A Robertson County jury convicted the Defendant, Dondrinkus T. Dickerson, of rape, and the trial court sentenced the Defendant to ten years in the Tennessee Department of Correction to be served consecutively to his prior sentences. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction; and (2) the trial court abused its discretion when it sentenced him. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

A patient suffered a blunt-force trauma head injury when he fell while attempting to mount a wheelchair accessible scale at a dialysis clinic. Complications from this injury led to his death. Plaintiff, the patient’s former spouse, brought two wrongful death actions on behalf of the patient’s minor child. Each action eventually named as defendants the dialysis clinic and the owner of the property where the dialysis clinic was located. After the trial court consolidated the actions, the property owner filed a motion for summary judgment.

This is a termination of parental rights case, focusing on Aaliyah E., the minor child (“the Child”) of Wanda M. (“Mother”) and Christopher E. (“Father”). The Child was taken into protective custody by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (“DCS”) on November 19, 2013, upon investigation of the Child’s lack of legal guardianship while the parents were incarcerated. On October 30, 2014, DCS filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of Mother and Father.

This case involves the termination of a mother?s parental rights to her three daughters. The children were previously adjudicated dependent and neglected due to physical abuse of the children by the mother?s boyfriend. After the children were in foster care for about a year, the Department of Children?s Services filed a petition to terminate the mother?s parental rights on several grounds. The trial court found by clear and convincing evidence that three grounds for termination were proven and that termination was in the best interest of the children. The mother appeals.

David Sicay-Perrow, an Atlanta-based attorney licensed to practice law in Tennessee, today was disbarred by the Tennessee Supreme Court. The Court took the action after Sicay-Perrow received funds on two occasions which were intended for a client. He failed to keep appropriate trust account records, commingled funds and failed to adequately monitor his trust account. Read the BPR release.

The Davidson County District Attorney’s Office announced it will launch a sex trafficking intervention court in an effort to combat sex slavery. WKRN reports victims will be offered long-term services instead of automatic jail time. The program – Cherished H.E.A.R.T.S. of Nashville – is scheduled to begin next month.

The TBA’s Section on Environmental Law will host its Environmental Law Forum on Thursday to share the latest updates to the Solid Waste Rule and updated regulations on recycling. The Waters of the United States rule and implications of the Clean Power Plan will also be discussed. The course offers 3.5 CLE credits and is scheduled from 12:30-4:15 p.m. at the Tennessee Bar Center in Nashville.

Nashville's former director of schools legally suspended an agreement with the Service Employees International Union in 2011, a recent decision from Court of Appeals Judge Richard Dinkins says. The opinion overturns a lower court decision that said Jesse Register did not have the authority to suspend the the labor negotiations policy that represented non-licensed employees. An attorney for SEIU said he plans to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Read more from The Tennessean.

President Barack Obama announced yesterday a ban on solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons. “It has been linked to depression, alienation, withdrawal, a reduced ability to interact with others and the potential for violent behavior,” the president wrote in an op-ed posted Monday evening on The Washington Post’s website. The new rules also prohibit the use of solitary confinement for prisoners who commit “low-level infractions.”

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports Daniel Sands, the son of a drug trafficker, could receive as much time in federal prison for using Facebook to threaten a witness as his father may receive. Sands pleaded guilty Monday to the charge and now faces a minimum mandatory term of 10 years up to life in prison. His father, Leonard Sands, faces life in prison for drug conspiracy and money laundering charges. Daniel Sands will be sentenced in May; sentencing for his father is pending.