COURT OF APPEALS OPINIONS

Pamela Lemoine Ford v. Michael Burke Ford
02A01-9507-CH-00153
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley. Jr.

In this post-divorce proceeding, Pamela Ford (“wife”) filed a petition to modify child support and alimony. Although the trial court declined to increase alimony, the court increased the amount of child support that Michael Ford (“husband”) was obligated to pay based upon his increased income. Wife has appealed and argues that the trial court erred in several respects. First, she asserts that the trial court erred in holding that the husband’s receipt of principal from an irrevocable trust is not “gross income” as that term is defined within the child support guidelines. Next, she contends that the trial court improperly failed to consider the value of the trust in increasing child support. Furthermore, wife argues that the trial court should have imputed income to husband based upon his voluntary unemployment. Finally, wife argues that the trial court erred in denying her request for an increase in alimony. For the reasons stated below, the judgment below is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings.

Dyer Court of Appeals

Grover R. Bass, v. John C. Kimbrough
02A01-9508-CH-00178
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Floyd Peete, Jr.

This case concerns liability in connection with the default on a promissory note for the purchase of stock in a closely held corporation. After a bench trial, the trial court awarded a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and also awarded attorneys’ fees to plaintiff. Two principal issues are before the Court. The first is whether the plaintiff gave the necessary parties proper notice of default under the terms of the promissory notes executed by the parties. The second is whether the guarantor of the promissory notes is liable under the personal guaranty if proper notice was, in fact, given. We find that the trial court was correct in its holding that proper notice was given and that the personal guarantor was liable. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s conclusion.

Shelby Court of Appeals

Linda Diane Stamp, v. Stephen Ray Stamp
02A01-9512-CH-00279
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Walton West

Stephen Ray Stamps appeals the judgment of the trial court dismissing his “Petition
for Visitation Rights” for lack of jurisdiction. The parties were divorced in the court below and
Linda Diane Stamps was awarded custody of the parties minor daughter. Mr. Stamps was
incarcerated at that time.

Henry Court of Appeals

Diane Lynn Burleson v. Mickey Dwayne Burleson
02A01-9601-CH-00021
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Joe C. Morris

Defendant-Appellant, Mickey Dwayne Burleson (“Father”), appeals the trial court’s judgment denying his petition to modify the child custody provisions of the parties’ final divorce decree.

Henderson Court of Appeals

Susan Kay Malik v. Kafait U. Malik - Concurring
02A01-9604-CH-00070
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Neal Small

In this post-divorce proceeding, Kafait U. Malik (“husband”) appeals from the trial court’s judgment ordering him to cash out and/or borrow against his pension and retirement funds in order to satisfy the court’s prior distribution of marital property to Susan K. Malik (“wife”).

Shelby Court of Appeals

Lamar Fletcher, v. John W. Campbell
02A01-9605-CH-00102
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Neal Small

Plaintiff-Appellant, Lamar Fletcher (“Fletcher”), appearing pro se, appeals the trial court’s order granting the motion to dismiss filed by Defendant-Appellee, John W. Campbell (“Campbell”).

Shelby Court of Appeals

Michael Scott Evens, v. Karen Maried Bisson Steelman
01A01-9511-JV-00508
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Judge Andrew J. Shookhoff

In this appeal we are asked to re-visit the question of whether a man who fathers a child by a married woman may legitimate the child. The Davidson County Juvenile Court held that the legitimation statute allowing a putative father to legitimate a child “not born in lawful wedlock” applied only to children born to unmarried women. If that interpretation holds, the appellant attacks the constitutionality of the statute on due process and equal protection grounds. We affirm the lower court’s interpretation of the statute and reject the appellant’s contention that the statute is constitutionally defective.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Michael Scott Evans, v. Karen Marie Bisson Steelman - Concurring
01A01-9511-JV-00508
Authoring Judge: Judge Samuel L. Lewis

I fully concur in Judge Cantrell's opinion. I have read with much interest Judge Koch's dissenting opinion. The matters set forth in the dissenting opinion might make good public policy, but the setting of public policy is not a matter for this court or any court in Tennessee.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Michael Scott Evans, v. Karen Marie Bisson Steeman - Dissenting
01A01-9511-JV-00508
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.

Michael Scott Evans is seeking nothing more than to acknowledge his parental responsibilities to Jacob Ryan Steelman. The majority, however, has decided that he is not entitled to prove in court that he is the boy’s biological father simply because the child’s mother was married to another man when he was born. This decision rests squarely on an erroneous judicial interpretation of Tennessee’s legitimation statutes. Rather than perpetuating injustice, our responsibility as common law judges is to remedy, not ignore, plain judicial mistakes.

