COURT OF APPEALS OPINIONS

Dannie Joe Christmas, v. Ralph Moore and Linda Moore
03A01-9705-CV-00188
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly Kirby Lillard
Trial Court Judge: Judge Russell E. Simmons, Jr.

This case involves the possession of real estate after foreclosure proceedings. After a bench trial, the trial court determined that Appellees were entitled to possession of the real estate in question. We affirm.

Roane Court of Appeals

Joy Walls, Individually and as Surviving Spouse of Decendent Wendell M. Goodwin, v. AC & S, Inc. et al.
03A01-9707-CV-00269
Authoring Judge: Judge Dale Workman
Trial Court Judge: Presiding Judge Houston M. Goddard

This suit was initiated by Plaintiff-Appellant, Wendell Goodwin, against Defendants-Appellees, Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, and a number of  other Defendants, seeking damages because of an illness Mr. Goodwin contracted -- specifically a stomach cancer known as peritoneal mesothelioma -- resulting from his occupational exposure to asbestos products manufactured and distributed by the Defendants, including Pittsburgh Corning and Owens-Corning. The Trial Court, in sresonse to the answers supplied by the jury through special interrogatories hereinafter set out, entered a judgment in favor of the Defendants because the Plaintiff's claim was barred by the applicable statute of repose, T.C. A . 29 -28 -103(a).

Knox Court of Appeals

Jacqueline Sue Rogers v. Samuel L. Banks and Cathy J. Stancil - Concurring
03A01-9707-CV-00249
Authoring Judge: Judge Houston M. Goddard
Trial Court Judge: Judge Robert M. Summitt

Samuel L. Banks, a doctor, and Cathy J. Stancil, a nurse, appeal a jury verdict rendered against them in favor of their former patient, Jacqueline Sue Rogers.  Ms. Rogers brought two actions of medical malpractice in the Hamilton County Circuit Court.  One action was brought against Dr. Banks, her treating  physician.  The other action was brought against Nurse Stancil.  Nurse Stancil performed the majority of the procedure in question. Judge Robert M. Summitt denied motions for directed verdict after Ms. Rogers presented her case and again after Dr. Banks and Nurse Stancil presented their case.  Both actions were submitted to the jury.  The jury returned a general verdict against both Dr. Banks and Nurse Stancil for $60,000.  Dr. Banks and Nurse Stancil both filed motions for judgments not withstanding the verdict as well as motions for a new trial.  Judge Summitt overruled these motions and upheld the jury award.  We now reverse the judgment below and dismiss boith suits with prejudice.

Hamilton Court of Appeals

Keith Johnson, v. Fortunes Untold, Inc., D/B/A Easy Money Pawn Shop, et al.
03A01-9710-CV-00464
Authoring Judge: Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Trial Court Judge: Judge W. Dale Young

The Trial dismissed plaintiffs’ causes of action for personal injury on the basis that the statute of limitations had run before the action was properly brought, pursuant to Rule 3, T.R.C.P.

Blount Court of Appeals

William Michael Anderton v. Evelyn Adele Morgan Anderton
01A01-9701-CH-00013
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd

Mr. Anderton has filed a Tenn. R. App. P. 39 petition for rehearing and a Tenn. R. App. P. 14 motion to consider post-judgment facts with regard to his actual gross income in 1996 and 1997. Ms. Anderton has filed a response to these motions. We have determined that Mr. Anderton’s motions should be granted.

Williamson Court of Appeals

Gretchen Hart, v. Ronald Rick Hart
01A01-9707-CV-00344
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Judge Muriel Robinson

This is a post-divorce decree proceeding to adjust the amount of periodic alimony. The wife has appealed from the judgment of the Trial Court increasing the alimony from $1,000 per month to $1,350 per month.

Davidson Court of Appeals

W. Hudson Connery, Jr. et al., v. Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, et al.
01A01-9709-CH-00529
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

Twenty former employees of “HealthTrust,” a ____________ sued HealthTrust and its “successor in interest,” Columbia Health Care Corporation, to recover share of stock (or the value thereof) which they had purchased with earned bonuses and for the value of shares of stock due some of the plaintiffs due them upon discharge. Two of the plaintiffs nonsuited, leaving eighteen.

Davidson Court of Appeals

James E. Collins v. Department of Correction
01A01-9709-CH-00558
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle

The captioned appellant is a prisoner in the punitive custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction. On February 19, 1997, he filed in the Trial Court a petition for declaratory judgment alleging that on November 16, 1996, he filed with the Department a petition for a declaratory order correcting an erroneous entry showing two life sentences which have been merged.

Davidson Court of Appeals

State of Tennessee on relation of Ervin Smith and Ervin Smith Individually, v. L. B. Franklin and Alex Richmond, Cit of Carthage, Tennessee, a municipal corporation, Mayor David Bowman
01A01-9710-CH-00546
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor C. K. Smith

The plaintiff, Ervin Smith, has appealed from the judgment of the Trial Court as to his rights in regard to an alleged public right-of-way on property adjoining plaintiff’s land.

 

Smith Court of Appeals

Lionel L. Lulow v. Earl Poss and Carl Poss - Concurring
01-A-01-9509-CH-00399
Authoring Judge: Judge Walter W. Bussart
Trial Court Judge: Judge Robert E. Corlew, III

This is an appeal by defendants/appellants, Earl and Carl Poss, from a decision of the chancery court in a boundary dispute. It is the Posses contention that the chancery court erred when it approved the survey  entered into evidence by the plaintiffs/appellees, Lionel and Nancy Lulow.  The diagram below, while not drawn to scale, depicts the layout of the relevant tracts of land.  Reference to this diagram will be helpful in understanding the following facts.

Cannon Court of Appeals

Consumer Advocate Division, v. Tennessee Regulatory Authority; Nashville Gas Company
01A01-9708-BC-00391
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell

This petition under Rule 12, Tenn. R. App. Proc., to review a rate making order of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority presents a host of procedural and substantive issues. We affirm the agency order.

Court of Appeals

Charles F. Gaulden, and Wife, Ruth S. Gaulden, v. Robert L. Scruggs, and Wife, Joyce W. Scruggs
01A01-9708-CH-00417
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle

The question in this case is whether a purchaser of mortgaged property, who pays off the mortgage, takes an assignment of the note and deed of trust, and subsequently releases the deed of trust, can then sue the original mortgagee on the note. The Chancery Court of Davidson County dismissed the action. We affirm.

Davidson Court of Appeals

David K. Wachtel, Jr., v. Western Sizzlin Corporation, F/K/A Franchisee Acquisition Cororation, v. David K. Wachtel, Jr. and Restaurant Management Services, Inc.
01A01-9708-CH-00396
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

This breach of contract case is before us on a Rule 54.02, Tenn. R. Civ. Proc. appeal. The only question for our decision is whether the trial court erred in granting the defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment on the plaintiff’s claim for certain consequential damages arising from the defendant’s breach of contract. We reverse the trial court.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Razorback Marble Mfg. Co., Inc., v. D.D. Roberts Construction Company, Naran P. Patel, Kusum N. Patel, and Heritage Bank
01A01-9709-CH-00512
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Alex W. Darnell

In this construction contract dispute, the Chancery Court of Montgomery County granted a judgment plus prejudgment interest to Razorback Marble Manufacturing Company, Inc. On appeal, Roberts Construction Company, Inc. and D. D. Roberts, Individually, raise issues pertaining to the Contractor’s Licensing statutes and the Notice of Non-Payments statute. Razorback insists that it was due a larger judgment and a greater award of prejudgment interest.

Montgomery Court of Appeals

W. Hudson Connery, Jr., et al. v. Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation, et al., - Concurring
01-A-01-9709-CH-00529
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell

I concur in Judge Todd’s opinion affirming the grant of summary judgment to the defendants. I write separately simply to emphasize the following points:

First, the bonus plan allowed the plaintiffs to purchase shares of the company at a price below the market price. When the plaintiffs left the company before the shares fully vested, they did not forfeit their investment; they simply lost the difference between what they had invested and the market value of the shares. The difference in the purchase price and the market value is what this controversy is about.

Court of Appeals

Bennie Day and Karen Day v. City of Decherd, Otis B. Smith, Jr., Mayor, et al. - Concurring
01-A-01-9708-CH-00442
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Judge L. Curtis Smith

Property owners alleged in a petition for common law certiorari that the city of Decherd acted arbitrarily and capriciously in refusing to rezone their property from residential to commercial. The Chancery Court of Franklin County dismissed the petition. We affirm.

