News
December 29, 2005
A new state law, effective Jan. 1, could generate millions of dollars to bolster courthouse security in 94 counties without costing taxpayers a penny. Knox County opted out of the bill, which was enacted by the General Assembly during the 2005 legislative session.The statute also simplifies the…
January 6, 2006
Criminal Court Judges Mark Ward and Chris Craft of Shelby County, the 30th Judicial District, have been honored by the Criminal Law Section of the Memphis Bar Association. Ward was voted Judge of the Year while Craft has been chosen to receive the section’s Outstanding Service Award.“Judge Ward is…
January 12, 2005
Future attorneys attending the Nashville School of Law will have an opportunity to hear oral arguments in a dozen Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals cases without leaving their Nashville campus.The cases involve crimes ranging from a speeding ticket a citizen received for his high speed pursuit of…
January 24, 2006
The Tennessee Court of the Judiciary has suspended Roane County General Sessions Court Judge Thomas A. Austin, who was arrested Monday on federal extortion and money laundering charges.“This court has determined an interim suspension is appropriate,” the Court of the Judiciary said in an order…
January 25, 2006
Governor Phil Bredesen today named two appointments to the criminal courts of the 10th and 11th Judicial Districts. Amy Reedy, an assistant public defender in Cleveland, will fill a criminal court position in the 10th Judicial District, serving Polk, Monroe, McMinn and Bradley Counties. Chattanooga…
January 25, 2006
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice E. Riley Anderson will retire Aug. 31, ending a judicial career that included four terms as chief justice and writing or participating in more than 3000 appellate court decisions.“It is with mixed feelings that I advise you that I will not be a candidate for re-…
January 26, 2006
Former Chief Justice Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., will end a 43-year judicial career, including 19 years of appellate court service, with his August 31 retirement from the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Birch, described by Gov. Phil Bredesen as “a trailblazer in the legal profession,” is the only Tennessee…
February 15, 2006
The Tennessee Supreme Court has filed an order that could lead to a substantial reduction in the amount of paper handled by the state’s three offices of the appellate court clerk and also improve access to court records by making more of them available online.But, before electronic filing – or e-…
February 17, 2006
The Tennessee Supreme Court has upheld the convictions and death sentence William Glenn Rogers received for the 1996 rape and murder of 9-year-old Jacqueline Beard, who was abducted as she picked blackberries near her Clarksville home.“We have reviewed all of the issues raised by Rogers and…
February 21, 2006
The Tennessee Judicial Selection Commission will hold two separate meetings to fill vacancies on the state Supreme Court being created by the Aug. 31 retirements of Justices E. Riley Anderson of Knoxville and Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., of Nashville, commission chairman Mike Bottoms said Monday.“I…
February 22, 2006
The death sentence Memphis jurors imposed on a man who raped and murdered his 13-year-old stepdaughter after luring her into a wooded area has been upheld by the Tennessee Supreme Court.Charles Rice was sentenced to death for the June 18, 2000, stabbing murder of Emily Branch. The girl, whose body…
February 28, 2006
In a decision affirming the death sentence a Memphis man received for killing his girlfriend, the Tennessee Supreme Court has held for the first time that jurors’ identities may be withheld if their safety could be jeopardized by disclosing their names to criminal defendants.
Writing for a 4-1…
March 16, 2006
The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the death sentence jurors imposed on a murderer who stabbed his frail 81-year-old victim 27 times and then shook the body to make sure he was dead before fleeing with stolen cash and other items.Steven James Rollins was convicted of killing bait shop owner…
March 16, 2006
The Tennessee Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence inmate Stephen Lynn Hugueley received for stabbing a correctional officer 36 times, stopping only when the handle broke on a sharpened piece of metal he had devised as a weapon.Hugueley, who said he had no remorse for the murder, was an…
March 17, 2006
The Judge Advocate General of the United States Army, Major General Scott C. Black, has selected Circuit Court Judge, John D. McAfee, to be a Military Trial Judge for the 150th LSO. Lieutenant Colonel McAfee has been assigned to the Senior Military Judge Position at Fort Campbell, Ky., home of the…
March 27, 2006
Circuit Court Judge John A. Turnbull of Livingston is the recipient of the first annual Charlie Hardin Memorial Community Service Award, presented by the Putnam County Bar Association. The award was established in memory of Cookeville attorney Charlie Hardin, who recently died of cancer.“I can’t…
March 28, 2006
Term limits adopted by Shelby County voters for certain elected local officials are legal and constitutional, the Tennessee Supreme Court said in a unanimous decision filed Wednesday.
Under the Supreme Court ruling, plaintiffs in the case who have served two terms on the Shelby County Board of…
April 13, 2006
State Supreme Court Chief Justice William M. Barker has been tapped by a Tennessee university and an Ohio law school as recipient of their 2006 Distinguished Alumni Awards.“To be Distinguished Alumni at one school is humbling, but to chosen for the award at both the University of Tennessee at…
April 17, 2006
Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge William C. Koch, Jr., is among “The 500 Leading Judges in America,” based on a months-long survey of lawyers and judges conducted by Lawdragon.com.“Our staff of reporters and editors spent several months interviewing thousands of lawyers and judges nationwide to…
April 27, 2006
Students from 18 Hamilton County high schools, along with 15 local home schooled students, will hear arguments in three state Supreme Court cases May 5 as participants in a program that educates young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.
The 677 students and their teachers will…