Court of Appeals

Bellsouth Telecommunications, Inc. v. Keith Bissell, Steve Hewlett, Sara Kyle, Constituting the Tennessee Public Service Commission
01A01-9509-BC-00400
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell

The Tennessee Public Service Commission ordered the completion of a previously authorized investigation of the future earnings of BellSouth Telecommunications, despite legislative developments that stripped the Commission of its authority to use such an investigation to set telephone rates. BellSouth filed a petition with this court for review of the PSC’s order, arguing that completion of the investigation was inconsistent with the legislative purpose. We reverse the Commission’s order and remand the case for further consideration by the Tennessee Regulatory Commission.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Teri Michelle Parker, v. Richard Ken Parker
01A01-9504-CH-00138
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly Kirby Lillard
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Allen W. Wallace

In this case, Plaintiff-Appellant, Teri Michelle Parker (Wife), appeals the trial court’s decision to award custody of the parties' child, Dylan Ken Parker, to Defendant-Appellee, Richard Ken Parker (Husband), alleging that the custody determination was based on the effects of racial prejudice. We affirm the trial court’s award of custody to Husband.

Houston Court of Appeals

Ronnie Wilson Perry v. Marla Renee Perry (Robinson)
01A01-9602-CH-00088
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly Kirby Lillard
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor C. K. Smith

This is a child custody case. Appellant Marla Perry sought to move out of state with the minor children of her previous marriage. In response, Appellee Ronnie Perry filed a petition seeking a change in custody. The trial court held that custody would be changed in the event that the mother moved out state. We reverse, based on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s decision in Aaby v. Strange, 924 S.W.2d 623 (Tenn. 1996).

Wilson Court of Appeals

Victoria Angozi Anene v. John N. Namdi Anene
03A01-9511-CV-00387
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Judge William L. Brown

The Defendant, John Namdi Anene appeals a judgment of the Circuit Court of Hamilton County granting Victoria Ngozi Anene's petition for divorce and awarding her custody of their three minor children. Mr. Anene raises five issues on appeal, two of which are jurisdictional. (See appendix.) As to the jurisdictional issues, we find that the Circuit Court of Hamilton was correct in assuming jurisdiction to hear both the divorce and custody issues. We find the remainint issues to be without merit.

 

Hamilton Court of Appeals

Richard Briggs and Stephanie R. Briggs, v. Riversound Limited Partnership, William S. Nix, D/B/A WEN Enterprises, General Partner, and Daryl Wagner
03A01-9603-CV-00115
Authoring Judge: Judge Don T. McMurray
Trial Court Judge: Judge Dale C. Workman

The single issue in this case is whether a remote purchaser of a home may maintain a negligence action against the builder of the home despite a lack of contractual privity. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant and this appeal resulted. We reverse the judgment of the trial court.

Knox Court of Appeals

Ada Bell Brown and Beverly J. Everett, Marion Evertt Barton, and Gerald Joseph Everett, v. Ralph Everett (Individually) and as Executor of the Estate of Joseph Robert Everett, et al.
03A01-9605-00174
Authoring Judge: Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Trial Court Judge: Judge Buddy L. Perry

Walter Everett died in 1993; his children Marion Everett Barton and Gerald Joseph Everett were substituted as plaintiffs in place of their father. In this contest of the will of the deceased, Joseph Everett, a jury returned special verdicts that the deceased did not have sufficient mental capacity to make a valid will, and Joseph Robert Everett, Deceased, was unduly influenced by Ralph Everett on March 11 to the extent that such influence amounted to coercion, destroying the free will of the deceased and substituting his will for the deceased and compelling the deceased to make a disposition he otherwise would not have made.

 

Bledsoe Court of Appeals

Mark McCain v. Airport Honda and Bob Rutherford
03A01- 9603- CV- 00099
Authoring Judge: Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Trial Court Judge: Judge W. Dale Young

In this action asking damages for alleged retaliatory discharge, the Trial Court granted employer summary judgment, and plaintiff has appealed. We affirm.

 

Court of Appeals

William A. Winningham Executor of the Estate of Alston Winningham v. Tammy K. Winningham - Concurring
03A01-9604-PB-00152
Authoring Judge: Judge Don T. McMurray
Trial Court Judge: Judge Gary W. Dodson

We are called upon in this appeal to determine whether relying on the advice of an attorney in filing an unfounded will contest constitutes probable cause sufficient to avoid the enforcement of a forfeiture clause in the will. For the reasons set forth below, we find that such reliance does constitute probable cause, and reverse the judgment of the trial court.

