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Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jan 31, 2020

This is a termination of parental rights case. The trial court found, by clear and convincing evidence, that mother’s parental rights should be terminated on the grounds of abandonment by the willful failure to support the child, substantial noncompliance with the permanency plans, persistence of conditions, severe child abuse, and failure to manifest an ability and willingness to assume custody or financial responsibility of the child. The trial court further found, by clear and convincing evidence, that termination was in the best interests of the child. Having reviewed the record on appeal, we affirm.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jan 31, 2020

While a homeowner was standing on the water meter box in his yard, the concrete cover on the box moved unexpectedly, and the homeowner was injured. The homeowner sought compensation for his injuries from the county water authority. The water authority denied it had prior notice that the water meter box was dangerous or defective and alleged the comparative fault of the homeowner. After a bench trial, the trial court found the water authority had actual notice of the dangerous or defective condition of the water meter box and failed to take appropriate action. The court allocated 100% of the fault to the water authority and awarded the homeowner both economic and noneconomic damages. The water authority challenges the trial court’s findings on liability, comparative fault, and the amount of noneconomic damages. The water authority also claims that the trial court made several procedural errors. We conclude that the evidence does not preponderate against the trial court’s factual findings. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jan 31, 2020

This is an accelerated interlocutory appeal as of right pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B from the trial court’s denial of a motion for recusal. Petitioner contends the trial judge should have recused herself but fails to state any grounds or facts to support his contention. Moreover, Petitioner failed to comply with Rule 10B by, inter alia, not attaching an affidavit that verified the specific factual grounds supporting disqualification of the trial judge. Due to Petitioner’s failure to comply with Rule 10B, we affirm the trial court’s decision to deny the motion for recusal.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jan 24, 2020

The Defendant, LaToya Ann Shelton, was convicted by a Bedford County jury of the sale or delivery of .5 grams or more of cocaine, a Class B felony; two counts of the sale or delivery of less than .5 grams of cocaine, a Class C felony; the possession of .5 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to sell or deliver, a Class C felony; simple possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range II, multiple offender to an effective term of twenty years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence and argues that the twenty-year sentence of incarceration is excessive. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jan 24, 2020

The Defendant, Ronnie Ray Myatt, appeals the judgments of the trial court following a June 25, 2018 probation violation hearing in which the court revoked his probation in case numbers CR7357, CR7358A, and 22CC-2010-CR-115. The Defendant argues that the trial court lacked jurisdiction in the first two cases because the sentences for those cases had expired prior to the filing of the revocation warrant. The Defendant also requests that we remand to the trial court for entry of a modified judgment in case number 22CC-2010-CR-115 to award to the Defendant applicable jail credits. The State concedes that the sentences in case numbers CR7357 and CR7358A expired before the filing of the instant revocation warrant and that the trial court therefore lacked jurisdiction to revoke the probation in those cases. Although not raised as an issue by the Defendant, the State argues that the trial court appropriately revoked the Defendant’s probation in Case Number 22CC-2010-CR-115. Following our review, we reverse the probation revocation orders in case numbers CR7357 and CR7358A, affirm the revocation of probation in case number 22CC-2010-CR-115, and remand to the trial court for determination of the appropriate jail credits to be applied toward the Defendant’s sentence in the latter case.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jan 24, 2020

The Appellant, Matthew Jackson, appeals the Robertson County Circuit Court’s denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty pleas to two counts of aggravated rape, which resulted in an effective twenty-five-year sentence. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand the case for an evidentiary hearing.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jan 23, 2020

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. Plaintiffs Joe Solo and BleachTech LLC sued Defendant United Parcel Service Co. (UPS) in July 2014 alleging that it had systematically overcharged customers for insurance on their shipments. The first time this case was appealed, we held that the contract governing the shipments was “at least ambiguous” as to the contested charge, Solo v. UPS Co., 819 F.3d 788, 796 (6th Cir. 2016), and reversed the order granting UPS’s motion to dismiss. After remand and several months of discovery, UPS moved to compel arbitration, citing an arbitration provision contained in a contract effective after the contested shipments occurred. For the reasons explained below, we AFFIRM the district court’s denial of the motion to compel arbitration.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jan 23, 2020

MARTHA CRAIG DAUGHTREY, Circuit Judge. Defendant Adam Libbey-Tipton was indicted on three counts of accessing and possessing child pornography as a result of an FBI investigation identifying him as a user of a child-pornography website. The government sought to introduce evidence of Libbey-Tipton’s prior conviction of child molestation as evidence of his propensity to access and possess child pornography. The district court admitted the evidence under Federal Rules of Evidence 414 and 403. Ultimately, the jury found Libbey-Tipton guilty on all three counts and the district court sentenced him to 235 months in prison, 27 months lower than the advisory Guidelines range.

On appeal, Libbey-Tipton challenges the admissibility of his prior conviction, the reasonableness of his sentence, and the effectiveness of trial counsel. He also raises a Fourth Amendment challenge to the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress the search warrant that led to his identification as a user of the website. We conclude that the district court properly admitted the evidence in question and that the sentence imposed was not unreasonable. Moreover, the record is not sufficiently developed to review the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. Finally, the challenge to the validity of the search warrant is precluded by our holding in United States v. Moorehead, 912 F.3d 963 (6th Cir. 2019), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 270, (2019). For these reasons, we affirm the district court’s judgment.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jan 23, 2020

The Petitioner, Maurice Jevon Chapman, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, and the trial court entered the sentence to which the parties agreed, twenty years, as a Range II offender. The State filed a notice of nolle prosequi of nine other counts against him. The Petitioner filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief in which he alleged that his counsel was ineffective for failing to explain to him the theory of criminal responsibility for another, rendering his guilty plea unknowingly and involuntarily entered. The post conviction court dismissed the petition after a hearing. On appeal, we affirm the post conviction court’s judgment.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jan 23, 2020

Christopher Bretton Bly, Defendant, was arrested in Coffee County for two counts of aggravated burglary, one count of theft under $500, two counts of vandalism over $1,000, one count of theft over $1,000, one count of theft over $500, and one count of vandalism under $500. Subsequent to this arrest, Defendant was incarcerated in the Tennessee Department of Correction (“TDOC”) for a probation violation in Wilson County. After Defendant completed his service on the Wilson County sentence, he pled guilty to the charges in Coffee County. Defendant later filed a Rule 36 motion to obtain pretrial jail credit on the Coffee County case, and the trial court partially granted the motion. On appeal, Defendant argues that he is entitled to the time he served in TDOC on the Wilson County probation violation as pretrial jail credit on the Coffee County case. After a thorough review of the record and applicable case law, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed.


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