News
January 21, 2005
Governor Phil Bredesen today announced that Fayette County General Sessions Judge J. Weber McCraw will fill a vacancy in part one of the 25th Judicial District's Circuit Court, created by the retirement of Jon Kerry Blackwood of Somerville. The 25th Judicial District Circuit Court covers Fayette,…
January 28, 2005
The Tennessee Supreme Court has upheld a jury’s verdicts convicting a Memphis man and sentencing him to death for killing his wife by beating her in the head and face with a skillet and a horse shoe after she told him she wanted a divorce.Justice Janice Holder, writing for a majority of the court,…
February 3, 2005
Governor Phil Bredesen appointed Williamson County attorney Jeffrey S. Bivins to fill a vacancy in Division III of the 21 st Judicial District’s Circuit Court, created by the retirement of Judge Donald Paul Harris. The 21 st Judicial District Circuit Court covers Hickman, Lewis, Perry and…
March 4, 2005
n a series of seminars sponsored by the Administrative Office of the Courts and supported by a grant from the Governor's Highway Safety Office, judges across the state are being educated about legal issues in the impaired driving cases they hear."These educational seminars are providing general…
March 4, 2005
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the felony murder conviction and death sentence Memphis jurors imposed on Andrew Thomas, who shot an armored truck guard in the back of the head, stole his victim's money deposit bag and went on a shopping spree.Thomas was sentenced to death for the 1997…
March 5, 2005
Governor Phil Bredesen announced that Nashville attorney Donna M. Fields will fill a position in the 30th Judicial District, Division VII Circuit Court. The position was vacated by Judge Robert Lanier upon his retirement Dec. 31, 2003. "I am confident that Ms. Fields will serve with honor and…
April 4, 2005
Students from 17 public and private high schools in Giles, Lawrence, Maury and Wayne counties will hear arguments in three state Supreme Court cases as participants in a program created to educate young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.The 550 students and their teachers will…
April 5, 2005
Davidson County Chancellor Claudia C. Bonnyman has been awarded a State Justice Institute (SJI) scholarship to attend a 10-day General Jurisdiction course at the National Judicial College in Nevada.The award will cover tuition, transportation and lodging. Bonnyman and judges from across the country…
April 12, 2005
Calling jurors “full partners in court proceedings” and recognizing their “profound impact” on the state, the Tennessee Supreme Court has issued a proclamation designating May as Juror Appreciation Month.“Jury trials have been part of Anglo-American law for centuries, having been guaranteed in…
April 15, 2005
Tennessee’s criminal sentencing laws do not violate the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a jury trial and were not affected by two United States Supreme Court rulings last year addressing the authority of judges to enhance sentences, the state Supreme Court said Friday in a 3-2 decision.Chief Justice…
April 15, 2005
Tennessee’s criminal sentencing laws do not violate the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a jury trial and were not affected by two United States Supreme Court rulings last year addressing the authority of judges to enhance sentences, the state Supreme Court said Friday in a 3-2 decision.Chief Justice…
April 21, 2005
Phil Bredesen announced that Memphis attorney Jerry Stokes will fill a vacancy in division six of the 30th Judicial District's Circuit Court, created by the retirement of George H. Brown, Jr. The 30th Judicial District Circuit Court covers Shelby County. "Jerry Stokes has more than 20 years…
May 9, 2005
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction and death sentence a Missouri man received for killing a Dyer County tow truck driver who had answered his murderer’s Sunday morning call for help.Steven Ray Thacker was convicted of first degree murder for the Jan. 2, 2000, stabbing death of…
May 11, 2005
Tennessee Judges to Receive National HonorsJudges from Madisonville, Nashville and Memphis are being recognized with awards from the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ), with more than 1,500 members nationwide representing all levels of the state and federal judiciary.State Court of Appeals…
May 23, 2005
The Tennessee Supreme Court has set a legal standard for “abandonment” of property for school purposes in a case involving an attempt by heirs to reclaim land conveyed - with conditions attached - to Davidson County schools nearly 100 years ago.In 1908, George E. and Sarah Haley sold the one-acre…
May 24, 2005
American Legion Boys State delegates from high schools in all 95 counties will participate Wednesday, May 25, in the SCALES Program, an acronym for the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students. SCALES is a Tennessee Supreme Court initiative designed to educate young Tennesseans about…
May 24, 2005
The Tennessee Supreme Court has rejected Paul Dennis Reid’s appeal of his convictions and death sentences for the 1997 stabbing murders of two young women he had kidnapped from a Clarksville ice cream parlor.In an opinion written by Justice E. Riley Anderson, the court affirmed Reid’s convictions…
May 31, 2005
More than 100 print and broadcast reporters and editors from across Tennessee will gather in Nashville June 6 to attend a Law School for Journalists, co-sponsored by the Tennessee Supreme Court and the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University.“Legal issues and the judicial system are complex…
June 6, 2005
Chief Justice Frank F. Drowota, III, who has served longer than any of the 183 active state court judges, is retiring after 35 years of judicial service, including a quarter century on the Tennessee Supreme Court and two terms as chief justice.Drowota“This morning I visited with and delivered to…
July 1, 2005
Circuit Court Judge William B. Acree, Jr., of the 27th Judicial District has been elected by his judicial peers statewide to serve as president of the Tennessee Trial Judges Association (TTJA). All 153 circuit, chancery and criminal court judges in Tennessee are members.
Acree, of Union City, has…