| State vs. Robin Vanhoose
W1999-00708-CCA-R3-CD
The defendant was convicted by a Hardin County jury of aggravated assault and received an eight-year sentence as a Range II multiple offender. He now appeals his conviction alleging (1) the indictment does not state an offense; and (2) the evidence is insufficient to support aggravated assault. We conclude the indictment adequately informed the defendant of the offense charged, and the evidence presented at trial was sufficient for the jury to conclude he was guilty of aggravated assault. Thus, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Originating Judge:C. Creed Mcginley |
Hardin County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 07/28/00 | |
| Glenda Tate vs. Baptist Memorial
W1999-00553-COA-R3-CV
Hospital employee was accused of negotiating payroll checks of other employees and was discharged. Employee filed defamation suit, and trial court granted summary judgment because the pleadings and affidavits established that there was no publication of the alleged defamatory words since all communication thereof was to hospital employees.
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:Kay S. Robilio |
Shelby County | Court of Appeals | 07/28/00 | |
| Glenda Tate vs. Baptist Memorial
W1999-00553-COA-R3-CV
Hospital employee was accused of negotiating payroll checks of other employees and was discharged. Employee filed defamation suit, and trial court granted summary judgment because the pleadings and affidavits established that there was no publication of the alleged defamatory words since all communication thereof was to hospital employees.
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:Kay S. Robilio |
Shelby County | Court of Appeals | 07/28/00 | |
| State vs. Bobby Perkins
W1999-01368-CCA-R3-CD
The defendant, Bobby Earl Perkins, appeals his conviction for especially aggravated robbery, contending that the trial court erred (1) by allowing a witness to testify about the defendant's statement a year before the robbery that he planned to rob the victim, (2) by allowing a police officer to testify to statements the victim made regarding the defendant, and (3) by sentencing the defendant to twenty-one years. We affirm the conviction, but we modify the sentence to twenty years.
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Joseph M. Tipton
Originating Judge:J. Steven Stafford |
Haywood County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 07/28/00 | |
| Alfred Dowdy v. Willie Joe Alexander,
W1999-00222-COA-R10-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:Walter L. Evans |
Shelby County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| State vs. Lawrence Sherrill
W1999-01488-CCA-R3-CD
This appeal results from the defendant's conviction by a Carroll County jury for introducing contraband into a penal institution. He was sentenced to six years incarceration and fined $2,500. On appeal, the defendant asserts that the trial court erred in not granting his motion for a new trial based on the lack of evidence to corroborate the testimony of his accomplice required for a conviction. After careful review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Originating Judge:C. Creed Mcginley |
Carroll County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Michael A. Rhodes vs. State
M2000-00369-CCA-R3-PC
This is an appeal arising from the summary dismissal of a petition for post-conviction relief. The trial court's dismissal was based upon the failure to file the petition within the one-year statute of limitations. Upon review of the record, we reverse and remand for further proceedings since the petition was filed within one year of the date of the final action of the Tennessee Supreme Court in the direct appeal.
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Originating Judge:James K. Clayton, Jr. |
Rutherford County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Green vs. Johnson
M1999-00808-COA-R3-CV
James R. Green appeals the trial court's final judgment dismissing his petition to establish the parentage of A.G.J., the minor daughter of Appellee Jennifer Leigh Johnson. Green previously filed a petition to establish parentage in April 1997, but this petition was dismissed with prejudice based on Green's failure to prosecute the action. In June 1999, Green filed the present petition in which he sought relief identical to that sought in the earlier petition. We agree with the trial court's ruling that Green's present petition is barred by principles of res judicata, and we affirm the trial court's judgment of dismissal.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Tom E. Gray |
Sumner County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Hunt vs. Hunt
M1997-00221-COA-R3-CV
This appeal involves the financial aspects of a divorce that ended a seventeen-year marriage. Both parties sought a divorce, and following a bench trial, the Chancery Court for Sumner County granted the wife a divorce based on the husband's inappropriate marital conduct. The trial court awarded the wife most of the marital estate, apart from the parties' pensions. The court also directed the husband to pay most of the marital debt and a portion of the wife's legal expenses. While the trial court did not require the husband to pay long-term alimony, it required him to pay $4,200 in alimony in solido. The wife asserts on this appeal that the trial court should have awarded her a greater portion of the marital estate and permanent spousal support. We have determined that the trial court's distribution of the marital estate is essentially equitable. However, in light of the length of the marriage and the disparity in income, we have determined that, in addition to the alimony in solido, the husband should pay the wife $120 per month beginning after his last alimony in solido payment through January 2007.
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Originating Judge:Thomas E. Gray |
Sumner County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Blake Industries, Inc. vs. General Agents Ins. Co. of America
M1999-01891-COA-R3-CV
In this declaratory judgment action, the appellant has appealed to the Court from the order of dismissal entered in the trial court. Specifically, the trial court found that the insurance contract between the plaintiff/appellant and the defendant/appellee, a commercial insurance company, excluded from coverage liability for damage sustained as a result of the plaintiff/appellant's workmanship. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the trial court's order.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr. |
Davidson County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Boles vs. TN Farmers Mutual Ins. Co.
