ANDREW HIRT, ET AL. v. METROPOLITAN BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY
This is the second appeal of this case involving a local zoning board’s denial of Appellants’ permit to replace a static billboard with an LED digital billboard. The zoning board denied Appellants’ initial application for a permit, and the chancery court affirmed. In the first appeal, this Court vacated the chancery court’s order on its holding that the chancery court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. Our holding rendered the board’s decision a final judgment. The instant appeal arises from Appellants’ second application for an LED digital billboard on its property. The board again denied the application, and Appellants appealed to the chancery court. The chancery court held, inter alia, that Appellants’ second application was barred as res judicata. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Lascassas Land Company v. Jimmy E. Allen, ET Al.
This is the second appeal of this case involving a dispute between two limited liability companies (and an individual with interest in both companies). In the first appeal, this Court remanded the case for the trial court to consider and make appropriate findings concerning the applicability of the doctrines of unjust enrichment and unclean hands. On remand, the trial court held that Appellee had met its burden to show that Appellant would be unjustly enriched if it were allowed to retain Appellee’s construction costs in addition to the stipulated value of the lots, and the profits from the sales of the homes constructed on those lots. The trial court further held that Appellee was not barred from recovery under the doctrine of unclean hands. The trial court also awarded Appellant a portion of its claimed attorney’s fees and costs. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Rutherford | Court of Appeals | |
In Re: Tucker H. Et Al.
This is a termination of parental rights case. Appellant mother appeals the trial court’s termination of her parental rights on the grounds of: (1) abandonment by an incarcerated parent for failure to visit and wanton disregard; (2) failure to substantially comply with the requirements of the parenting plans; and (3) failure to manifest an ability and willingness to assume custody. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Bradley | Court of Appeals | |
Suzanne Elaine Crawley Cowan v. Robert Elmo Cowan, Jr.
This appeal concerns a post-divorce proceeding for contempt. Wife filed a petition for scire facias and civil contempt, alleging Husband willfully disobeyed the terms of the parties’ marital dissolution agreement. The trial court granted Wife’s petition, awarding her one-half of Husband’s retirement bonus, and held Husband in civil contempt. The trial court granted Wife attorney’s fees for enforcing the parties’ marital dissolution agreement. For the reasons stated herein, we agree that Wife is entitled to one-half of Husband’s net retirement bonus, that Husband willfully violated the parties’ marital dissolution agreement and should be held in civil contempt for this violation, and that Wife should be awarded attorney’s fees for having to enforce the agreement. We therefore affirm the decision of the circuit court. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
In Re: Kelty F.
This is a termination of parental rights case. The child at issue was removed after her umbilical cord blood tested positive at birth for methamphetamine and amphetamine. The trial court found, by clear and convincing evidence, that mother’s parental rights should be terminated on the grounds of abandonment by the willful failure to visit and the willful failure to provide a suitable home for the child, substantial noncompliance with the permanency plans, persistence of conditions, and failure to manifest an ability and willingness to assume custody or financial responsibility of the child. The trial court further found, by clear and convincing evidence, that termination was in the best interests of the child. Having reviewed the record on appeal, we affirm. |
Hamblen | Court of Appeals | |
In Re: Estate of Edward Alan Ladd Et Al.
In this estate matter, the trial court determined that when calculating the value of the decedent’s net estate for purposes of determining his widow’s elective share, insurance proceeds and retirement benefits that were distributed via beneficiary designation forms and were not distributed pursuant to the decedent’s last will and testament would not be included in the net estate value pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 31-4-101(b). The widow’s estate has appealed. We affirm the trial court’s interpretation of Tennessee Code Annotated § 31-4-101(b) (2015) and the court’s method of calculating the widow’s elective share by declining to include any assets that passed outside probate in the value of the decedent’s net estate. We vacate, however, the trial court’s valuation of the decedent’s real property, and we remand this issue to the trial court for further determination. Once such value has been established, it should be incorporated into the trial court’s calculation of the widow’s elective share, utilizing the same methodology as was employed by the court in the original calculation. We decline to award attorney’s fees to the widow’s estate on appeal. |
Rhea | Court of Appeals | |
Josh Cathey v. William Beyer, ET AL.
