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| Monday, February 13, 2012 |
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White House asks for $54 million increase for LSC
The White House today recommended $402 million in funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) in Fiscal Year 2013, an increase of $54 million from current funding.
About 94 percent of the White House request -- $376.8 million -- would provide grants to nonprofit legal aid programs to deliver civil legal assistance to low-income Americans who request help to avert foreclosures, escape domestic violence, deal with consumer fraud and appeal denial of veterans' benefits, as well as other critical matters. LSC funding was approximately $404 million in Fiscal Year 2011 before falling to $348 million in Fiscal Year 2012.
As an independent nonprofit corporation, LSC also sent its own budget request to the Congress today, seeking $470 million in funding for Fiscal Year 2013.
The Legal Services Corporation 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.
01 - TN Supreme Court
00 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals
00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules
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SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Grants & Denials List
Court: TSC
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC/2012/certlist_021312.pdf
ABBINGTON CENTER, LLC v. TOWN OF COLLIERVILLE
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Michael L. Mansfield, Jackson, Tennessee, for the appellant, Town of Collierville.
David Wade, J. Lewis Wardlaw, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellee, Abbington Center,
LLC.
Judge: HIGHERS
The two billboards at issue in the case were erected in 1979, prior to Collierville's
prohibition of billboards. Plaintiff sought to re-construct the billboards, and he received
assurances from the Town that he could do so. However, the Town subsequently questioned
whether the billboards were legal, non-conforming uses protected by the "grandfather clause"
set forth in Tennessee Code Annotated section 13-7-208, and it issued stop work orders on
the billboards' reconstruction and it refused to issue the building permits necessary for
reconstruction. Plaintiff appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals, which affirmed the
Town's actions. Plaintiff then filed a writ of certiorari in the chancery court, which, prior to
trial, remanded to the BZA. On remand, the BZA affirmed its prior decision, and Plaintiff
subsequently filed a second writ of certiorari in the chancery court. The chancery court
found that the BZA acted illegally, arbitrarily, and capriciously, and it invalidated the stop
work orders and it declared that Plaintiff could re-construct the billboards. Based on
Plaintiff's failure to demonstrate that the billboards were legal uses prior to the 1982
amendment, we find that the BZA was justified in upholding the Town's stop work orders
and in upholding the Town's denial of Plaintiff's requested building permits. Accordingly,
we find that the BZA's decisions were not illegal, arbitrary, or capricious.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2012/abbington_021312.pdf
SYBIL LEO v. ROBERT GEORGE GARDNER, II v. EDDIE PORTER AND CARMEN PORTER
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
Jonathan L. Miley, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellants, Eddie Porter and Carmen
Porter
Lewis A Williams, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellee Robert George Gardner, II
Judge: KIRBY
This appeal involves a divorce action that includes a claim against third parties. The wife
filed a divorce complaint against the husband, and the husband counterclaimed for divorce.
Later, the husband amended his divorce counterclaim to add claims against third parties as
defendants, alleging that they took personal property from the marital home with the wife's
acquiescence. Later, the divorce claims were dismissed, but the claims against the third
parties remained. After a hearing, the trial court awarded the husband compensatory and
punitive damages as to the property taken. As to one item, however, the third parties were
ordered to deliver the item to the court to be donated to a local charity. The third parties now
appeal. We affirm the trial court's finding as to the value of the property taken, remand for
findings of fact and conclusions of law under Rule 52.01 as to the monetary judgment, and
vacate the order requiring the donation of an item of property.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2012/leos_021312.pdf
REGINA MORRISON NEWMAN, ET AL. v. SHELBY COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION
Court: TCA
Attorneys:
James G. Stranch, III and James G. Stranch, IV, Nashville, Tennessee, and David Cocke,
Memphis, TN for the appellants, Regina Morrison Newsom, Minerva Johnican, Venita Marie
Martin, Shep Wilbun, Corey Maclin, Randy L. Wade, Coleman Thompson, Ricky Dixon,
Sondra Becton, and Glenn Wright.
John L. Ryder, Pablo Adrian Varela, and Samuel J. Muldavin, Memphis, Tennessee, for the
appellee, Shelby County Election Commission.
