James Ivy v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, James Ivy, appeals from the denial of his petition for writ of error coram nobis. In this appeal, the petitioner contends that he is entitled to coram nobis relief on the basis that his 1996 guilty-pleaded conviction of burglary and his 2000 guilty-pleaded convictions of burglary and vandalism were not voluntarily entered. Because the writ of error coram nobis is not available to a guilty-pleading petitioner and because the petition in this case is time-barred, we affirm the judgment of the coram nobis court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Hood Land Trust v Denny Hastings et al.
The trial court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment with respect to multiple claims brought by a prospective seller of real property against the prospective buyers. We have concluded that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment for the defendants on the plaintiff's unjust enrichment claim. In all other respects, we affirm the decision of the trial court. |
Rutherford | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. H. R Hester
This appeal involves a defendant who bound up two victims, doused them with kerosene, and then set them on fire because one of the victims had refused to loan him ten dollars to buy beer. One of the victims lost his life in the ensuing fire. A McMinn County grand jury indicted the defendant for first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and aggravated arson. A jury found the defendant guilty on all counts. During the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury, finding the existence of the aggravating circumstances in Tenn. Code Ann. _ 39-13-204(i)(5) and (14) (Supp. 1999), sentenced the defendant to death for the murder of the victim who died in the fire. Thereafter, the trial court sentenced the defendant to consecutive sentences of twenty-five years for attempted first degree murder and twenty years for aggravated arson. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the defendant's convictions but reduced his twenty-five year sentence for attempted first degree murder to twenty years because the trial court had considered improper enhancing factors. The Court of Criminal Appeals also determined that the trial court had erred by excluding mitigating evidence offered by the defendant during the sentencing phase of the trial but that this error was harmless. After conducting its own comparative proportionality review, the Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that the defendant's sentence of death was proportionate to punishments imposed in similar cases. State v. Hester, No. E2006-01904-CCA-R3-DD, 2009 WL 275760 (Tenn. Crim. App. Feb. 5, 2009). We hold as follows: (1) the manner in which the district attorney general gave notice of the State's intention to pursue the death penalty was not improper; (2) the defendant was not denied his right of self-representation; (3) the trial court did not err by denying the defendant's request for a continuance filed eight days before the trial; (4) the defendant failed to establish a prima facie case that the process used to select the jury venire deprived him of his right to select a jury from a fair cross-section of the community; (5) the defendant failed to make the necessary pretrial objections to raise an argument that the jury selection procedures violated Tenn. Code Ann. _ 22-2-304(e) (1994) and has failed to demonstrate any prejudice that he suffered from any violations thereof; (6) the trial court did not err by denying the defendant's request to retain an expert statistician; (7) even assuming two of McMinn County's jury commissioners were not statutorily qualified for their positions, Mr. Hester suffered no resulting prejudice; (8) the trial court did not commit reversible error with regard to its decisions relating to the admission or exclusion of evidence; (9) the trial court did not improperly comment on the evidence; (10) the trial court's instruction on reasonable doubt was not erroneous; (11) the trial court did not err when it replaced a juror during the sentencing phase of the trial; (12) the record contains sufficient evidence of premeditation; (13) the defendant's due process rights were not infringed by the denial of compulsory process, the trial judge's failure to recuse himself sua sponte, or the manner in which the trial court considered his motion for new trial; (14) the defendant is not entitled to a reversal of his conviction and sentence because of the cumulative effect of errors during the entire proceeding; and (15) the defendant's multiple challenges to Tennessee's death penalty statutes and the procedures and the protocol for carrying out the death penalty are without merit. Finally, in accordance with our obligation under Tenn. Code Ann. _ 39-13-206 (2006), we have thoroughly reviewed the record and have determined: (1) that the defendant's sentence of death was not imposed in an arbitrary fashion; (2) that the evidence fully supports the jury's finding of the existence of the aggravating circumstances in Tenn. Code Ann. _ 39-13- 204(i)(5) and (14); (3) that the evidence supports the jury's finding that these aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances presented by the defendant; and (4) that the defendant's death sentence, taking into consideration the nature of the offense and the defendant himself, is neither excessive nor disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases. We have also independently determined that the defendant should receive two twentyyear sentences for his convictions for attempted first degree murder and aggravated arson and that these sentences should be served consecutively with each other and with the defendant's death sentence. In all other respects, the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals, as modified by this opinion, is affirmed. |
McMinn | Supreme Court | |
Franklin American Mortgage v. Dream House Mortgage Corporation of Rhode Island, et al. v. Fireman & Associates, LLP, et al.
