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| Virginia Abernethy v. Robert S. Brand
M2002-00274-COA-R3-CV
This is a malicious prosecution case. In the underlying case, plaintiff was sued by the defendants herein seeking recovery of damages for plaintiff's alleged fraud and embezzlement. In a bench trial, judgment was entered for plaintiff. Plaintiff filed the instant case alleging malicious prosecution. Defendants raise the defense of advice of counsel and their motion for summary judgment was granted. Plaintiff has appealed. We affirm.
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:Stella L. Hargrove |
Lawrence County | Court of Appeals | 10/14/02 | |
| Jeremie Sparrow vs. John Sparrow
W2001-01290-COA-R3-CV
This is a child support case. Although Mother received $4000 a month in rehabilitative alimony, the trial court set her child support obligation at nothing. Because the trial court did not fully set out its reasoning for this deviation from the Child Support Guidelines as required by statute, we reverse and remand.
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Originating Judge:Joe C. Morris |
Madison County | Court of Appeals | 10/14/02 | |
| State of Tennessee v. William Roy Gray
W2002-00460-CCA-R3-CD
Following a bench trial, the Defendant, William Roy Gray, was found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor, and resisting arrest, a class B misdemeanor. He received consecutive sentences of eleven months and twenty-nine days and six months, respectively, to be served in jail. However, approximately two months later, the trial court entered an order allowing the Defendant to serve his sentences at home due to the Defendant's poor health. The court revoked this order based on the Defendant failing to comply with the conditions of his release from jail and the Defendant being arrested for theft. Moreover, the court ordered that the Defendant not be given credit for the portion of his sentences that he served at his home. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant argues that the order of the trial court denying him credit for the time he served outside of jail serves to increase his sentence and to effectively punish him twice for the same offense in violation of the double jeopardy clauses of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions. We disagree and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Originating Judge:Judge Donald H. Allen |
Madison County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 10/14/02 | |
| Mark VII Trans. vs. Joseph Belasco
W2002-00450-COA-R3-CV
This appeal arises from a declaratory judgment action filed by Mark VII Transportation Co., Inc., in which it sought a judgment declaring the parties' respective rights and obligations under an asset purchase agreement. The trial court awarded summary judgment to the Defendant. We affirm.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Kay S. Robilio |
Shelby County | Court of Appeals | 10/14/02 | |
| Jacqueline McKinley vs. Samuel Simha
W2001-02647-COA-R3-CV
Patient brought medical malpractice action against physician and medical group for complications that allegedly arose from injury to patient's right ureter suffered during total abdominal hysterectomy performed by defendant physician. The trial court denied defendants' Motion for Directed Verdict on the issues of cause and permanency of patient's condition. The trial court entered judgment on jury verdict for patient and subsequently awarded prejudgment interest to patient. Physician and medical group appealed. We affirm the trial court's denial of the directed verdict motion and its judgment on the jury verdict, and reverse the court's award of prejudgment interest.
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:George H. Brown |
Shelby County | Court of Appeals | 10/14/02 | |
| State of Tennessee v. Jerry Waymon Travis, aka Jerry Waymon Ray
W2001-01914-CCA-R3-CD
The defendant claims it was error for the trial court to sentence him to the Department of Correction for three years, then order one-year split confinement with the balance on Community Corrections. The defendant contends that a one-year split confinement sentence will require him to serve 1.2 months longer in confinement than a three-year sentence at 30% to the Department of Correction. We conclude the sentence imposed did not violate the principles of sentencing and, accordingly, affirm the judgment from the trial court as modified.