Judge: STAFFORD
This is an election contest case brought pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated Section section
2-17-101, et seq. Appellants, unsuccessful candidates for various offices in the August 5,
2010 Shelby County general election, filed suit against the Appellee Shelby County Election
Commission. Appellants aver that the election process was incurably flawed to the extent
that Appellants and the citizens of Shelby County were denied a free and equal election as
required by Article I, Section V of the Tennessee Constitution. The trial court granted an
involuntary dismissal, under Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 41.02(2), finding that
Appellants' proof was insufficient to prove that the election was incurably uncertain. We
affirm.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2012/newmanr_021312.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JERRY W. ELLIOTT
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Clifford K. McGown, Jr., Waverly, Tennessee (on appeal); George Morton Googe, District
Public Defender; and Hewitt Chatman, Assistant Public Defender (at trial and of counsel on
appeal), for the appellant, Jerry W. Elliott.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Jeffrey D. Zentner, Assistant Attorney
General; James G. (Jerry) Woodall, District Attorney General; and Angela R. Scott, Assistant
District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: GLENN
The defendant, Jerry W. Elliott, was convicted by a Henderson County Circuit Court jury
of driving under the influence ("DUI"), a Class A misdemeanor, and violations of the open
container, financial responsibility, and registration laws, all Class C misdemeanors. He was
sentenced to eleven months, twenty-nine days for the DUI conviction and thirty days for
violations of the open container and registration laws. He also received fines for each
conviction as well as for violation of the financial responsibility law. The trial court
separately found the defendant guilty of violation of the implied consent law, for which his
driver's license was revoked for one year. On appeal, the defendant challenges the
sufficiency of the evidence convicting him of DUI and also argues that his conviction for
violation of the implied consent law is improper because the charging instrument is not in
the record. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2012/elliotj_021312.pdf
CALVIN LANDERS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Ebony N. Dawkins, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Calvin Landers.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Meredith DeVault, Assistant Attorney
General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Theresa McClusky, Assistant
District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: SMITH
Petitioner, Calvin Landers, was convicted by a jury of rape of a child and sentenced to twenty
years. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Calvin Landers,
No. W2007-CCA-R3-CD, 2008 WL 2901603 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, Jul. 25, 2008),
perm. app. denied, (Tenn. Jan. 20, 2009). Petitioner filed a timely petition for post-conviction
relief on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. Petitioner also asserted
that his sentence violated Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004) , that his conviction
was based on evidence obtained pursuant to an unlawful arrest, that his conviction was based
on evidence obtained pursuant to an unlawful search, and that there was a "fatal variance"
between the indictment and the proof. After a hearing, the post-conviction court denied
relief. Petitioner appealed. After a thorough review, we determine that Petitioner has failed
to show by clear and convincing evidence that he is entitled to post-conviction relief where
the proof showed that trial counsel made a tactical decision to forego a motion to suppress;
met with Petitioner at least ten times prior to trial; and was given the opportunity to cross-examine
witnesses. Moreover, Petitioner did not raise his issue with regard to exhibits in
the petition for post-conviction relief so it cannot be raised on appeal. Accordingly, the
judgment of the post-conviction court is affirmed.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2012/landersc_021312.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JON LOGSDON
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Mack Garner, District Public Defender; Tiffany Deaderick (at trial), Assistant Public
Defender, Maryville, Tennessee; J. Liddell Kirk (on appeal), Knoxville, Tennessee, for the
Defendant-Appellant, Jon Logsdon.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Nicholas W. Spangler, Assistant
Attorney General; Michael L. Flynn, District Attorney General; Clinton Frazier and Betsy
Brockman, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: MCMULLEN
A Blount County jury convicted the Defendant-Appellant, Jon Logsdon, of two counts of
solicitation of a minor to commit especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a
Class C felony, two counts of solicitation of a minor to commit aggravated statutory rape, a
Class E felony, and four counts of solicitation of the sexual exploitation of a minor, a Class
E felony. He received an effective sentence of four years in the Department of Correction.
The sole issue presented for review on appeal is whether the evidence was sufficient to prove
the element of Logsdon's reasonable belief that undercover officers posing as minors were
under eighteen years of age. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2012/logsdonj_021312.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DEMARIO RAWLINGS
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Stephen C. Bush, District Public Defender; Tony N. Brayton (on appeal) and Carlyn L.
Addison and R. Trent Hall (at trial), Assistant Public Defenders, for the appellant, Demario
Rawlings.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Nicholas W. Spangler, Assistant
Attorney General; Amy P. Weirich, District Attorney General; and Susan L. Taylor and Billy
Bond, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: GLENN
The defendant, Demario Rawlings, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury
of driving under the influence, a Class A misdemeanor, and was sentenced to eleven months
and twenty-nine days in the county jail with all but five days suspended. On appeal, he
challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. After review, we affirm the judgment
of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2012/rawlingsd_021312.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. BERNARDO ACUNA RODRIGUEZ
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Rachel West Harmon, Assistant
Attorney General; Lisa Zavogiannis, District Attorney General; and Darrell Julian, Assistant
District Attorney General, for the appellant, State of Tennessee.
David L. Clarke, Manchester, Tennessee, for the appellee, Bernardo Acuna Rodriguez.
Judge: WOODALL
Defendant, Bernardo Acuna Rodriguez, was indicted by the Warren County Grand Jury for
second offense driving on a revoked license. Prior to trial, Defendant filed a motion to
suppress evidence obtained as a result of the arresting officer's stop and seizure of
Defendant. Following a hearing, the trial court granted Defendant's motion, and as a result,
dismissed the indictment. The State now appeals. After a review of the record, we conclude
that the officer's stop of Defendant was constitutionally valid, and therefore, the trial court's
order granting Defendant's motion to suppress is reversed, the order dismissing the
indictment is reversed, and this case is remanded.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2012/rodriguezb_021312.pdf
ARTHUR LEE TAYLOR V. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Robert Brooks, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Arthur Lee Taylor.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General & Reporter; David H. Findley, Senior Counsel; Jerry
Woodall, District Attorney General; Shaun A. Brown, Assistant District Attorney General;
for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: BIVINS
Arthur Lee Taylor ("the Petitioner") filed for post-conviction relief from his convictions of
possession of cocaine with intent to sell and/or deliver and possession of dihydrocodeinone
and his resulting effective thirty-year sentence as a career offender. He alleges that he
received ineffective assistance of counsel at his jury trial. After a hearing, the post-conviction
court denied relief, and this appeal followed. Upon our careful review of the
record, we affirm the post-conviction court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2012/taylora_021312.pdf
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MARQUETTE WOODS
Court: TCCA
Attorneys:
Stephen C. Bush, District Public Defender; Barry W. Kuhn (on appeal) and Alicia J. Kutch
and Jennifer E. Johnson (at trial), Assistant Public Defenders, for the appellant, Marquette
Woods.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Jeffrey D. Zentner, Assistant Attorney
General; Amy P. Weirich, District Attorney General; and Corliss Shaw, Assistant District
Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Judge: GLENN
The defendant, Marquette Woods, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury
of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony, and was sentenced to nine years in the Department
of Correction. On appeal, he challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. After
review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2012/woodsm_021312.pdf
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| TODAY'S NEWS |
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TennBarU CLE
Legal News
General Assembly News
Election 2012
Passages
TBA Member Services
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| TennBarU CLE |
| Law Tech kicks off with free webcast |
| The TBA and its Law Office Technology & Management Section's Law Tech Un-Conference gets underway this Thursday, kicking off with a session from tech gurus Bill Ramsey and Phillip Hampton at 9 a.m., followed by roundtable discussions and demonstrations. The Bill & Phil segment will also be available as a free webcast (watch for details in Wednesday's TBAToday). Those who preregister and attend the program in person will also be registered in a drawing for a free IPad2. Check out the schedule and drop in the Tennessee Bar Center in Nashville between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to take part in any or all of the sessions.
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| Legal News |
| Bass, Berry taps former Fulbright lawyer for new D.C. office |
| Bass, Berry & Sims is opening a new Washington office, and the firm has tapped a former Fulbright & Jaworski partner, John Kelly, to serve as its local managing partner.
The D.C. location is the firm's fourth office, the first outside of Tennessee. |
The Blog of Legal Times has more
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| 12 apply for Moon's seat |
| Twelve attorneys are seeking to replace the late Judge Bob Moon on the General Sessions bench. Friday was the application deadline.
The Hamilton County Commission plans to appoint an interim judge March 1, who will serve until a special election Aug. 2.
