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Posted by: Karen Belcher on Sep 18, 2019

A Knox County Criminal Court Jury convicted the Appellant, David William Gary, of rape, and the trial court sentenced him to ten years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Appellant contends that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction, that the trial court erred by allowing testimony regarding his expressed interest in a specific type of sexual activity, and that the trial court erred by refusing to allow him to present evidence that a police investigator improperly influenced the victim’s preliminary hearing testimony.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Sep 18, 2019

The Petitioner, Harold Francis Butler, III, appeals the Hamilton County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions of first degree felony murder, attempted first degree premeditated murder, attempted especially aggravated robbery, and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony and resulting sentence of life plus thirty-one years.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Sep 18, 2019

This action was filed by two brothers, after the death of their father, contesting the validity of an amendment to their father’s trust agreement. The brothers alleged that their siblings coerced their infirmed father to amend his trust in such a manner that was favorable to the siblings’ pecuniary interests and that two sisters had a confidential relationship with their father. The trial court directed a verdict in favor of the defendants. The plaintiffs appealed. We affirm the decision.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Sep 18, 2019

This appeal involves a homeowner’s fraud claim against a foundation repair company. The trial court rejected the foundation repair company’s argument that the fraud claim was barred by the statute of limitations and the statute of repose. After a three-day bench trial, the trial court found that the foundation repair company had engaged in fraud.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Sep 18, 2019

Plaintiff, James Bidwell, took his wife, Clarissa Bidwell, to Starr Regional Medical Center for treatment. She was transferred to Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority dba Erlanger Health System, a governmental hospital authority, where she was treated, but later died. Plaintiff provided statutorily compliant pre-suit notice of his intent to file a health care liability action against each health care provider that was named as a defendant in the complaint. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121(a). Plaintiff did not provide pre-suit notice to Erlanger. Tenn. Code Ann.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Sep 18, 2019

We granted permission to appeal in this case to clarify application of the doctrine of judicial estoppel. The plaintiff filed this legal malpractice action against an attorney who represented her in her divorce. She asserts that the attorney’s actions so compromised her position in the divorce proceedings that she was forced to settle on unfavorable terms. After the attorney filed a motion for summary judgment, the trial court applied the doctrine of judicial estoppel.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Sep 11, 2019

ALICE M. BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge. Under Tennessee’s Billboard Act, anyone intending to post a sign along a Tennessee roadway must apply to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) for a permit, unless the sign falls within one of the Act’s exceptions. This case presents a constitutional challenge to the Act, based on the “on-premises exception” for signs relating to the use or purpose of the real property (premises) on which the sign is physically located, typically signs advertising the activities, products, or services offered at that location.

William Thomas owned a billboard on an otherwise vacant lot and posted a sign on it supporting the 2012 U.S. Summer Olympics Team. Tennessee ordered him to remove it because the State had denied him a permit and the sign did not qualify for the exception, given that there were no activities on the lot to which the sign could possibly refer. Thomas sued, claiming that this application of the Billboard Act violated the First Amendment. The district court held the Act unconstitutional because the on-premises exception was content-based and thus subject to strict scrutiny, failed to survive strict scrutiny, and was not severable from the rest of the Act. We affirm, recognizing that Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 135 S. Ct. 2218 (2015), overruled our existing circuit precedent on this issue in Wheeler v. Commissioner of Highways, 822 F.2d 586 (6th Cir. 1987).

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Sep 11, 2019

SILER, Circuit Judge. Warren Keith Henness appeals the district court’s decision denying his request for injunctive relief and for a stay of execution. We AFFIRM.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Sep 11, 2019

COLE, Chief Judge. Marshyia Ligon used her friend’s identification to purchase a gun and subsequently pleaded guilty to making a false statement in acquisition of a firearm. During plea negotiations, the government agreed to argue for a sentence in the Guidelines range as contemplated by the plea agreement, which was 21 to 27 months. At the sentencing hearing, however, the government argued for a sentence within the Guidelines range as contemplated by the probation office, which was 30 to 37 months because of an enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(b)(6)(B). The district court concluded the enhancement applied and sentenced Ligon to 35 months’ imprisonment. Ligon appeals her sentence, arguing that the government breached the plea agreement and that the district court erred in applying the enhancement. Because the government argued for a higher sentence than contemplated by the plea agreement, it breached the agreement and Ligon is entitled to resentencing before a different district judge.


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