Opinions

State vs. Alexander Lee
W1999-01804-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Chris B. Craft
The Appellant, Alexander A. Lee, pled guilty to one count of felony possession of cocaine, a class C felony. The Shelby County Criminal Court sentenced the Appellant to three years, suspended, with nine months to serve in the county workhouse. On appeal, the Appellant contends that the trial judge erred in denying his request for total probation. After review, we find no error. Therefore, the judgment is affirmed.

Frances Wolfe vs. Kroger Co.
W2000-00281-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: James F. Russell
Plaintiff sued Defendant to recover for injures she received from a fall inside Defendant's store. The trial court granted Defendant's motion for summary judgment. We affirm based on Plaintiff's failure to counter Defendant's evidence that it neither caused the condition which caused the fall nor did it have notice of that condition.

Michael Love vs. Dr. Crants
W2000-01518-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Jon Kerry Blackwood
This case involves the incarceration of the Appellant in the State of Tennessee pursuant to a contract between the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and Corrections Corporation of America. The Appellant filed a petition for habeas corpus relief in the Circuit Court of Hardeman County. The trial court entered an order dismissing the Appellant's for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

Brenda Woods vs. Howard Hayden
W2000-02362-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Alan E. Highers
Trial Court Judge: Joe C. Morris
The cases on appeal are three actions that were consolidated by Order of the court below. The Defendants in all cases are practicing attorneys. While Appellant's brief is difficult to follow and contains no citations to the record, it appears that she was dissatisfied with the outcome of two cases which were pending in the Chancery Courts of Shelby County, Tennessee. As a result, she sued the attorneys who worked on her behalf as well as her adversaries' counsel.

Ronald L. Davis vs. Hershell D. Koger
M2000-01598-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Stella L. Hargrove
This appeal involves a dispute between a convicted felon and the lawyer appointed to represent him in his efforts to reopen his post-conviction challenge to his conviction. After the efforts to set aside his conviction proved unsuccessful, the prisoner sued the lawyer in the Chancery Court for Maury County arguing that his civil rights had been violated because his lawyer had conspired with the prosecutor and the trial judge to prevent him from obtaining the post-conviction relief to which he believed he was entitled. The lawyer denied these allegations, and the prisoner moved for a summary judgment. On June 15, 2000, the trial court summarily dismissed the prisoner's complaint on two grounds. First, the court concluded that it did not have subject matter jurisdiction to consider claims regarding the denial of the prisoner's request for post-judgment relief. Second, the trial court concluded that the prisoner had failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We affirm the dismissal of the prisoner's complaint.

Mitchell Tarver vs. Dept. of Correction
M2000-01622-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Ellen Hobbs Lyle
A prison inmate filed a petition seeking a declaratory judgment that he was entitled to parole consideration in accordance with his plea bargain. The trial court dismissed the petition on summary judgment. We affirm.

Rita M. Russell v. Modine Manufacturing Company, Inc.
E2000-00176-WC-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: John K. Byers, Sr. J.
Trial Court Judge: James B. Scott, Jr., Judge
This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated _ 5-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. Review of the findings of fact made by the trial court is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of the correctness of the finding, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. TENN. CODE ANN. _ 5-6-225(e)(2). Stone v. City of McMinnville, 896 S.W.2d 548, 55 (Tenn. 1995).

Jeff Utley, et al vs. Jim Rose, et al
M2000-00941-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: Carol L. Mccoy
Two prison inmates sued the Assistant Commissioner of Correction and four other correctional employees for failing to release them from maximum security. The trial court dismissed the suit for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. We affirm.

Kenneth Lewis vs. Dept. of Correction
M2000-00675-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.
Appellant, a Department of Corrections inmate, appeals the dismissal of his petition for a writ of certiorari relative to disciplinary action by the TDOC resulting from a positive drug screen. We affirm the trial judge.

