Dennis J. Hughes v. Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee
This is a direct appeal from a judgment of the trial court, which set aside a decision by a hearing panel designated by the Board of Professional Responsibility granting a disbarred attorney’s petition for reinstatement of his law license. The issue presented is whether the attorney, who was convicted of bribing a witness and conspiracy to bribe a witness in a criminal trial, has met the criteria for immediate reinstatement to the practice of law. Although the panel properly determined that the evidence clearly and convincingly proved the moral qualifications of the attorney and his knowledge of state law, we hold that the evidence failed to so meet the threshold as to the third requirement–that reinstatement would not be detrimental to the standing of the bar, the administration of justice, and the interest of the public. The judgment of the trial court is, therefore, affirmed. |
Rutherford | Supreme Court | |
State of Tennessee v. Johnny B. Cox
The defendant, Johnny B. Cox, was convicted by a Madison County Circuit Court jury of two counts of assault, a Class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to the maximum sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days for each count, to be served consecutively, with his release eligibility set at seventy-five percent. The defendant was ordered to pay a fine of $2500 for the first count and a fine of $500 for the second count. In this appeal, the defendant raises the issue of whether the evidence was sufficient to support his convictions. We affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Rebecca Stafford Shell vs. Jon E. Shell
The plaintiff wife filed a Complaint for Divorce. The parties entered into a mediation which resulted in all issues being resolved in a mediated settlement, and the Final Report of the mediator was filed in Court. The plaintiff then voluntarily nonsuited her action for divorce, and refiled on the same date in Circuit Court. The Trial Court ultimately set aside the nonsuit, tried the issues raised, approved the mediated settlement and granted the parties a divorce. On appeal, we affirm. |
Sevier | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Mark Fredrick Taylor
The defendant pled guilty to one count of attempt to obtain a controlled substance by fraud in case number S50,151 in exchange for an eight year sentence to be served on probation. He also pled guilty to one count of attempt to obtain a controlled substance by fraud and one count of fraudulently obtaining benefits for medical assistance in case number S50,727. For the controlled substance conviction, he received an eight year sentence to be served on probation concurrently with the sentence in case number S50,151. For the medical assistance conviction, the agreed sentence was six years, run consecutively to the other two sentences, with the manner of service to be determined by the trial court. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered the defendant to serve his six year sentence in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant argues the trial court failed to make his pre-sentence report available and erred in sentencing him as a Range III offender. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Pierre Pons, et al v. Barry Harrison d/b/a B. Harrison Housewrights
Defendant Homebuilder left plaintiff Homeowners’ job site before completing construction of their residence. Homebuilder appeals the chancery court’s confirmation of an adverse arbitration award, arguing that the arbitrator exceeded his authority by refusing to enforce a provision of the contract that would have rendered the plaintiff Homeowners’ suit time barred. The limitation provision applied to suits for defective improvements to real estate. The gravamen of this breach of contract action was partial performance, not defective performance. Further, the arbitrator awarded to Homeowners the cost to complete the construction plus interest, attorney’s fees, and arbitration costs. Finding that the limitation period does not apply to this action, we affirm. |
Williamson | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Richard Burton
The defendant, Richard Burton, was convicted of one count of introducing contraband into a penal institution. On appeal, he argues that he was erroneously convicted of an offense for which he was not indicted. In addition, the defendant argues that the trial court’s interpretation of the statute resulted in a duplicitous indictment and the trial court’s jury charge prevented a unanimous jury verdict. Following our review of the parties’ briefs, the record, and the applicable law, we reverse the judgment of the trial court, vacate the conviction and dismiss the charges against the defendant. |
Gibson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Camelia Monique Fields
The appellant pled guilty in the Madison County Circuit Court to theft of property valued between $1,000 and $10,000. The trial court sentenced her as a Range I, standard offender to two years to be served on probation supervised by Community Corrections. On appeal, the appellant ontends that the trial court erroneously denied her request for judicial diversion. Upon review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Robert Rubin
The defendant, Robert Rubin, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of the first degree murder of Michael Gross. He was also convicted of the attempted first degree murder of Charles Gross, a Class A felony. The defendant is serving consecutive sentences of life for the first degree murder conviction and thirty-five years for the attempted first degree murder conviction. In this direct appeal, the defendant contends (1) that the evidence is insufficient to convict him of first degree murder, and (2) that the trial court erred in sentencing him to a thirty-five year term for attempted first degree murder and in imposing the sentences consecutively. We hold that no error has been shown, and we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Anthony T. Robertson v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Anthony T. Robertson, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his conviction for sexual battery. The trial court issued a written order dismissing the petition and denying habeas corpus relief for failure to state a cognizable claim. The petitioner filed an untimely appeal of the written order denying his petition. Following our review of the parties’ briefs, the record, and the applicable law, we conclude that the petitioner failed to timely file his notice of appeal and therefore his appeal is dismissed. |
