The Tennessee Journal recaps the outcome of this week’s judicial races in its print publication out today. Races previously not included in TBA Today reporting include a four-way contest for the Republican nomination to fill an unexpired chancellorship in Anderson County. In that race, Daniel Forrester defeated Gov. Bill Lee’s appointee Jamie Brooks, 46% to 31%. Lee named Brooks to the position after Chancellor Nicki Cantrell stepped down. In addition, longtime Knox County Law Director David Buuck turned back a Republican primary challenge from former county party chair Daniel Herrera by a margin of 23 percentage points. The piece also takes an in-depth look at Andrée Blumstein’s tenure are the state solicitor general. Blumstein’s departure was announced on March 4 by the state attorney general.

A jury convicted two defendants, Tony Thomas and Laronda Turner, of three counts of first-degree premeditated murder. Those convictions stem from a triple homicide that occurred in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2015. Another co-defendant, Demarco Hawkins, was also implicated in the killings. However, his trial was severed from the other defendants, and he testified against Mr. Thomas and Ms. Turner. After Mr. Thomas and Ms. Turner were convicted, they appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals, raising five issues for review. The intermediate appellate court ruled unanimously on three of the issues, but one judge dissented on the other two. Mr. Thomas and Ms. Turner sought permission to appeal, and we accepted the appeal only as to the two issues on which the intermediate appellate court was divided. First, we agreed to consider whether the prosecution breached the requirements of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), by failing to produce statements made by Mr. Hawkins at proffer conferences, which were allegedly inconsistent with Mr. Hawkins’ formal statement to law enforcement, before trial. Second, we agreed to address whether the evidence was sufficient to support Ms. Turner’s murder convictions. Based on our review, we conclude that the State did not breach its obligations under Brady with regard to Mr. Thomas. Additionally, we determine that the evidence is insufficient to sustain Ms. Turner’s convictions because Mr. Hawkins’ testimony was not adequately corroborated.1 As a result, we affirm the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals in part and reverse in part. Additionally, in this opinion, we abrogate Tennessee’s common law accomplice-corroboration rule. However, we apply that change on a prospective basis only, and, thus, it has no bearing on the outcome of this case.

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently rejected the Board of Professional Responsibility’s recommendation for discipline in the case of Shelby County lawyer Larry E. Fitzgerald. The court said it had concerns that the proposed punishment, particularly the period of active suspension, was too lenient. It rejected Fitzgerald’s conditional guilty plea and referred the matter to the board for further proceedings. Fitzgerald had entered a conditional guilty plea on Oct. 18, 2023, in response to a petition for discipline filed on Dec. 12, 2022.

Fayette County lawyer Lundy Lee Carpenter was reinstated to the practice of law on March 1, effective as of Jan. 31. Carpenter had been placed on inactive status on March 9, 2017. The Board of Professional Responsibility reported that the petition for reinstatement was satisfactory.

Petitioner, Katelyn Taylor, pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree murder in exchange for concurrent sentences of life imprisonment. Petitioner then filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, and that her guilty pleas were not knowingly and voluntarily. After appointing counsel and holding an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied the petition, which Petitioner appealed. After review, we conclude that Petitioner failed to prepare a sufficient brief in compliance with Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 27(a)(7) and Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Rule 10(b), therefore, her issues are waived. Additionally, after our review of the record, we conclude Petitioner’s claims are without merit. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Feb. 21 dismissed a petition from Williamson County lawyer Connie Lynn Reguli to dissolve a temporary suspension that had been imposed on Nov. 20, 2023, after the court found that Reguli posed a threat of substantial harm to the public. On Nov. 28, Reguli filed a petition seeking “immediate relief of reversal” of the suspension or, alternatively, an evidentiary hearing. On Nov. 30, the court granted the request for a hearing but dismissed the petition for reversal. On Jan. 23, Reguli filed a proposed order of voluntary nonsuit. The Board of Professional Responsibility objected to the proposed order and recommended the court dismiss the dissolution petition without prejudice. The court adopted the board’s recommendation.

The Defendant, Joshua Moore, was convicted of first degree premeditated murder. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction, specifically regarding whether he acted with premeditation. Additionally, he argues that the trial court erred by admitting a responding police officer’s body camera (“bodycam”) footage, contending that the recording was overly prejudicial in violation of Tennessee Rule of Evidence 403. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This is an accelerated interlocutory appeal as of right under Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B from a circuit court judge’s denial of a motion to recuse. The plaintiffs moved for recusal based primarily on an alleged attorney-client relationship between the judge and counsel for the defendants. We affirm the trial court’s denial of the motion to recuse.

After seven years of marriage, a wife filed a complaint for divorce against her husband. The primary issues before the trial court pertained to the classification of the marital residence and custody of the parties’ child. After a hearing on those issues, the trial court determined that the marital residence had once been the husband’s separate property but had transmuted into marital property. The court then ordered the property sold and the proceeds distributed equally between the parties. Regarding custody, the court designated the wife as primary residential parent and severely restricted the husband’s parenting time. Discerning that the trial court erred in its valuation of the marital residence, we modify the court’s order to reflect the amount submitted by the husband. We affirm the trial court in all other respects.

Putnam County lawyer Michael Robert Giaimo received a censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on Feb. 22. The court found that after Giaimo filed lawsuits on behalf of a client, he failed to communicate with the client for more than a year, inform the client that he moved to a different firm, properly serve process on a defendant and correct that mistake before the statute of limitations ran on the claim. His actions were determined to violate Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.16 and 3.2.