APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

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State vs. Marvin Mathews

02C01-9512-CC-00366

Originating Judge:Joseph H. Walker, III
Lauderdale County Court of Criminal Appeals 04/28/97
Bush vs. State

03S01-9604-CC-00047
Cumberland County Supreme Court 04/28/97
State vs. Seals

03C01-9512-CC-00396
Roane County Court of Criminal Appeals 04/28/97
Moore vs. State

03S01-9607-CR-00073
Supreme Court 04/28/97
State vs. Henry Eugene Hodges

01S01-9505-CR-00080
Davidson County Supreme Court 04/28/97
X2010-0000-XX-X00-XX

X2010-0000-XX-X00-XX
Court of Appeals 04/28/97
02C01-9603-CR-00075

02C01-9603-CR-00075

Originating Judge:W. Fred Axley
Shelby County Court of Criminal Appeals 04/28/97
02C01-9701-CC-00038

02C01-9701-CC-00038
Lake County Court of Criminal Appeals 04/28/97
State vs. Barry L. Speck

02S01-9601-CR-00001

Originating Judge:L. Terry Lafferty
Supreme Court 04/28/97
X2010-0000-XX-X00-XX

X2010-0000-XX-X00-XX
Court of Appeals 04/28/97
X2010-0000-XX-X00-XX

X2010-0000-XX-X00-XX
Court of Appeals 04/28/97
State vs. Jeremiah Leavy

W2001-03031-CCA-R3-PC
A Tipton County jury convicted the Petitioner of first degree murder, felony murder, aggravated robbery, and especially aggravated kidnapping. The trial court merged the two murder convictions and imposed a single life sentence with the possibility of parole. On direct appeal, this Court affirmed the conviction, and the Tennessee Supreme Court denied the Defendant's application for permission to appeal. The Petitioner then sought post-conviction relief in the trial court, alleging that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. Following a hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed the petition. The Petitioner filed a motion to reconsider, which the trial court denied, and the Petitioner appealed. Finding no error, we affirm the trial court's dismissal of the petition.
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Originating Judge:Joseph H. Walker, III
Tipton County Court of Criminal Appeals 04/27/97
David Dean vs. Home Depot USA, Inc.

M1999-02313-COA-R3-CV
Plaintiff, David Dean, was a 68 year old frequent patron of Home Depot. On April 27, 1997, Mr. Dean completed his shopping at the store, paid the cashier and, upon departing, appeared to have set off the electric theft detection alarm. An employee of Home Depot stopped Mr. Dean and asked him to step back into the store while employees located the source of whatever triggered the alarm. Mr. Dean was neither arrested nor charged and ultimately left the store. He brought suit against Home Depot for false imprisonment resulting in a jury verdict in his favor for $37,593.00. On Motion for a New Trial, asking in the alternative for remittitur, the trial court reduced the judgment by $3,000.00. Defendant appealed. Upon consideration of the record, we suggest an increased remittitur and remand the case giving Mr. Dean 15 days to accept the suggested remittitur.
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Originating Judge:Carol L. Soloman
Davidson County Court of Appeals 04/27/97
Bondy vs. Martin

03A01-9609-JV-00310
Monroe County Court of Appeals 04/25/97
Price vs. TN. Civil Service Comm.

01A01-9508-CH-00336

Originating Judge:Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.
Davidson County Court of Appeals 04/25/97
Smith, et. al. vs. The Castner-Knott Dry Goods

01A01-9512-CV-00554

Originating Judge:William C. Koch
Davidson County Court of Appeals 04/25/97
Transportation Insurance Co., et al. v. Clayton B. Rees

01S01-9606-CV-00123
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 of findings of fact and conclusions of law. This case presents the question of whether an employee's possession or business use of a portable telephone converts an otherwise noncompensable injury into a compensable one. We conclude that it does not and affirm the trial court's denial of benefits. The employee, Clayton Rees, had been employed by Rock Harbor Marina in Nashville for only four weeks when he was injured while driving to work. He was a commission boat salesman. Rock Harbor paid Rees a draw against future commissions, but at the time of the injury, he had yet to sell a boat for Rock Harbor. Rees lived in Tullahoma, about equal distance between Nashville where he worked and Chattanooga where his fianc_ lived. On the morning of March 12, 1994, while commuting to work from Tullahoma to Nashville in his own truck, Rees was injured in a vehicle collision on US 231 just north of Shelbyville. A drunk driver caused the collision. To be covered by workers' compensation, the injury must arise out of and in the course and scope of employment. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-13. An injury sustained en route to or from work is not considered in the course of employment. Lollar v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. 767 S.W.2d 143, 144 (Tenn. 1989). There are exceptions to this rule, such as when the employee is on the employer's premises, Id. 15, but none of the exceptions apply here. Rees seeks to avoid this firm and long-standing rule because he had a portable telephone with him on his commute and, according to him, was -2-
Authoring Judge: Robert S. Brandt, Senior Judge
Originating Judge:Hon. J. Russell Heldman,
Davidson County Workers Compensation Panel 04/25/97
Brunswick Marine v. Kenneth W. Miller

01S01-9605-CV-00099
Authoring Judge: William H. Inman, Senior Judge
Originating Judge:Hon.
Rutherford County Workers Compensation Panel 04/25/97
Agatha Lawrence v. Findlay Industries

01S01-9605-GS-00086
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. I The plaintiff alleged that she suffered a series of injuries in April, June and August 1992 which aggravated an undescribed condition, and as of January 13, 1993 suffers from bilateral hand pain and numbness with cervical radiculopathy and carpal tunnel syndrome with specific thumb involvement. This case was filed in the General Sessions Court of Warren County, and was, by agreement, heard by the Clerk and Master, "acting as Judge of the General Sessions Court," on October 4, 1995. The trial court found that the plaintiff had a 4 percent permanent partial disability to her left arm, and a 24 percent permanent partial disability to her whole body as a result of a cervical injury. The employer appeals, (1) questioning the finding of a cervical injury, and (2) whether the award of benefits is excessive. II The plaintiff testified that she was, at trial date, "a young 65," who entered the labor market at age 15 or 16 as a sewing machine operator, where she remained 25 years. She obtained another job in the textile industry which required repetitive hand movements, following which she became an entrepreneur, operating a small grocery for three years. She testified that the grocery business also required repetitive movements. After her entreprenurial stint was over, she obtained a job as a school bus driver for ten years, followed by a series of three jobs in the textile industry, the final of which was with the defendant which, we infer, was of short duration. While employed by Easyware (the second of these employers after her bus- driver job) she had a successful carpal tunnel release performed on her right hand. 2
Authoring Judge: William H. Inman, Senior Judge
Originating Judge:Hon. J. Richard Mcgregor,
Lawrence County Workers Compensation Panel 04/25/97
Baptist Hospital, East , et. al. vs. TN. Dept. of Health, et. al.

01A01-9610-BC-00465

Originating Judge:Samuel L. Lewis
Court of Appeals 04/25/97
Mary W. Scott v. Kenny Pipe & Supply, Inc., et al.

01S01-9607-CV-00140
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 of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The only issue raised in this appeal is whether the evidence supports the trial court's award of permanent partial disability. We conclude that it does and affirm the decision. The plaintiff, Mary W. Scott, a then fifty-six-year-old clerical worker, injured herself in September 1992 when she fell because the back of her secretarial chair came off. She came under the care of Dr. Greg Lanford, a neurosurgeon. He hospitalized her for a few days and then treated her conservatively. She returned to work for several months and then left her job, but there is no explanation in the record as to the cause of her termination. Dr. Lanford had treated the plaintiff before for the same condition. In fact, he operated on her back in October 1991 to attempt to repair degenerative changes in discs C3 through C7. Following that surgery, the plaintiff returned to work. The employer's argument is straightforward. The plaintiff's condition was no worse after the fall than it was before the fall. Dr. Lanford found the plaintiff to be in about the same condition after the fall as she was before the fall. When asked to compare the plaintiff's condition on July 3, 1992 - the last time he saw her before her work injury - to her condition on August 3, 1993 - the last time he saw her after the work injury - the doctor responded: "I really don't see a lot of difference in the two visits." Dr. Lanford concluded that she had a 14% impairment before the fall and a 14% impairment after the fall. -2-
Authoring Judge: Robert S. Brandt, Senior Judge
Originating Judge:Hon. Marietta M. Shipley,
Scott County Workers Compensation Panel 04/25/97
Profill Development vs. Dills, Comm

01A01-9607-CH-00326

Originating Judge:Robert S. Brandt
Davidson County Court of Appeals 04/25/97
Wilda G. Mccarty v. Fast Food Merchandisers, et al.

01S01-9510-CH-00186
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. The plaintiff sustained a work-related injury to her right arm, and the trial court found she suffered a 33% vocational disability to the right arm as a result of the injury or 16.5% to the body as a whole. See Thompson v. Leon Russell Enterprises, 834 S.W.2d 927 (Tenn. 1992). The plaintiff had been injured in a non-work-related car accident in 1978, and she had injured her back in a work-related accident in January of 1991. The injury to the plaintiff's back resulted in a court-approved workers' compensation award of 36.5% permanent partial disability to the body as a whole. The injury to the plaintiff's right arm, the January 1991 injury to the plaintiff's back and the injury received in the 1978 automobile accident combined resulted in the plaintiff being found permanently and totally disabled. The trial court held under the provisions of T.C.A. _ 5-6-28(a), the plaintiff was to be compensated by the employer for the 16.5% whole body disability as a result of the injury to her arm on July 1991 and by the Second Injury Fund for 83.5% whole body disability. Because of the plaintiff's low rate of pay, the trial court, applying T.C.A. _ 5-6-27(4)(A), found the plaintiff to be entitled to receive payment for 55 weeks rather than 4 weeks, the permanent total disability benefits normally applicable. The trial judge assessed all of this extra 15 weeks to the Second Injury Fund. Our standard of review is de novo on the record, accompanied by the presumption that the trial court's findings of fact are correct, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. T.C.A. _ 5-6-225(e)(2). Where the issue is one of law, our standard of review is de novo without a presumption of correctness. Bradshaw v. Old Republic Ins. Co., 922 S.W.2d 53, 53 (Tenn. 1996). 2
Authoring Judge: Senior Judge John K. Byers
Originating Judge:Hon. Billy Joe White,
Fentress County Workers Compensation Panel 04/25/97
Lemm vs. Adams

01A01-9607-CH-00330

Originating Judge:Ellen Hobbs Lyle
Davidson County Court of Appeals 04/25/97
Walker, et. al. vs. Bd. of Education of Wilson Co.

01A01-9610-CH-00497

Originating Judge:Robert W. Wedemeyer
Wilson County Court of Appeals 04/25/97