Lake | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Matthew Dixon v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Matthew Dixon, appeals from the post-conviction court’s order denying his petition for post-conviction relief. On appeal, he argues that the denial of relief was error because he did not receive the effective assistance of counsel at trial. Following our review, we conclude that the Petitioner has not shown that trial counsel was ineffective. Consequently, we affirm the post-conviction court’s order denying post-conviction relief. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Timothy E. Higgs v. James Worthington, Warden
The Petitioner was convicted of possession of contraband in a penal institution, a Class C felony, and was sentenced to ten years as a Range III offender. He filed a petition for habeas corpus relief claiming that he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to counsel when he represented himself at trial and that the indictment was defective. The habeas corpus court dismissed the petition without a hearing. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the habeas court. |
Morgan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Derrick Quintero and William Eugene Hall, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
The appellants, Derrick Quintero and William Eugene Hall, Jr., were each convicted on two counts of murder during the perpetration of first degree burglary, three counts of grand larceny, one count of petit larceny and three counts of first degree burglary. They both received the death penalty for the murder of one of the victims, a life sentence for the other murder conviction, and an effective eighty year sentence for the remaining convictions. The appellants were unsuccessful in their direct appeals. See State v. Hall and Quintero, 976 S.W. 2d 121 (Tenn. 1998). Appellants filed individual pro se post-conviction petitions and simultaneously joint petitions for writ of error coram nobis. Appellants alleged various constitutional violations, including the ineffective assistance of counsel and the existence of newly discovered evidence. Following a joint hearing on the petitions the trial court denied relief. We affirm the judgments. |
Humphreys | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. George Lucas Jernigan
The defendant, George Lucas Jernigan, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault, one count of driving on a suspended license, and one count of reckless driving. The Bedford County Circuit Court imposed an effective six-year term to be served in the Department of Correction. The defendant now appeals, alleging that community corrections placement was a more appropriate sentence and that the trial court erroneously applied statutory enhancement factors to increase the sentence that were not found by a jury. Upon review, we affirm the judgments below. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Patty J. Cheatwood v. Crystal D. Curle And Bud Davis Lincoln Mercury, LLC
This appeal concerns the scope of an employer’s liability for its employee’s allegedly negligent operation of a motor vehicle owned by the employer. In this case both the employer and the employee were sued after the employee became involved in an automobile accident with another motorist. Arguing that there was no basis for holding it vicariously liable for any negligence on the part of its employee, the employer moved the trial court for summary judgment. The employer’s motion was granted. We affirm and remand for further proceedings. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Chris Cagle v. Mark J. Hybner, et al.
The plaintiff, a songwriter and recording artist, filed this action against his manager and publisher seeking a declaration that the Exclusive Management Agreement and the Exclusive Songwriter Agreement were invalid and unenforceable due to various alleged breaches of fiduciary duty and breaches of contract. The defendants filed Counterclaims seeking a declaration that the Management Agreement and the Songwriter Agreement were valid, and that they sought to recover damages and attorney’s fees. The music publisher additionally sought specific performance of the Songwriter Agreement and an injunction to prevent the songwriter from composing any songs for others until the plaintiff fulfilled his obligation to the publisher. The Chancellor summarily dismissed the plaintiff’s Complaint. The Chancellor also summarily ruled that the Management Agreement and the Songwriter Agreement were valid and enforceable, that the plaintiff was in material breach of both agreements. As for the Songwriter Agreement, the Chancellor found that the plaintiff was obligated to compose and deliver to the publisher an additional 76 songs of marketable commercial quality, for which the publisher was granted equitable relief in the form of specific performance as well as injunctive relief, whereby the plaintiff was enjoined from composing any songs for others until the songwriter fulfilled his obligation to the publisher. The defendants were also awarded $737,201 in damages, which included an award of attorneys fees of $171,704. The plaintiff appealed presenting numerous issues. We affirm the Chancellor’s decision to dismiss the plaintiff’s Complaint. We also affirm the Chancellor’s determination that the Management Agreement and the Songwriter Agreement were valid and enforceable and that the plaintiff was in material breach of both agreements for which the defendants are entitled to recover damages. We, however, have determined the Chancellor erred by granting the publishing company extraordinary equitable relief in the form of specific performance and injunctive relief under the Songwriter Agreement. Because of our decision concerning specific performance and injunctive relief, each of which are factors to consider when determining the amount of attorney’s fees the defendants may be entitled to recover, we find it necessary to vacate the award of attorney’s fees in the amount of $171,704 and remand the issue, along with the issue of damages and other relief, if any, to which the defendants may be entitled. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Joseph Vermeal v. State of Tennessee
A Warren County jury convicted the Petitioner of aggravated sexual battery and attempted aggravated sexual battery in separate cases, and this Court affirmed the judgments on appeal. The Petitioner filed two post-conviction petitions asserting various grounds for relief. The post-conviction court denied the petitions for post-conviction relief after a consolidated hearing. On appeal, the Petitioner alleges: (1) he was denied the right to a fair trial because a case relied upon by the trial court and on direct appeal to exclude expert testimony proffered by the Petitioner has since been overturned; and (2) he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Warren | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Sunni Adkins
