Opinions
Timothy E. Higgs v. State of Tennessee
This case is before this court upon the petitioner’s, Timothy E. Higgs, motion to late-file his notice of appeal. Upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we dismiss the appeal. |
Weakley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
In Re Estate of Ruthie Mae Boykin Raymond Boykin v. Rubystein Casher
This appeal involves the administration of an intestate estate. The respondent was appointed administratrix of her mother’s estate. She administered the estate with the help of an attorney. At the time of the decedent’s death, the decedent and the respondent owned a joint banking account with the right of survivorship. The respondent determined that the proceeds in the account passed directly to her upon the decedent’s death, and so she did not include it in the decedent’s estate. The respondent made a final distribution to the heirs of the estate, and the estate was closed. Subsequently, the petitioner, one of the decedent’s heirs and the respondent’s brother, filed a motion to reopen the estate. He alleged that the respondent and her attorney mismanaged the estate and violated his claimed right to a portion of the decedent’s joint checking account. The trial court reopened the estate and appointed a successor administrator. After a hearing, the trial court granted the petitioner’s claim to some additional distribution, but determined that the petitioner was not entitled to a portion of his mother’s joint checking account. The petitioner now appeals. Because all of the petitioner’s claims were not adjudicated by the trial court, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Harry W. Lofton v. Nelda Joan Lofton
This is a divorce case terminating a 40 year marriage. Husband/Appellant appeals the trial court’s division of marital property, award of alimony in futuro, and award of attorney’s fees to Wife/Appellee. In addition, Husband/Appellant contends that the trial court erred in granting Wife/Appellee’s motions to re-open proof, and in denying Husband/Appellant’s motion for summary judgment. We affirm as modified herein. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Patty Brown v. Chester County School District
This is a premises liability case against the county. The plaintiff attended a football game at a county high school. She fell on the steps leading to the bleachers in the football stadium and suffered back injuries. She claimed that the step on which she fell was dented prior to her fall, and that this caused her fall. The plaintiff filed this action against the school district, alleging that it was negligent in failing to correct a dangerous condition or in failing to warn her about the dangerous condition on the school district’s property. The school district filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that there was no genuine issue of material fact regarding the school district’s actual or constructive notice of the defective condition. Alternatively, it claimed that the school district was immune from suit under the GTLA. The trial court agreed with the school district and granted summary judgment based on both grounds. The plaintiff now appeals. We reverse and remand, concluding that the plaintiff submitted sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact on the issue of whether the school district had actual or constructive notice of a dangerous or defective condition, and that the school district is not immune from suit under the GTLA. |
Chester | Court of Appeals | |
Kina Crider, et al. v. The County of Henry, Tennessee
This case addresses the allocation of funds received by a county from the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Tennessee Valley Authority is exempted from state taxation, but makes payments to the county in lieu of taxes. Historically, the county has earmarked these funds for education and has allocated a portion of them to the special school districts within the county. In 2003, however, the county decided to phase out the allocation of funds to the special school districts. Subsequently, the plaintiffs in this action, parents of children in a special school district located in the county, sued the county, arguing that the county’s decision to stop sending funds to the special school district violated several statutory provisions. The trial court granted summary judgment to the county. The plaintiffs now appeal. We affirm, concluding that the case is controlled by the decision in Oak Ridge City Schools v. Anderson County, 677 S.W.2d 468 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1984), and that the county is entitled to summary judgment. |
Henry | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Von Arlen McKinney
The defendant, Von Arlen McKinney, was convicted of driving under the influence (DUI), third offense; driving on a revoked license, fourth offense; possession of drug paraphernalia; and violation of the implied consent law. He was sentenced to eleven months and twenty-nine days at seventy-five percent for his DUI offense; eleven months and twenty-nine days for driving on a revoked license, to run concurrent to the DUI; eleven months and twenty-nine days for possession of drug paraphernalia, to run concurrent to the other sentences; and eleven months and twenty-nine days for violation of the implied consent law, with five days to run consecutive to his other sentences, for a total effective sentence of eleven months and thirty-four days. On appeal, the defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient and that the sentence imposed was excessive. After careful review, we affirm the judgments from the trial court. |
Hamblen | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kenneth Paul Vanderpool
Defendant pled guilty to three counts of forgery, one count of theft of less than $500, and two counts of failure to appear. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced Defendant as a career offender to six years on each count of forgery to be served concurrently with each other and six years on each count of failure to appear to be served concurrently with each other, but consecutively to the sentence for the forgery convictions. Defendant was sentenced to eleven months, twenty-nine days for the theft under $500 to be served concurrently to the other sentences. These sentences were then run consecutively to the nine year sentence Defendant was already serving. On appeal, Defendant argues that the sentence is excessive and contrary to law. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Tennessee Realty Development., Inc. v. State of Tennessee (Dept. of Transportation) and American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T)
In this appeal, we are asked to determine whether the chancery court erred in failing to allow Appellant to proceed with discovery after the State of Tennessee filed its Motion to Dismiss, in dismissing Appellant’s Complaint and Amended Complaint based solely on argument, without any proof by testimony or documentation, and in dismissing Appellant’s Complaint and Amended Complaint in regards to BellSouth which did not file a motion to dismiss or present evidence or documentation prior to the court’s dismissal. On appeal, Appellant contends that it was entitled to proceed with discovery before the court ruled on the State’s motions. Likewise, Appellant argues that the State should have been required to prove ownership of an easement right of way over Appellant’s property. Finally, Appellant contends that because BellSouth filed only a Notice of Appearance, Appellant’s claim against BellSouth should not have been dismissed. We affirm the trial court’s dismissal. |
Henry | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Britt Alan Ferguson
The defendant, Britt Alan Ferguson, was convicted by an Obion County jury of facilitation of the initiation of a process intended to result in the manufacture of methamphetamine, a Class C felony; two counts of promotion of the manufacture of methamphetamine, a Class D felony; unlawful drug paraphernalia use and activities, a Class A misdemeanor; and two counts of possession of a controlled substance, a Class E felony;1 and was sentenced by the trial court as a multiple offender to an effective sentence of six years in the Department of Correction. Following the denial of his untimely motion for new trial, he filed an untimely notice of appeal to this court, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence in support of his methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia convictions and arguing that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence. The State responded with a motion to dismiss on the basis that both the motion for new trial and notice of appeal were untimely. This court granted the motion in part, ruling that the defendant had waived the suppression issue by his untimely motion for new trial but that we would waive the untimely notice of appeal in order to consider the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. Following our review, we conclude that the evidence is sufficient to sustain the convictions. Accordingly, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Obion | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Express Disposal, LLC v. City of Memphis
In this appeal, we are asked to determine whether Express Disposal had a legal, vested right to conduct its garbage collection business for residences in Berryhill prior to its annexation by the city of Memphis, such that Memphis’ exercise of its exclusive right to provide municipal services in Berryhill constituted a taking of Express Disposal’s property rights without just compensation in violation of Article I, section 21 of the Tennessee Constitution. We find that Memphis’ takeover of residential garbage collection in Berryhill did not amount to a constitutional taking, such that Express Disposal was entitled to compensation. Thus, we affirm the circuit court’s dismissal of Express Disposal’s claim for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Lasalle Bank National Association v. Louis Hammond
Memorandum Opinion - This is an appeal from an order of the trial court granting a motion for summary judgment filed by Lasalle Bank National Association (Lasalle Bank). The appeal is dismissed.
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Madison | Court of Appeals | |
Joyann E. Butler v. James Michael Butler
In this divorce proceeding, Wife appeals the trial court’s decision not to enforce the parties’ Marital Dissolution Agreement, the trial court’s distribution of the marital assets, and the trial court’s failure to sanction Husband for failure to comply with the discovery rules. After Wife filed for divorce, the parties executed a Martial Dissolution Agreement. The trial court, however, refused to enforce the Marital Dissolution Agreement because some of Husband’s property was damaged while within Wife’s exclusive control. The trial court admitted as evidence Wife’s attorney’s statement that he would not permit Wife to damage husband’s property. We affirm that attorney’s statement was properly admissible parol evidence and the trial court properly denied Wife’s motion to enforce the Martial Dissolution Agreement. Wife also argues that the trial court failed to equitably distribute the marital assets and that the court erred by failing to sanction Husband for discovery violations. This Court affirms the trial court’s division of marital assets, as modified, and its order denying Wife’s request for sanctions. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Michael S. Powell v. State of Tennessee
A Hamilton County jury convicted the petitioner, Michael S. Powell, of count one, first degree felony murder, with the underlying felony being aggravated child abuse, and of count two, aggravated child abuse. The trial court sentenced him to concurrent sentences of life in prison for the murder conviction and twenty years for the aggravated child abuse conviction. The petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief claiming that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. After a hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed the petition. The petitioner appeals that dismissal, contending that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request that a mental evaluation be conducted on the petitioner. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Katrina M. Everhart
Following her guilty plea to facilitation of robbery and a sentencing hearing in the Sullivan County Criminal Court, the defendant, Katrina M. Everhart, appeals that court’s decision to order her three year sentence to be served in the Department of Correction. She claims on appeal that the criminal court erroneously denied her alternative sentencing. We affirm the judgment of the criminal court. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
James E. Dyer, et al. v. Hill Services Plumbing and HVAC
This appeal arises from a dispute between an employee and employer over life insurance coverage under a group insurance policy. The facts of this case are relatively straightforward; the procedural history, however, is surprisingly complicated. Ultimately, we dismiss for lack of a final judgment and remand to the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Eller Media Company v. City of Memphis, et al.
This appeal concerns the value of property taken by the City of Memphis under its eminent domain power. The condemned land was subject to a leasehold interest held by the Appellant. The Appellant used the land as a site for a billboard, which it rented to advertisers. After taking possession of the land, the City compensated the owner, but not the Appellant. Appellant sought compensation for its property interest, and designated an expert witness to offer proof on its value. The City objected to the expert’s methodology, and asked the trial court to exclude his testimony. After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court ruled that the expert’s methodology was prohibited by this Court’s decision in State ex rel. Comm’r v. Teasley, 913 S.W.2d 175 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1995). Without the expert’s testimony, Appellant could not present proof on the value of its property interest and accordingly, the trial court entered a judgment for the City. Finding that the trial court erred when excluding Appellant’s expert, we reverse. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Doyle Winslow Smith
The defendant, Doyle Winslow Smith, was convicted of three counts of rape of a child, all Class A felonies, and one count of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony. He was sentenced to twenty-two years on each Class A felony conviction and ten years on the Class B felony conviction. The sentences ran concurrently for a total effective sentence of twenty-two years. The defendant presents eight issues on appeal. He contends that: the evidence was insufficient; he was denied access to certain exculpatory evidence; the trial court had proper authority to appoint a special master to review evidence; the State failed to provide him with constitutionally sufficient particularization prior to trial as to the time of the alleged offenses; he received ineffective assistance of counsel; the trial court erred in instructing the jury; he was sentenced improperly; and the cumulative errors committed warrant reversal. After careful review, we reverse and remand for a new trial. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Bobby Gene Walker, Jr.
The defendant, Bobby Gene Walker, Jr., appeals his conviction for second offense DUI. The defendant claims there was insufficient evidence presented to the jury to sustain a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. After complete review, we affirm the judgment from the trial court. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Melvin L. Taylor
A Davidson County jury convicted the defendant, Melvin L. Taylor, of one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of attempted aggravated rape, both Class B felonies, and one count of aggravated assault, a Class C felony. The defendant received a total effective sentence of 30 years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant asserts that the evidence produced at trial was insufficient to sustain his aggravated kidnapping conviction. After reviewing the record, we affirm the judgments of trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Henry Ford Williams, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Henry Ford Williams, Jr., appeals from the denial of his 2006 petition for post-conviction relief, which challenged his 2002 convictions of possession with the intent to sell .5 grams or more of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school zone and of simple possession of cocaine. He asserts that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial and that he was denied due process because the jury pool was racially imbalanced. Finding that the petitioner has failed to show by clear and convincing evidence that counsel was ineffective and that the petitioner has waived his due process claim, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Robertson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Melody Young v. Donald Gregory Godfrey
This appeal involves an order entered by an Alabama court in 1996 regarding child custody and support. The trial court modified the order to require the father to pay future and retroactive child support. We vacate the portion of the order dealing with modification, because the trial court lacked jurisdiction to modify the order, and remand for further proceedings. |
Marion | Court of Appeals | |
Exel Transportation Services, Inc. v. Inter-Ego Systems, Inc. d/b/a Pinnacle Loudspeakers a/k/a Pinnacle Speakers
This appeal involves a dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction. The plaintiff transportation company has its principal place of business in Tennessee. It provided transportation services and financing to the defendant foreign corporation. The defendant eventually defaulted on payments due to the plaintiff. After negotiations by telephone, fax, and email, the parties agreed to a payment plan to bring the defendant’s account current. They executed a letter agreement confirming the arrangement. Subsequently, the Tennessee plaintiff realized that a substantial amount of the services it had rendered to the defendant foreign corporation were inadvertently not included in the letter agreement. The Tennessee plaintiff filed a lawsuit in Tennessee against the foreign corporation, seeking rescission or reformation of the agreement. The defendant foreign corporation filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss, finding that the defendant foreign corporation had not purposely availed itself of the privilege of doing business in Tennessee and did not have sufficient contacts with Tennessee to be subjected to jurisdiction in this state. We affirm, finding that the circumstances do not support the exercise of either general or specific jurisdiction |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Maurice Currie
The Defendant, Maurice Currie, was convicted of possession of .5 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to deliver and received an eight-and-one-half-year sentence. In this appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court erred by failing to suppress the drugs discovered during the search of his residence and car. He contends that the search warrant that the officers executed at his residence was invalid because the reliability of the informant was based upon information received from another officer, not named in the warrant. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Lauderdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Autumn Laine McDaniel v. Kevin Eugene McDaniel
This is a divorce case. The parties were married in 2004, had one child in early 2005, and separated in late 2005. The wife filed a complaint for divorce soon after, and the husband counterclaimed for divorce. During the separation, the wife was the primary residential parent. The wife took various prescription medicines for several conditions, and had previously been addicted to pain medication. At the time of trial, the husband was cohabiting with a young woman whom he began dating when she was seventeen years old. During a substantial portion of the husband’s scheduled parenting time, the parties’ minor child was in the care of either the husband’s parents or the husband’s paramour. At trial, the wife testified as to the amount of her annual income, but proffered no documentary proof or other evidence. The trial court designated the wife as the primary residential parent, reduced the husband’s residential parenting time, and used the amount of income to which the wife testified to set the husband’s child support obligation. The husband appeals. He argues that the trial court erred in designating the wife as the primary residential parent, in reducing his residential parenting time, and in failing to impute to the wife the income level set forth in the child support guidelines. We affirm. |
McNairy | Court of Appeals | |
Rhonda Lynn G. (Pickle) Wheeler v. Jackie David Pickle
This appeal involves child support in the form of funds to be deposited into a savings account. The parties had two children and divorced. The mother was the primary residential parent. The father was ordered to pay some child support, below the guideline amount, directly to the mother. In addition, he was ordered to open and fund a savings account to be used to pay the children’s uninsured medical expenses. The order also stated that, once the children reached majority, any amounts left in the savings account were to be disbursed to the children. The father never opened or funded the savings account. The mother sought an award for the amounts that were supposed to have been deposited in the savings account. The trial court granted such an award in favor of the mother, and the father appeals. He argues that the amount that he was ordered to deposit into a savings account for uninsured medical expenses could not have been considered child support because the unused funds were to be disbursed to the children after they reached majority. He also argues that child support payments he made after the children reached majority should have been credited against any arrearage related to the savings account. We affirm, finding that the amounts ordered to have been placed in the savings account were part of the father’s child support obligation, and that the trial court did not err in declining to grant the father credit against the award based on child support paid after the children reached majority. |
McNairy | Court of Appeals |