The Defendant, Jermaine R. Carpenter, appeals the trial court’s summary dismissal of his second motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

The Petitioner, Edgar Bailey Jr., appeals from the Hamilton County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions for first degree felony murder, setting fire to personal property, and three counts of aggravated assault. The Petitioner is serving an effective life sentence. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that: (1) the post-conviction court erred when it denied relief under the Post-Conviction DNA Analysis Act of 2001 (the DNA Act), Tennessee Code Annotated sections 40-30-301 to - 313 (2018), and (2) the Petitioner is entitled to relief under the cumulative error doctrine. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The trial court found Father to be willfully underemployed and imputed income to him for calculation of child support. Mother appeals the juvenile court’s determination, arguing the trial court erred as to the amount of income imputed to Father for the purposes of setting child support and also as to its determination of the amount of retroactive support. We affirm the trial court’s income imputation. However, we conclude the trial court erred in its calculation of retroactive support owed by Father. Therefore, this Court affirms the judgment of the trial court in part and reverses in part.

Week of July 24, 2023 - July 28, 2023

The Knoxville Bar Association (KBA) has begun a search to replace longtime Executive Director Marsha Watson, who will be leaving the post in December after 33 years. As the chief executive officer for the KBA, the director is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the association under the policies determined by the KBA Board of Governors. The director manages a staff of five employees, an annual operating budget of approximately $775,000 and the assets of all entities. Interested applicants should email a cover letter expressing their interest in the position along with a resume and references. Please include your salary requirements. Read the full job posting or contact the KBA Executive Director Search Committee for more information.

Volunteers are needed for the Shelby County General Sessions Court Cost & Expungement Clinic on Aug. 12 at Southbrook Mall, 1254 E. Shelby Dr., Memphis 38116. No previous experience is required. Volunteer attorneys will primarily assist with presenting court cost waivers to the participating judges. Training and scripts will be provided. Visit the link to register.

The West Alabama Women's Center and the Alabama Women's Center sued the state in federal court today to block Alabama from prosecuting people who help others travel out of state to get abortions, reports Reuters. The Yellowhammer Fund, an abortion advocacy group, filed a similar lawsuit. Both lawsuits argue that any such prosecution would violate a basic right to travel between states under the U.S. Constitution and cite remarks made by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall in an August 2022 radio interview that Alabamans who help others travel to states where abortion is legal could be prosecuted as criminal accomplices. 

The Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators met Friday at the National Civil Rights Museum to discuss Gov. Bill Lee’s upcoming special session on Aug. 21 to propose new gun legislation, reports the Commercial Appeal. The caucus has been holding town hall meetings state-wide discussing ways to curb gun violence since the General Assembly recessed in May. "What is good for rural isn't always good for urban," noted state Rep. Jesse Chism, D-Memphis. Suggestions for the upcoming session include gun safe lock programs for firearm owners and a requirement for all guns in cars to have locks.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the U.S. Trustee asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to halt Purdue Pharma from proceeding with a bankruptcy settlement that protects the company’s owners, the Sackler family, from lawsuits, reports Reuters. The DOJ argued that Purdue should not be allowed to move forward with its restructuring before the Supreme Court weighs in on legal protections for non-bankrupt entities, an issue that has divided bankruptcy courts across the U.S. Last week, an appeals court ruled that Purdue may proceed with a plan approved in May that would shield the Sacklers from opioid related lawsuits in exchange for a $6 billion contribution to the company's broader bankruptcy settlement.

Every attorney in the country whose practice involves business entities should now be aware of the pending beneficial ownership information reporting requirements that go into effect Jan. 1, 2024 in connection with the federally-promulgated “Corporate Transparency Act.” These rules will require our clients (and us) to collect and report information, including street addresses, relating to the beneficial owners of businesses operating in the United States.

Similarly, Tennessee practitioners, especially those who deal with business entity formation and real estate transactions, should also be mindful of new Tennessee laws addressing beneficial ownership that became effective July 1, 2023. These new laws, contained in Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 66, Chapter 2, set forth, among other things, certain prohibitions on a “sanctioned foreign business” from purchasing or otherwise acquiring real property in Tennessee.[1]

For purposes of the relevant statutes, a “sanctioned foreign business” includes (i) a corporation incorporated under the laws of a foreign country of a sanctioned foreign government, (ii) a business entity, whether or not incorporated, in which a majority interest is owned directly or indirectly by sanctioned nonresident aliens (emphasis added) or (iii) a corporation or business entity, whether or not incorporated, that is identified on the office of foreign assets control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s sanctions programs and country information list.[2] Confirming items “i” and “iii” above in the definition of “sanctioned foreign business” would require review of lists of sanctioned countries and entities published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of Treasury (“OFAC”). However, confirming item “ii” above (relating to the ownership structure of the entity in question) will require practitioners to conduct a beneficial ownership review of an entity acquiring real property in Tennessee to confirm that a majority interest is not directly or indirectly owned by citizens of a sanctioned foreign government or persons on an OFAC sanctions list. If a sanctioned foreign business acquires real property in Tennessee in breach of the statute, the business could be subject to an Attorney General action that may result in monetary civil penalties and an order escheating the property to the state, followed by a sale of the real property in a manner similar to a mortgage foreclosure, with proceeds net of court costs distributed to the business initially divested of the property.

Tennessee attorneys who deal in matters involving foreign owners doing business in Tennessee should be mindful of these new Tennessee laws addressing indirect foreign ownership. Best practices should be implemented to ensure foreign owned businesses acquiring real property in Tennessee (whether these are our direct clients, borrowers from our lender clients, targets for our investor clients or otherwise) are associated with ownership structures that comply with the new foreign ownership statutes. Some of these best practices may include presenting applicable businesses with beneficial ownership questionnaires, modifying ownership-related representations and warranties in our agreement templates and bookmarking the OFAC Sanctions Lists in our web browsers.