This appeal involves a mother and stepfather’s petition to terminate the parental rights of a father to his surviving child after the death of the parties’ other child. The petition alleged two grounds for termination of parental rights – abandonment by failure to support and severe child abuse. The chancery court found that neither ground had been proven by clear and convincing evidence. The court also reviewed the statutory best interest factors and concluded that it was not in the best interest of the child for the father’s parental rights to be terminated. The mother and stepfather appeal. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

The Petitioner, Cedric Taylor, entered a guilty plea to possession with intent to deliver twenty-six grams or more of cocaine and resisting arrest, for which he received an effective sentence of fourteen years in confinement. The Petitioner sought post-conviction relief claiming ineffective assistance of counsel based on trial counsel’s failure to pursue a motion to suppress to challenge the constitutionality of the stop and subsequent search of his vehicle, and trial counsel’s failure to appeal his sentence. The Petitioner also claimed that his guilty plea was unknowingly and involuntarily entered due to trial counsel’s misleading advice that he would likely be sentenced to probation. Following a hearing, the post-conviction court granted relief, in part, and ordered a delayed appeal based on trial counsel’s failure to appeal the Petitioner’s sentence. This court subsequently affirmed the trial court’s denial of the Petitioner’s request to serve his sentence on community corrections. See State v. Taylor, No. M2024-00192-CCA-R3-CD, 2024 WL 3879116, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Aug. 20, 2024), appeal denied (Tenn. Nov. 14, 2024). The post- conviction court entered an order denying the issues that were held in abeyance, and the Petitioner now appeals. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

A Hamblen County jury convicted the Defendant, Parnell Quinn Short, of theft of property valued between $1000 and $2500, a Class E felony and fixed a fine of $1750. The trial court imposed the fine fixed by the jury and sentenced the Defendant, as a career offender, to serve six years to run consecutively to the Defendant’s convictions in other cases. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the trial court erred when it: (1) admitted three of his prior convictions for impeachment purposes; and (2) imposed the fine set by the jury without making the statutorily required findings. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgment but vacate the imposition of the fine. We remand the case for a sentencing hearing with respect to the imposition of the fine.

The petitioner, Charles Lane, appeals the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus by the Sevier County Circuit Court, arguing the habeas court erred in dismissing the petition. The petitioner asserts that his pretrial jail credits were not applied properly and that his request for transcripts was erroneously denied. Following our review, we affirm the habeas court’s dismissal of the petition as the petitioner has failed to show he is entitled to relief.

The defendant, Timothy Sedman, pled guilty to attempted aggravated sexual battery, and the trial court imposed a sentence of six years’ incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant argues the trial court erred in denying his request for alternative sentencing. After reviewing the record and considering the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. However, we remand the case for corrected judgment forms in counts one through five and counts seven through twenty.

In this post-divorce action, the trial court conducted a two-day hearing regarding the mother’s petition to modify the parties’ permanent parenting plan. At the conclusion of the hearing, the father moved for involuntary dismissal pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 41. The trial court granted the motion, determining that modification of the parenting plan was not warranted because the mother had not met her burden to prove that there had been a material change of circumstance affecting the minor child’s well-being. The trial court accordingly dismissed the mother’s petition with prejudice and awarded the father his reasonable attorney’s fees pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-5-103(c). Discerning no reversible error, we affirm. We further determine that Father is entitled to his reasonable attorney’s fees on appeal

This appeal arises from a breach of contract claim. The trial court granted Appellee’s motion for summary judgment after Appellant’s counsel failed to respond or otherwise appear to oppose the motion. Discerning no error, we affirm.

The Nashville Bar Association (NBA) recently released the results of a member poll for candidates running this year for judicial seats in Davidson County. Members evaluated three candidates for Criminal Court Division III, three candidates for Circuit Court Division III and two candidates for General Sessions Court Division VI. The group reports that 309 responses were received by the deadline of April 5. Results are reported as raw ballot results with no attempt to extrapolate results. The NBA says it conducts these polls from time-to-time to provide “valuable insight” so voters can make informed choices with the resulting goal of creating a “Nashville judiciary that is highly qualified and dedicated to a fair and equitable legal system.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently approved a $125 million settlement resolving claims that the federal judiciary overcharged users of its PACER electronic court records system for downloading documents. The appeals court determined that the settlement, approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in March 2024, was fair and adequate. Under the agreement, each PACER user will be reimbursed up to $350. The U.S. government agreed to settle the case in October 2023. Read the latest from Law.com or learn more about the settlement terms on the class action website.

Morristown attorney Aaron Chapman is suspending his campaign for 3rd Judicial District Circuit Court judge and withdrawing from the appointment process to fill the seat in the interim, the Citizen Tribune reports. Chapman qualified to run in the Aug. 6 Republican primary to replace Judge William Erwin Phillips II of Rogersville, who was appointed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. He also applied to be appointed to the seat by the Tennessee Trial Court Vacancy Commission. In a statement announcing the decision, Chapman said, “Upon much reconsideration I have found that I simply cannot be in a position to accept a potential appointment to the vacancy, pause my active practice, take further immediate efforts to wind down my practice, and effectively campaign for the August 6 election.” Two other candidates — Mark Stapleton of Rogersville and Crystal Jessee of Greeneville — also qualified to run for election. Because the vacancy commission was not able to forward three qualified applicants to the governor, Gov. Bill Lee may appoint any qualified individual to fill the vacancy until the election.