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Originating Judge:Judge Julian P. Guinn |
Henry County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 10/14/02 | |
| State of Tennessee v. Andre Dealto Perkins
W2001-02635-CCA-R3-CD
The defendant appeals his jury conviction for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to manufacture, deliver, or sell. He argues the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. We find this issue is waived because the defendant has failed to include a trial transcript in the record. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Originating Judge:Judge Julian P. Guinn |
Henry County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 10/14/02 | |
| State of Tennessee v. Rufus E. Neeley
E2001-02243-CCA-R3-CD
Defendant, Rufus E. Neeley, was convicted of the following offenses following a jury trial: (1) unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon, to wit: a short-barreled shotgun, a Class E felony; (2) possession of a knife with a blade length exceeding four inches with intent to go armed, a Class C misdemeanor; (3) driving on a revoked driver's license, a Class B misdemeanor; and (4) operating a motor vehicle while possessing an open container of beer, a Class C misdemeanor. Defendant was sentenced to serve three years and six months as a Range II multiple offender for the felony offense, thirty days for each Class C misdemeanor, and six months for the Class B misdemeanor. All sentences were ordered to be served concurrently with each other. He was ordered to serve the felony sentence in the Department of Correction. Defendant has appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions for unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of a knife with intent to go armed, and argues that he should have been sentenced to split-confinement rather than total incarceration. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.
Authoring Judge: Judge Thomas T. Woodall
Originating Judge:Judge R. Jerry Beck |
Sullivan County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 10/11/02 | |
| River Park Hospital v. BlueCross BlueShield & Volunteer State Health
M2001-00288-COA-R3-CV
This case involves a dispute over rates paid to a TennCare health care provider. The plaintiff hospital had been a participating provider for the defendant TennCare managed care organization ("MCO") for several years, being paid an agreed contractual rate for services provided to the MCO's enrollees. When the parties' contract expired, it was not renewed. After expiration of the contract, the hospital continued to provide emergency services to the MCO's enrollees, as it was required to do under federal law. For those emergency services, the hospital billed the MCO at its full, standard rates. The MCO refused to pay the hospital's standard rates, and instead paid the hospital the same rate it had paid under the parties' expired contract. This was the same rate the MCO paid hospitals that were participating providers. The hospital filed this lawsuit against the MCO, seeking to recover its full, standard rates for the emergency services provided to the MCO's enrollees after expiration of the parties' contract. After hearing proof on liability, but not damages, the trial court initially denied recovery on all grounds. The hospital moved for reconsideration and to reopen the proof. The trial court granted the motion and ultimately determined that the MCO had been unjustly enriched by the hospital's provision of services to its enrollees. Both parties appealed. We affirm, finding a contract implied in law, and remand to the trial court to determine a reasonable rate for services provided by the hospital and, based on this, for a determination of damages.
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Originating Judge:Charles D. Haston, Sr. |
Warren County | Court of Appeals | 10/11/02 | |
| Dept. of Transportation v. John Wheeler
M1999-00088-COA-R3-CV
This appeal involves a dispute between a farmer and the Department of Transportation arising from the Department's condemnation of a portion of his farm for a new highway and bridge. The parties agreed on the fair market value of the property taken but disagreed on the amount of incidental damages to the remaining property. Following a trial in the Circuit Court for Sequatchie County, a jury awarded the farm owner $200,000 in incidental damages. The Department asserts on this appeal (1) that there is no evidence that the remaining property suffered incidental damages, (2) that the trial court erred by permitting an unlicensed real estate appraiser to offer an expert opinion regarding the value of the remaining property, and (3) that the evidence does not support the jury's damage award. While we have determined that the trial court erred by admitting the opinion testimony of the unlicensed appraiser, we have determined that this error did not affect the judgment and that the evidence supports the jury's decision regarding the existence and amount of incidental damages.
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Originating Judge:Buddy D. Perry |
Sequatchie County | Court of Appeals | 10/11/02 | |
| State of Tennessee v. Thomas Dee Huskey - Order
E1999-00438-CCA-R3-CD
On August 23, 2002, the defendant filed a petition to rehear claiming that the opinion of this court fails to consider material facts, contains misstatements of fact, and overlooks or misapprehends case law. We disagree.
Authoring Judge: Per Curiam
Originating Judge:Judge Richard R. Baumgartner |
Knox County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 10/11/02 | |
| Larry Seal v. Charles Blalock & Sons
E2001-00050-SC-WCM-CV
In this workers' compensation case, we are asked to determine whether the trial court erred in awarding benefits for a 93% vocational disability to the body as a whole. The employer contends that compensation should be limited to an award for loss of a scheduled member. After reviewing the record and applicable authority, we conclude that the evidence preponderates against the trial court's award of benefits for disability to the body as a whole; accordingly, we modify the judgment of the trial court to provide for an award of 100% disability to the leg. Additionally, we find no error in the trial court's admission of the physical therapist's testimony.
Authoring Judge: Justice Adolpho A. Birch, Jr.
Originating Judge:Kindall T. Lawson |
Hancock County | Supreme Court | 10/11/02 | |
| Ronald Moore v. Averitt Express
M2001-02502-COA-R3-CV
Plaintiff was a former state employee and newly hired employee of Averitt when he was terminated by Averitt due to statements he made alleging illegal conduct of state officials. Plaintiff made the statements to the press prior to being hired by Averitt. Plaintiff filed suit alleging statutory and common law retaliatory discharge. The trial court dismissed the action. We affirm.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Thomas W. Brothers |
Davidson County | Court of Appeals | 10/11/02 | |
| Urology Associates v. Cigna Healthcare
M2001-02252-COA-R3-CV
This case involves the interpretation of an arbitration agreement. The plaintiff physicians' group provided medical services to individuals who were insured by the defendant insurance company. Disputes arose regarding the insurance company's payment to the physicians' group for those medical services. Consequently, the physicians' group filed this lawsuit against the insurance company. Pursuant to the parties' contract, the insurance company moved to dismiss or to stay the proceedings and to compel arbitration. The contract contained a dispute resolution provision which stated, in part, that disputes arising between the parties "shall be submitted either to a dispute resolution entity, or to a single arbitrator selected by the American Arbitration Association, as the parties shall agree." The trial court denied the insurance company's motion to compel arbitration, determining that the dispute resolution provision "neither explicitly nor clearly" required the parties to arbitrate, and that the provision was "too vague, imprecise and impractical" to be enforced. The insurance company now appeals. We reverse, concluding that the provision at issue requires the parties to submit their disputes to a third party for binding resolution and, thus, constitutes a valid, enforceable agreement to arbitrate.
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Originating Judge:Ellen Hobbs Lyle |
Davidson County | Court of Appeals | 10/11/02 | |
| John Hessmer v. Rosa Hessmer
M2002-01024-COA-R3-CV
This appeal involves a state prisoner who is seeking a divorce from his wife. The prisoner filed a pro se divorce complaint in the Circuit Court for Wilson County. After the prisoner failed to obtain service on his wife, the trial court dismissed his complaint for failure to prosecute. On this appeal, the prisoner takes issue with the dismissal of his complaint because the trial court clerk failed to comply with a local court rule regarding notice before dismissing a complaint for failure to prosecute. Even though the trial court clerk may have failed to comply with the local rule, we have determined that the trial court did not err by dismissing the prisoner's divorce complaint for failure to prosecute.
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Originating Judge:Clara W. Byrd |
Wilson County | Court of Appeals | 10/11/02 | |
| State of Tennessee v. Randy Tyrone Crawford - Order
M2001-03063-CCA-R3-CD
The Appellant, Randy Tyrone Crawford, appeals from the order of the Sumner County Criminal Court revoking his probation and ordering him to serve his sentence in the Department of Correction. We affirm the judgment of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
|
Sumner County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 10/11/02 | |
| State, ex rel Mary Clark v. Vernon Wilson
M2001-01626-COA-R3-CV
The State of Tennessee, ex rel. Mary E. Clark appeals the final order of the trial court awarding retroactive child support from the date DNA test results established the appellee as the father of the child in question, instead of from the date of the parties' separation by divorce decree entered almost six years earlier. We find that the trial court incorrectly ordered retroactive child support from a date other than the date of the parties' separation and failed to make the required written findings to support a deviation from the guideline amount in its award of retroactive child support. Therefore, we vacate the trial court's decision and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Patricia J. Cottrell
Originating Judge:Carol L. Soloman |
Davidson County | Court of Appeals | 10/10/02 | |
| Mitzi Gay Gregory Blair v. John David Blair
M2001-02790-COA-R3-C
Originating Judge:C. L. Rogers |
Sumner County | Court of Appeals | 10/10/02 | |
| Eilene Copenhagen v. Roger Copenhagen
M2002-00217-COA-R3-CV
Appellant, former wife of Appellee, filed a Petition seeking to convert alleged rehabilitative alimony into permanent alimony in futuro and requesting certain other relief, including all accrued and vested benefits in her former husband's retirement plan. The trial court dismissed the Petition in its entirety holding the alimony previously awarded to be alimony in solido. We reverse the finding as to the character of the alimony previously awarded and affirm as to all other relief sought. The case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Originating Judge:Muriel Robinson |
Davidson County | Court of Appeals | 10/10/02 | |
| J.C. Bradford v. Douglas Kitchen
M2002-00576-COA-R3-CV
The principal issue in this case is whether the defendant, a member or partner of J.C. Bradford, Inc., waived his right to the arbitration of his claim for damages against the defendants allegedly resulting from various machinations involving fraud and deceit and the violation of Federal and State Securities Laws, by joining a plaintiff class in an action for damages in the U.S. District Court which was voluntarily dismissed after pending four months. The Chancellor held that the defendant filed the District Court action with full knowledge of the facts and thus made an election of remedies, thereby waiving his right of arbitration. We disagree, and reverse the judgment granting an injunction against arbitration.
Authoring Judge: Per Curiam
Originating Judge:Ellen Hobbs Lyle |
Davidson County | Court of Appeals | 10/10/02 | |
| Leslie Moore v. James DeVault
M2001-02225-COA-R3-CV
Landowners sought declaratory judgment against neighboring landowners to terminate an easement over their property. The trial court granted summary judgment to the neighbors holding that the easement was an express easement appurtenant, that necessity was not a required element, and that mere nonuse was insufficient to establish abandonment of the easement. We agree with the trial court and affirm.
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Patricia J. Cottrell
Originating Judge:Ellen Hobbs Lyle |
Davidson County | Court of Appeals | 10/10/02 | |
| Barbara Cagle v. Gaylord Entertainment Co.
M2002-00230-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge John A. Turnbull
Originating Judge:Carol L. Soloman |
Davidson County | Court of Appeals | 10/10/02 | |
| Jenny Parrott v. John Abraham
M2001-02938-COA-R3-JV
Appellant/Father appeals dismissal of his petition seeking to be named residential custodian of his minor child. The trial court found that Tennessee was not the "home" state of the child under Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-6-216 and dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We reverse.
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Originating Judge:L. Raymond Grimes |
Montgomery County | Court of Appeals | 10/10/02 | |
| Lee Kraft, Executor for Ms. Helen Bergida v. Ezo-Goten
M2001-03137-COA-R3-CV
Personal representative of deceased patron brought this premises liability suit against restaurant owner/occupier alleging that patron tripped and fell from dangerous top step of front stairs to restaurant. On defendant's motion for summary judgment, the trial judge accorded no weight to the opinion of plaintiff's expert architect, ruled that there was no proof of causation, and granted summary judgment. We find that a reasonable juror could conclude from the circumstantial evidence in the record that patron fell due to tripping on the dangerous top step. Because the circumstantial evidence creates a dispute as to a genuine issue of material fact, we hold that summary judgment was inappropriate, reverse the trial court, and remand the case.
Authoring Judge: Judge John A. Turnbull
Originating Judge:Walter C. Kurtz |
Davidson County | Court of Appeals | 10/10/02 | |
| Eric Boyd v. State of Tennessee
E2001-02069-CCA-R3-PC
Appellant, Eric Boyd, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The issues presented for review are, whether the State's promise not to offer Appellant's co-defendant a lesser sentence than Appellant, was in fact a condition of Appellant's plea agreement, and if so what relief Appellant should receive as a result of the State's breach of that condition. We hold that the State breached the conditions of its plea agreement with Appellant, thereby entitling him to post-conviction relief. We further hold that the appropriate remedy is to set aside Appellant's guilty pleas and for the original charges to be reinstated.
Authoring Judge: Judge Thomas T. Woodall
Originating Judge:Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz |
Knox County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 10/10/02 |