Cumberland Court of Appeals

Arthur Blair v. Marilyn Badenhope - Concurring
03A01- 9604- CH- 00128
Authoring Judge: Judge Herschel P. Franks
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Dennis H. Inman

Joy Badenhope is the child of Susan Badenhope and Arthur Blair.  Susan Badenhope, a resident of North Carolina, died when the child was less than one year old.  After her death, Joy began residing with her maternal grandmother, Marilyn Badenhope, in Tennessee.  The grandmother was granted custody by a North Carolina court in an action for custody she filed some two months after the mother's death.  The father soon thereafter moved to Tennessee and filed an action in Tennessee to increase visitation and attain custody.

Greene Court of Appeals

Faye Louise Taylor Chadwell, v. Albert Chadwell and Consolidation Coal Company
03A01-9601-GS-00007
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Billy Joe White

In this post-divorce proceeding, the Chancellor found that certain assets owned by Albert Chadwell at the time of the parties' divorce were marital assets and that his former wife, Fay Louise Taylor Chadwell, was entitled to a judgment against him of $94,320, which included the interest from the date of the divorce. The Chancellor also impressed a lien against certain real estate originally owned by Mr. Chadwell, who later purported to transfer an interest to his present wife. Both the real estate and the home Mr. Chadwell erected thereon were paid for in part with the assets in dispute in this appeal.

Campbell Court of Appeals

Debra Jewell Young Ford v. Dennis Clifford Ford
03A01-9606-CH-00197
Authoring Judge: Judge Don T. McMurray
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Earl H. Henley

This appeal arises from the judgment of the trial court which, among other things, awarded a divorce to the defendant, provided for custody of the parties' minor children and made a division of the marital estate. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Court of Appeals

Fred Johns, Administrator of The Estate of Sue Eva Johns, v. Takoma Adventist Hospital
03A01-9604-CV-00130
Authoring Judge: Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Trial Court Judge: Judge John K. Wilson

In this action for damages for personal injuries to the deceased, the complaint alleged the deceased was placed in a room while in defendant hospital, and on April 18, 1991, she ws found lying on the floor with injuries about her head and face. It was further alleged that it was not learned until wll after her death, in conversation with the physicians of the plaintiff decedent, that the decedent more likely would have survived for many years had she not fallen...

Greene Court of Appeals

Susan Renee Wright Williamson v. John Houston Williamson
03A01-9602-DR-00073
Authoring Judge: Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Trial Court Judge: Judge William R. Brewer, Jr.

In this divorce action the Trial Court awarded to each party an absolute divorce from the other on the grounds of  inappropriate marital conduct. The Court awarded the custody of the parties' two minor children to the mother, ordered the father to pay child support and based upo the guidelihes, and in dividing the parties' marital estate  concluded that their home was a gift from the husband's paretns to him alone, and therefore separate property. From this latter determination, the wife has appealed.

 

Court of Appeals

State of Tennessee, v. Brian K. Collins
03C01-9510-CC-00305
Authoring Judge: Judge Gary R. Wade
Trial Court Judge: Judge R. Jerry Beck

The defendant, Brian K. Collins, was convicted of violating a habitual traffic offender order, violation of registration, and evading arrest. He was sentenced as a range one offender to two years for violating the order, thirty days for violation of registration, and eleven months and twenty nine days for evading arrest, all to be served concurrently. This is his appeal of right.

Sullivan Court of Appeals

State of Tennessee, v. John Russell Turner
03C01-9510-CC-00321
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Judge D. Kelly Thomas, Jr.

The appellant, John Russell Turner, appeals from his conviction by a jury for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. The Circuit Court of Blount County sentenced the appellant to eleven months and twenty-nine days incarceration in the county jail and suspended all but five days. On appeal, the appellant contends that the evidence adduced at trial is insufficient to support a conviction, because the State failed to prove that he intended to operate a vehicle.

Blount Court of Appeals

State of Tennessee v. John Russell Turner
03C01-9510-CC-00321
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Judge D. Kelly Thomas, Jr.

The appellant, John Russell Turner, appeals from his conviction by a juryfor driving under the influence of an intoxicant. The Circuit Court of Blount County sentenced the appellant to eleven months and twenty-nine days incarceration in the county jail and suspended all but five days. On appeal, theappellant contends that the evidence adduced at trial is insufficient to support a conviction, because the State failed to prove that he intended to operate a vehicle.

Blount Court of Appeals