Those who applied are Larry Ables, Bryan Hoss, W. Lloyd Stanley, David Norton, Lila Statom, Gary W. Starnes, Patricia Best Vital, Ron D. Powers, Rodney Strong, Robert Philyaw, Valerie Epstein and Michael Acuff. |
The Times Free Press reports
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| Reporter: Baumgartner travails covered up, ignored |
| In a lengthy article, News Sentinel reporter Jamie Satterfield details the people, dates and actions leading
up to former Judge Richard Baumgartner's demise. The events show a secretive system unwilling to believe or act quickly on suspicions about the sitting judge. Read a timeline of events.
In a related story, the paper's editor details Satterfield's journey
through the process -- what did she know about Baumgartner, and when did she know it? |
Read the story
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| Williamson mayor wants to add juvenile judge |
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Williamson County commissioners are set to vote tonight on Mayor Rogers Anderson 's recommendation to add a third judge, who would hear only juvenile matters. By law, only the state legislature has the authority to create the position, so with this vote commissioners would actually be making a recommendation to lawmakers. But records show the caseload has increased most in the General Sessions Court. Judge Al Nations contends that Anderson may be playing politics and is risking the efficiency of the court at the same time.
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The Tennessean has more
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| Judge stops recall election |
| Circuit Court Judge Jeff Hollingsworth ruled Friday that an Aug. 2 recall election set by the Hamilton County Election Commission is illegal and ordered it stopped.
The decision comes after months of legal wrangling over whether Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield should be recalled. |
The Times Free Press reports
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| 2 UT law professors honored for 'big ideas' |
| Two University of Tennessee College of Law professors, Michael Higdon and Glenn Reynolds, are honored by the school for "bringing big ideas to life in the classroom."
Higdon is an innovator and national leader in the field of legal writing, and Reynolds, a columnist and writer for several national publications, is most well-known for his blog, Instapundit.
The New York Times described Instapundit, with its 14 million page vists per month, as "a 'thought leader' in social networking circles." |
Learn more about them from UT
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| Court: Winners can take office in Shelby Co. |
| The Tennessee Court of Appeals
has ruled
against several losing candidates who filed suit against the Shelby County Election Commission claiming the 2010 county election races were rigged.
The appellate court on Monday said the candidates failed to show that "fraud or illegality so permeated the conduct of the election as to render it incurably uncertain." |
The News Sentinel has more
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| Breyer robbed in vacation home |
| U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was robbed last week by a machete-wielding intruder at his vacation home in the West Indies, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said today. The 73-year-old Breyer, wife Joanna and guests were confronted by the robber in the home Breyer owns on the Caribbean island of Nevis, spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said. The intruder took about $1,000 in cash and no one was hurt, she said. |
The Associated Press reports
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| General Assembly News |
| Beavers and Bivens debate judicial discipline |
| Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, and Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Jeff Bivins squared off in a debate before the Tennessee Press Association last week to discuss disciplining judges.
Beavers wants fewer judges on the Court of the Judiciary and thinks they should be appointed by the speakers of the House and Senate.
Bivins, who is also a member of the judicial disciplinary board, said it was necessary to have a majority of judges because the panel has to conduct hearings that are in compliance with legal rules. He also said that it's customary for members of the same profession to discipline their own, the way doctors, architects, pharmacists and others do.
"So, we're simply asking to be treated like the other professionals," Bivins said. |
The Tennessean has this AP story
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| Election 2012 |
| Knox County House candidates gear up |
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Read this update on candidates for two open House seats in Knox County, including Knox County Democratic Party chair Gloria Johnson and TV sports producer Gary Loe |
The News Sentinel has it
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| Passages |
| Oldest working federal judge dies at 104 |
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U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown was the nation's oldest working federal judge in history, sitting on the bench in Wichita up to his death last month at age 104.
Mike Lahey, Brown's law clerk for the past 24 years, said at his memorial service that the judge's life was governed by two oaths: one that he took to be a district judge in 1962 and the other when he became a Boy Scout in 1920.
"To him, [those words] were the aspiration of what a man should be and he adopted them as a guide for the rest of his life." |
The Tennessean has the story
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| TBA Member Services |
| First Tennessee is TBA's preferred provider |
| First Tennessee has crafted a package of discounts to meet the specific needs of Tennessee Bar Association members. |
Find savings on merchant credit services, checking and savings, financial planning and more
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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 2012 Tennessee Bar Association
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