M1999-00727-COA-R3-CV
In this action for breach of insurance contract, Plaintiffs Dorothy Calatrello Boles and her husband, Marty Boles, appeal the trial court's final judgment dismissing their complaint against Defendants/Appellees Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company and Lee Brooks, individually and as agent for Tennessee Farmers. Contrary to the trial court's ruling, we conclude that the Plaintiffs adequately complied with the service of process requirements set forth in rule 4.04 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's judgment of dismissal, and we remand this cause for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:John W. Rollins |
Coffee County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Phillips vs. Phillips
M1999-00212-COA-R3-CV
This appeal arises from a dispute between Plaintiff Melanie Dianne (Davis) Phillips ("Wife") and Defendant Thomas Hickman Phillips ("Husband") regarding the terms of their divorce. The trial court (1) granted a divorce to Wife, (2) divided the parties' marital property, (3) awarded rehabilitative alimony to Wife, (4) awarded attorney's fees to Wife, and (5) denied a motion for costs filed by Husband. For the reasons set forth below, we modify the court's division of the parties' marital property. In all other respects, however, we affirm the ruling of the trial court.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Muriel Robinson |
Davidson County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| State vs. Daniel Christian Russell
M1999-00202-CCA-R3-CD
The appellant, Daniel Christian Russell, referred herein as "the defendant," appeals as of right from the judgment of the Wilson County Circuit Court imposing concurrent sentences for aggravated assault and vandalism. The trial court imposed sentences totaling five (5) years to be served concurrently in the Department of Correction. The defendant presents two appellate issues: 1) whether the length of the sentences imposed by the trial court are excessive; and 2) whether the trial court erred by denying the defendant's request for probation. Because the defendant received illegal concurrent sentences, we vacate the judgments of conviction and remand the case for further proceedings.
Authoring Judge: Sr. Judge L. Terry Lafferty
Originating Judge:J. O. Bond |
Wilson County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Johnson vs. Sumner Regional Health Systems
M2000-00248-COA-R3-CV
James Johnson, as the next of kin and natural son of Belvia Johnson, appeals the trial court's final judgment dismissing his medical malpractice action against Appellee Sumner Regional Health Systems, Inc., d/b/a Sumner Regional Medical Center. Belvia Johnson (Decedent) sustained injuries when she fell off a gurney while being treated in the Medical Center's emergency room. After the Decedent's death several months later, James Johnson filed a medical malpractice complaint against the Medical Center in which he sought to recover for the "serious and permanent injuries, pain and suffering, medical expenses, and death" of the Decedent caused by her fall in the emergency room. The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of the Medical Center and dismissed Johnson's medical malpractice complaint based upon Johnson's concession that the record contained no evidence to support his claim that the Decedent's death was caused by the Medical Center's negligence. Our review of the record on appeal reveals that, although Johnson conceded that he lacked proof to support his wrongful death claim, Johnson did have proof to support his medical malpractice claim against the Medical Center. Specifically, the record contains evidence that, as a proximate result of the Medical Center's negligence, the Decedent suffered injuries that otherwise would not have occurred. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's judgment of dismissal, and we remand this cause for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Arthur E. Mcclellan |
Sumner County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Saddler vs. Saddler
M1999-01258-COA-R3-CV
This appeal arises from a dispute between Plaintiff Dwight Saddler and Defendants Leonard and Paula Saddler regarding the ownership of a piece of real property in the estate of Edwina Groom Saddler known as the Hancock Farm. The trial court awarded this property to Dwight Saddler, finding that he is the owner of the property as the beneficiary of a resulting trust. Because we agree that Dwight Saddler has proven with the required degree of certainty that the Hancock Farm is the subject of a resulting trust in his favor, we affirm the ruling of the trial court.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Robert P. Hamilton |
Wilson County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Monceret vs. The Board of Professional Responsibility
E1999-00545-SC-R3-CV
This is an appeal from the Knox County Chancery Court, which affirmed a hearing panel's ruling that the appellant violated Tenn. R. Sup. Ct. 8, DR 7-104(A)(1) by deposing a witness that he knew to be represented by counsel. We hold that the chancery court correctly determined that the term "party" used in DR 7-104(A)(1) is not limited to the named plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit and may also include a witness who is represented by counsel. We further hold that the protection of the Rule cannot be waived by the party but only by the party's lawyer. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.
Authoring Judge: Justice E. Riley Anderson
Originating Judge:Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr. |
Knox County | Supreme Court | 07/27/00 | |
| Wyatt vs. State
E1998-00097-SC-R11-CO
This is an appeal from the judgment of the Bledsoe County Criminal Court, which denied the defendant's petition for habeas corpus relief. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the trial court's denial of the petition, rejecting the defendant's argument that his original indictment, which charged attempted first-degree murder by an "attempt to kill," was insufficient for failing to allege an overt act and thus failed to confer jurisdiction on the trial court. We granted the defendant's application for permission to appeal. We hold that the indictment in this case sufficiently alleges an act as required by the criminal attempt statute in stating that the defendant "did . . . attempt to kill" and that habeas corpus relief was thus properly denied. Accordingly, we affirm the lower courts' judgments.
