APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

Following the denial of her motion to suppress, the Defendant-Appellant, Kendall McKenzie Kin Eayrs, entered a guilty plea to driving under the influence, reserving three certified questions of law challenging the legality of her stop. Because the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress after holding that the officer had probable cause or reasonable suspicion to stop Eayrs's vehicle for being illegally parked in a turn lane, we reverse the judgment of the trial court, vacate Eayrs's guilty plea, and dismiss the indictment.

The defendant, Elvis Strickland, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of aggravated arson, a Class A felony, and was sentenced to forty years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

A Shelby County Criminal Court Jury convicted the appellant, Antwon Thomas, of assault by bodily injury and domestic assault, Class A misdemeanors. The trial court sentenced the appellant to eleven months, twenty-nine days for each conviction to be served as two years on probation and merged the convictions. On appeal, the appellant contends that the trial court committed plain error by failing to admit the entire recording of the victim's 911 call into evidence, that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions, that the trial court committed plain error by making improper comments on the evidence, that the trial court committed plain error by refusing to allow him to sit at counsel's table, and that the trial court committed various sentencing errors, including rendering him infamous. Based upon the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand the case to correct a clerical error in the judgment for count three rendering the appellant infamous.

This is a premises liability case. A delivery person fell on a sidewalk outside the place of business where he was delivering an order. He and his wife sued the business and its owner for negligence, claiming that the condition of the sidewalk was unreasonably dangerous. The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants, concluding that the plaintiffs presented insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the sidewalk was unreasonably dangerous. For the following reasons, we affirm the decision of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Michael Webster, appeals as of right from the Davidson County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief.  On appeal, the Petitioner contends that his trial counsel was ineffective in the following ways: (1) she failed to inform him of his preliminary hearing and waived his right to appear without his permission; (2) she did not adequately communicate with him; (3) she did not consult with him to develop a “reasonable” trial strategy; (4) she did not fully investigate or present witnesses; (5) she did not request a mistrial following “possible jury panel contamination”; and (6) she failed to make appropriate objections during his cross-examination.  Following our review, we conclude that the Petitioner is not entitled to relief, and the judgment of the post-conviction court is therefore affirmed.

A Maury County Circuit Court Jury convicted the Appellant, Carla R. Richter, of driving under the influence (DUI), fourth offense; driving on a revoked license; and speeding. The trial court imposed a total effective sentence of four years.  On appeal, the Appellant contends that the trial court erred by denying her motion to suppress, arguing that she did not knowingly and voluntarily consent to a blood test.  Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

This case concerns injuries arising from two separate incidents. The employee, a truck driver, was involved in a motor vehicle accident on May 13, 2008. He alleged that he sustained injuries to his neck, mid-back, lower back, right shoulder and left knee as a result of that event. On July 12, 2012, he injured his left shoulder when he slipped while exiting his truck. His employer admitted the compensability of all of the injuries except the lower back, contending that the employee’s lower back problems pre-existed the accident. The trial court ruled that the back injury was compensable and awarded 80.5% permanent partial disability benefits for the combined injuries. The employer has appealed, asserting that the preponderance of the evidence does not prove that the back injury was compensable. The appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 51. We affirm the judgment.

Construction company bid on a state project that involved disposing of waste dirt from a construction site. Documents prepared by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (“TDOT”) identified nearby property that had a wet weather conveyance on it. The construction company made arrangements with the property owner to dump waste dirt on the neighboring property, and based on this anticipated cost, the construction company submitted a bid for the project. Before the State accepted the construction company’s bid, the wet weather conveyance was reclassified by the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation as a stream. This change in classification meant that the construction company was no longer able to dump waste dirt on the neighboring property. TDOT learned of the reclassification prior to accepting the construction company’s bid, and it changed the project plans after it awarded the project to the construction company. The construction company incurred unexpected costs and delays as a result of the reclassification of the wet weather conveyance, but the State refused to compensate it as the construction company asserts the contract required. The construction company filed a breach of contract complaint against the State with the Tennessee Claims Commission, which the State moved to dismiss on the basis that the Commission lacked subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate the claim. The construction company then moved to amend its complaint to add a claim for the negligent preparation of plans. The Commission granted the State’s motion to dismiss and denied the motion to amend, and the construction company appeals. We reverse the Commission’s judgment that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the breach of contract claim, but we affirm its judgment denying the construction company’s motion to amend.  