This is a health care liability case. Appellant brought a pro se action against two licensed counselors alleging injuries arising from the altering and concealment of counseling records of Appellant’s minor children. The trial court dismissed the complaint, under Tennessee Rule Civil Procedure 12.02, for failure to comply with the pre-suit notice and certificate of good faith requirements of the Tennessee Health Care Liability Act. Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 29-26-121, 122. We conclude that Appellant’s claims relate to the provision of health care services and are subject to the procedural requirements in Tennessee Code Annotated § 29-26-101 et seq. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of Appellant’s complaint. |
Madison | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Jeremiah S.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her two children. Following a bench trial, the trial court found that clear and convincing evidence existed to support the statutory grounds of: (1) severe child abuse, Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-113(g)(4); (2) abandonment by willful failure to support, Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-113 (g)(14); (3) abandonment by wanton disregard, Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-102(1)(A)(iv); and (4) persistence of conditions, Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-113(g)(3)(A). The court also found that termination was in the best interest of the children. We affirm the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Sandra K. Fisher v. Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security
A police department seized a car after citing its owner for driving on a revoked license. Following the issuance of a forfeiture warrant and a contested case hearing, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security forfeited the owner’s interest in the car. The car owner petitioned for judicial review, contending that the forfeiture violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The chancery court denied the petition after determining that there were no constitutional violations. We affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Hertz Knoxville One, LLC v. EdisonLearning, Inc.
This is a breach of contract action involving a commercial lease. The plaintiff filed suit for non-payment of rent. The defendant claimed that it was not liable because it provided notice of early termination pursuant to the terms of the contract. The plaintiff moved for summary judgment, claiming that notice was not provided within the time set forth in the contract. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff. We affirm. |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Zane M.O.
This action involves a maternal grandmother’s objection to the denial of her petition for custody of her minor grandchild and his adoption by his foster parents. We affirm. |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Daisy A.
A mother whose parental rights to her daughter were terminated appeals the court’s best interest determination. Upon our review of the evidence, we affirm the trial court’s holdings that clear and convincing evidence existed to sustain three grounds for termination and that termination is in the child’s best interest. |
Cocke | Court of Appeals | |
Robert F. Clark v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company
This appeal arises from an action filed by Robert F. Clark (“Plaintiff”), seeking a declaratory judgment and damages against Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company (“Tennessee Farmers”). Plaintiff applied for a homeowner’s insurance policy with Tennessee Farmers upon his purchase of improved real property. The effective date of the policy was to begin on May 29, 2013, the original date of the closing for the sale of the property. The closing of the real property was rescheduled to an earlier date. A leak occurred after the actual closing on the property but before the date of the original closing and the stated effective date of the homeowner’s insurance policy. Determining that Tennessee Farmers had not been notified of the change and that Plaintiff had signed an authorization for work on the property, the Trial Court granted Tennessee Farmers’ motion for summary judgment. We affirm the Trial Court’s finding that the leak occurred prior to the effective date of the policy. However, we reverse the Trial Court’s grant of summary judgment upon our determination that genuine issues of material fact exist to preclude summary judgment on other issues. |
Jefferson | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Neveah A.
The trial court terminated a mother’s parental rights to her child on the grounds of abandonment by failure to support, abandonment by failure to provide a suitable home, and substantial noncompliance with the permanency plan. The trial court terminated a father’s parental rights to his child on the grounds of abandonment by failure to provide a suitable home and substantial noncompliance with the permanency plan. The trial court also found that termination of the mother’s and father’s parental rights was in the best interest of the child. Finding clear and convincing evidence in support of the trial court’s determinations, we affirm. |
Hamblen | Court of Appeals | |
Susan Smith Rawls v. Daniel Wexler Rawls
This appeal arises from the divorce of Susan Smith Rawls (“Wife”) and Daniel Wexler Rawls (“Husband”). Wife sued Husband for divorce in the Circuit Court for Knox County (“the Trial Court”). After a trial, the Trial Court, inter alia, divided the marital estate and awarded Wife alimony and child support. Husband appeals to this Court raising a host of issues. However, Husband’s brief is non-compliant with the Rules of the Tennessee Court of Appeals and the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure to such a degree that his issues are waived. Wife raises an additional issue of her own as to whether Husband is obligated, either by an oral contract he allegedly entered into or through promissory estoppel, to pay the college expenses of one of the parties’ adult children. The evidence does not preponderate against the Trial Court’s finding that Husband never committed to pay these college expenses. Wife also requests an award of attorney’s fees incurred on appeal. We decline to grant such an award. We affirm the Trial Court. |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
Johnathon Cuddeford f/k/a Johnathon Boyer v. Adam M. Jackson
This is an appeal from the judgment in a personal injury action in which the plaintiff sought to recover damages incurred in a motorcycle accident. Following the plaintiff’s failure to comply with the defendant’s discovery requests, the trial court sanctioned the plaintiff by prohibiting him from introducing a portion of the defendant’s deposition testimony at trial. The case was tried before a jury with the sanctions in place, and the jury returned a verdict in the defendant’s favor. This appeal followed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm. |
Henry | Court of Appeals | |
Jessica Owens Et Al. v. Gary W. Stephens, D.O. Et Al.
