The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear two health care liability disputes among four cases scheduled for oral arguments March 4 in Jackson.
The first case concerns the procedures required when filing a health care liability lawsuit. At the time the suit was filed, state law required a plaintiff to file a certificate within 90 days of the initiation of a lawsuit, confirming that the plaintiff has consulted with medical experts before filing the suit and stating whether the plaintiff's lawyer has ever been in violation of the law requiring the certificate.In this case from Dyer County, the attorney, who had never violated the statute, filed the required certificate but did not state that he had zero prior violations of the statute. The defendants sought dismissal of the case based on that omission. The plaintiffs sought to dismiss the case with the option to refile it.
The trial court allowed the dismissal and the defendants appealed. The Supreme Court will consider whether the failure to indicate zero prior violations of the law constitutes a failure to comply with the law requiring the good faith certificate.
In the second health care liability case, the Supreme Court will consider whether to change the standard for granting and denying motions for summary judgment. Summary judgment is a decision by a trial court before the case is heard, based on a determination that there is no material dispute about the case’s facts.
In this case, a couple sued a Memphis health care center for failing to provide treatment during the mother’s pregnancy that, while not injuring the mother or harming her unborn child, could lead to complications in future pregnancies. The Court will determine whether the trial court properly granted the defendant’s summary judgment on some of the issues in the case.
Other cases the court will hear that day:
- State v. Rickey Alvis Bell, Jr.– This is a direct appeal of a death penalty case. Mr. Bell was found guilty and sentenced to death for two counts of felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated sexual battery in the 2010 death of a Drummonds woman. A Supreme Court review of death penalty sentences is mandatory in Tennessee. The Court also will consider whether the state's legal definition of intellectually disabled is constitutional in light of the United States Supreme Court's recent opinion in Hall v. Florida.
- State v. Courtney Knowles – In this criminal case from Shelby County, the Supreme Court will consider whether a prosecution error in the trial deprived Mr. Knowles of his constitutional right to a unanimous jury verdict. In this case, which involves the rape of a child, the judge requested that the prosecutor identify the particular incident and act for the jury to consider among many testified to. The prosecutor referred to a specific type of sexual penetration that was not in evidence for the day in question. The jury found the defendant guilty, and the Court will now decide whether the prosecutor's erroneous reference amounted to reversible error.
See the schedule of oral arguments.