COURT OF APPEALS OPINIONS

Timothy Gaither v. Jessie Bush & Angela White v. Timothy Gaither
M2001-01952-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: J. B. Cox
This is a case involving the division of wrongful death proceeds between the divorced parents of the deceased. The deceased was eighteen, healthy, and about to enter the military. The plaintiff mother asked for an equal division of the proceeds of a wrongful death settlement entered by the father. Also included in the settlement was the father's action, individually, for his emotional trauma suffered while witnessing his son's death. A jury was asked to divide the settlement proceeds between the parties. The jury found that all of the damages for the pecuniary value of the son's life were attributable to the mother and father, and none were attributable to the son. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Thomas Monroe v. Catherine Robinson
M2001-02218-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Muriel Robinson
This appeal arises from the granting of a petition to object to removal of a minor child. The trial court granted the father's petition and prevented the mother from relocating out of state with the minor child, finding that the parties spent substantially equal time with the child and that the move was not in the child's best interest. The parties raise multiple issues on appeal. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Monica Goldberg v. Russell Goldberg
M2001-01442-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Trial Court Judge: Russell Heldman
This is a divorce case involving alimony and property division. The parties have five children; the oldest is severely handicapped and the three youngest are minors. The husband is a hospital consultant. The wife works part-time as a nurse and owns a small business. In addition to child support, the trial court ordered the husband to pay substantial alimony in futuro, and assume approximately ninety-eight percent of the marital debt. The husband was also ordered to maintain a considerable amount of life insurance to secure his spousal and child support obligations. On appeal, the husband argues that the award of alimony is excessive, that rehabilitative alimony instead of alimony in futuro should have been awarded, that the trial court improperly divided the marital debt, and that the amount of life insurance required was excessive. We affirm in part and reverse in part. We affirm the trial court's holding with regard to the division of marital debt and the amount of life insurance, and modify the award of alimony, awarding rehabilitative alimony in a reduced amount.

W2001-01637-COA-R3-CV
W2001-01637-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: George R. Ellis

E2002-0445-COA-R3-CV
E2002-0445-COA-R3-CV
Trial Court Judge: William H. Inman

Tawnya Lynn Duke v. Robert S. Duke
M2001-00080-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Russell Heldman

Michael Hayes v. Computer Sciences
M2001-01611-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: L. Craig Johnson
Michael Hayes sued Aerospace Contractor Support (ACS) for retaliatory discharge. He alleged that he was fired because he had filed a workers' compensation claim against a previous employer. The trial court granted summary judgment to ACS stating that the current law in Tennessee did not allow such a cause of action. We reverse the judgment of the trial court.

Carlton Flatt v. Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Associatin, et al.
M2001-01817-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Judge Walter C. Kurtz

A high-profile high school football coach and athletic director filed a defamation and false light invasion of privacy claim against the athletic association his school belonged to and other defendants. The Circuit Court of Davidson County granted summary judgment to the defendants because it found no evidence from which a jury could infer malice. We affirm.

Laura C. Totty, et al., v. John Thompson, M.D., et al.
M2001-02539-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Judge R.E. Lee Davies

In this medical malpractice case, Plaintiff appeals summary judgment based upon the failure of Plaintiff's medical expert to establish the requisite familiarity with the standard of care in the community in which Defendant practices or in a similar community. We affirm the action of the trial court.

Sarah Massie Johnson (Neeley) v. Keith Robert Johnson
M2002-00354-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Judge Marietta M. Shipley

The trial court granted the father's petition to suspend the mother's impending visitation with the parties' 13-year-old daughter. The mother then moved the trial judge to recuse herself from any further involvement in proceedings relating to custody of the child or to visitation. She claimed that an ex parte communication between the father's attorney and the judge prior to the hearing on the father's petition created the appearance of partiality or bias. The judge denied the mother's motion to recuse. We affirm.

Teresa Lynn (Mackie) Scales v. Kenneth Allan Mackie
M2001-03161-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Carol A. Catalano

This appeal arises from the denial of a petition to modify visitation with a minor child. The trial court denied the father's petition, finding that the father failed to show that as a result of a material change in circumstance, his daughter had been harmed or was at risk of substantial harm due to the existing visitation arrangement. The primary issue on appeal is whether the trial court applied the correct legal standard in dismissing the father's petition. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand.

Loren Borders v. Lucian Borders, et al.
M2001-03146-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jane Wheatcraft

Trial court held that doctrine of collateral estoppel barred Appellant's civil suit against Appellee for damages stemming from an alleged assault where Appellant had previously been convicted of assaulting Appellee during the incident in question. We reverse and remand.

Sherita L. Donaldson v. Lana Beavers, M.D.
M2002-00197-COA-R9-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Trial Court Judge: Judge Franklin Lee Russell

Patient filed medical malpractice action against physician alleging negligence in performance of operation procedure and negligence in physician's post-operative care. Jury returned verdict for physician on the issue of negligent post-operative care but deadlocked on the issue of negligence in performance of surgery. Trial court declared a mistrial and entered an order denying physician's motion for entry of final judgment on the issue of post-operative care and ordering a new trial on all of patient's claims. Physician was granted interlocutory appeal. The only issue for review is whether, under the circumstances of this case, a new trial should be confined only to the issues of the physician's negligence in performing the surgery. We affirm and remand.

In the Matter of: Tony W. Hedge
M2002-01218-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Judge A. Andrew Jackson

This appeal arises from a contempt proceeding against Attorney Andrew J. Shookhoff. The juvenile court held Mr. Shookhoff in contempt for his failure to appear at a review hearing involving his minor client. This appeal ensued. For the following reasons, we reverse.

Audrey Owen v. William Martin
M2001-02940-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Trial Court Judge: Ellen Hobbs Lyle
This case was previously remanded by this Court for a determination of monthly payments due to Appellee from a resulting trust. Appellant appeals from an Order entered by the Chancery Court upon remand. The Order set the amount of the monthly payments but set no end date for those payments. We hold (1) that the corpus of the resulting trust is the equity Appellee possessed in the Property and is, therefore, a finite amount, (2) that the corpus should be reduced by rental amounts owed to Appellant by Appellee, and (3) that the remainder of the corpus may be paid as provided by the trial court.

Paul Peak v. Travelers Indemnity
M2001-03047-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Robert E. Corlew, III
The named insureds in an automobile liability insurance policy providing $300,000 per accident liability insurance appeal a trial court grant of summary judgment that they had effectively reduced their uninsured motorist limits per accident to $60,000. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

M2001-02505-COA-R3-CV-
M2001-02505-COA-R3-CV-
Trial Court Judge: Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

Steven Griffin v. William Roberts
M2002-01898-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Marietta M. Shipley
An inmate in the custody of the Department of Correction filed a legal malpractice suit against the court-appointed attorney who represented him in his post-conviction appeal. Despite many attempts, the inmate failed to obtain service on the attorney. More than three years after suit was filed, the court dismissed the case for lack of prosecution. We affirm the trial court.

River Links at Deer Creek v. Joseph Melz
M2002-00043-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: R.E. Lee Davies
The developer of a golf course brought a fraud complaint against the property owner who furnished the land for the course, and against the companies he controlled. The defendants argued that the plaintiff's remedies were limited by the arbitration clauses in two of the three contracts that defined the relationship between them. The trial court ruled that the arbitration clauses were not applicable to the plaintiff's claims. We affirm the trial court.

Lisa Wade v. William Wade
M2002-00555-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: Carol A. Catalano
This appeal arises from a change in child support, increasing the Appellant's monthly support obligation and awarding Appellee one half of all un-reimbursed medical and dental expenses while Appellant is in the military. Concerning child support, we affirm in part, with modification, and reverse and remand in part. Concerning un-reimbursed medical and dental expenses, we affirm.

Basil Marceaux v. Governor Don Sundquist
M2002-01356-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.
Appellant filed a complaint in the Davidson County Chancery Court naming Governor Don Sundquist, all members of the United States Congress representing Tennessee, all members of the state legislature, all Tennessee District Attorneys General, all Tennessee Sheriff's Departments, and others as defendants. The complaint alleged the numerous defendants were guilty of "kidnapping, extortion, and racketeering" through the application of laws calling for mandatory car insurance, and the practice of routine traffic stops. The trial court dismissed the complaint finding, inter alia, that Appellant failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We affirm.

Christina Cliburn v. Paul David Bergeron
M2002-01386-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Patricia J. Cottrell
Trial Court Judge: J. Steve Daniel

Betty Brown v. Melvin Brown
M2002-00728-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Marietta M. Shipley
The trial court granted the wife a divorce after a marriage of twenty-five years, and ordered the husband to pay her $300 per month as alimony in futuro. Eight years later, the husband filed a Petition to Modify the Final Decree and eliminate the alimony obligation, citing a significant increase in the wife's earnings. The trial court denied the petition. We affirm the trial court.

In Re: The Estate of Harley Price
M2002-00332-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge J. S. Steve Daniel
Trial Court Judge: Jeffrey F. Stewart
This case involves an appeal by Mrs. Cynthia A. Price, widow of Harley Timothy Price, who appeals the trial court's determination that Mr. Price was domiciled in Marion County, Tennessee thereby providing a jurisdictional basis for the probate of his will. In responding to this appeal, the estate of Harley Timothy Price appeals the trial court's determination that Mrs. Cynthia A. Price has standing to contest the jurisdiction of the Court. The trial court found that Mrs. Price had standing to contest jurisdiction. It also found that Mr. Price was domiciled in the State of Tennessee and, therefore, the letters testamentary were issued. For the reasons stated in this opinion, we affirm the trial court's decision as to both issues.

Dept. of Children Serv. vs. Sarah Owens
W2002-00905-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Trial Court Judge: Clayburn L. Peeples
Petitioners filed a petition to intervene and for temporary custody in a dependent and neglect proceeding filed against the adoptive parents of the subject child. Pursuant to a later filed petition to terminate the parental rights of the adoptive parents, the juvenile court entered an order terminating the parental rights. The court then ruled that the petition to intervene and temporary custody was moot on the basis that juvenile court lacked jurisdiction over the dispute because of the previous order terminating the parental rights of the child's adoptive parents and granting guardianship of the child to the state. The petitioners appealed to the circuit court for a trial de novo, and the circuit court subsequently dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Petitioners appeal. We affirm the circuit court's finding that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal but amend the order of the trial court to transfer the case to the Court of Appeals rather than dismissal.