Frankie White, et al vs. Ronnie Gault, et al
M2000-00534-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Patricia J. Cottrell
Trial Court Judge: L. Craig Johnson
The plaintiff filed a Tenn. R. Civ. P. 60.02 motion, seeking to reinstate his claim after the Supreme Court reversed a decision cited by this court when dismissing his appeal. The trial court denied the motion. We affirm.

Peggy Boles vs. Dept. of Correction
M2000-00893-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Patricia J. Cottrell
Trial Court Judge: Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.
The wife of an incarcerated person brought an action seeking to have a policy of the Department of Correction declared invalid. The policy involved a visitor's responsibility to control children while visiting an inmate in a state prison. The trial court dismissed the petition. We affirm.

Peter Greer v. Dept of Correction
M2000-00222-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Irvin H. Kilcrease, Jr.
This appeal involves a dispute between a prisoner and the Tennessee Department of Correction regarding a change in the way the Department reports pre-trial sentence credits. Believing that the change increased the length of his sentence, the prisoner filed suit in the Chancery Court for Davidson County to rescind the change. The trial court concluded that the change had not altered the prisoner's sentence expiration date and dismissed the petition. We affirm.

Charles Bobo v. Dept. of Corrections
M2000-00517-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William B. Cain
Trial Court Judge: Ellen Hobbs Lyle
Appellant, a prison inmate, filed, in the Chancery Court of Davidson County, a Petition for Writ of Certiorari questioning disciplinary actions against him by the Department of Corrections. The petition was dismissed by the Chancellor with costs assessed against Appellant. Appellant then sought exemption of his inmate trust account from execution for costs asserting that Tennessee Code Annotated Section 26-2-103 rendered his trust account and personal property to a value of $4,000 exempt from execution for court costs. The Chancellor held Tennessee Code Annotated Section 26-2-103 to be inapplicable, and we affirm the Chancellor.

Herman Majors, Jr. vs. Detective James Smith
M2000-01430-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Trial Court Judge: James E. Walton
A man indicted for robbing a convenience store was ultimately acquitted of the crime. He subsequently filed a malicious prosecution suit against the detective who arrested him. The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendant detective. We affirm.

Derrick Jackson v. Dept of Correction
M2000-02065-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Jeffrey S. Bivins
This appeal involves a dispute between a prisoner and the Department of Correction over the prisoner's loss of sentence credits as punishment for a disciplinary offense. Failing to obtain redress from the Department, the prisoner filed a petition in the Chancery Court for Williamson County alleging that he was being held unlawfully because his sentence had expired. The trial court dismissed the petition, and the prisoner appealed. We have determined that this appeal is now moot because the prisoner has been released from custody. Therefore, we vacate the trial court's order and remand the case with directions to dismiss the prisoner's petition.

State vs. Gary Russell
E1999-01511-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: James B. Scott, Jr.
The appellant pled guilty in the Anderson County Criminal Court to three counts of selling over .5 grams of cocaine. Pursuant to a plea agreement, the trial court imposed concurrent sentences of eight years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction for each conviction. The trial court denied the appellant any form of non-incarcerative alternative sentencing, including probation. On appeal, the appellant challenges the trial court's denial of alternative sentencing. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Luther Brown, III vs. State
E1999-02290-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge J. Curwood Witt, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: R. Jerry Beck
The petitioner, Luther Robert Brown, III, appeals from the Sullivan County Criminal Court's summary dismissal of his petition for the writ of habeas corpus. Brown seeks relief from a "parole hold" that Tennessee officials have caused to be placed upon him within the Virginia prison system. According to the allegations of his petition, the parole hold has resulted in the Virginia prison system denying him inmate privileges to which he would otherwise be entitled. Additionally, he complains that he has not been granted a Tennessee parole hearing even though he has served his Tennessee sentence past the release eligibility date. Because we agree with the lower court that these complaints are not cognizable in a habeas corpus proceeding, we affirm the lower court's dismissal of the petition.

State vs. Martin Charles Jones
E1999-01296-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Ray L. Jenkins
The Appellant, Martin Charles Jones, pled guilty to nine counts of criminal exposure to HIV, class C felonies, and to three counts of statutory rape, class E felonies. Following a sentencing hearing, the Knox County Criminal Court imposed an effective sentence of seventeen years incarceration. On appeal, the Appellant asserts that the trial court erred by denying his request for alternative sentencing. After review, we find no error and affirm the judgment.

State vs. Walter Jackson
E1999-02186-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Mary Beth Leibowitz
Walter Jackson appeals the judgment of the Knox County Criminal Court revoking his placement in the community corrections program and reinstating his original eight-year Department of Correction sentence. Prior to his revocation, Jackson was serving an eight-year community corrections sentence resulting from his 1991 guilty pleas to two counts of sale of cocaine. Jackson challenges the revocation of his community corrections sentence and the redesignation of his confinement with the Department of Correction. Finding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion, we affirm.

State of Tennessee v. Oneal Sanford
E1999-02089-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Carroll L. Ross

State vs. David Mitchell
E1999-02761-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge J. Curwood Witt, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: James B. Scott, Jr.
The defendant, David Calvin Mitchell, appeals the manner of service of his sentence for second offense DUI. Notwithstanding Anderson County's lack of a work release program for jail inmates, he claims that he is statutorily and constitutionally entitled to work release during the mandatory, 45-day period of jail confinement for his crime. Because we hold that the defendant was not statutorily entitled to work release consideration and that there was no equal protection violation, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

State vs. Howard W. Weaver
E2000-00066-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge J. Curwood Witt, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: E. Eugene Eblen
The defendant appeals his convictions of two counts of aggravated sexual battery. He claims that the trial court erred (1) in denying his motion to suppress his statement given to investigators from the Department of Children's Services and sheriff's department, and (2) in failing to require the state to elect the particular offenses upon which it sought convictions. He also claims that the evidence presented at trial is insufficient to support his convictions. Upon review, we accept the state's concession of error in the failure to elect, but we are unpersuaded of merit in the defendant's suppression and sufficiency issues. We reverse the defendant's convictions and remand for a new trial.

State vs. Patty Pace Purkey
E2000-00308-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: O. Duane Slone
The appellant, Patty Pace Purkey, pled guilty in the Grainger County Criminal Court to one count of vehicular assault, a class D felony, one count of reckless endangerment, a class E felony, three counts of simple possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor, and one count of driving on a revoked license, a class B misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced the appellant to the following terms of incarceration: three years in the Tennessee Department of Correction for vehicular assault; two years in the Tennessee Department of Correction for reckless endangerment; eleven months and twenty-nine days in the county jail for each of the simple possession convictions; and six months in the county jail for driving on a revoked license. The trial court further ordered that all of the appellant's sentences be served concurrently and assessed a total of $750 in fines. The trial court denied the appellant any form of alternative sentencing. On appeal, the appellant raises the following issue for our review: whether the trial court erred in failing to order probation or another alternative sentence. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

State vs. Kenneth England
E2000-00535-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge J. Curwood Witt, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: E. Shayne Sexton
The defendant appeals the revocation of his community corrections sentence. Finding a lack of justiciable, substantial evidence to support the revocation, we reverse.

State vs. Danielle Walker
E2000-00578-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: D. Kelly Thomas, Jr.
The appellant, Danielle L. Walker, pled guilty in the Blount County Circuit Court to one count of theft of property over $1000, a class D felony. The trial court sentenced the appellant as a standard Range I offender to two years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The trial court ordered the appellant to serve twenty days of her sentence in periodic confinement and to serve the balance of her sentence on supervised probation. The trial court also ordered the appellant to make restitution to the victim in the amount of $2,928.56. On appeal, the appellant raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether the trial court erred by refusing to grant the appellant judicial diversion; and (2) whether the trial court erred by refusing to grant the appellant full probation. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.