This appeal involves in personam jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant. Plaintiff, a Tennessee mortgage company, filed suit against the appellee herein, a Rhode Island mortgage company, after plaintiff allegedly suffered injury from a breach of contract on the part of appellee, stemming from plaintiff's purchase of a loan from appellee in the secondary mortgage market. In the posture of plaintiff, appellee filed a third-party complaint against the Massachusetts lawyer and firm, the appellants herein, who had underwritten the loan that appellee ultimately sold to the Tennessee plaintiff. The lawyer and firm filed a motion in the Tennessee court to dismiss the third-party complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction. The trial court found that Tennessee had personal jurisdiction over the third-party defendant law firm and lawyer, and denied their motion to dismiss. The lawyer and firm appeal. Finding that there are not sufficient contacts with Tennessee, we reverse the trial court's finding of personal jurisdiction, and remand for further proceedings. |
Williamson | Court of Appeals | |
Alex Lyon & Sales Managers and Auctioneers, Inc. v. Gregg Boles
Suit was filed for breach of contract. Plaintiff sought summary judgment, which was denied. A trial on the merits followed and the trial court ruled for the defendant. Plaintiff appeals, seeking review of the denial of summary judgment. Since there was a trial on the merits, we cannot review the denial of the summary judgment in this case. We affirm the trial court. |
Rutherford | Court of Appeals | |
William C. Killian v. Rebecca McManus Killian
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Marion | Court of Appeals | |
Kathy Gordon vs. By-Lo Markets, Inc., d/b/a By-Lo- #10 - Concurring
I concur in the result reached by the majority opinion. |
Grainger | Court of Appeals | |
Kathy Gordon vs. By-Lo Markets, Inc., d/b/a By-Lo - #10
Plaintiff, while delivering pizza to customers in the By-Lo grocery store, slipped and fell. She filed suit against By-Lo, claiming negligence. By-Lo moved for summary judgment and after a hearing on the matter, the trial court entered summary judgment in favor of By-Lo and dismissed the suit. Plaintiff appeals. We affirm. |
Grainger | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Leon Goins
The defendant, Leon Goins, was convicted by a Dyer County jury of possession of Schedule II cocaine with intent to sell or deliver, a Class B felony, and was sentenced to a term of twenty-five years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant has raised the single issue of sufficiency of the evidence. Following review of the record, we affirm the judgment of conviction. |
Dyer | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
David Hearing v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, David Hearing, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief wherein he challenged his 2005 guilty-pleaded convictions of felony murder. In this appeal, he contends that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel and that his guilty pleas were not knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently entered. Because the petitioner failed to establish his claims by clear and convincing evidence, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction court. |
Greene | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Larry H. Coleman v. Matthew Kisber, et al.
This case involves a petition for access to certain documents pursuant to the Tennessee Public Records Act, Tenn. Code Ann. _ 10-7-101 et seq. The appellees asserted in the trial court, and on appeal, that the documents are confidential and privileged pursuant to the tax information and tax administration information exceptions found in Tenn. Code Ann. _ 67-1- 1702; pursuant to the "ECD exception" provided in Tenn. Code Ann. _ 4-3-730(c); and also pursuant to the Deliberative Process Privilege. The trial court denied the appellant's petition finding that the ECD exception applied and therefore, held that the documents at issue should remain confidential for five years. The trial court, however, found that the tax information and tax administration information exceptions did not apply and declined to apply a Deliberative Process Privilege. Appellant appealed the trial court's denial of his petition. On appeal, the appellees assert that the trial court erred in not finding the tax information and tax administration information exceptions applicable and in not applying the Deliberative Process Privilege. After reviewing the record, including the withheld documents, we find that the trial court erred in not finding that the tax information and tax administration information exceptions, as provided in Tenn. Code Ann. _ 67-1-1702, applied. Consequently, we affirm the trial court's denial of the appellant's petition but for different reasoning. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Larry H. Coleman v. Matthew Kisber, et al. - Concurring
I concur with nearly all of the majority opinion, but disagree with one aspect of it. However, I would reach the same result with different reasoning, and so file this separate concurrence. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jeremy A. Jarvis
Following a jury trial, Defendant, Jeremy A. Jarvis, was found guilty of the second degree murder of Willard Ross, a Class A felony; the attempted second degree murder of Jovan Dixon, a Class B felony; one count of reckless endangerment, a Class E felony; and one count of possession of a weapon with the intent to go armed, a Class A misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced Defendant as a Range I, standard offender, to twenty-five years for his murder conviction, twelve years for his attempted murder conviction, two years for his felony reckless endangerment conviction, and eleven months, twenty-nine days for his misdemeanor conviction. The trial court ordered Defendant to serve his sentence for attempted second degree murder consecutively to his sentence for second degree murder, and the remaining sentences concurrently with each other and with his sentence for second degree murder, for an effective sentence of thirty-seven years. On appeal, Defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions of second degree murder and attempted second degree murder. After a thorough review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Rhonda L. (Hall) Greer v. John Bradley Greer
This is a divorce appeal involving parenting issues. The parties are the parents of three minor children. Prior to trial, the parties went through mediation and arrived at an agreement on many of their issues. The trial court then conducted a trial, taking testimony from the parties on a range of issues, including some that were the subject of the mediated agreement. The divorce decree and the parenting plan entered by the trial court adopted some of the parenting provisions in the mediated agreement, but not others. The father filed a motion to alter or amend this final decree, and a subsequent motion to enforce the parenting plan. The trial court modified the parenting plan in part and issued a final order. The father now appeals. We affirm, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion with respect to the number of parenting days allocated to the parties or the decision-making authority on the children's medical decisions. |
Madison | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Ricky N. Berry
The Defendant, Ricky N. Berry, was convicted after a jury trial in the Hamblen County Criminal Court of driving under the influence (DUI), third offense, a Class A misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to eleven months, twenty-nine days and ordered that the Defendant serve fifty-five percent of his sentence, 200 days, in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction and that his sentence was excessive. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Hamblen | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Charles Edward Brown, III
The Defendant, Charles Edward Brown, appeals the Hamilton County Criminal Court's order revoking his probation for domestic aggravated assault, a Class C felony, and ordering the remainder of his eight-year sentence into execution. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Montea Wilson (A.K.A. Marcus Floyd) v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Montea Wilson, appeals from the Criminal Court of Shelby County's denial in part of his petition for post-conviction relief and simultaneous order of a delayed appeal. After a hearing, the post-conviction court determined that appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to "protect[] the petitioner's right to litigate the trial court's failure to properly instruct the jury on [second degree murder as a lesser included offense of felony murder] by raising that point in the motion for new trial" and granted a delayed appeal. The postconviction court further determined that trial counsel were effective in their representation of petitioner and, at the time of the petitioner's trial, had no obligation to request second degree murder as a lesser included offense to felony murder. In this appeal, the Petitioner argues that the post-conviction court erred by not setting aside his conviction for felony murder and granting a new trial because (1) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request an instruction on second degree murder and for failing to allege in the motion for new trial that the trial court erred by not instructing the jury on second degree murder as a lesser included offense; and (2) appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to argue on direct appeal that the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on second degree murder as a lesser included offense constituted plain error. For the reasons set forth within this opinion, we reverse the post-conviction court's determination that trial counsel provided effective assistance of counsel, vacate the petitioner's conviction, and remand for a new trial. In regard to the petitioner's delayed appeal, our decision pertaining to trial counsel's performance renders it moot. |
Wilson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Curtis Wix
The defendant, Curtis Wix, appeals the trial court's revocation of his probation and reinstatement of his original sentence, arguing that a sentence of split confinement followed by a return to supervised probation or community corrections would have been more appropriate under the circumstances of his case. Following our review, we affirm the order of the trial court revoking the defendant's probation and reinstating his original sentence. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Carlos Jones
Defendant-Appellant, Carlos Jones, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of voluntary manslaughter and especially aggravated robbery. The trial court sentenced Jones to consecutive sentences of seven years at thirty-five percent for the voluntary manslaughter conviction and thirty-three years at one hundred percent for the especially aggravated robbery conviction, for an effective sentence of forty years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, Jones argues that the trial court erred in allowing a witness to testify about out-of-court statements made by a non-testifying co-defendant in violation of Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S. Ct. 1620 (1968). Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Brenda Johnson Head v. Michael Allen Head
This is a divorce action in which Husband appeals the valuation and division of marital property, and the trial court's awards of alimony, discretionary costs, and attorneys' fees to Wife. The trial court awarded 54 percent of the marital property to Wife and 46 percent to Husband, and awarded Wife alimony in futuro of $6,400 per month until July 2013, at which time the alimony payments will be reduced to $4,400 per month until either party's death or Wife's remarriage. The trial court also awarded Wife discretionary costs and attorneys' fees. We have modified the trial court's valuation of certain items of marital property, which caused a modest decrease in the value of marital property awarded to Husband; however, we affirm the trial court's division of the marital property because our modification of the value of certain property is relatively modest. We affirm the trial court's award of alimony to Wife and the award of attorneys' fees; however, we reverse the award of discretionary costs and remand for a new determination of the costs that may be awarded under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 54.04(2). We deny both parties' requests for the costs of their attorneys' fees incurred on this appeal. |
Sumner | Court of Appeals | |
Kerry Jordan v. YMCA of Middle Tennessee, et al.
A young woman was thrown from a horse at a camp operated by the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, breaking her arm. Unbeknownst to the woman, the same horse had thrown two experienced riders ten days earlier. She filed a suit for negligence against the YMCA and the camp, alleging that their employees and volunteers knew the horse to be dangerous, but that they nonetheless failed to ascertain whether she was sufficiently experienced to handle such an animal. The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming that they were immune from liability under the provisions of the Equine Activities Act, Tenn. Code Ann. _ 44-20-101 et seq. The trial court granted the motion. We reverse. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James M. Roderick
A Bradley County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, James M. Roderick, of rape, a Class B felony, and the trial court imposed a sentence of 10 years' incarceration to be served at 100 percent as a violent offender. On appeal, the defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Chanda Dawn Langston
The Defendant, Chanda Dawn Langston, pled guilty to six counts of forgery between $1,000 and $10,000, a Class D felony, and to one count of theft of property over $60,000, a Class B felony. On August 20, 2009, the defendant was sentenced as a Range I offender to four years' confinement for each of the six forgery convictions and twelve years' confinement for the theft conviction, all to be served concurrently. On appeal, the defendant contends that her sentences are excessive and that the trial court erred in denying her request for alternative sentencing. Although we conclude that the trial court erred in applying one enhancement factor, we hold that the sentence imposed by the trial court is appropriate. The judgments of the trial court are affirmed. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Larry J. Patterson
A Davidson County jury convicted the Defendant, Larry J. Patterson, of driving under the influence ("DUI"), first offense, and he was convicted after a bench trial of violation of the implied consent law. The trial court sentenced him to eleven months and twenty-nine days, thirty of which were to be served in jail, and it ordered that the defendant's driver's license be revoked for a period of one year. The defendant appeals, contending: (1) that the vehicle stop that led to his arrest was unlawful; and (2) that the trial court erred when it denied his motion for judgment of acquittal. After a thorough review of the record and applicable authorities, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Edna N. Zulueta v. Winfred Lassiter, M.D., of The Lassiter Clinic
Plaintiff appeals the summary dismissal of her medical malpractice complaint against Winifred Lassiter, M.D. Plaintiff alleges that Dr. Lassiter breached her duty of care by negligently performing a physical Fitness for Duty Examination. The trial court summarily dismissed the complaint finding that plaintiff failed to establish the elements of her claim or show a genuine issue of material fact. We affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals |