SUPREME COURT OPINIONS

Helms vs. Dept. of Safety
01S01-9709-CH-00185

Supreme Court

State vs. Crutcher
01S01-9804-CR-00081
Trial Court Judge: Jane W. Wheatcraft

Supreme Court

State vs. Crutcher
01S01-9804-CR-00081

Supreme Court

State vs. Madkins
02S01-9805-CR-00046
Trial Court Judge: W. Fred Axley

Supreme Court

State vs. Tyrone Chalmers
02C01-9711-CC-00449
Trial Court Judge: Gary R. Wade

Shelby Supreme Court

Teri Michelle Parker v. Richard Ken Parker - Concurring
01S01-9704-CH-00085
Authoring Judge: Justice Adolpho A. Birch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Allen W. Wallace

Although I concur in the majority’s decision to affirm the grant of custody to the father, I write separately to condemn the appearance of impropriety this case exudes. As the United
States Supreme Court stated in Offutt v. U.S., 348 U.S. 11, 14, 75 S. Ct. 11, 13, 99 L. Ed. 11, 16 (1954), “justice must satisfy the appearance of justice.” The trial court’s actions in this case do not satisfy that appearance.

Davidson Supreme Court

State of Tennessee v. Carolyn L. Curry - Dissenting
02S01-9709-CC-00079
Authoring Judge: Justice Janice M. Holder

I disagree with the majority's holding in this case that the district attorney
general abused his discretion in denying pretrial diversion. The defendant has
committed an extremely serious offense in this case. She has admitted to
embezzling approximately $27,400.00 from her employer. Her crime was not an
isolated incident but a complicated, calculated, and deliberate criminal scheme
that occurred repeatedly over a course of two years until she was ultimately
caught.

Jackson Supreme Court

Teri Michelle Parker v. Richard Ken Parker
01S01-9704-CH-00085
Authoring Judge: Chief Justice E. Riley Anderson
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor Allen W. Wallace

We granted the appeal in this child custody case to determine whether the trial court erred in admitting expert testimony regarding the effects of an interracial relationship on the child and in later excluding the trial court’s comments from the statement of evidence.

Supreme Court

State of Tennessee v. Carolyn L. Curry
02S01-9709-CC-00079
Authoring Judge: Chief Justice E. Riley Anderson
Trial Court Judge: Judge C. Creed McGinley

We granted this appeal to determine whether the trial court properly ruled that the prosecution abused its discretion by failing to consider all of the relevant factors in denying the defendant’s application for pretrial diversion, and whether the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in remanding the case for an evidentiary hearing.1 The Court of Criminal Appeals agreed that the prosecutor’s written letter denying diversion did not discuss all of the relevant factors, but remanded for an evidentiary hearing to allow the prosecutor to testify as to the factors that were considered in denying pretrial diversion.

Carroll Supreme Court

Diana Morris v. State of Tennessee
01S01-9804-BC-00076
Authoring Judge: Justice Adolpho A. Birch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Commissioner W.R. Baker

This case requires us to determine whether the Tennessee Claims Commission has subject-matter jurisdiction over actions filed against the State for the tort of retaliatory discharge.1 Because we conclude that the Claims Commission does not have such jurisdiction, the judgment of the Court of Appeals vacating the Claims Commission’s award and dismissing the retaliatory discharge action is affirmed.

Davidson Supreme Court

Frances Miller Bell by Janet Snyder, Conservator & Attorney-In-Fact v. Icard, Merrill, Cullis, Timm, Furen, and Ginsburg, P.A., and William Gordon Bell and Hunton & Williams and Long, Ragsdale and Waters
03S01-9809-CV-00101
Authoring Judge: Justice Frank W. Drowota, III
Trial Court Judge: Judge Wheeler Rosenbalm

We granted this appeal to determine whether the plaintiff’s complaint states a cause of action for abuse of process. We conclude that the complaint fails to allege one of the essential elements of the tort -- an improper act in the use of process. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals which upheld the trial court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Tenn. R. Civ. P. 12.02(6).

Knox Supreme Court

Zagorski vs. State of TN
01S01-9711-CC-00240

Robertson Supreme Court

Hooker vs. Thompson
01A01-9709-CH-00533

Supreme Court

Charles Walton Wright v. State of Tennessee
01S01-9709-CR-00196
Authoring Judge: Chief Justice E. Riley Anderson
Trial Court Judge: Judge Walter C. Kurtz

We granted this appeal to determine whether the appellant’s due process rights were violated when the lower courts dismissed his post conviction petition as timebarred by the three-year statute of limitations since the asserted violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963), did not arise until after expiration of the three-year statute of limitations.

Davidson Supreme Court

Estate of Foster Hume, III, Deceased, The University of the South v. Meredith Klank
01S01-9709-PB-00182
Authoring Judge: Chief Justice E. Riley Anderson
Trial Court Judge: Judge Frank G. Clement, Jr.

We granted this appeal to determine whether the probate rule of ademption by extinction applies to the specific bequest of a house, where the house is sold at foreclosure before the testator’s death and sales proceeds representing the testator’s interest are identifiable after his death.

Supreme Court

State of Tennessee v. William Henry Barney
01S01-9802-CR-00033
Authoring Judge: Justice Aldolpho A. Birch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Walter C. Kurtz

The defendant, William Henry Barney, was convicted of eleven counts of rape of a child and seven counts of aggravated sexual battery. He is currently serving a total effective sentence of eighty years. Upon the Court of Criminal Appeals’s affirmance of these judgments, the defendant filed an application for permission to appeal to this Court. We granted the application in order to determine whether the language of the indictment was  sufficient under State v. Hill, 954 S.W.2d 725 (Tenn. 1997), and to determine whether the multiple convictions for rape of a child and aggravated sexual battery violate the constitutional principles of due process or double jeopardy. We conclude that the indictment is sufficient under Hill. In addition, we conclude that, under the facts and circumstances of this case, multiple convictions for rape of a child and aggravated sexual battery are justified and do not violate the constitutional principles of due process or double jeopardy.

Davidson Supreme Court

Robby McCurry v. Container Corp. of America, a Division of Jefferson Smurfit Corporation
03S01-9705-CH-00050
Authoring Judge: Per Curiam

The appellee, Robby McCurry, filed a second motion to rehear on December 28, 1998, petitioning this Court to reconsider our decision in the above styled case. The appellee filed this petition without first seeking permission from this Court as prescribed in Rule 39(f) of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. Accordingly, the motion is not well taken.

Campbell Supreme Court

State of Tennessee v. Kristina Schindler
03S01-9804-CR-00040
Authoring Judge: Justice Janice M. Holder
Trial Court Judge: Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz

We granted this appeal to address whether a trial court can consider prior grants of diversion or previously expunged offenses in determining a defendant's suitability for diversion. In the case now before us, the trial court denied the defendant's request for judicial diversion because the defendant had previously been placed on diversion on two different occasions. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision to deny the defendant's application for judicial diversion. Upon review, we hold that evidence of prior diversions may be considered in determining whether a defendant is a suitable candidate for diversion.

Knox Supreme Court

State of Tennessee v. Preston Carter - Concurring
02S01-9705-CR-00045
Authoring Judge: Justice Janice M. Holder
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood

In this capital case, the defendant, Preston Carter, pled guilty and was  convicted on two counts of felony murder. A jury sentenced him to death on both counts, finding that the murders of Thomas and Tensia Jackson were especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-2-203(i)(5).  The jury imposed sentences of death based upon the presence of this sole aggravating circumstance.

Shelby Supreme Court

Edmund George Zagorski v. State of Tennessee
01S01-9711-CC-00240
Authoring Judge: Per Curiam

ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR REHEARING
Appellant Edmund George Zagorski has filed a petition to rehear this cause
pursuant to Tenn. R. App. P. 39 contending that our opinion conflicts with and/or
overlooks principles of law regarding trial counsel’s duties to investigate mitigation
evidence and fully advise a defendant regarding a potential mitigation defense. We
have reviewed all of the arguments raised in the petition, and we find them to be
without merit.

Robertson Supreme Court

State of Tennessee v. Gerald Robert Stevens, Laurie Ann Williams, and James Darren Brothers Stevens, et al.
02S01-9712-CC-00112
Authoring Judge: Chief Justice E. Riley Anderson
Trial Court Judge: Judge Julian P. Guinn

We granted this appeal to determine whether a conclusory allegation in an affidavit that information was provided by a “concerned citizen source” is sufficient to establish the presumptive reliability of the information for the issuance of a search warrant under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, § 7 of the Tennessee Constitution.1 There is a distinction in Tennessee law between “citizen informants” and “criminal informants” or those from the criminal milieu. Information provided by an unnamed ordinary citizen is presumed to be reliable, and the affidavit need not establish that the source is credible or that the information is reliable. State v. Melson, 638 S.W.2d 342, 354 (Tenn. 1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1137, 103 S. Ct. 770, 74 L. Ed. 2d 983 (1983). On the other hand, where information is provided by an anonymous criminal informant, the affidavit must establish (1) the basis of the informant’s knowledge, and (2) the reliability of the informant or the information. State v. Jacumin, 778 S.W.2d 430 (Tenn. 1989).
 

Henry Supreme Court

State vs. Pettus
01S01-9709-CC-00202
Trial Court Judge: John H. Gasaway, III

Montgomery Supreme Court

Jordan vs. Baptist Three Rivers Hospital
01S01-9706-CV-00142

Supreme Court

Helms vs. Dept. of Safety
01S01-9709-CH-00185
Trial Court Judge: Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.

Supreme Court

Anderson vs. Moran Foods
02S01-9610-CH-00093

Shelby Supreme Court