rights," said ACLU executive director Anthony Romero. "The right ... doesn't toll after a certain time period." In Memphis, protesters held a rally in support of New York's group and to celebrate the 30th day of its encampment at Civic Center Plaza.

WKRN.com carried this AP story

Sandusky interview 'mind-boggling'

Legal pundits were surprised when former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky agreed to an interview by NBC News, discussing the accusations that he sexually molested several boys. Sandusky embarked on a dangerous path when he publicly defended himself against child sex abuse charges during a hastily arranged press interview on Monday, according to legal and crisis management experts. "In terms of the legal consequences, it's nothing but a potentially bad situation for him," said Ronald Allen, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law.

NewsChannel3 carried this Reuters story

Casey Anthony trial to be a Fox TV movie

Surely you saw this coming: A TV movie is in the works about the sensational trial of Casey Anthony, the Florida woman who was eventually acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter. It is based on a book by retired prosecutor Jeff Ashton, who takes aim at Anthony's defense attorney and the jury. He wrote they seemed to give a lot of thought and discussion to which movies they wanted to watch or which restaurants to go to while they were sequestered. Yet no juror asked a single question about the evidence during deliberation.

The Times News reports the AP story

Upcoming

Nashville Bar memorial service Thursday

The Nashville Bar Association's annual Memorial Service will be Nov. 17 at the Downtown Presbyterian Church. The service begins at 11 a.m. There will be a reception immediately following the service in the church's Fellowship Hall.

Learn more from the NBA

Nussbaum to speak at UT law

From Watergate to the Twin Towers, attorney Bernie Nussbaum has been involved in many headline-making cases during his long career. Nussbaum will visit the University of Tennessee College of Law for the annual Wyc and Lyn Orr Lecture, which will be at noon Friday in room 132 of the College of Law. The event is free and open to the public.