APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

In an opinion filed on January 7, 2005, this court affirmed the trial court's denial of probation but modified the defendant's sentence to comply with the requirements of Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. ____, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). On January 18, 2005, the state filed a petition to rehear pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 39. The state asserts that this court erred by modifying the sentence because the defendant waived any challenge under Blakely and because the record was incomplete.

Following a jury trial, Defendant, Steven Nelorn Hampton, Jr., was found guilty in count one of especially aggravated robbery, a Class A felony, and in count two of burglary of an automobile, a Class E felony. The trial court sentenced Defendant to concurrent sentences of twenty years for the especially aggravated robbery conviction and one year for the burglary conviction. Following a hearing on Defendant's motion for new trial, the trial court, acting in its capacity as thirteenth juror, found that the jury's verdict of guilty on the automobile burglary charge was contrary to the weight of the evidence and set aside Defendant's conviction for this offense. The trial court denied Defendant's motion for a new trial on the especially aggravated robbery conviction. On appeal, Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction of especially aggravated robbery and the length of his sentence. After a review of the record in this matter, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The unsuccessful Plaintiff, Kevin Easley, appeals the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Larry G. and Gary H. Baker, d/b/a Legend's Bar and Grill. On appeal, Easley argues that the record presents a genuine issue of fact on the question of whether Defendants provided adequate notice of a dangerous condition. We affirm the trial court.

Monica McPeek and Melinda S. Lockhart ("Defendant") were involved in an automobile accident. Monica McPeek and her husband, Eldridge McPeek, ("Plaintiffs" or "Ms. McPeek" and "Mr. McPeek" respectively) sued Defendant. The case was tried and the jury found Ms. McPeek to be 40% at fault for the accident and Defendant 60% at fault and awarded Ms. McPeek damages of $4,000 and Mr. McPeek zero damages. Plaintiffs appeal claiming the Trial Court erred in refusing to grant an additur or a new trial after the jury refused to award loss of consortium damages to Mr. McPeek and that the Trial Court erred by allowing the introduction of certain of Ms. McPeek's medical records. We affirm.

The petitioner, Robert Ledford, appeals the trial court's denial of post-conviction relief. The single issue presented for review is whether the petitioner was denied the effective assistance of counsel incident to his guilty pleas for second degree murder, aggravated robbery, especially aggravated kidnaping and theft. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

This appeal arises from the post-conviction court’s dismissal of the Petitioner’s petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner, Edward Beard, pled guilty to one count of rape, and the trial court sentenced him to eight years in prison, to be served at 100%. The Petitioner filed a pro se petition
for post-conviction relief. The trial court summarily dismissed the Petitioner’s petition because the Petitioner failed to submit any facts in support of his claims for relief. Finding no error in the judgment of the post-conviction court, we affirm the dismissal of the Petitioner’s petition for post-conviction relief.

The appellants, Kevin Dewitt Ford and Clifford Sylvester Wright, each pled guilty in the Davidson County Criminal Court to multiple counts of aggravated robbery. Appellant Ford received a total effective sentence of fifty years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Appellant Wright received a total effective sentence of forty-five years incarceration. As a condition of their pleas, the appellants attempted to reserve certified questions of law concerning the trial court's ruling on their motions to suppress. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we conclude that Appellant Wright failed to properly reserve a certified question of law. Additionally, we conclude that the trial court properly denied Appellant Ford's motions to suppress. Therefore, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The petitioner appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. Specifically, he contends that the trial court erred (1) in failing to find ineffective assistance of trial counsel, and (2) in denying the petitioner’s motion for a continuance. Following our review, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief.

The Petitioner James Beasley appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for habeas corpus ad testificandum. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. An appeal as of right does not exist from a denial of a petition for habeas corpus ad testificandum. Accordingly, the above-captioned appeal is dismissed.

We granted this appeal to determine whether an unexecuted brokerage agreement incorporated into an executed lease constitutes an enforceable contract, thereby requiring payment of a brokerage fee to one of the real estate brokers who provided services pursuant to the unexecuted agreement. We conclude that all parties to the brokerage agreement assented to its terms and that the brokerage agreement's "occupancy" requirement was satisfied. Accordingly, we hold that the agreement is enforceable, and we affirm the Court of Appeals' award of the unpaid commission to the real estate broker.

The defendant, Dennis Watson, pled guilty to possession with the intent to sell or deliver a controlled substance, Schedule II, cocaine, in an amount over .5 grams, a Class B felony, in exchange for a sentence of twelve years as a standard Range I offender in the Department of Correction. The defendant reserved two certified questions of law for this appeal: (1) whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss based upon the right to a speedy trial; and (2) whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. After reviewing the issues, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The State appeals the trial court’s decision to dismiss the indictment against the defendant, Casey Austin, without prejudice. For reasons discussed below, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The trial court permanently enjoined the City of Memphis from modifying its health care plan to require enrollees to obtain prescription medications through a mail-order pharmacy plan. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

The petitioner, Luther E. Fowler, appeals from the Johnson County Criminal Court's summary dismissal of his petition for habeas corpus relief. We affirm.

The appellant, Philander T. Fleming, was convicted by a jury in the Shelby County Criminal Court of voluntary manslaughter. The trial court sentenced the appellant to nine years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the appellant challenges the trial court’s ruling on his motion to suppress and the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. Upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

In the Divorce Decree Decedent was ordered to pay alimony "until remarriage or death of plaintiff". Decedent's estate refused to pay alimony. The Trial Court held the Decree required the payment of alimony after Decedent's death. On appeal, we reverse and dismiss.

The defendant, Doyle Arnel Whitlock, appeals from actions of the Washington County Criminal Court in the aftermath of his multiple, guilty-pleaded convictions, the denial of his motion to reduce his sentences, and his filing of a document titled "Appeal of Conviction," which despite the title raised issues of guilty plea validity and ineffective assistance of counsel. Upon our review, we dismiss the appeal in part and remand for further proceedings in the trial court.

This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann.  § 50-6-225(e)(3) for reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. In this appeal, the employer contends the trial court’s determination of sixty-five percent permanent partial impairment to the lower right extremity is excessive in light of the evidence. We hold that the evidence does not preponderate against the trial court’s findings. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

The defendant, Doreen Jones, was convicted of second degree murder. The trial court imposed a Range I sentence of twenty-one years. In this appeal, the defendant asserts (1) that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction; (2) that the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury; (3) that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence certain photographs of the victim; (4) that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury regarding expert testimony provided by a defense witness; (5) that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence a videotape recording; (6) that the trial court erred by permitting the medical examiner to testify that the victim's death resulted from abuse and neglect and by refusing to redact this statement from the autopsy report; (7) that the trial court erred by permitting the state to read certain Social Security regulations; and (8) that the trial court erred by refusing to grant a change of venue. The defendant has also asked this court to review the propriety of the sentence in light of Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. ___, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

We granted this appeal to determine whether evidence seized from the defendants’ residence
pursuant to a search warrant should be suppressed. Sheriff’s deputies entered the defendants’
residence without a warrant based upon an informant’s tip and the deputies’ recognition of the smell of anhydrous ammonia and ether. The deputies then detained the defendants while a warrant was obtained. We conclude that the deputies’ warrantless entry into the defendants’ residence was unlawful. However, the unlawful entry and any illegality in the subsequent detention did not taint the evidence seized pursuant to the search warrant, and the affidavit supporting the issuance of the warrant sufficiently established probable cause. Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

We granted review in this workers' compensation case to determine whether "nursing services," as used in Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-204(a) (1999), includes care provided by an injured employee's spouse where the spouse is a certified nurse technician. After reviewing the record and applicable authority, we conclude that care provided by a certified nurse technician is compensable under the Workers' Compensation Law irrespective of the relationship between the caregiver and the employee. We further hold that the care here was reasonably necessary and was provided pursuant to what the employee understood to be the physician's orders. Accordingly, we reverse the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel as to this issue and remand to the trial court for a determination of the value of the nursing services rendered by Mrs. Long. We affirm as to the other issues raised by the appellant employee.

Petitioner, Clarence Washington, appeals the trial court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the legality of his sentence for his conviction of the offense of escape from a penitentiary. After a review of the record, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.

We granted review in this case to determine the proper standard of review required by Tennessee Code Annotated section 68-211-704(c) (1996). We hold that the de novo review required by Tennessee Code Annotated section 68-211-704(c) requires the trial court to conduct an independent evaluation of all of the evidence before it. We overrule Tucker v. Humphreys County, 944 S.W.2d 613 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1996), upon which the Court of Appeals relied, and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals. We remand this case to the chancery court for a review of the county commission's findings using the proper de novo standard as required by Tennessee Code Annotated section 68-211-704(c) and this decision.

This is a state appeal from the Cumberland County Criminal Court's suppression of a handgun seized pursuant to a warrantless search of the defendant's vehicle. Because a "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule has not been adopted as a facet of the state constitution, we affirm.

The appellant, Frazier Fashun Perry, was indicted for: (1) possession of cocaine over .5 grams with the intent to sell or deliver; (2) possession of marijuana over one-half ounce with the intent to sell or deliver; and (3) being a drug felon in possession of a handgun. The appellant filed a motion to suppress the items seized as a result of the execution of a “no knock” search warrant. The trial court denied the motion to suppress and the appellant entered a guilty plea to possession of more than .5 grams of cocaine with the intent to resell, a Class B felony. As part of the plea agreement, the appellant reserved a certified question of law to determine whether exigent circumstances existed to justify execution of the “no knock” search warrant in violation of Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure 41(e). The appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. We determine that the trial court did not err in denying the motion to suppress as the State proved that exigent circumstances existed which justified the issuance of a “no knock” search warrant. Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.