Teresa McEwen v. Dept. of Safety M2002-02884-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.
This appeal involves the forfeiture of personal property seized incident to a criminal investigation into the illegal sale of controlled substances. The owner of the property filed a claim for its recovery with the Tennessee Department of Safety. The Appeals Division of the Department of Safety, overruling an administrative law judge's initial order, ordered the forfeiture of all the seized property except a pickup truck. Thereafter, the owner filed a petition in the Chancery Court for Davidson County seeking judicial review of the Appeals Division's forfeiture order. The trial court affirmed the forfeiture order, and the owner of the property appealed. Although we disagree with the trial court's reasoning, we likewise affirm the forfeiture order.
Davidson
Court of Appeals
M2003-00280-COA-R3-CV M2003-00280-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Patricia J. Cottrell
Trial Court Judge: James B. Cox
Bedford
Court of Appeals
Linda Campbell v. Opal Carroll M2003-00295-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Patricia J. Cottrell
Trial Court Judge: Ross H. Hicks
This appeal involves the denial by the trial court of a motion for Rule 11 sanctions. The request for sanctions was made pro se by defendant Michele Scott against plaintiff and her counsel for failing to perform an adequate prefiling investigation as required under Rule 11. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Robertson
Court of Appeals
J. L. Beechum, Jr. v. Charles Traughber M2003-00150-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Carol L. Mccoy
Petitioner, an inmate with the Department of Corrections, sought judicial review of decisions of the Tennessee Board of Probations and Parole first to revoke his parole and then to decline to release him on parole. The Chancery Court for Davidson County denied the inmate's request for relief, and the inmate has appealed. We have determined that the inmate's challenge to the revocation of his parole was untimely and that the inmate's complaint regarding the late certification of the records regarding his Georgia conviction is without merit. Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal of the inmate's petition.
Davidson
Court of Appeals
Chris Hickman v. Misty Willis M2003-00574-COA-R3-JV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Samuel H. Smith
Mother appeals the trial court action of requiring non-custodial obligor father to pay only one-half of the premium for medical insurance covering their minor child and further appeals the amount of support arrearage. As the child support guidelines are mandatory in requiring that non-custodial obligor parent is responsible for the full premium of medical insurance, the action of the trial court is modified accordingly and in all other respects affirmed.
Hickman
Court of Appeals
Paul A. Miller vs. Connie Marie Miller M2002-02775-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Clara W. Byrd
This is a post-divorce custody proceeding involving two young girls wherein the trial court denied the Father's Petition for a Change of Custody. We affirm the action of the trial court.
Wilson
Court of Appeals
Stephanie Medlyn vs. Peter Medlyn E2002-02031-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel P. Franks
Trial Court Judge: Telford E. Forgerty, Jr.
Wife's action to enforce Divorce Settlement Agreement resulted in monetary judgment against husband. On appeal, we affirm.
A tenured professor successfully challenged his dismissal through a review in the Chancery Court of Davidson County. Subsequently he filed a claim against the state in the Claims Commission for breach of contract. The Commission dismissed the claim on jurisdictional grounds. We affirm the conclusion that the claim was not based on a "written contract."
The Circuit Court of Wilson County awarded custody of a minor child to the paternal grandmother. The child's mother, to whom custody had been awarded in the divorce, asserts that the facts do not support such a drastic remedy. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
This appeal involves a patron at a Nashville night spot who was seriously injured by a broken glass tray left unattended on a table. In addition to the laceration on his leg, the patron fell and hit his face against the floor. The patron later filed suit against the night spot in the Circuit Court for Davidson County seeking damages not only for the laceration of his leg but also for internal derangement of his temporomandibular joint caused by his fall. The night spot conceded its negligence, and, after conducting a bench trial on the question of damages, the trial court awarded the patron $8,937.00 for his medical expenses, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. On this appeal, the patron takes issue with the trial court's refusal to award him $1,133.00 in medical expenses and with the amount of the award for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. We have determined that the trial court lacked any basis for declining to award the patron all his medical expenses and that the evidence does not preponderate against the award for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.
Mother petitioned the court for change of child custody. The trial court found no material change of circumstances justifying such change and dismissed the petition. We affirm.
This is the fourth appeal regarding the sale of a 128-acre farm in Giles County. The sellers originally sued the buyers in the Chancery Court for Giles County in 1991, alleging that the buyers had breached the contract by defaulting on their payments. The buyers counterclaimed, asserting that the sellers had breached the contract by failing to provide city water to the property and that the sellers had committed fraud and violated the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. On the first appeal, this court affirmed the trial court's judgment rescinding the sale but remanded the case with directions to address the question of damages. The case was tried five more times and was appealed twice. In the sixth trial, a jury awarded the buyers $32,444.42. On this the fourth appeal, the buyers take issue with the trial court's exclusion of evidence regarding the sellers' alleged fraud, the jury's calculation of the increased value of the property, and the trial court's refusal to award them prejudgment interest. We affirm the judgment.
Giles
Court of Appeals
Joseph Neil Nolen v. Amy Jay Nolen M2002-00138-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Senior Judge Don R. Ash
Trial Court Judge: Judge Donald P. Harris
This appeal arises from the trial court’s decision to award custody of the parties’ minor children to third party custodians. After finding each parent unfit, the chancellor awarded custody of the daughter to the mother’s aunt and the son was awarded to an unrelated third party. Parenting time was established every first and second weekend with the third party custodians having the third weekend. Holiday parenting time was also included. Most importantly the siblings were reunited during these times with their parents. Both parties were ordered to split the child support obligation owed to the third parties. The father filed this appeal. We affirm.
Hickman
Court of Appeals
Janet Hilman v. Randolph Hilman M2002-00898-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Don R. Ash
Trial Court Judge: Muriel Robinson
This appeal arises from the trial court's denial of a contempt petition brought to enforce the provision in a marital dissolution agreement regarding the father's obligation to pay one-half of child's uncovered medical expenses. The trial court found the petitioning mother failed to present sufficient evidence of which expenses were medical and covered by the marital dissolution agreement and the petitioning mother acted unilaterally in incurring these extraordinary charges for treatment of the minor child. We affirm the trial court.
Davidson
Court of Appeals
Tina Gray v. Glen Gray M2002-01365-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: J. S. Daniel
The trial court granted the parties a divorce, classified the husband's auto salvage business as his separate property, and divided the property the parties had acquired during their marriage. On appeal, the wife contends that the trial court erred by not considering the auto salvage business to be marital property, and by ordering a property division that was inequitable as to her. We affirm the trial court.
Rutherford
Court of Appeals
Rebecca Lew vs. Ira Lew E2002-01811-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Billy Joe White
In this divorce case, Ira Eugene Lew ("Husband") appeals the Trial Court's judgment declaring the parties divorced on the ground of irreconcilable differences, and approving and incorporating the parties' marital dissolution agreement ("MDA") in its order. Husband argues that the Court was without power to enter its judgment because he had withdrawn his consent and agreement to the MDA prior to the Court's entry of final judgment. The Trial Court found that Husband could not withdraw his consent to the MDA because, as a consequence of the unusual procedural posture of the this case, the parties had already executed, agreed to, and signed the MDA and presented it to the Trial Court, which approved it and incorporated it into a previous order. We affirm the judgment of the Trial Court.
Anderson
Court of Appeals
Geoffrey Gilmore v. Marsha Mangrum M2002-02171-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Thomas E. Gray
This case involves an issue of change of primary residential custody of a minor child from one parent to another. Mother currently has primary residential custody. The child at issue was sexually molested by his step-brother at his Mother's residence. Father filed a petition requesting custody be changed from Mother to him. Although the trial judge found a material change of circumstances, he did not find a change of custody to be in the child's best interest and denied Father's Petition. We affirm the trial court's decision.
Sumner
Court of Appeals
State v. Delinquent Taxpayers M2002-01656-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Ellen Hobbs Lyle
In this cause, a purchaser at tax sale appeals the order of the trial court voiding its prior default judgment against the delinquent taxpayer, and voiding the conveyance of that property to the purchaser. The delinquent tax notices, as well as the notice of sale, were issued to an unintelligible address, despite the presence of the taxpayer's proper address on the special warranty deed retained in the Metropolitan Government's Assessor's Office. Upon the government's motion, notice was then attempted by publication. After the trial court had entered the decree of sale and judgment affirming sale, and after expiration of the period for the exercise of the equitable right of redemption had otherwise lapsed, the delinquent taxpayer attempted to redeem the property. The tax sale purchaser, James Brown, contested the redemption. The trial court, considering the taxpayer's Motion to Void Tax Sale as a Rule 60.02 Motion to Set Aside a Default Judgment, voided the sale. For the reasons and under the authority cited herein we affirm.
Davidson
Court of Appeals
Betty Jensen v. Tracy City M2002-02019-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Buddy D. Perry
This is an action under the Governmental Tort Liability Act against Tracy City for an accident allegedly caused by the accumulation of gravel on a city street at the bottom of a steep hill. The Circuit Court of Grundy County granted the City summary judgment. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.
Grundy
Court of Appeals
Cheryl Anderson v. Carmeletha Mason M2002-01080-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Carol L. Soloman
Defendant/Appellant, Carmeletha Mason, appeals from a jury verdict and judgment against her in this wrongful death action. She was the owner of a vehicle driven by her daughter, which was involved in an accident resulting in the death of David Anderson, husband of the Plaintiff/Appellee, Cheryl Anderson. Appellant asserts that her vehicle was being operated without her permission and that she was not guilty of an act of negligent entrustment. She also asserts that the trial court erred in failing to direct a verdict in her favor. We affirm the action of the trial court.
Carolyn Marie White v. Timothy Moody M2002-01287-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Lee
Trial Court Judge: Carol A. Catalano
After the first appeal and remand in this case, the trial judge rendered another judgment based on her review of the record without hearing additional proof. While we do not find error, we find our mandate was not clear as to what proceedings we envisioned on remand. Accordingly, we clarify our mandate and remand the matter to the trial court to conduct a full hearing on the best interests of the child which would include the taking of additional proof relevant to this issue.
Robertson
Court of Appeals
Alpha Sheriff v. Preferred Alternative Tennessee M2002-01282-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Lee
Trial Court Judge: Carol L. Soloman
This matter originated in the General Sessions Court of Davidson County. A judgment against the Appellant in the amount of fifteen hundred dollars ($1500.00) was awarded to the Appellee. An appeal was made to the Circuit Court of Davidson County and the matter tried de novo. The Circuit Court of Davidson County apparently applied theories founded in the law of negligence and also entered judgment against the Appellant in the amount of fifteen hundred ($1500.00) dollars . We find the learned trial judge erred in applying negligence theory to the facts of this case but nevertheless affirm the judgment of the trial court
Davidson
Court of Appeals
In Re: Estate of Spencer Brown M2002-00141-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Chancellor W. Frank Brown, III
Trial Court Judge: Allen W. Wallace
This is a lawsuit filed by Don M. Brown ("Mr. Brown" or "the Appellant") against Allene Dunnagan ("Ms. Dunnagan" or "the Appellee") to set aside Spencer Brown's Last Will and Testament dated February 11, 2000. Mr. Spencer Brown died on February 21, 2000. Mr. Brown alleged that Ms. Dunnagan had used undue influence to get Spencer Brown to change his 1994 will. The Dickson County Circuit Court granted the Appellee's Motion for Directed Verdict and dismissed the Appellant's complaint. The Appellant appealed this decision. We reverse the decision of the trial court and remand for further proceedings.
Dickson
Court of Appeals
In Matter of: J.J.C./A.L.C./J.R.C. vs. Tabitha Stewart W2001-01799-COA-R3-CV
Trial Court Judge: William A. Peeler
This is an appeal of a termination of parental rights. For the following reasons, we vacate the portion of the juvenile court's ruling finding Mother willfully failed to support her children and affirm all other findings of the court below, thus terminating Mother's parental rights.