The Attorney General brought a judicial dissolution action against two nonprofit public benefit corporations.  The main issue in this appeal is the scope of the Attorney General’s authority to determine the use of the funds remaining after the dissolution of these two nonprofit corporations and the payment of all of their debts.  Finding no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s decision to reject the Attorney General’s proposed plan for the distribution of the nonprofits’ remaining funds, we affirm the trial court’s decision.    

This appeal arises from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Plaintiff in an unlawful detainer action. The property at issue was sold in a foreclosure sale, and the purchaser assigned its interest in the property to Plaintiff. Plaintiff filed this unlawful detainer action seeking possession of the property from Defendant. The General Sessions Court entered judgment in favor of Plaintiff, and Defendant appealed to the Circuit Court. In the Circuit Court, Defendant asserted that the property was wrongfully foreclosed because he was not in default at the time foreclosure proceedings were initiated. The Circuit Court granted summary judgment in favor of Plaintiff, and Defendant appealed. We affirm.

This appeal concerns a tenured teacher's challenge to her transfer to a different job position. Susan Weaver-Jones (“Jones”) sued the Knox County Board of Education (“the Board”) and Dr. James McIntyre (“McIntyre”), Superintendent of Knox County Schools, (“Defendants,” collectively) in the Chancery Court for Knox County (“the Trial Court”). Jones alleged that her transfer from Instructional Coach to classroom teacher was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Tenn. R. Civ. P. 12.02(6). The Trial Court granted Defendants' motion to dismiss. Jones appealed to this Court. We hold that Jones' complaint asserted a claim upon which relief could be granted, and that the Trial Court erred in granting Defendants' motion to dismiss. We reverse the judgment of the Trial Court and remand this case for further proceedings.

Mother and Father appeal the termination of their parental rights to two of their children. Upon a finding of dependency and neglect, the juvenile court placed the children in the custody of Mother’s aunt. Subsequently, the Guardian ad Litem petitioned to terminate parental rights. Following a one-day trial, the juvenile court took the matter under advisement. After the elapse of several months, the parents and the Guardian ad Litem filed a motion requesting a decision from the court on the petition to terminate parental rights. The trial court held a hearing on the motion after which it considered additional evidence, primarily related to contact between the children and parents since the previous hearing. At the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing, the court granted the petition to terminate on the grounds of abandonment by willful failure to support and visit. The court also found termination of Mother’s and Father’s parental rights to be in the children’s best interest. Mother and Father both appeal the statutory grounds for termination and that termination was in the children’s best interest. Mother and Father also assign error to the trial court reopening proof. We affirm.

This shareholder derivative action involves a closely-held corporation founded by the plaintiff’s parents. In 1995, the parents sold all of the outstanding shares to the plaintiff and her brother on credit. A promissory note and security agreement were executed in conjunction with the sale. After managing the corporation with her brother for several years, the plaintiff filed this derivative action against her brother and parents, seeking to recover corporate funds her brother was allegedly using for personal expenses and to dissolve the corporation. During the litigation, the parents gave the plaintiff notice that they were accelerating the promissory note and exercising their right to recover all of the stock sold to her pursuant to the security agreement. The validity of the parents’ efforts to reclaim the stock went to trial along with the other issues. After a two-day trial, the court determined that the parents’ efforts to reclaim ownership of the shares were ineffective, that the plaintiff owned 50% of the outstanding shares, thus she maintained standing to pursue the relief sought in her complaint, and awarded a judgment to the plaintiff on behalf of the corporation. Pursuant to an agreed order, the trial court appointed a receiver to wind up the corporation’s business. During the pendency of this appeal, but prior to oral argument, all of the corporation’s assets were sold, and its business was wound up. In this appeal, the parents contend the trial court erred by granting the plaintiff any relief because the plaintiff lacked standing to pursue her claims after the parents reclaimed all of the plaintiff’s shares. Because the corporation was dissolved and all its assets sold, there is no meaningful relief this court can grant the parents in this appeal; therefore, the issue raised by the parents is no longer justiciable. Because the parents presented no justiciable issue for this court to consider on appeal, the plaintiff is entitled to recover damages for having to defend a frivolous appeal. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court and remand for a calculation of just damages to be awarded to the plaintiff pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 27 1 122.  