This is a healthcare liability action resulting from the death of a child. The defendants moved to dismiss the action for failure to comply with the notice requirements set out in Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(a)(2)(E). The trial court agreed with the defendants and dismissed the action without prejudice. The plaintiffs appeal the dismissal to this court. We affirm. |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Madux F.
This is an appeal of an order terminating a mother’s parental rights. The trial court found that three grounds for termination were proven against the mother and concluded that terminating her rights was in the minor child’s best interests. Although we vacate one ground for termination due to the trial court’s failure to consider all required elements of the statutory ground, we otherwise affirm the termination order. |
Roane | Court of Appeals | |
Bradley Harper v. Jim Hammond, Sheriff Et Al.
This appeal follows the trial court’s entry of an order of dismissal. Because the notice of appeal was not timely filed, we dismiss the appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. |
Hamilton | Court of Appeals | |
Justin Joseph Harris v. Wendell Smith Et Al.
This is a constructive trust case. The plaintiff, who had recently purchased a twelve-acre tract of real property, filed a complaint for ejectment against the defendants, his uncle and cousin by marriage, who were residing in and claiming ownership of a block house and a two-acre parcel of the twelve-acre tract. The defendants, however, requested—and the trial court ultimately imposed—a constructive trust in favor of defendant uncle against the two-acre parcel and the block house. Finding that the plaintiff purchased the entire twelve acres with notice that the defendant uncle had a beneficial interest in the two-acre parcel and block house, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Rhea | Court of Appeals | |
Elizabeth Jones Et Al. v. Earth Fare, Inc. Et Al.
This is a premises liability action in which the plaintiffs, a husband and wife, filed suit against the defendant grocery store for personal injuries and other damages resulting from the wife’s slip and fall in the parking lot. The trial court granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, holding that the plaintiffs failed to establish that the defendant owed a duty of care to maintain the parking lot, which was owned and operated by a third party. The plaintiffs appeal. We reverse the decision of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
David L. Snoddy v. Dwayne D. Maddox, III as Administrator Ad Litem of the Estate of Donald Evans Gilbreth
The plaintiff sued the administrator of the estate of his deceased business partner seeking a declaratory judgment over ownership of reel-to-reel tape recordings. The plaintiff claimed joint ownership of the tapes with the decedent. The estate administrator moved to dismiss on res judicata grounds, arguing that a federal court had previously determined that the decedent was the sole owner of the tapes. After a combined motion hearing and bench trial, the circuit court initially granted the motion to dismiss. The plaintiff then moved to alter or amend the judgment, and the court set aside its original ruling and granted the requested declaratory relief. We agree that res judicata does not apply. So we affirm. |
Benton | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Hector G.
Petitioners appeal from the transfer of their guardianship action from chancery court to juvenile court. Because Petitioners have appealed a non-final judgment, we dismiss this appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. |
Anderson | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Mattie L.
Mother and Father had been divorced for less than two years when Mother and her new husband petitioned to terminate Father’s parental rights. A few weeks before trial, Father was arrested, and he did not appear for the trial. In Father’s absence, the chancery court concluded that two statutory grounds for termination had been proven by clear and convincing evidence: abandonment by willful failure to visit and abandonment by willful failure to support. The court also concluded that the evidence was clear and convincing that termination of Father’s parental rights was in the child’s best interest. As part of its analysis, the court applied the missing witness rule based on Father’s failure to testify at trial. And the court applied the doctrine of unclean hands to “repel[] [Father] at the courthouse steps from receiving any relief that he has requested in this cause.” We conclude that neither the missing witness rule nor the doctrine of unclean hands was applicable and that their application was fundamentally unfair to Father. We further conclude that the evidence of the two grounds for terminating Father’s parental rights was less than clear and convincing. So we reverse. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Charlene Lyon v. Castle Retail Group, LLC
This appeal involves a trip and fall premises liability case filed against a supermarket by one of its customers. The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendant because the plaintiff’s evidence did not tend to show the defendant had either actual or constructive notice of a dangerous condition that would give rise to a duty to either warn the plaintiff of the condition or remove the condition. For the following reasons, we agree that the defendant lacked actual or constructive notice of a dangerous condition in its store, and affirm the trial court’s award of summary judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals |
