APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

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William Lavern Davis vs. State

M2000-00341-CCA-R3-PC
The petitioner argues that in finding that his trial counsel was not ineffective and denying his post-conviction petition, the petitioner appeals from the trial court's denial of his post-conviction petition. He argues that the trial court erred by finding that his trial counsel was not ineffective. The trial court's order is affirmed.
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Originating Judge:William Charles Lee
Marshall County Court of Criminal Appeals 07/28/00
Roger Harris vs. State

E1999-02056-CCA-R3-PC
The petitioner, convicted of first degree murder and reckless endangerment, filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief in March 1995. The petition was amended several times, first by the petitioner, then by the public defender, and ultimately by private counsel. The trial court summarily dismissed the petition by order because it was not "verified by any oath or affirmation." We reverse and remand, holding that the original petition was filed under a statute that did not require verification by oath or affirmation and, in the alternative, that the affirmation executed by the private counsel is sufficient under the current law.
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Originating Judge:Lynn W. Brown
Unicoi County Court of Criminal Appeals 07/28/00
State vs. Edward T. Flye

M1999-01183-CCA-R3-CD
The defendant, Edward T. Flye, challenges the sufficiency of the evidence used to convict him of aggravated burglary and evading arrest. Because the evidence is adequate to support the convictions, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Authoring Judge: Judge Gary R Wade
Davidson County Court of Criminal Appeals 07/28/00
Tuttle vs. Tuttle

M1999-01578-COA-R3-CV
In a previous appeal, this divorce case was remanded to the trial court for a determination of whether the parties had any marital property and, if so, for the trial court to make an equitable division thereof. From the trial court's final decree in compliance with the order of remand, defendant appeals.
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:L. Craig Johnson
Coffee County Court of Appeals 07/28/00
State of Tennessee v. Michael F. Maraschiello

M1997-00049-CCA-R10-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Originating Judge:Robert W. Wedemeyer
Montgomery County Court of Criminal Appeals 07/28/00
Phelps vs. TDOC

M1999-02109-COA-R3-CV
Petitioner/Appellant, a state prisoner, filed his petition for common law certiorari asserting that he was being unconstitutionally and illegally incarcerated by the state and had not been given proper credits under various sentence reduction credit statutes and policies. The trial court granted summary judgment and Petitioner appealed. We affirm.
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Originating Judge:Carol L. Mccoy
Davidson County Court of Appeals 07/28/00
Mary Zelek v. Flagstar System,

M1999-00269-WC-R3-CV
The employer contends the trial judge erred by accrediting the expert medical testimony of a non-approved physician chosen by the employee, or her attorney, and that the award of permanent partial disability benefits is excessive.
Authoring Judge: Loser, Sp. J.
Originating Judge:J. O. Bond, Judge
Wilson County Workers Compensation Panel 07/28/00
Green vs. Innovative Recovery Services, Inc.

M1999-02227-COA-R3-CV
The attorney for a woman who had been injured in an auto accident claimed that his services entitled him to a portion of the subrogation interest asserted by TennCare against the settlement proceeds. The trial court dismissed his claim. We affirm the trial court.
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Originating Judge:Carol L. Mccoy
Davidson County Court of Appeals 07/28/00
Jeffrey Harris vs. Percy Pitzer

W2000-00187-COA-R3-CV
This case involves the incarceration of the Appellant in the state of Tennessee pursuant to a contract between the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and Corrections Corporation of America. The Appellant filed a Petition for Habeas Corpus Relief in the Circuit Court of Hardeman County. The trial court entered an order granting the Appellee's Motion to Dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The Appellant appeals from the dismissal of his Petition filed in the Circuit Court of Hardeman County. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the trial court's decision.
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Originating Judge:Jon Kerry Blackwood
Hardeman County Court of Appeals 07/28/00
State vs. Robin Vanhoose

W1999-00708-CCA-R3-CD
The defendant was convicted by a Hardin County jury of aggravated assault and received an eight-year sentence as a Range II multiple offender. He now appeals his conviction alleging (1) the indictment does not state an offense; and (2) the evidence is insufficient to support aggravated assault. We conclude the indictment adequately informed the defendant of the offense charged, and the evidence presented at trial was sufficient for the jury to conclude he was guilty of aggravated assault. Thus, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Originating Judge:C. Creed Mcginley
Hardin County Court of Criminal Appeals 07/28/00
State vs. Selina Harrelson

W1999-00521-CCA-R3-CD
The defendant, Selina G. Harrelson, was convicted of possession of one-half gram or more of cocaine with intent to sell. She contends that the officer did not have probable cause to search the truck with the drug detection dog; that the evidence is insufficient to show that she possessed crack cocaine; and that the trial court should have imposed a sentence alternative to incarceration. We hold that the defendant lacked a reasonable expectation of privacy in the truck to contest the search and that, in any event, the officer had probable cause. We hold that the evidence is sufficient to support the conviction and that the trial court properly sentenced the defendant to incarceration. We affirm the judgment of conviction.
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Joseph M. Tipton
Originating Judge:C. Creed Mcginley
Hardin County Court of Criminal Appeals 07/28/00
Johnson vs. Sumner Regional Health Systems

M2000-00248-COA-R3-CV
James Johnson, as the next of kin and natural son of Belvia Johnson, appeals the trial court's final judgment dismissing his medical malpractice action against Appellee Sumner Regional Health Systems, Inc., d/b/a Sumner Regional Medical Center. Belvia Johnson (Decedent) sustained injuries when she fell off a gurney while being treated in the Medical Center's emergency room. After the Decedent's death several months later, James Johnson filed a medical malpractice complaint against the Medical Center in which he sought to recover for the "serious and permanent injuries, pain and suffering, medical expenses, and death" of the Decedent caused by her fall in the emergency room. The trial court entered summary judgment in favor of the Medical Center and dismissed Johnson's medical malpractice complaint based upon Johnson's concession that the record contained no evidence to support his claim that the Decedent's death was caused by the Medical Center's negligence. Our review of the record on appeal reveals that, although Johnson conceded that he lacked proof to support his wrongful death claim, Johnson did have proof to support his medical malpractice claim against the Medical Center. Specifically, the record contains evidence that, as a proximate result of the Medical Center's negligence, the Decedent suffered injuries that otherwise would not have occurred. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's judgment of dismissal, and we remand this cause for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Arthur E. Mcclellan
Sumner County Court of Appeals 07/27/00
Timothy P. Hancock, et al vs. The Chattanooga- Hamilton Cty Hospital Authority , d/b/a T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital, et al

E1999-00169-COA-R9-CV
The issues in this medical malpractice case turn on whether the holding of the Supreme Court in the case of Jordan vs. Baptist Three Rivers Hospital, 984 S.W.2d 593 (Tenn. 1999) applies to the facts now before us. Because the cause of action in the instant case accrued prior to the release of the Supreme Court's opinion in Jordan, we conclude that the holding in that case cannot be retrospectively applied to the instant case. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's judgment dismissing that portion of the amended complaint seeking loss of consortium damages.
Authoring Judge: Judge Charles D. Susano, Jr.
Originating Judge:Samuel H. Payne
Hamilton County Court of Appeals 07/27/00
The Shelby Ins. Co. and The Anthem Cas.Ins. Group vs. Henry Mathes , Joann Mathes and Jerry Stewart

E2000-00186-COA-R3-CV
In this declaratory judgment action the insurance company sought a declaration that an incident giving rise to a suit by Stewart against the insurance company's insured Mathes, was not covered due to an exclusion in the policy. The Trial Judge ruled the exclusion did not apply, and the insurance company appealed. We affirm.
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel P. Franks
Originating Judge:Jean A. Stanley
Washington County Court of Appeals 07/27/00
Donna Thweatt v. Travelers Property & Casualty

M1999-01903-WC-R3-CV
The issues in this workers' compensation appeal are whether the chancellor erred in determining the plaintiff to be an employee; was the injury from inhaling chemicals compensable; was the award of 9% to the body as a whole excessive; and was commutation to lump sum appropriate. This panel affirms the decision of the trial judge. On appeal the appellant requests costs for a frivolous appeal which this panel declines to grant.
Authoring Judge: Kurtz, Sp.J.
Originating Judge:Tom E. Gray, Chancellor
Sumner County Workers Compensation Panel 07/27/00
Hunt vs. Hunt

M1997-00221-COA-R3-CV
This appeal involves the financial aspects of a divorce that ended a seventeen-year marriage. Both parties sought a divorce, and following a bench trial, the Chancery Court for Sumner County granted the wife a divorce based on the husband's inappropriate marital conduct. The trial court awarded the wife most of the marital estate, apart from the parties' pensions. The court also directed the husband to pay most of the marital debt and a portion of the wife's legal expenses. While the trial court did not require the husband to pay long-term alimony, it required him to pay $4,200 in alimony in solido. The wife asserts on this appeal that the trial court should have awarded her a greater portion of the marital estate and permanent spousal support. We have determined that the trial court's distribution of the marital estate is essentially equitable. However, in light of the length of the marriage and the disparity in income, we have determined that, in addition to the alimony in solido, the husband should pay the wife $120 per month beginning after his last alimony in solido payment through January 2007.
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Originating Judge:Thomas E. Gray
Sumner County Court of Appeals 07/27/00
Wyatt vs. State

E1998-00097-SC-R11-CO
This is an appeal from the judgment of the Bledsoe County Criminal Court, which denied the defendant's petition for habeas corpus relief. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the trial court's denial of the petition, rejecting the defendant's argument that his original indictment, which charged attempted first-degree murder by an "attempt to kill," was insufficient for failing to allege an overt act and thus failed to confer jurisdiction on the trial court. We granted the defendant's application for permission to appeal. We hold that the indictment in this case sufficiently alleges an act as required by the criminal attempt statute in stating that the defendant "did . . . attempt to kill" and that habeas corpus relief was thus properly denied. Accordingly, we affirm the lower courts' judgments.
Authoring Judge: Justice E. Riley Anderson
Originating Judge:Thomas W. Graham
Bledsoe County Supreme Court 07/27/00
Roane County, TN vs. Christmas Lumber Co.

E1999-00370-COA-R9-CV
This is a condemnation case. The trial court entered an order finding that Roane County ("the County") has the right to condemn the respondents' property for use as an industrial park. We granted the respondents' application for an interlocutory appeal to review the trial court's determination that the County has the right to condemn the subject property. Finding that the County's petition is legally deficient, we vacate the trial court's order and remand for further proceedings.
Authoring Judge: Judge Charles D. Susano, Jr.
Originating Judge:Russell E. Simmons, Jr.
Roane County Court of Appeals 07/27/00
Monceret vs. The Board of Professional Responsibility

E1999-00545-SC-R3-CV
This is an appeal from the Knox County Chancery Court, which affirmed a hearing panel's ruling that the appellant violated Tenn. R. Sup. Ct. 8, DR 7-104(A)(1) by deposing a witness that he knew to be represented by counsel. We hold that the chancery court correctly determined that the term "party" used in DR 7-104(A)(1) is not limited to the named plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit and may also include a witness who is represented by counsel. We further hold that the protection of the Rule cannot be waived by the party but only by the party's lawyer. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.
Authoring Judge: Justice E. Riley Anderson
Originating Judge:Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.
Knox County Supreme Court 07/27/00
Alfred Dowdy v. Willie Joe Alexander,

W1999-00222-COA-R10-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:Walter L. Evans
Shelby County Court of Appeals 07/27/00
State vs. Lawrence Sherrill

W1999-01488-CCA-R3-CD
This appeal results from the defendant's conviction by a Carroll County jury for introducing contraband into a penal institution. He was sentenced to six years incarceration and fined $2,500. On appeal, the defendant asserts that the trial court erred in not granting his motion for a new trial based on the lack of evidence to corroborate the testimony of his accomplice required for a conviction. After careful review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Originating Judge:C. Creed Mcginley
Carroll County Court of Criminal Appeals 07/27/00
Boles vs. TN Farmers Mutual Ins. Co.

M1999-00727-COA-R3-CV
In this action for breach of insurance contract, Plaintiffs Dorothy Calatrello Boles and her husband, Marty Boles, appeal the trial court's final judgment dismissing their complaint against Defendants/Appellees Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company and Lee Brooks, individually and as agent for Tennessee Farmers. Contrary to the trial court's ruling, we conclude that the Plaintiffs adequately complied with the service of process requirements set forth in rule 4.04 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's judgment of dismissal, and we remand this cause for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:John W. Rollins
Coffee County Court of Appeals 07/27/00
Blake Industries, Inc. vs. General Agents Ins. Co. of America

M1999-01891-COA-R3-CV
In this declaratory judgment action, the appellant has appealed to the Court from the order of dismissal entered in the trial court. Specifically, the trial court found that the insurance contract between the plaintiff/appellant and the defendant/appellee, a commercial insurance company, excluded from coverage liability for damage sustained as a result of the plaintiff/appellant's workmanship. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm the trial court's order.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.
Davidson County Court of Appeals 07/27/00
Michael A. Rhodes vs. State

M2000-00369-CCA-R3-PC
This is an appeal arising from the summary dismissal of a petition for post-conviction relief. The trial court's dismissal was based upon the failure to file the petition within the one-year statute of limitations. Upon review of the record, we reverse and remand for further proceedings since the petition was filed within one year of the date of the final action of the Tennessee Supreme Court in the direct appeal.
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Originating Judge:James K. Clayton, Jr.
Rutherford County Court of Criminal Appeals 07/27/00
Phillips vs. Phillips

M1999-00212-COA-R3-CV
This appeal arises from a dispute between Plaintiff Melanie Dianne (Davis) Phillips ("Wife") and Defendant Thomas Hickman Phillips ("Husband") regarding the terms of their divorce. The trial court (1) granted a divorce to Wife, (2) divided the parties' marital property, (3) awarded rehabilitative alimony to Wife, (4) awarded attorney's fees to Wife, and (5) denied a motion for costs filed by Husband. For the reasons set forth below, we modify the court's division of the parties' marital property. In all other respects, however, we affirm the ruling of the trial court.
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Originating Judge:Muriel Robinson
Davidson County Court of Appeals 07/27/00