Authoring Judge: Justice E. Riley Anderson
Originating Judge:Thomas W. Graham |
Bledsoe County | Supreme Court | 07/27/00 | |
| Timothy P. Hancock, et al vs. The Chattanooga- Hamilton Cty Hospital Authority , d/b/a T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital, et al
E1999-00169-COA-R9-CV
The issues in this medical malpractice case turn on whether the holding of the Supreme Court in the case of Jordan vs. Baptist Three Rivers Hospital, 984 S.W.2d 593 (Tenn. 1999) applies to the facts now before us. Because the cause of action in the instant case accrued prior to the release of the Supreme Court's opinion in Jordan, we conclude that the holding in that case cannot be retrospectively applied to the instant case. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's judgment dismissing that portion of the amended complaint seeking loss of consortium damages.
Authoring Judge: Judge Charles D. Susano, Jr.
Originating Judge:Samuel H. Payne |
Hamilton County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Roane County, TN vs. Christmas Lumber Co.
E1999-00370-COA-R9-CV
This is a condemnation case. The trial court entered an order finding that Roane County ("the County") has the right to condemn the respondents' property for use as an industrial park. We granted the respondents' application for an interlocutory appeal to review the trial court's determination that the County has the right to condemn the subject property. Finding that the County's petition is legally deficient, we vacate the trial court's order and remand for further proceedings.
Authoring Judge: Judge Charles D. Susano, Jr.
Originating Judge:Russell E. Simmons, Jr. |
Roane County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| The Shelby Ins. Co. and The Anthem Cas.Ins. Group vs. Henry Mathes , Joann Mathes and Jerry Stewart
E2000-00186-COA-R3-CV
In this declaratory judgment action the insurance company sought a declaration that an incident giving rise to a suit by Stewart against the insurance company's insured Mathes, was not covered due to an exclusion in the policy. The Trial Judge ruled the exclusion did not apply, and the insurance company appealed. We affirm.
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel P. Franks
Originating Judge:Jean A. Stanley |
Washington County | Court of Appeals | 07/27/00 | |
| Donna Thweatt v. Travelers Property & Casualty
M1999-01903-WC-R3-CV
The issues in this workers' compensation appeal are whether the chancellor erred in determining the plaintiff to be an employee; was the injury from inhaling chemicals compensable; was the award of 9% to the body as a whole excessive; and was commutation to lump sum appropriate. This panel affirms the decision of the trial judge. On appeal the appellant requests costs for a frivolous appeal which this panel declines to grant.
Authoring Judge: Kurtz, Sp.J.
Originating Judge:Tom E. Gray, Chancellor |
Sumner County | Workers Compensation Panel | 07/27/00 | |
| Shirley B. Rodgers v. Guys & Gals, Inc.,
M1999-01538-WC-R3-CV
The sole issue in this workers' compensation appeal is whether the chancellor erred in finding that the plaintiff's injury arose out of his employment with Carrier Corporation. This panel affirms the decision of the trial judge.
Authoring Judge: Kurtz, Sp.J.
Originating Judge:Tom E. Gray, Chancellor |
Sumner County | Workers Compensation Panel | 07/27/00 | |
| Tatum Carter v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
M1999-01520-WC-R3-CV
This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. As discussed below, the panel has concluded the judgment of the trial court granting the appellee summary judgment should be reversed.
Authoring Judge: Kurtz, Walter C., Sp. J.
Originating Judge:Hon. Don R. Ash, Judge |
Carter County | Workers Compensation Panel | 07/26/00 | |
| State vs. Gary Anthony Burns
E1999-02610-CCA-R3-CD
The Defendant, Gary Anthony Burns, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft over $500.00. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range I standard offender to two years on each theft count and ordered the sentences to be served concurrently. The trial court then suspended the two-year sentence and ordered the Defendant to be placed on six years probation after service of ninety days in the Sullivan County jail, day for day. The Defendant now appeals, arguing that the trial court unlawfully denied him alternative sentencing. We conclude that the Defendant's sentence is proper and therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Originating Judge:Phyllis H. Miller |
Sullivan County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 07/26/00 | |
| State vs. John Clark Garrison
E1999-00121-CCA-R3-CD
On August 3, 1992, the defendant pled guilty to two counts of theft under Tennessee Code Annotated sections 39-14-103, -105(4). The defendant was sentenced to two consecutive nine-year sentences and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $51,000. On June 8, 1999, the defendant filed a Motion to Correct Illegal Sentence. It was denied. In this appeal, the defendant contends that 1) the trial court erred in its finding that the defendant's sentence of incarceration and restitution was legal as a matter of law; and 2) the trial court erred by finding that the defendant knowingly and voluntarily entered into a plea agreement involving an illegal sentence. After a careful review, we find no merit in these issues, and find that the defendant's sentence is legal. The defendant's sentence of incarceration and the court's imposition of restitution is affirmed.
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Originating Judge:Lynn W. Brown |
Knox County | Court of Criminal Appeals | 07/26/00 |
