Keith Johnson, v. Fortunes Untold, Inc., D/B/A Easy Money Pawn Shop, et al.
03A01-9710-CV-00464
Authoring Judge: Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Trial Court Judge: Judge W. Dale Young

The Trial dismissed plaintiffs’ causes of action for personal injury on the basis that the statute of limitations had run before the action was properly brought, pursuant to Rule 3, T.R.C.P.

State of Tennessee vs. David L. Hathaway
01C01-9703-CR-00094
Authoring Judge: Judge William M. Barker
Trial Court Judge: Judge John A. Turnbull

The appellant, David L. Hathaway, appeals as of right his conviction in the Criminal Court of Pickett County. After a bench trial, he was convicted of driving under the influence of an intoxicant (“D.U.I.”) and was sentenced to a suspended term of six (6) months and one (1) hour in the county jail. The trial court revoked appellant’s driver’s license for one (1) year and ordered him to serve forty eight (48) hours in jail. Appellant was also ordered to pay a $350 fine.

On appeal, the appellant challenges the admissibility of the results of his breathalyser examination and the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. After a review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. 

In the matter of: S.M.L. (DOB 12/26/88), C.B.L. (DOB 4/14/92), D.K.J. (DOB 5/8/93) Children under the age of 18.
07-93-017-CC
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd

C.L.H. has filed a timely Tenn. R. App. P. 39 petition for rehearing and a Tenn. R. App. P. 14 motion to consider post-judgment facts. She asserts that our original opinion filed on June 12, 1998 misapprehends material facts with regard to her more recent self-improvement efforts, and she offers new evidence regarding her educational attainments and the stability of her living environment.

Jerry J. Roberts v. George Beeler, Etc., et al.
01S01-9710-CH-00216
Authoring Judge: William S. Russell, Retired Judge
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor

Thomas Huggins v. Royal Insurance Company
01S01-9708-CH-00178
Authoring Judge: William S. Russell, Retired Judge
Trial Court Judge: William S. Russell

Gallatin Aluminum Products, Inc. v. Rosie L. Harris
01S01-9710-CV-00238
Authoring Judge: William S. Russell, Retired Judge
Trial Court Judge: William S. Russell

Martha M. Eden v. Employers Ins. of Wasau Mutual Co., et al .
01S01-9710-CV-00210
Authoring Judge: William S. Russell, Retired Judge
Trial Court Judge: William S. Russell

Lionel L. Lulow v. Earl Poss and Carl Poss - Concurring
01-A-01-9509-CH-00399
Authoring Judge: Judge Walter W. Bussart
Trial Court Judge: Judge Robert E. Corlew, III

This is an appeal by defendants/appellants, Earl and Carl Poss, from a decision of the chancery court in a boundary dispute. It is the Posses contention that the chancery court erred when it approved the survey  entered into evidence by the plaintiffs/appellees, Lionel and Nancy Lulow.  The diagram below, while not drawn to scale, depicts the layout of the relevant tracts of land.  Reference to this diagram will be helpful in understanding the following facts.

Charles F. Gaulden, and Wife, Ruth S. Gaulden, v. Robert L. Scruggs, and Wife, Joyce W. Scruggs
01A01-9708-CH-00417
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle

The question in this case is whether a purchaser of mortgaged property, who pays off the mortgage, takes an assignment of the note and deed of trust, and subsequently releases the deed of trust, can then sue the original mortgagee on the note. The Chancery Court of Davidson County dismissed the action. We affirm.

Bennie Day and Karen Day v. City of Decherd, Otis B. Smith, Jr., Mayor, et al. - Concurring
01-A-01-9708-CH-00442
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Judge L. Curtis Smith

Property owners alleged in a petition for common law certiorari that the city of Decherd acted arbitrarily and capriciously in refusing to rezone their property from residential to commercial. The Chancery Court of Franklin County dismissed the petition. We affirm.

Razorback Marble Mfg. Co., Inc., v. D.D. Roberts Construction Company, Naran P. Patel, Kusum N. Patel, and Heritage Bank
01A01-9709-CH-00512
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Alex W. Darnell

In this construction contract dispute, the Chancery Court of Montgomery County granted a judgment plus prejudgment interest to Razorback Marble Manufacturing Company, Inc. On appeal, Roberts Construction Company, Inc. and D. D. Roberts, Individually, raise issues pertaining to the Contractor’s Licensing statutes and the Notice of Non-Payments statute. Razorback insists that it was due a larger judgment and a greater award of prejudgment interest.

W. Hudson Connery, Jr., et al. v. Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, et al., - Concurring
01-A-01-9709-CH-00529
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell

I concur in Judge Todd’s opinion affirming the grant of summary judgment to the defendants. I write separately simply to emphasize the following points:

First, the bonus plan allowed the plaintiffs to purchase shares of the company at a price below the market price. When the plaintiffs left the company before the shares fully vested, they did not forfeit their investment; they simply lost the difference between what they had invested and the market value of the shares. The difference in the purchase price and the market value is what this controversy is about.

Consumer Advocate Division, v. Tennessee Regulatory Authority; Nashville Gas Company
01A01-9708-BC-00391
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell

This petition under Rule 12, Tenn. R. App. Proc., to review a rate making order of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority presents a host of procedural and substantive issues. We affirm the agency order.

