Defendants appeal the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the plaintiff corporation, the effect of which was to accord full faith and credit to a New York judgment based on a confession of judgment, or cognovit note. Defendants argue that the foreign judgment should not be enrolled in Tennessee because it is contrary to public policy, based on Tennessee Code Annotated section 25-2-101(a), which prohibits the use of prelitigation confessions of judgment and declares void any judgment based upon such a device. After reviewing the record and case law, we hold that the Constitution’s full faith and credit mandate requires enrollment of the foreign judgment so long as Defendants validly waived their due process rights. Accordingly, we affirm.

Charles Nesbit (“Employee”) worked as a bucket truck driver for Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division (“Employer”). Employee sought workers’ compensation benefits for a gradually occurring injury to his knees. Relevant to the issues on appeal, the trial court found Employee suffered a compensable gradually occurring injury at work, and gave timely notice of his claim. Employer has appealed. The appeal has been referred to this Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 51. We find that Employee did not give timely notice of his claim, and we reverse the judgment.

Charles Hopper filed this workers’ compensation action after suffering a work-related injury to his neck. The trial court found that Mr. Hopper is permanently and totally disabled. Employer concedes that Mr. Hopper suffered a work-related injury but argues that the evidence preponderates against the trial court’s judgment as to permanent and total disability. Employer also argues that any award should be limited to 1.5 times the impairment rating. The appeal has been referred to this Panel for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law under Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 51. We affirm the trial court’s judgment.

Week of March 22, 2021 - March 26, 2021

Jeffery Brian Wills, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s order denying his motion for sentence reduction filed under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). This case has been referred to a panel of the court that, upon examination, unanimously agrees that oral argument is not needed. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a).

For these reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s order denying Wills’s motion for a sentence reduction.

SUTTON, Circuit Judge. Lazelle Maxwell moved for a discretionary sentence reduction under the First Step Act. The district court declined Maxwell’s request, opting to leave his thirty-year sentence in place. Maxwell contends that the court abused its discretion. It did not, and we affirm.

A Montgomery County jury convicted the defendants, Kellum Jordan Williams and Kevin Raynard Forman, of first degree premeditated murder, first degree felony murder, and especially aggravated kidnapping. The trial court merged the defendants’ convictions for premeditated murder and felony murder and imposed a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. The trial court imposed a sentence of twenty-five years for especially aggravated kidnapping to be served consecutively to the murder sentence. On appeal, both defendants challenge the sufficiency of the evidence. Defendant Williams also challenges the length of his sentence. Defendant Forman raises additional issues, asserting that the trial court erred when it: (1) denied his motion to sever; (2) denied his motion to suppress; and (3) admitted evidence in violation of Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(b). After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgments.

The employee, an over-the-road truck driver, alleged suffering an injury to her upper back and neck while pulling a pin on a fifth wheel. The employer disputes that it received proper notice of the alleged injury and denies that the injury is compensable. The employer also raised a defense based upon the “election of remedies” doctrine, asserting the employee is barred from recovering benefits in Tennessee as a result of pursuing benefits in Missouri. Following an expedited hearing, the trial court concluded that the employee was unlikely to prevail at trial in establishing that her current complaints arose primarily out of and in the course and scope of her employment. The employee has appealed. Having carefully reviewed the record, we affirm the trial court’s decision and remand the case.

The defendant, Kendall Rivers, appeals his Knox County Criminal Court jury conviction of voluntary manslaughter, claiming that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence a video recording taken from the defendant’s cellular telephone, by imposing the maximum sentence, and by ordering the defendant to serve his sentence in confinement. Discerning no error, we affirm.

The notice of appeal filed by the appellant, Joshua Soller, stated that Mr. Soller was appealing the trial court’s order entered on November 12, 2020.1 Because the order from which Mr. Soller has appealed is not a final appealable judgment, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider this appeal.