After the director of schools notified the union that represents the school district’s service workers that, in accordance with amendments to the law governing the employees of boards of education, he was rescinding the school board’s labor negotiations policy, the union sought a declaratory judgment that the policy was still in effect. The trial court held that the Director did not have authority to rescind the policy and granted summary judgment to the union; the school board appeals. Holding that the amendments negated the policy at issue, we reverse the judgment

This appeal concerns a divorce action in which the trial court referred all issues to a special master. As pertinent to this appeal, the special master recommended awarding the parties a divorce based upon stipulated grounds and found that the husband was entitled to an award of alimony in solido and retroactive child support. The special master's detailed report also contained specific recommendations concerning the classification and division of the marital property. Both parties filed exhaustive exceptions to the report. Following a hearing, the trial court adopted the report. The wife appeals. We affirm.

I must respectfully dissent from the majority’s reasoned opinion with regard to its conclusion that the absence of the White instructions constituted reversible error. I would affirm the convictions as they were entered, although merging those counts which were alternatively charged. In all other regards, I join in the majority's opinion.

Defendant, Patrick Wilson, appeals the trial court's denial of an alternative sentence after the entry of a guilty plea to aggravated statutory rape. Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying an alternative sentence, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The defendant, James Brandon Stewart, appeals the summary denial of his motion, filed pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1, to correct what he believes to be an illegal sentence. Because the challenged sentence has expired, we affirm the summary dismissal of the defendant's motion.

This is a dependency and neglect case. Appellants adopted the minor child, who is the subject of this appeal, from China. Thereafter, Appellee Tennessee Department of Children’s Services received a referral that the child was dependent and neglected. The Juvenile Court held that the child was dependent and neglected and was the victim of severe abuse at the hands of Appellants. Appellants sought a de novo review in the Circuit Court. Following a hearing, the Circuit Court held that the child was the victim of severe child abuse and was, therefore, dependent and neglected. Appellants appeal the Circuit Court’s substantive ruling and also raise issues concerning the trial court’s pre-trial rulings, evidentiary rulings, and the award of guardian ad litem fees. Discerning no error, we affirm and remand.  

Ray W. Mettetal, Jr., M.D. (“Dr. Mettetal”) and Ray W. Mettetal, Jr., M.D., Inc. (“Corporation”) appeal the judgment of the Chancery Court for Washington County (“the Trial Court”) finding and holding, inter alia, that Dr. Mettetal breached his fiduciary duty to Mattie L. Mettetal (“Deceased”), improperly converted Deceased's funds to his benefit and the benefit of his Corporation, and failed to show that the funds were in keeping with gifts pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 34-6-110. We find and hold that the evidence does not preponderate against the Trial Court's findings, and we affirm.

Appellant, Raphael Cortez Ferguson, pleaded guilty to facilitation of possession of a Schedule I controlled substance with intent to resell, a Class C felony, and received the agreed-upon sentence of three years to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The department of correction placed appellant in its special alternative incarceration unit and, approximately six months later, released him from custody subject to supervised probation. A probation violation warrant was subsequently issued, alleging the following infractions: (1) committing new criminal offenses for theft of property valued at more than $1,000 but less than $10,000, criminal simulation, and identity theft; (2) testing positive on two drug screens; and (3) failing to complete community service as ordered. Following a hearing, the trial court revoked appellant’s probation and ordered his sentence into execution. On appeal, appellant argues that there was insufficient evidence supporting his new criminal offenses and that the remainder of the evidence warranted a lesser consequence than complete confinement. Upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Jordan Curry, appeals the Madison County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions for especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, and evading arrest and his effective forty-four-year sentence. The Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred by denying relief on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.