The Defendant, Sunni Adkins, pled guilty to three counts of child abuse, Class A misdemeanors, and one count of aggravated assault, a Class C felony. She was sentenced to eleven months and twentynine days for each misdemeanor and to four years for the felony to be served as a Range I standard offender. The misdemeanor sentences were ordered to be served concurrently with one another but consecutively to the felony sentence. Additionally, six months of each misdemeanor sentence was ordered to be served in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred in sentencing her by improperly applying certain statutory enhancement factors and by denying full probation or another alternative sentence. Following our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we uphold the sentences ordered by the trial court. |
Lewis | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Sunni Adkins - Concurring
I concur in the results reached in the majority opinion. However, I would affirm the trial court because of the defendant’s failure to include the guilty plea hearing transcript in the record and the attendant presumption that the trial court’s determinations were correct. See State v. Oody, 823 S.W.2d 554 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1991) (holding trial court’s ruling presumed correct in the absence of an adequate record on appeal). |
Lewis | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
John R. Thompson v. State of Tennessee
A Bedford County jury convicted the Petitioner of seventeen crimes involving his sexual contact with three minor girls, and this Court affirmed those judgments on appeal. The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging that he failed to receive the effective assistance of counsel. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and, after a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jackie Glenn Allen v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner pled guilty to rape and incest and agreed to allow the trial court to sentence him. After a sentencing hearing, the court imposed an effective sentence of ten and one-half years to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Petitioner appealed the sentence, and this Court affirmed. The Petitioner then filed his petition for post-conviction relief claiming that he did not receive the effective assistance of counsel and that his guilty plea was not entered knowingly or voluntarily. The post-conviction court denied the petition for post-conviction relief, and, after a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Lincoln | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Matthew Thornton, et al. v. Allenbrooke Nursing and Rehabilitation Center LLC, et al.
This appeal involves a dispute over an arbitration agreement, and stems from a nursing home abuse and neglect case. The decedent’s daughter signed all the paperwork associated with the decedent’s admission to the nursing home. An arbitration agreement was included in the admissions agreement. Decedent’s daughter, as next of kin, filed a complaint alleging nursing home abuse and neglect. The nursing home moved to stay the case and compel the matter to arbitration. The trial court held that daughter did not have authority to waive decedent’s constitutional right to a jury trial, and denied the nursing home’s motion. The nursing home appeals. We affirm the trial court’s decision. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Billy Clay Browning
The Appellant, Billy Clay Browning, was convicted by a Henry County jury of one count of first degree premeditated murder and received, as provided by law, a sentence of life imprisonment. On appeal, Browning has presented two issues for our review: (1) whether the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to grant a continuance because Browning was unable to assist trial counsel with his defense; and (2) whether the evidence is sufficient to support the conviction. Following review of the record, we find no error and affirm. |
Henry | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee, ex rel Venessa Moore v. Michael Steven Moore
Father/Appellant appeals the trial court’s modification of child support. Specifically, Appellant asserts that the trial court erred in setting support based upon eighty days of visitation as set out in Tenn. Comp. R. & Reg. 1240-2-4-.04(7)(a) rather than the 182.5 days used for fifty/fifty parenting situations as contemplated in Tenn. Comp. R. & Reg. 1240-2-4-.02(12). Appellant also appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion for continuance. Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jennifer Lynn Stinnett
The Defendant, Jennifer Lynn Stinnett, appeals from the sentencing decision of the Marshall County Circuit Court. The Defendant was indicted for over two hundred offenses (Class D and E felonies and Class C misdemeanors) as a consequence of her scheme to unlawfully obtain prescription drugs. She subsequently pled guilty as charged. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed an effective twelve-year sentence and ordered the Defendant to serve 365 days in jail, followed by probation for the remainder of her sentence. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying her request for full probation. After a review of the record, we find no error in the denial of total probation. We remand for entry of corrected judgments. |
Marshall | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Charles Michael Bean
The Appellant, Charles Michael Bean, appeals the sentencing decision of the Davidson County Criminal Court. A jury found Bean guilty of three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of reckless aggravated assault. The trial court merged the convictions for reckless aggravated assault with the three aggravated assault convictions, and a sentencing hearing was held. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court imposed the minimum sentence of three years for each of the Class C felonies and ordered that Bean serve nine months in incarceration followed by four years of probation. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently. On appeal, Bean argues that the trial court erred in denying him a sentence of total probation. After a thorough review of the record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals |