COURT OF APPEALS OPINIONS

Custom Packaging, Inc. vs. Patti Holliday, et al
E2000-01744-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Daryl R. Fansler
Custom Packaging, Inc., appeals a summary judgment granted against it in its suit seeking recovery on a sworn account for merchandise sold according to the complaint to "Patti Holliday, Ind. & d/b/a Repeat Fibre." The Trial Court sustained Ms. Holliday's motion for summary judgment, finding there are no material disputed facts. We vacate the judgment below and remand the case for further proceedings.

Knox Court of Appeals

Brian Mayes v. Ronald LeMonte
M2002-00625-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Russ Heldman
In this dog bite case, the trial court awarded a meter reader $5000 in compensatory damages against the dog owner. The dog owner claims on appeal that he was not negligent in handling his dog and that the sitting trial judge was biased and prejudiced against him. We affirm.

Montgomery Court of Appeals

Todd Hutcheson v. Irving Materials
M2002-03064-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Frank Clement, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Robert E. Burch
Plaintiff filed suit for breach of contract and negligence alleging that concrete provided by Defendant did not meet specifications. Defendant filed counterclaim for Plaintiff's unpaid bill. Plaintiff failed to timely respond to requests for admissions. Defendant filed motion to have requests deemed admitted, which the trial court granted. Plaintiff took no remedial action until seven months later, after Defendant filed its motion for summary judgment that was primarily based on the now disputed admissions. Plaintiff then filed Tenn. R. Civ. P. 36.02 motion for relief from the admissions. Trial court denied Plaintiff's motion for relief, granted Defendant's summary judgment, awarding damages against Plaintiff, and dismissed Plaintiff's cause of action against Defendant. This is an appeal from the trial court's denial of Plaintiff's motion for relief pursuant to Tenn. R. Civ. P. 36.02, and the trial court's granting of Defendant's motion for summary judgment, rendering judgment in favor of Defendant. We affirm the trial court.

Cheatham Court of Appeals

Sheila Goodner and Amy Goodner vs. Arthur Sass
E2000-00837-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel P. Franks
Trial Court Judge: L. Marie Williams
The Trial Judge granted defendant's Motion to Dismiss for insufficient process. We reverse and remand.

Hamilton Court of Appeals

John Rogers, Sr. vs. Est. of Newton Russell, Larry Holbert, Pers. Rep .
E2000-01054-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David Michael Swiney
Trial Court Judge: Hugh E. Delozier
Plaintiff's claim in Probate Court against the estate of his stepfather was denied by the Probate Court because it was not filed timely. The Probate Court advised Plaintiff, who appeared at the hearing pro se, that he should seek counsel if he wished to challenge the ruling of the Probate Court. Although Plaintiff immediately retained counsel, no further action was taken on the matter for eleven months. With new counsel, Plaintiff then filed a Motion to Set Aside Order Denying Claim pursuant to Tenn. R. Civ. P. Rule 60.02. This Motion was heard on the pleadings, documents in the case file, including the Affidavit of Plaintiff, and arguments of counsel. The Probate Court dismissed the Motion. We affirm the Judgment of the Probate Court.

Blount Court of Appeals

Javius vs. Javius
M2000-00314-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Jeffrey S. Bivins
After a stormy and sometimes violent marriage, the trial court awarded a divorce to the wife, divided the marital property, and ordered the husband to pay alimony. The husband claims on appeal that the wife's fault should have resulted in the divorce being granted to both parties; that the property was divided in an inequitable manner; and that the trial court should have ordered rehabilitative alimony rather than alimony in futuro. We affirm the grant of divorce to the wife and the property division, but modify the alimony award.

Williamson Court of Appeals

Clarence Lewis vs. State
M2000-01529-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
A prisoner in the custody of the Department of Correction suffered a severe hand injury while working in a prison industries workshop. He submitted a claim to the Tennessee Claims Commission, contending that negligence on the part of his supervisors caused his injuries. Following a hearing, the Commissioner dismissed his claim, finding that the prisoner's own negligence was more than 50% of the cause of his injuries. We affirm.

Court of Appeals

Omawali Ashanti Shabazz, a/k/a Fred Dean vs. Donal Campbell, et al
M2000-01780-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Ellen Hobbs Lyle
Appellant, a prison inmate, filed suit under the Tennessee Public Records Act against the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and others seeking disclosure to him of various records alleged to be public records, together with injunctive relief. The Chancellor dismissed the complaint with prejudice and we affirm the Chancellor.

Davidson Court of Appeals

State Dept. of Children's Services vs. T.M.L.
M2000-01785-COA-R3-JV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Betty Adams Green
The juvenile court granted a petition to terminate parental rights to three of the children of a Nashville woman. On appeal, the mother challenges the termination in regard to her oldest child only, on the ground that it is not in the child's best interest to be permanently separated from her. We affirm the trial court.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Lon Walker v. William Cameron
M2000-01903-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Per Curiam
Trial Court Judge: John J. Maddux
This is a legal malpractice action which was dismissed on motion for summary judgment. Fourteen months before suit was filed the plaintiff sent a holographic letter to the Disciplinary Counsel complaining, in considerable detail, of the defendant's purported shortcomings. The trial judge held that the action was barred by the one-year statute of limitations. Judgment affirmed.

Putnam Court of Appeals

Madge Fell,e t al vs. Gloria Rambo, et al
M2000-02100-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Lee Russell
This case is before the Court on appeal from the action of the trial judge in overruling a Rule 60.02 Motion for Relief From a Final Judgment. Non-jury trial on the merits of the case resulted in a judgment of the trial court finding no lack of capacity of Nannie Bell Crockett and no undue influence exerted upon her. That same final judgment held that Plaintiffs, as remaindermen, under the will of John E. Crockett, received at the death of Nannie Bell Crockett, the remaining proceeds from the sale of a farm during her lifetime, which farm had been willed to her for life by her husband, John E. Crockett, with unlimited power of disposition. On appeal, this Court reversed the judgment of the trial court, finding that the pre-1981 version of Tennessee Code Annotated section 66-1-106 (1993) applied to the case, and that the sale of the farm by the life tenant with unlimited power of disposition, terminated the interest of the remaindermen, and that the remaindermen were not entitled to the proceeds of the sale of the farm still remaining in the possession of Nannie Bell Crockett at the time of her death. This judgment is now final and is reported in Fell v. Rambo, 36 S.W.2d 837 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000). On remand, the trial court denied the Rule 60.02 motion in issue on this appeal and we affirm the trial court.

Marshall Court of Appeals

Fred Birdsall, et al., v. Floyd Birdsall
E2000-01544-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David Michael Swiney
Trial Court Judge: Judge Conrad E. Troutman, Jr.

Plaintiffs/Appellants sought the return of several items, including a shotgun, tiller and lawn mower, as well as $1,500 in damages to a 1980 Ford pick-up truck, from Defendant/Appellee. The Trial Court found the matter too speculative and dismissed the case. We have no transcript and no Statement of the Evidence. Accordingly, we must assume that the record, had it been preserved, would have contained sufficient evidence to support the Trial Court's factual findings. Judgment of the Trial Court affirmed.

Campbell Court of Appeals

Melissa Suzanne Dew v. ProTemp, et al.
E2000-01750-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David Michael Swiney
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor William E. Lantrip

This appeal arises from a grant of summary judgment to Pro-Temp ("Defendant"), a temporary employment agency. Melissa Suzanne Dew ("Plaintiff") brought suit against her employer, Defendant, and Eagle Bend Manufacturing, Inc. ("Eagle Bend"). Defendant assigned Plaintiff to work in a temporary position at Eagle Bend where Plaintiff sustained a work-related injury. A few months later, Plaintiff received a reprimand from her Eagle Bend supervisor related to Plaintiff's work performance. Thereafter, Defendant terminated Plaintiff's assignment at Eagle Bend. Plaintiff claims Defendant terminated her employment in retaliation for exercising her worker's compensation rights. Plaintiff argues there are genuine issues of material fact which preclude the granting of summary judgment to Defendant. We affirm.

Anderson Court of Appeals

Unifirst Corporation, v. Harry Lane, et al.
M2000-00357-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Claudia C. Bonnyman

This is an appeal from an award of damages by the Chancery Court of Davidson County for a breach of a contract. The defendants assert that the individual executing the contract did not have the authority to bind the corporation and that the contract ended when the corporation sold its assets. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Davidson Court of Appeals

River City Resort, Inc. v. Norfolk Southern Ry Co., Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific R. Y. Co. & Jit Terminal, Inc.
E1999-02567-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor W. Frank Brown, III

This is a dispute over the validity of an easement between River City Resort, Inc. (“River City”), and Norfolk Southern Railway Company (“Railroad”) which is across a certain property owned by River City. River City brought this declaratory judgment against the Railroad and JIT Terminal, Inc. (“JIT”), an adjoining landowner who derives benefit from the easement.

Hamilton Court of Appeals

Wayford Demonbreun, Jr. vs. Dennis J. Hughes, et al
M2000-01116-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Trial Court Judge: Hamilton V. Gayden, Jr.
Plaintiff, inmate acting pro se, sued two former attorneys alleging that after the first attorney was removed from his criminal case and ordered to refund part of the retainer fee paid, the second attorney was appointed to represent plaintiff. Subsequently, the second attorney, without authorization, compromised and settled plaintiff's claim against the first attorney and converted the proceeds of the settlement to his own use. The first attorney was never served with process, and the trial court granted summary judgment to the second attorney. Plaintiff has appealed.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Maria Nelson vs. Dept. of Safety
M2000-01147-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Ellen Hobbs Lyle
This appeal arises from entry of a default judgment by the Appellee against the Appellant following the Appellant's failure to appear at a scheduled hearing. The Appellant filed a petition for judicial review with the Chancery Court of Davidson County. The trial court affirmed. The Appellant appeals from the Chancery Court of Davidson County's decision affirming the default judgment entered against the Appellant. For the reasons stated herein, we reverse the trial court's decision.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Gabriel Alwin vs. Percy Pitzer
W1999-00537-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: Jon Kerry Blackwood
An inmate filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus alleging that the sentencing court in Wisconsin was without authority to convict on one of the three counts under which he was convicted and that his sentence had expired. The trial court dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We affirm.

Hardeman Court of Appeals

Jaleesa Davis
W1999-01662-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge W. Frank Crawford
Trial Court Judge: A. V. Mcdowell
The Shelby County Juvenile Court terminated parental rights of the natural mother and father of minor child. Parents have appealed. We affirm.

Shelby Court of Appeals

James Garrett vs. Isiah Roswer
W1999-02369-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Trial Court Judge: Walter L. Evans
This is a dispute among the members and officials of a church and the church pastor. The plaintiff church members and officials filed for injunctive relief against the defendant pastor of the church, seeking to remove him as pastor and prevent him from disposing of or eroding church assets. The trial court enjoined the pastor defendant from disposing of, eroding or concealing church assets, and also ordered an election. Under the court-ordered church election, the defendant was removed as pastor of the church. Subsequently, the defendant pastor executed a trust deed encumbering certain church properties. After the trust deed was foreclosed and the property was sold at a foreclosure sale, the defendant pastor filed a counter-complaint in the pending suit, alleging that he was the successful bidder at the foreclosure sale and that title of the church property should be transferred to him. In payment of his bid, the defendant pastor tendered bonds issued by the church. The trial court referred to a special master eight issues relating to the ownership and value of the bonds. The special master and trial court found that the defendant pastor had not established that he paid for the bonds. The defendant pastor appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in its finding on the bonds and that it failed to address or take evidence on additional issues raised in his counter-complaint. We affirm the decision of the trial court on the bonds, but remand the cause for proof on the remaining issues.

Shelby Court of Appeals

Eddie Williams vs. Alton Hesson
W2000-02725-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Joseph H. Walker, III
This appeal involves a claim of discrimination and denial of access to the courts by a maximum security inmate in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction. The court below granted summary judgment to the defendants. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court's entry of summary judgment.

Lauderdale Court of Appeals

State, Ex Rel., Tammy Davenport vs. Gerald Partridge
E1999-02779-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Suzanne Bailey
This appeal from the Hamilton County Juvenile Court concerns whether the Juvenile Court erred in determining the child support obligation of the Appellant, Gerald Lamont Partridge. We vacate the order of the Juvenile Court and remand for further findings of fact.

Hamilton Court of Appeals

Robert Covert vs. Kimberloy Covert
E2000-00864-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: William R. Brewer

Blount Court of Appeals

Robert Covert vs. Kimberloy Covert
E2000-00864-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Charles D. Susano

Blount Court of Appeals

Sharon Kelly vs. George Evans, III
E1999-00417-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Steven H. Jones
This is a suit initiated by Sharon S. Sarli (now Kelly) against George Leroy Evans, III, wherein she sought a determination that he was the father of her child. After Mr. Evans stipulated that he was indeed the father of the child, the Referee and the Juvenile Judge made various determinations relative to custody, child support and the like. Mrs. Kelly, being dissatisfied with a number of the determinations in the Referee's last order which on appeal was in the main affirmed by the Juvenile Judge, filed this appeal. We vacate the judgment of the Juvenile Court and remand the case for further proceedings.

Sullivan Court of Appeals