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TBA Law Blog

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Chattanooga Doc Who Scammed Servicemembers Can Retain Medical License

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 26, 2019
News Type: Legal News
A Chattanooga-area doctor who admitted to writing at least 1,000 bogus prescriptions for expensive skin cream as part of a cross-country scheme to swindle the military will be allowed to continue practicing medicine in Tennessee, the Tennessean reports. Dr. Carl Lindblad pleaded guilty to his role in a prescription fraud conspiracy last year. State health officials this month suspended Lindblad's medical license for at least three months. He can have the suspension lifted at a later date if he completes an ethics course and agrees to have his medical practice monitored by an outside company.

SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer to Visit Rhodes College, Oct. 3

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 26, 2019
News Type: Upcoming
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will be delivering Rhodes College's annual Constitution Day lecture on Oct. 3, the Commercial Appeal reports. “Our community will get a rare look behind the scenes of the Supreme Court. Lectures like this one are a key component of the transformational experience we provide for our students," said Rhodes President Marjorie Hass.

Judge Disqualifies ADA for 'Vindictive Prosecution'

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 23, 2019
News Type: Legal News
A Sumner County judge has disqualified a prosecutor for vindictive prosecution of a DUI case, the Tennessean reports. Judge Dee David Gay signed a court order Monday disqualifying Sumner County Assistant District Attorney Bryna Grant from a case after she told the judge in a hearing that she "absolutely" offers minimum sentences in criminal court, but told the defense attorney in the case she never offers the minimum sentence in criminal court. Gay's ruling concludes that "a prosecutor cannot tell the court one thing and then tell the defense attorney another thing."

Justice Ginsburg Treated for Pancreatic Cancer

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 23, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently completed a three-week course of radiation therapy to treat a malignant tumor on her pancreas, Politico reports. Ginsburg began her radiation therapy on Aug. 5 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. The "abnormality" was detected in early July after a blood test, and a July 31 biopsy "confirmed a localized malignant tumor," the U.S. Supreme Court said in a statement.

6th Circuit: Maryville Officer Liable for Holding Teens at Gunpoint

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 23, 2019
News Type: Legal News
An off-duty Maryville reserve officer is liable for holding three unarmed teenagers at gunpoint after a car accident in 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled this week, Knoxnews reports. Maurice Dixon should have known it was unconstitutional to hold at gunpoint three teens who were not running away and were not suspected of any crimes beyond speeding and reckless driving, the court ruled. The decision overturned an earlier one by Chief U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan, who set aside a jury's verdict and ruled Dixon should be immune from Vanderhoef's civil claims due to a legal doctrine called "qualified immunity."

Rep. Byrd, Facing Scrutiny for Assault Allegations, Says He Won't Seek Reelection

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 23, 2019
After more than a year of being dogged by allegations of sexual assault, Rep. David Byrd told his House Republican colleagues today he will not seek reelection in 2020, the Tennessean reports. Byrd announced his decision during a closed-door caucus meeting less than an hour before the start of today's special legislative session. Byrd, R-Waynesboro, is accused by three women of sexually assaulting them when they were teenagers in the 1980s while he was their teacher and basketball coach at Wayne County High School.

Tennessee House Chooses Sexton as Speaker

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 23, 2019

Tennessee House members in the 111th General Assembly today elected their second speaker of the year, as Cameron Sexton officially took over as leader of the chamber, the Tennessean reports. Sexton made changes to some key leadership positions, appointing Rep. Curtis Johnson, R-Clarksville, to Deputy Speaker, as well as to the head of the Ethics Committee. Rep. David Hawk is set to lead the TennCare Subcommittee, while Rep. Gary Hicks will lead the Finance Subcommittee. Rep. Ryan Williams will now take the position of chair of the Life and Health Insurance Subcommittee.

TSC Vacates BPR Formal Ethics Opinion on Disclosure

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 23, 2019
In a recently released opinion, the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility’s Formal Ethics Opinion 2017-F-163, first released in March 2018, which provided guidance to prosecutors about ethical duties under Rule 3.8(d) — the statute covering a prosecutor’s ethical duties to disclose evidence or information tending to negate the guilt of the accused or to mitigate the offense. On January 15, the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference filed a petition to vacate the opinion. In its unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court considered other states’ interpretations of prosecutors’ ethical rules and ultimately agreed with the position that a prosecutor’s ethical duties should be coextensive with the prosecutor’s legal and constitutional obligations. Read the opinion, authored by Chief Justice Jeff Bivins.

178 Attorneys Suspended for CLE Violations, 28 Already Reinstated

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 23, 2019
News Type: BPR Actions

The Supreme Court of Tennessee on Wednesday suspended 127 Tennessee attorneys, 49 attorneys from out-of state and two international attorneys for failing to complete their annual continuing legal education requirements. Twenty-eight of those attorneys have since been reinstated. Read the Aug. 21 order and see a complete list of administrative suspensions here.

TSC Upholds Trial Court Decision Excluding Videotape of Defendant's Post-Polygraph Statements

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Aug 22, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that a trial court acted within its discretion in excluding from trial a defendant’s videotaped statements given in a post-polygraph interview. In so doing, the court reversed the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals. In reaching this decision, the court noted that a trial court has broad discretion in determining whether particular evidence should be admitted at trial. As a result, as long as the trial court’s action was an objectively reasonable decision, an appellate court should not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court. Instead, it should uphold that decision, even if the appellate court would have reached a different result. State of Tennessee v. Quintis McCaleb was authored by Chief Justice Jeff Bivins.
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