Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan has announced that she will retire in June, the Daily Memphian reports. Skahan has served on the bench since 2004 when she was appointed by former Gov. Phil Bredesen. In a letter notifying Gov. Bill Lee of her retirement, Skahan said, “…it has been an honor and pleasure to serve our citizens for the past 20 years. I am truly grateful for the experience and memories it has given me during this time.” Before being appointed as judge, Skahan worked as a criminal-defense attorney, a prosecutor and a public defender in Shelby County. She graduated from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge. Jeremy Mooney, a former law-enforcement officer, appeals his conviction on two counts of depriving an inmate of his civil rights under color of law, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242. Mooney also appeals the procedural reasonableness of his resulting sentence. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM Mooney’s conviction, but VACATE his sentence and REMAND the case for further proceedings with regard to the enhancement for obstruction of justice.

The Defendant, Diamond Leah Wilson, was convicted by a Maury County Circuit Court jury of aggravated neglect of a child who was age eight or less, a Class A felony, for which the Defendant is serving a sixteen-year sentence at 100% service. See T.C.A. § 39-15-402 (Supp. 2024). On appeal, she contends that (1) the trial court erred in approving the verdict in its role as thirteenth juror, (2) the evidence is insufficient to support her conviction, and (3) the trial court erred in sentencing. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant, Justin Keith Willoughby, entered a no contest plea to a criminal information charging him with reckless aggravated assault. The plea agreement reserved sentencing issues for the trial court’s consideration. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court denied the Defendant’s request for judicial diversion. It also imposed a sentence of four years, which it suspended and placed the Defendant on probation. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his request for judicial diversion. Upon our review, we respectfully disagree and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

A Knox County jury convicted the Defendant, Cristobal Jose Vasquez, of solicitation of a minor and aggravated sexual battery, and the trial court sentenced him to an effective term of nine years’ imprisonment. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence is legally insufficient to support his conviction for aggravated sexual battery. He also asserts that the trial court erred by (1) allowing testimony concerning uncharged criminal conduct; and (2) excluding extrinsic evidence of a prior inconsistent statement by the victim or, alternatively, prohibiting him from recalling the victim to lay a foundation for that evidence. Upon our review, we respectfully disagree and affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Petitioner, Charles Hardy, Jr., appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing that the post-conviction court erred in denying his claims that trial counsel was ineffective in advising him not to testify, and provided ineffective counsel pretrial and at trial. He also argues he is entitled to relief due to the cumulative effect of trial counsel’s individual errors. Following our review of the record, the briefs of the parties, and oral arguments, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

In this appeal regarding Tennessee’s survival statute, Tennessee Code Annotated section 20-5-102, we hold that a cause of action for invasion of privacy based on intrusion upon seclusion does not abate upon the death of the person whose privacy was invaded. Here, an elderly woman with severely impaired cognitive functioning was a resident of the defendant skilled nursing facility. While an employee of the facility was helping the resident take a shower, the employee took a personal video call with her incarcerated boyfriend. During the call, the employee propped her cell phone in the shower in a way that displayed the resident’s nude body to the boyfriend. The resident’s conservator sued the defendant facility claiming, inter alia, invasion of the resident’s privacy. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the facility, and the plaintiff appealed. While the appeal was pending, the resident died, and her estate was substituted. The Court of Appeals reversed; it held the complaint stated a claim for invasion of privacy based on intrusion upon seclusion, and that the claim did not abate upon the death of the resident. We granted the defendant facility permission to appeal on abatement. Tennessee Code Annotated section 20-5-102 provides that no civil action based on “wrongs” abates upon the death of either party, “except actions for wrongs affecting the character of the plaintiff.” On appeal, the defendant facility argues that the claim abated either because section 20-5-102 does not apply at all, or because the character exception in the statute applies, since a claim for intrusion upon seclusion is an action for “wrongs affecting the character of the plaintiff.” We hold that the survival statute, section 20-5-102, applies to the claim of intrusion upon seclusion, and that the exception for actions for “wrongs affecting the character of the plaintiff” does not apply. Therefore, we affirm the holding of the Court of Appeals that the claim for intrusion upon seclusion did not abate upon the death of the resident whose privacy was invaded.

We granted review in this case to decide whether our collateral estoppel doctrine bars relitigation of a prior class certification denial which was affirmed on appeal. In 2014, Plaintiff Emergency Medical Care Facilities, P.C. filed a putative class action against Defendant BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Inc. EMCF alleged that BCBST had breached various contracts with it and other similar entities by applying a cap on certain payments for medical services after an action by TennCare. The trial court denied class certification, and the Court of Appeals affirmed and remanded. EMCF subsequently voluntarily nonsuited its claims. After getting a favorable ruling in a separate lawsuit against TennCare, EMCF refiled its case against BCBST, again seeking class certification. The trial court held that collateral estoppel precluded relitigation of class certification, but the Court of Appeals reversed. We hold that the trial court got it right. In this case, the same plaintiff filed suit against the same defendant for the same claims on behalf of the same putative class based on the same common questions. Our collateral estoppel doctrine exists to prevent this type of second-chance relitigation. Certain decisions are final and binding, including when a trial court and appellate court conclude that a particular class cannot be certified. The plaintiff here is certainly entitled to have the merits of its substantive claims heard in its refiled action, but it does not get a do-over on class certification.

The Tennessee Supreme Court issued two rulings today. In the first case, the court ruled that a lawsuit against Life Care Center in Tullahoma may proceed, despite the plaintiff's death. The case involves an elderly woman, Annie Jones, who was on camera while being bathed by a nursing home employee who also was conversing on a personal video call. Jones’s daughter filed a lawsuit alleging the nursing home committed the tort of intrusion upon seclusion, a privacy violation. Life Care argued that the suit should end due to Jones’s death. The court disagreed, stating that most tort lawsuits, including privacy claims, can continue even after the plaintiff's death. In the second ruling, the court held that the state’s collateral estoppel doctrine prevents a plaintiff from relitigating the issue of class certification in a refiled case. In this case, plaintiffs sought to certify a class action over TennCare’s $50 cap on non-emergency services. The court ruled that because the issue of class certification had already been denied in an earlier case, it could not be revisited.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is restoring more than 1,500 foreign students' visa registrations following recent lawsuits. According to The Hill, the agency filed notice today that it will reinstate student records to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a system that provides international student data to the Department of Homeland Security. ICE also announced it is creating a new "framework for SEVIS record terminations" and, until that framework is in place, all student records will be maintained. Several Tennessee schools — including the University of Tennessee, University of Memphis and Christian Brothers University — had reported in the past few weeks that international students on their campuses had been impacted. Knox News reports on what the move means for UT students, while the Commercial Appeal looks at the University of Memphis.