Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Carol Chumney ruled Thursday that Tennessee’s “stand your ground” law, formally known as the self-defense immunity statute, applies to a civil lawsuit involving Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant. The Daily Memphian reports that the case will proceed to an immunity hearing where Morant will have to prove that he acted in self-defense during a July 2022 fight with Joshua Holloway, from which the lawsuit stems, and therefore is immune from civil suit. Holloway's attorney has argued that the law does not apply in this case because it is a criminal statute and the case at issue is a civil matter, which Judge Chumney ruled irrelevant.

The first female-majority Memphis City Council will take office in January. Jerri Green, Pearl Walker and Michalyn Easter-Thomas won their runoff elections yesterday. They join Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, Janika White, Jana Swearengen-Washington and Rhonda Logan who were elected and reelected in the October city elections. The Daily Memphian has more on the election results.

CHAD A. READLER, Circuit Judge. During a routine traffic stop, Yanier Tellez handed his wallet to a police officer. The ensuing search of the wallet yielded altered gift cards containing stolen credit card information, leading to Tellez’s indictment on conspiracy, bank fraud, and identity theft charges. Tellez sought to suppress that evidence on the grounds that he did not voluntarily consent to the search. When his efforts came up short, Tellez pleaded guilty, preserving his ability to raise the suppression issue on appeal. He now does so, and he also challenges, in both procedural and substantive respects, the sentence imposed by the district court. We affirm.

This appeal, the fourth in this case, concerns the trial court’s compensation order awarding permanent total disability benefits. The employee, a home health aide, was injured while catching a falling patient, causing pain in her neck, shoulder, and low back. The employer accepted the shoulder and back injuries but denied the compensability of the neck condition due to the employee’s pre-existing cervical condition. In an earlier decision on the record, the trial court ordered the employer to provide medical benefits for the neck, and the employer appealed. We reversed that decision, holding that the employee had presented insufficient evidence to establish that she would likely prevail at trial in proving the compensability of her neck injury. On remand, the court held an in-person hearing to address the employee’s neck injury, at which the employee presented lay testimony and an affidavit correcting a typographical error in the employee’s physician’s deposition, and the court again ordered medical benefits. The employer appealed again, and we affirmed. During the pendency of the second appeal, the employee underwent unauthorized neck surgery. The employer provided a panel pursuant to the affirmed court order, and the panel physician opined the employee’s neck symptoms did not arise primarily from the work accident. Thereafter, the employer sought to terminate medical benefits for the neck, and the court found that the employee was not likely to prove that the work injury was the primary cause of the need for ongoing medical treatment for her neck symptoms. The employee appealed, and we affirmed the trial court’s order. At trial, the employee presented additional medical proof from her neck surgeon, and the trial court found the employee’s neck condition was primarily caused by the work injury. As a result, the court awarded additional temporary total disability benefits, past and future medical benefits, and permanent total disability benefits. The employer has appealed. Upon careful consideration of the record, we affirm the court’s determinations regarding compensability, permanent total disability benefits, and past medical expenses; we modify the award of temporary total disability benefits; and we certify the modified order as final.

Two Cookeville-area educators are facing assault charges after paddling a student in October at Dodson Branch Elementary in Jackson County. A teacher and an assistant principal were arrested Nov. 7 after a grand jury returned charges of simple assault against and criminal responsibility of assault. The Tennessean reports that there is no state law banning corporal punishment in Tennessee, but many districts — including Metro Nashville; Cheatham, Dickson, Robertson, Sumner and Williamson counties; and Franklin and Murfreesboro city schools — have banned the practice altogether, some for more than a decade. In April, Gov. Bill Lee signed a law that prohibits schools from using corporal punishment against children with disabilities unless a local education agency's discipline policy permits the use of corporal punishment and a parent gives written consent to school officials.

Former Fayette County Public Schools board member Civil Miller-Watkins has filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission, adding her name to a list of Democrats seeking to challenge Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn for her seat in Congress next year. The Tennessee Lookout reports that Miller-Watkins says her experience in a rural county and its lack of resources, along with concerns about “kitchen table issues,” prompted her candidacy. She joins state Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, on the ballot. Democrat Marquita Bradshaw of Memphis also announced she would seek the 2024 nomination but has not yet filed a statement of candidacy.

The Tennessee Bar Association will be open on a limited basis next week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and closed on Thursday and Friday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Visit the TBA website to access CLE offerings and contact information for individual staff members. The office will reopen Nov. 27 at 8 a.m. CST. Happy Thanksgiving!

The East Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women (ETLAW) is hosting its annual toiletry drive to benefit the Knoxville YWCA. The YWCA's housing project relies on toiletry packages every year to distribute to women in need. Items can be dropped off at or shipped to the LMU Duncan School of Law, 601 W. Summit Hill Dr., Knoxville 37902, by 9 a.m. EST on Dec. 13 or brought to The Foundry, 747 Worlds Fair Park Dr., Knoxville 37902, on Dec. 13, prior to the ETLAW Annual Meeting at noon. Visit the ETLAW website for links to an Amazon Wishlist, a toiletry drive sign up sheet and information on making monetary donations. Email Community Outreach Chair Bianca White with questions.

An investigation by ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio has found that the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center in Knoxville has been using seclusion as a punishment for years. It reports that the Department of Children's Services (DCS), the licensing agency for the facility, has documented the improper use of seclusion and has put the Bean Center on corrective action plans, though it has continued to renew its license. In 2017, DCS changed the standards for using seclusion, adding guidelines and a reporting requirement, which were then codified into law. The Bean Center, the report found, continues to use seclusion as punishment, rather than as a last resort as the law requires. Richard Bean, the facility's superintendent and namesake, says of his operation: “What we do is treat everybody like they’re in here for murder. You don’t have a problem if you do that.” A similar investigation into juvenile detention practices in Rutherford County ended with the resignation of the presiding juvenile court judge.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) has selected members for its 2024 Diversity Leadership Institute (DLI) class. This year's invited participants represent all six law schools across the state.

Congratulations to Abbie Dierbeck from Belmont University College of Law; Amanda Reyes and Jasmine Steele from Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law; Imani Bruce, Christina Mulliford, Ian Reddick and Anthony Self from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law; Charlena Fuqua, Jasmine Patton, Amanda Harrington Sargent, Zaia Thombre and Diane Tress from Nashville School of Law; Ashley Fox from Vanderbilt University Law School; and Daniel Mendoza and Trinity Sandifer from the University of Tennessee College of Law.

Class members will embark on a six-month leadership and mentoring program designed to develop skills to succeed as a law student and attorney, empower students to contribute more to the legal community, match students to mentors in a diverse variety of practice areas, and build relationships among students of diverse backgrounds. Thanks to DLI co-chairs Brande Boyd and Rod Watson for their work selecting the new class.