A trial date of Feb. 10, 2025, has been set for the man accused of killing Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher in 2022. The Daily Memphian reports that Cleotha Abston, also known by the surname Henderson, will face two counts of first-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, unlawful possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence in the Fletcher case. In May, Abston was sentenced to 80 years in prison for the 2021 rape of Alicia Franklin.

Following plans by Republican state legislators to seek the removal of Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy from office, Mulroy has abandoned his plans for a gun crime diversion program. The Commercial Appeal reports that Mulroy made the decision after studying the number of cases that would be affected by the program, which he announced last week as a way to address racial disparities in the criminal justice system. "After taking a look at the actual number of cases which would qualify, I realize it would only be a handful of cases ― not enough to really help with racial disparities," Mulroy said in a news release today. The move comes after House Speaker Cameron Sexton said last week he was in conversations with Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti to consider seeking Mulroy's removal and news today that Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, plans to pursue legislation to remove Mulroy later in the year. Local Memphis has that news.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that bankrupt companies are not entitled to be reimbursed to make up for a disparity in bankruptcy fees that lasted from 2018 to 2020, saying that U.S. taxpayers should not be on the hook for refunds that would add up to hundreds of millions of dollars. The court ruled in a 6-3 opinion that Congress had intended to raise rates uniformly, and had already addressed the disparity by raising rates in two states that briefly charged lower fees, SCOTUSblog reports.

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) effort to broadly ban noncompete agreements faces its first big legal test July 3, the Business Journal reports. A Texas judge is expected to rule then on a preliminary injunction against the ban. If the injunction is approved, the FTC will have to halt implementation of the new rule until the legal process concludes. The new rule would impact 30 million Americans and thousands of businesses, releasing a multitude of workers from existing clauses. The FTC contends the agreements, which limit how and when a worker can find a new job within their industry, are burdensome for workers and stifle economic mobility. Business groups contend noncompete agreements are necessary to protect trade secrets, to encourage investment in research and development, and to foster business growth.

A federal judge today temporarily blocked a Biden administration rule expanding federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ students in six states, including Tennessee. The decision by U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves halts enforcement of changes to Title IX — the federal civil rights law preventing sex discrimination in schools and education programs that receive government funding — that were finalized in April by the Education Department. The other affected states are Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia, The Hill reports. Just a few days ago, another federal judge temporarily blocked the rule from taking effect in Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana. Other challenges are still pending. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti released this statement after the ruling. He joined a suit challenging the rule earlier this month.

The TBA’s new executive officers and Board of Governors members took office Friday at the Annual Convention in Memphis. Officers for the 2024-2025 bar year are: Nashville lawyer Ed Lanquist Jr., president; Knoxville lawyer Heidi Barcus, president-elect; Charlotte Knight Griffin of Eads, vice president; Jackson lawyer Terica Smith, secretary; and Knoxville lawyer Mary Beth Maddox, treasurer. Memphis lawyer Jim Barry, who wrapped up his year in office last week, will move into the immediate past president role. Read more about those in the presidential line of succession at the links above. Leadership in the TBA's House of Delegates also changed last week with Franklin lawyer Shauna Billingsley taking over as speaker. She previously served as deputy speaker.

GRIFFIN, Circuit Judge. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel seeks to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 Pipeline, which runs underwater across the Straits of Mackinac between Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsulas. The merits of this litigation are not before us. Instead, we consider only which court should decide this case: does it belong in Michigan state court (where the Attorney General filed it in 2019) or in federal court (to where Enbridge removed it over two years later)? We hold that Enbridge failed to timely remove this case to federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b), and there are no equitable exceptions to the statute’s deadlines for removal. Thus, under these circumstances, this case belongs in Michigan state court. Because the district court held to the contrary, we reverse the district court and direct it to remand this case to Michigan’s 30th Circuit Court for the County of Ingham.

Eads attorney Charlotte Knight Griffin took office as vice president of the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) last week during the group’s Annual Convention in Memphis. She will advance to the presidency in June 2026. Knight Griffin began her career in private practice in Memphis after earning her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. She joined Memphis Light, Gas and Water as a staff attorney in 1978 and retired in April 2023 after 45 years of service. Knight Griffin has been active in the TBA for many years, most recently serving as speaker of the House of Delegates and a member of the Board of Governors. She is a past chair of the Local Government Practice and Litigation sections, a charter fellow of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD), a past executive officer of the YLD and president of the TBA YLD Fellows. Read more about her career in this press release.

A majority of the Judges of this Court in regular active service has voted for rehearing en banc of this case. Sixth Circuit Rule 35(b) provides as follows:

A decision to grant rehearing en banc vacates the previous opinion and judgment of the court, stays the mandate, and restores the case on the docket as a pending appeal.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the previous decision and judgment of this court are vacated, the mandate is stayed, and this case is restored to the docket as a pending appeal. It is further ORDERED that the pending Motion to Compel Defendant-Appellee to Comply with the Court’s Order (Dkt. 35) and Motion to Stay Judgment and Issuance of the Mandate (Dkt. 36) are denied as moot.

This is an appeal from the order of the trial court revoking a community corrections sentence. On February 18, 2022, the Appellant, Gregory Tyrone Dotson, entered a guilty plea to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism, and possession with intent to sell .5 grams or more of a substance containing cocaine, for which he received an effective sentence of ten years to be served on community corrections. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court revoked the Appellant’s community corrections sentence based on the preliminary hearing testimony of Able Aguilar, the victim of the aggravated robbery as alleged in the violation warrant, and imposed the original ten-year sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Appellant contends the admission of Aguilar’s preliminary hearing testimony violated his confrontation rights because there was an insufficient showing of good cause or reliability. He additionally argues the trial court erred in considering an offense that was not included in the violation warrant to revoke the Appellant’s community corrections sentence and in ordering complete confinement. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.