Franklin Court of Appeals

In the matter of the estate of Mary Ardelle Gower, Deceased, v. Tyson Robertson, Bessie Lewis, Danny Boggell, Pat Henkel, and Marilyn Whitten
01A01-9710-CH-00605
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Robert L. Jones

Mary Ardelle Gower died on August 11, 1995 in Wayne County, Tennessee at the age of 73. Her will was offered for probate by William Steven Jones, the executor therein named and the sole beneficiary of the will.

Wayne Court of Appeals

William P. Williams, v. Wanda C. Williams
01A01-9711-CH-00679
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor C. K. Smith

This is a child support case. The Chancery Court of Wilson County set the mother’s obligation of support at $723.00 per month. The mother appeals and asserts that the evidence preponderates against the trial court’s finding. We affirm the judgment below.

Wilson Court of Appeals

In re: Jason Ryan Stephens, Pamela Renee Stephens, v. James Callaway
01A01-9801-JV-00043
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Judge David Loughry

This appeal involves a biological father's obligation to support his thirteen year old son.

Rutherford Court of Appeals

Helen S. Rogers v. Thomas E. Watts, Jr., - Concurring
01A01-9603-CV-00120
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Thomas W. Brothers

This appeal involves another chapter in a lingering, acrimonious dispute between two Nashville lawyers stemming from a failed settlement of a case in federal court. After one of the lawyers abandoned his third-party complaint against the other lawyer for fraudulent misrepresentation, the other lawyer filed a malicious prosecution action in the Circuit Court for Davidson County. When the trial court dismissed the complaint on the ground that it was premature, the prevailing lawyer sought Tenn. R. Civ. P. 11 sanctions against the lawyer whose malicious prosecution claim had been dismissed. The trial court declined to grant sanctions, and the lawyer seeking sanctions has appealed. We have determined that the record supports the trial court’s decision not to award sanctions and, therefore, affirm the trial court’s decision.

Davidson Court of Appeals

Boiler Supply Company, Inc., v. Lunn Real Estate Investments
01A01-9605-CH-00246
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

This appeal involves a dispute over the interpretation of a provision allocating the responsibility for paying legal expenses in the event of a default or breach of two leases. The lessee filed suit against the lessor in the Chancery Court for Davidson County seeking a declaration that the leases had expired and requesting its attorney’s fees in accordance with the provisions of the lease agreements. The trial court granted the lessee’s motion for summary judgment and declared that the leases had expired but denied the lessee’s claim for legal expenses. The lessee has appealed. We have determined that the trial court correctly interpreted the lease agreements and, therefore, affirm the summary judgment.

Davidson Court of Appeals

James F. Cook, Jr., D/B/A Cook Properties, v. Consolidated Stores Corp., Belz Investco, L.P., Urco, Inc., Union Realty Co. LTD., and South Plaza Co.
01A01-9605-CH-00245
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Robert S. Brandt

This appeal involves a dispute over a real estate commission on four retail properties in Memphis. After a former client leased these properties, a real estate broker filed suit in the Chancery Court for Davidson County seeking a commission from its former client and the lessors of the four properties. The trial court granted the former client’s motion for summary judgment and, following a bench trial, dismissed the broker’s claims against the four lessors. On this appeal, the broker asserts that the trial court erred by granting his former client’s summary judgment motion and that the evidence preponderates against the trial court’s dismissal of his claims against the four lessors. We have determined that the trial court properly granted the summary judgment motion and that the evidence does not preponderate against the trial court’s judgment in favor of the four lessors.

Davidson Court of Appeals

In the matter of: S.M.L. (DOB 12/26/88), C.B.L. (DOB 4/14/92), D.K.J. (DOB 5/8/93) Children under the age of 18.
07-93-017-CC
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd

C.L.H. has filed a timely Tenn. R. App. P. 39 petition for rehearing and a Tenn. R. App. P. 14 motion to consider post-judgment facts. She asserts that our original opinion filed on June 12, 1998 misapprehends material facts with regard to her more recent self-improvement efforts, and she offers new evidence regarding her educational attainments and the stability of her living environment.

 

Dickson Court of Appeals

Shelley Sackett v. Hal Roseman
M2002-00587-COA-R9-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Muriel Robinson
This interlocutory appeal was brought to determine whether the trial court properly exercised subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Joint Enforcement Act (UCCJEA).

Davidson Court of Appeals

Henry Collier vs. Methodist Hosp., et al
02A01-9607-CV-00165
Trial Court Judge: Dick Jerman, Jr.

Haywood Court of Appeals