David K. Wachtel, Jr., v. Western Sizzlin Corporation, F/K/A Franchisee Acquisition Cororation, v. David K. Wachtel, Jr. and Restaurant Management Services, Inc.
01A01-9708-CH-00396
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

This breach of contract case is before us on a Rule 54.02, Tenn. R. Civ. Proc. appeal. The only question for our decision is whether the trial court erred in granting the defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment on the plaintiff’s claim for certain consequential damages arising from the defendant’s breach of contract. We reverse the trial court.

In the matter of the estate of Mary Ardelle Gower, Deceased, v. Tyson Robertson, Bessie Lewis, Danny Boggell, Pat Henkel, and Marilyn Whitten
01A01-9710-CH-00605
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Robert L. Jones

Mary Ardelle Gower died on August 11, 1995 in Wayne County, Tennessee at the age of 73. Her will was offered for probate by William Steven Jones, the executor therein named and the sole beneficiary of the will.

William P. Williams, v. Wanda C. Williams
01A01-9711-CH-00679
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor C. K. Smith

This is a child support case. The Chancery Court of Wilson County set the mother’s obligation of support at $723.00 per month. The mother appeals and asserts that the evidence preponderates against the trial court’s finding. We affirm the judgment below.

In re: Jason Ryan Stephens, Pamela Renee Stephens, v. James Callaway
01A01-9801-JV-00043
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Judge David Loughry

This appeal involves a biological father's obligation to support his thirteen year old son.

Gretchen Hart, v. Ronald Rick Hart
01A01-9707-CV-00344
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Judge Muriel Robinson

This is a post-divorce decree proceeding to adjust the amount of periodic alimony. The wife has appealed from the judgment of the Trial Court increasing the alimony from $1,000 per month to $1,350 per month.

James E. Collins v. Department of Correction
01A01-9709-CH-00558
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle

The captioned appellant is a prisoner in the punitive custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction. On February 19, 1997, he filed in the Trial Court a petition for declaratory judgment alleging that on November 16, 1996, he filed with the Department a petition for a declaratory order correcting an erroneous entry showing two life sentences which have been merged.

State of Tennessee on relation of Ervin Smith and Ervin Smith Individually, v. L. B. Franklin and Alex Richmond, Cit of Carthage, Tennessee, a municipal corporation, Mayor David Bowman
01A01-9710-CH-00546
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor C. K. Smith

The plaintiff, Ervin Smith, has appealed from the judgment of the Trial Court as to his rights in regard to an alleged public right-of-way on property adjoining plaintiff’s land.

W. Hudson Connery, Jr., et al., v. Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, et al.
01A01-9709-CH-00529
Authoring Judge: Justice William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

W. Huson Connery, Jr., et al. vs. Columbia/HCA Helathcare Corporation, et al. - Concurring
01A01-9709-CH-00529
Authoring Judge: Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

Twenty former employees of “HealthTrust,” a ____________ sued  HealthTrust and its “successor in interest,” Columbia Health Care Corporation, to recover share of stock (or the value thereof) which they had  purchased with earned bonuses and for the value of shares of stock due some of the plaintiffs due them upon discharge. Two of the plaintiffs nonsuited, leaving eighteen.

W. Hudson Connery, Jr. et al., v. Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, et al.
01A01-9709-CH-00529
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

Twenty former employees of “HealthTrust,” a ____________ sued HealthTrust and its “successor in interest,” Columbia Health Care Corporation, to recover share of stock (or the value thereof) which they had purchased with earned bonuses and for the value of shares of stock due some of the plaintiffs due them upon discharge. Two of the plaintiffs nonsuited, leaving eighteen.

Helen S. Rogers v. Thomas E. Watts, Jr., - Concurring
01A01-9603-CV-00120
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Thomas W. Brothers

This appeal involves another chapter in a lingering, acrimonious dispute between two Nashville lawyers stemming from a failed settlement of a case in federal court. After one of the lawyers abandoned his third-party complaint against the other lawyer for fraudulent misrepresentation, the other lawyer filed a malicious prosecution action in the Circuit Court for Davidson County. When the trial court dismissed the complaint on the ground that it was premature, the prevailing lawyer sought Tenn. R. Civ. P. 11 sanctions against the lawyer whose malicious prosecution claim had been dismissed. The trial court declined to grant sanctions, and the lawyer seeking sanctions has appealed. We have determined that the record supports the trial court’s decision not to award sanctions and, therefore, affirm the trial court’s decision.

Boiler Supply Company, Inc., v. Lunn Real Estate Investments
01A01-9605-CH-00246
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

This appeal involves a dispute over the interpretation of a provision allocating the responsibility for paying legal expenses in the event of a default or breach of two leases. The lessee filed suit against the lessor in the Chancery Court for Davidson County seeking a declaration that the leases had expired and requesting its attorney’s fees in accordance with the provisions of the lease agreements. The trial court granted the lessee’s motion for summary judgment and declared that the leases had expired but denied the lessee’s claim for legal expenses. The lessee has appealed. We have determined that the trial court correctly interpreted the lease agreements and, therefore, affirm the summary judgment.