COURT OF APPEALS OPINIONS

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Court of Appeals

Traci Sorrells vs. Donald Lee Sorrells
E1999-01658-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: C. Van Deacon

Bradley Court of Appeals

03A01-9506-CH-00182
03A01-9506-CH-00182

Court of Appeals

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X2010-0000-XX-X00-XX

Court of Appeals

02A01-9409-CH-00218
02A01-9409-CH-00218
Trial Court Judge: D. J. Alissandratos

Shelby Court of Appeals

03A01-9505-CV-00151
03A01-9505-CV-00151

Hamilton Court of Appeals

Edwin H. Bush and William G. Gibson, Co-Administrators of the Estate of Lonnie Mae Lane, Deceased, v. Tony Wesley Carrick
01A01-9507-CH-00288
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Tyrus H. Cobb

The nature of this suit is stated in the complaint as follows: The purpose of this action is to set aside for the benefit of the estate of the said Lonnie Mae Lane the conveyances of the land
hereinafter described, which rendered the said Harvey Wesley Carrick and his estate insolvent and which were fraudulent as to creditors of Harvey Wesley Carrick and his estate.

Bedford Court of Appeals

01A01-9505-CV-00210
01A01-9505-CV-00210
Trial Court Judge: Walter C. Kurtz

Davidson Court of Appeals

Gail Farley Dyer v. Terry R. Farley - Concurring
01-A-01-9506-CH-00229
Authoring Judge: Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Vernon Neal

The defendant Terry R. Farley, has appealed from the final judgment of the Trial Court in a controversy regarding his dealings with his deceased father, Benton James Farley.

DeKalb Court of Appeals

Earl L. Fox v. Tennessee Board of Paroles
01A01-9506-CH-00263
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Robert S. Brandt

This appeal involves the denial of parole to an inmate serving a twenty-year sentence for aggravated rape. The inmate filed a petition for common-law writ of certiorari in the Chancery Court for Davidson County challenging the Tennessee Board of Parole’s decision. The trial court granted the board’s motion to dismiss. We affirm the dismissal because the inmate’s petition fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. A common-law writ of certiorari cannot be used to review the intrinsic correctness of the parole board’s decision.

Davidson Court of Appeals

June R. Husted, mother and next-of-kin of Todd F. Husted, Deceased, v. Everett Echols, III, M.D., Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, et al.
01A01-9507-CV-00286
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Judge Thomas W. Brothers

This is a suit for wrongful death by suicide allegedly resulting from negligence of the defendant, a psychiatrist. After a jury could not agree upon a verdict, the Trial Judge directed a verdict and dismissed the suit. Plaintiff has appealed and presented a single issue as follows:

Davidson Court of Appeals

Carolyn Louise Taylor Perkins v. John Bauman Perkins, Jr., - Concurring
01A01-9504-CV-001
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Judge Robert L. Jackson

This is a divorce case in which Wife appeals the judgment of the trial court regarding, inter alia, the division of marital property and the trial court's allowance of expert testimony.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Donna Faye Glover England, v. Richard Piercey
01A01-9507-CH-00320
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor C. K. Smith

This is a grandparent's visitation case. Plaintiff, Donna Faye Glover England, is the maternal grandmother of Skylar Piercey, age four. Skylar's natural mother died in December of 1993. Skylar's natural father, Richard Piercey, now refuses to allow England to see Skylar. England filed a petition for grandparent visitation. The trial court dismissed the case based upon the Tennessee Supreme Court decision of Hawk v. Hawk, 855 S.W. 2d 573 (Tenn. 1993), reasoning that Hawk allows Piercey as the natural father, to deny England the right to see Skylar in the absence of a showing of substantial harm to the child. We affirm the decision of the trial court.

Court of Appeals

Jerry D. Adcock and wife, Nancy M. Adcock, v. James F. Witcher, Jr.
01A01-9505-CH-00220
Authoring Judge: Judge Samuel L. Lewis
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Robert S. Brandt

This is an appeal by plaintiffs/appellants, Jerry and Nancy Adcock, from the judgment of the trial court in favor of defendant/appellee, James F. Witcher.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Katherine Montgomery Price v. Thomas Bradley Price - Concurring
01-A-01-9505-GS-00208
Authoring Judge: Judge Samuel L. Lewis
Trial Court Judge: Judge Robert P. Hamilton

The sole issue presented by the appellant is: "Did the trial court err by awarding custody of the appellant's minor child to a third party?"

Wilson Court of Appeals

In the Matter of: Estate of Jim Eden (Deceased), Georgia Bradley, v. Betty Lewis, Agnes Hendsley, and Bertie Carver, Executors
01A01-9501-CH-00005
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Bobby H. Capers

This appeal arises from a dispute over a will in which a 93-year-old man left his estate to three of his four surviving daughters. The daughter who was not named in her father’s will challenged the validity of the will after her sisters propounded it for probate in the Chancery Court for Trousdale County. The chancery court transferred the case to the Circuit Court for Trousdale County where a jury found in favor of the will. The daughter who contested the will has appealed. We have determined that no reversible error was committed in the circuit court proceeding and, therefore, affirm the circuit court’s judgment and remand the case to the chancery court for further probate proceedings.

Trousdale Court of Appeals

Delo Brock, v. Tennessee Department of Corrections
01A01-9503-CH-00078
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Robert S. Brandt

The Chancery Court of Davidson County dismissed the appellant's petition for declaratory judgment, filed pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-5-223, to review the Department of Correction's calculation of the credits due on his prison sentences. The chancellor concluded that the appellant had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Lisa Jones, Charlotte Tackett, and Jenetta Brock, v. James Davenport, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Employment of Security and Lake City Health Care Center
03A01-9506-CH00187
Authoring Judge: Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Trial Court Judge: Judge Billy Joe White

Appellants' appeal from the Chancellor's determination that the denial of unemployment benefits was properly based on the employees' misconduct connected with their work.

 

Court of Appeals

Terry LaClaire (Smith) Martin, v. Ray Willard Martin
01A01-9507-GS-00292
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Judge Robert P. Hamilton

The General SessionsCourt of Wilson County granted the wife a divorce after a six month marriage. The court ordered the marital residence sold and the wife paid $2,000 for her attorney's fees and $10,000 to equalize her equity in the property. After the deductions, the balance of the equity was to be split evenly between the parties.

Wilson Court of Appeals

Nancy K. Wheeler Poyner, v. Alden Dennis Poyner
01A01-9503-CH-00116
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Leonard W. Martin

This is a divorce case in which the Wife appeals the trial court's division of marital property and the court's award of custody to the Husband.

Humphreys Court of Appeals

Marika Petra Vickers, v. Nicholas Scinta
01A01-9507-CH-00281
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Alex W. Darnell

This is a suit to register and enforce a foreign divorce decree. The only issue on appeal is the proper amount of the judgment for delinquent child support.

Montgomery Court of Appeals

Strings & Things, v. State Auto Insurance Companies
02A01-9408-CH-00195
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge W. Frank Crawford
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Neal Small

This appeal involves a suit to recover on a policy of insurance covering employee dishonesty. Plaintiff, Strings & Things in Memphis, Inc., appeals from the judgment of the chancery court in a nonjury trial that dismissed its suit against defendant, State Auto Insurance Companies. The only issue on appeal is whether the evidence preponderates against the findings of the chancellor.

Shelby Court of Appeals

The Wright Jeweler's, Inc., v. Farmer's Fund Insurance Company, D/B/A The American Insurance Company
02A01-9409-CV-00202
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge W. Frank Crawford
Trial Court Judge: Judge Janice M. Holder

This is a declaratory judgment action to determine coverage under aninsurance policy. Plaintiff, Wright Jewelers, Inc., appeals from the order of the trial court denying its motion for summary judgment and granting summary judgment to defendant, Firemen's Fund Insurance Company, d/b/a The American Insurance Company.

Court of Appeals

Daniel H. Caldwell v. Jimmy L. Fishburn and Brenda Fishburn - Concurring
03A01-9507-CH-00218
Authoring Judge: Judge Clifford E. Sanders
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Chester S. Rainwater, Jr.

The Defendant, Brenda Fishburn, has appealed from an order denying her motion to set her counterclaim for trial. The motion was filed more than two years after an order had been entered dismissing the counterclaim and approximately 18 months after an agreed compromise decree had been  entered dismissing the claims of all parties to the litigation.

Sevier Court of Appeals

Nathaniel Lillard and wife Pelinda Lillard, v. Richard H. Pinckley and Courier Printing Co., Inc.
01A01-9506-CV-00268
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Barbara N. Haynes

This appeal involves the dismissal of a nine-year-old personal injury action stemming from a collision between a truck and an automobile that was part of a funeral procession. The driver of the automobile and his wife filed suit in the Circuit Court for Davidson County against the owner and driver of the truck. Following two non-suits, the plaintiffs filed their third complaint more than five years after taking their first non-suit. The trial court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations. The plaintiffs assert on this appeal that the trial court’s decision is inconsistent with the “spirit” of the savings statute as recently construed by the Tennessee Supreme Court. We affirm the summary judgment and also find that this appeal is frivolous. Accordingly, we remand the case for the determination of damages for a frivolous appeal.

Davidson Court of Appeals