News
November 27, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that the 2016 amendments to the theft grading statute are applicable when sentencing a defendant even where the offense occurred before the effective date of the amendments if sentencing occurred after the effective date.The Public Safety Act of 2016, which took…
November 21, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court has reversed a Court of Criminal Appeals decision suppressing evidence seized pursuant to a probation search. The defendant, Angela Hamm, was sentenced to six years for manufacturing a controlled substance. The trial judge suspended her sentence and…
November 15, 2019
Over 500 local high school students will get the chance to witness the state’s highest court at work when the Tennessee Supreme Court hears oral arguments for two cases on November 19, 2019, in Kingsport, Tennessee, as part of the Court’s SCALES program. SCALES stands for the Supreme Court…
November 13, 2019
In an opinion released today, the Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the felony theft conviction of the defendant, Denton Jones. Over a period of 15 days, Mr. Jones stole several fitness trackers from two Target stores in Knoxville on five visits to the stores. In the indictment, the state…
November 8, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court is continuing its initiative to be more transparent and open. Starting in November 2019, Supreme Court oral arguments taking place in Jackson will be videotaped and made available to the public. Oral arguments that were held November 6 are now posted on the Court’s…
November 4, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on November 6, 2019. The details of the cases are as follows:Paul Zachary Moss v. Shelby County Civil Service Merit Board – This case was initiated after Paul Zachary Moss was terminated from his position as a firefighter with the Shelby…
November 1, 2019
Every working attorney knows that there is a difference between learning about the law in a classroom and practicing law in a courtroom or other professional setting. While classroom instruction is foundational, the dynamic world of legal practice requires skills that can only be learned through…
October 25, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court has clarified that a defendant is entitled to a jury instruction on the defense of necessity when it is fairly raised by the evidence presented at trial. Moreover, an oral request during the trial is sufficient to preserve the issue on appeal.The defendant, Brandon…
October 18, 2019
The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct has named Judge Marshall L. Davidson III as its new disciplinary counsel. Judge Davidson will begin serving as disciplinary counsel on January 1, 2020. He currently is the presiding judge for the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, a position…
October 16, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court has held that a trial court had authority to decide coverage issues in a declaratory judgment action between an insurance company and its insured when a claimant, who had sued the insured but did not have a judgment against him, was not a party to the action.This case…
October 2, 2019
Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on October 3, 2019. The details of the cases are as follows:· James A. Dunlap, Jr. v. Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility – Mr. Dunlap, a licensed attorney in the state of…
September 26, 2019
James (Jim) M. Hivner, Clerk of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, was confirmed by the Executive Committee to the office of Treasurer of the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks (NCACC). Hivner was appointed to a six-year term as Clerk of the Supreme Court of Tennessee in 2014. In his…
September 20, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the disbarment of Jennifer Elizabeth Meehan from the practice of law in Tennessee based on her conviction for bank fraud in federal court.Ms. Meehan served as president of a sorority’s housing board overseeing construction and furnishing of a new sorority…
September 18, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court today reversed the trial court’s dismissal of a legal malpractice claim against a Davidson County attorney, holding that sworn statements the plaintiff made in her divorce settlement agreement did not directly contradict sworn statements she made in the malpractice…
September 3, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court set effective dates of October 1, 2019, for rule amendments associated with the 2019 rules package, which the Tennessee House of Representatives approved on August 23, 2019 and the Tennessee Senate approved on March 25, 2019. These rule changes include revisions to the…
September 3, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on September 4 and September 5, 2019. The details of the cases are as follows:Wednesday, September 4, 2019Jodi McClay v. Airport Management Services, LLC– This case comes to the Court by way of three certified questions from the United…
August 23, 2019
In an opinion released today, the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility’s Formal Ethics Opinion 2017-F-163, which provided guidance to prosecutors about ethical duties under Tennessee Rule of Professional Conduct 3.8(d).On March 15, 2018, the Board of…
August 21, 2019
In an opinion released today, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that a trial court acted within its discretion in excluding from trial a defendant’s videotaped statements given in a post-polygraph interview. In so doing, the Court reversed the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals.The defendant…
August 7, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court today ruled unanimously that the Court of Criminal Appeals should no longer vacate convictions when criminal defendants die during an appeal guaranteed by law, known as an appeal as of right from the conviction.In the case before the Court, Mr. Hassan Falah al…
August 5, 2019
The Tennessee Supreme Court has reversed a Court of Criminal Appeals’ decision construing the actions of defense counsel in a criminal case to have caused an amendment to the indictment, thus resulting in a criminal conviction for an offense that was not an enumerated lesser-included offense of the…