State of Tennessee v. Nathan Brad Cornwell
A Hamblen County Criminal Court jury convicted the appellant, Nathan Brad Cornwell, of driving under the influence, third offense, a class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to eleven months and twenty-nine days and fined one thousand, one hundred and ten dollars. The court also ordered that his driving license be suspended for three years. On appeal, he challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Hamblen | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Mark Allen v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Mark Allen, was convicted of one count of exhibition of materials harmful to a minor, one count of especially aggravated sexual exploitation, and one count of rape of a child, and sentenced to an effective sentence of twenty-four years. He filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief, asserting that trial counsel was ineffective. Following an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed the petition. After our review of the record, we affirm the dismissal. |
Robertson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Carey Haynes, Jr.
The petitioner, Carey Haynes, Jr., was convicted of a Class B and a Class C felony involving the sale of cocaine and received an effective eighteen-year sentence. The only issue raised on direct appeal was ineffective assistance of counsel, which was deemed waived because it was not included in the motion for new trial. The petitioner has now filed seeking post-conviction relief, and the postconviction court has granted the petitioner a delayed appeal and ruled that his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel was previously determined. As to the delayed appeal, we address whether the evidence was sufficient to support the petitioner’s convictions and whether the petitioner’s sentence was proper. We further address whether the post-conviction court properly denied relief. After careful review, we affirm the judgments from the lower courts. |
Dyer | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John L. Trull
The defendant, John L. Trull, pled guilty in the Crockett County Circuit Court to driving under the nfluence (“DUI”), third offense, and was sentenced to eleven months, twenty-nine days, with all but 120 days suspended. As a condition of his guilty plea, he reserved the following certified question of law: “Whether the arrest of the defendant was unconstitutional in violation of Article I, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution and the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution.” Upon review of the record, we agree with the State that the certified question of law does not clearly state the scope and limits of the legal issue the defendant sought to reserve for appeal. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal. |
Crockett | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Ivory Gray
Defendant, Ivory Gray, was indicted in count one for the first degree premeditated murder of Derek Jones and in count two for the attempted first degree premeditated murder of Georglvekio Hampton. Following a jury trial, Defendant was found not guilty in count one of the indictment. The jury found Defendant guilty of attempted first degree premeditated murder in count two. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced Defendant as a Range I, standard offender, to twenty years. On appeal, Defendant argues that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction of attempted first degree premeditated murder; (2) the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury on the definition of “reasonable doubt;” (3) the trial court erred in restricting Defendant’s crossexamination of one of the State’s witnesses; and (4) the cumulative effect of these errors denied Defendant his constitutional right to a fair trial. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jon Thompson, Ed Gatlin, and Empire Express, Inc. v. J. T. Davis and Barbara Davis
This is an action for contribution. The two individual plaintiffs and the defendant formed a limited liability company for the purpose of owning and operating an arena football team. To fund the team, the three investors took out two loans in their individual names. The business was a losing venture, and eventually the team was sold. The proceeds of the sale were used to pay all of the business’s debts except the remaining liability on the two personal loans. The two plaintiffs paid the balance of the loans out of their personal funds. The plaintiffs then filed the instant lawsuit against the defendant for contribution, alleging that he was jointly and severally liable for his pro rata share of the debt. The defendant conceded that he owed a small part of the debt, but argued that his liability should be reduced by the amounts distributed to the plaintiffs by the business. The defendant contended that the funds distributed to the plaintiffs should have been applied to the business debt. After a bench trial, the trial court held in favor of the plaintiffs. The trial court rejected the defendant’s claim that his debt should be offset, finding that the distributions made to the plaintiffs constituted a repayment of loans, not a distribution of capital. It also awarded the plaintiffs attorney’s fees. The defendant now appeals. We affirm the decision of the trial court in all respects. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Benton County, Tennessee, et al. v. Vern Franklin Chumney
This is an eminent domain case. The Appellants appeal the trial court’s denial of a Tenn. R. Civ. P. 15.02 motion. We dismiss the appeal for failure to appeal a final judgment. |
Benton | Court of Appeals | |
Brenda Brewer v. Kenny Brewer, Sr.
This is a divorce case. On appeal, Husband argues that certain settlement monies, which he claims Wife failed to disclose, should be considered marital property subject to equitable division. Such monies include Wife’s personal injury settlement, Wife’s payment for past SSI benefits, and Wife’s car insurance settlement proceeds. Husband also contends that Wife’s share of the marital home should be reduced based on the discovery of these additional assets. Finally, Husband argues that he should not have been required to pay rehabilitative alimony and alimony in futuro to Wife. We affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Richard Price
The defendant, Richard Price, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony, and sentenced to twenty years as a Range II, multiple offender. On appeal, he argues that the trial court erred in declining to grant a mistrial after a witness testified that he attempted to speak to the defendant and challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and the sentence imposed by the trial court. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tremaine Letroy Paige
The Defendant-Appellant, Tremaine Letroy Paige (“Paige”), pled guilty to possession of over .5 grams of cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance with the intent to sell. Pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 37, Paige reserved as a certified question of law the issue of whether the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress. The certified question of law s “[w]hether Officer Anna McDowell had a legal basis for the traffic stop of the Defendant’s vehicle.” Following our review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Dyer | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael Lamar Pritchett
The defendant, Michael Lamar Pritchett, presents for review a certified question of law as allowed by Rule 37(b)(2) of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure. The defendant pled guilty to driving under the influence (DUI). As a condition of his guilty plea, the defendant reserved a certified question of law challenging the denial of his motion to suppress based upon his allegation that he was subjected to an unconstitutional investigative stop. Because the defendant failed to meet the requirements of reserving a certified question for review, we dismiss the appeal. |
Tipton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
In RE: T.H.; A Child Under Eighteen Years of Age; Karen Riley v. Frankie Summeour
This case arose as a dispute over the custody of the minor child between the paternal aunt of the child and the maternal great aunt of the child. Following an evidentiary hearing, the Trial Court |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Barry Randy Hall
The Defendant, Barry Randy Hall, pled guilty to one count of facilitation to sell 0.5 grams or more of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school and one count of selling 0.5 grams or more of cocaine, both Class B felonies. The parties agreed to a ten-year sentence on the facilitation to sell conviction and an eight year sentence on the selling of 0.5 grams or more conviction, to be served concurrently. At the sentencing hearing, the trial court denied probation and alternative sentencing and ordered the Defendant to serve the entirety of sentence in confinement. The Defendant challenges the denial of alternative sentencing in this appeal. After reviewing the record, we conclude that the trial court properly sentenced the defendant and affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Rodney Lamont Love v. State of Tennessee
The Appellant appeals the trial court's dismissal of his petition for post conviction relief. The Appellant filed his petition outside the statute of limitations. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. Rodney Lamont Love, pro se. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jerion Craft
The defendant, Jerion Craft, was convicted of separate counts of unlawful possession of cocaine with intent to sell and to deliver. The trial court merged the convictions and sentenced the defendant to serve eleven years as a standard offender. On appeal, the defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to demonstrate that: he possessed cocaine with the intent to distribute it; the trial court interfered with his right to a fair trial; and the trial court erred in failing to declare a mistrial. After careful review, we affirm the judgments from the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Roy Shotwell, Jr.
The defendant, Roy Shotwell, Jr., was convicted of two counts of rape, each a Class B felony, and one count of sexual battery, a Class E felony. The defendant was sentenced to ten years for each Class B felony and to two years for the Class E felony. The defendant received a total effective sentence of twenty years. The defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in: denying his motion for a severance; allowing the State to offer expert witnesses on DNA and forensic nursing; and in sentencing. After careful review, we affirm the trial court’s decisions to join the indictments in one trial and to admit the State’s expert testimony. Moreover, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in applying the enhancement factors or in ordering consecutive sentences. Therefore, the judgments from the trial court are affirmed. |
Fayette | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee, ex rel., Tammy Laree Kennamre v. Albert Thompson, et al.
This case involves an award of retroactive child support. Following her divorce from the man she claimed was the minor child’s biological father, Appellant/Mother filed a petition to establish paternity against the Appellee herein. Genetic testing revealed that the Appellee was the father, and the court awarded child support retroactive to the date of filing of the Appellant/Mother’s petition, which award was a deviation from the Child Support Guidelines. Finding that the trial court’s deviation from the guidelines is supported by the record, we affirm. |
Hardeman | Court of Appeals | |
Michael J. Hogan v. Janet Katherine Hogan
In this appeal, Father asks this Court to consider whether the arbitrator erred in finding California to be the home state of the parties’ children under the UCCJEA, and in finding that Father failed to prove a material change of circumstances warranting modification of the parties’ parenting plan. Mother asks us to consider whether, pursuant to Tennessee’s Uniform Arbitration Act, Father is limited to the Act’s statutory grounds for vacating or modifying the arbitration award. We find that the courts of this state do not have jurisdiction to enforce the parties’ arbitration agreement or to modify the parties’ parenting plan. Accordingly, the actions and orders of the trial court and the arbitrator are vacated, and the case is dismissed. |
Tipton | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennesse, Department of Children's Services v. Dedrus Peterson, et al.
This is a termination of parental rights case. Mother appeals the trial court's termination of her parental rights on grounds of persistence of conditions, abandonment by willful failure to visit or support, failure to substantially comply with the permanency plans, and mental incompetence. Finding that the grounds for termination of Mothers's parental rights are established by clear and convincing evidence in the record, and that termination is in the best interests of the minor children, we affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Richard Anthony Arriola
After conducting a bench trial, the trial court found the Defendant, Richard Anthony Arriola, guilty of one count of first degree murder, one count of attempted first degree murder, and two counts o fattempted second degree murder. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective sentence of life imprisonment plus fifteen years. This Court remanded the case to the trial court for an order clarifying its findings on the insanity defense. On appeal, the Defendant claims: (1) the trial court erred when it used an improper legal standard for the insanity defense; and (2) the evidence presented at trial proved by clear and convincing evidence that the Defendant was not guilty by reason of insanity. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we conclude that the trial court applied an improper legal standard for the insanity defense. Therefore, we reverse the convictions and remand for a new trial. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Doris Nell Jones
On June 1, 2009, the Tennessee Supreme Court remanded this case for reconsideration in light of its opinion in State v. Byington, 284 S.W.3d 220 (Tenn. 2009). This court initially dismissed the defendant’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction after both the defendant’s motion for new trial and the trial court’s order denying the motion were absent from the record. This court also denied the defendant’s subsequent petition to rehear and motion to supplement the record with the missing documents. On remand, the defendant, who was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to eighteen years in the Department of Correction, again argues that the trial court erred by allowing certain out of court statements into evidence and that the State engaged in prosecutorial misconduct based on certain statements made during closing argument. After reviewing the record, we conclude that the trial court erred in admitting testimony by the defendant’s mother regarding a telephone conversation between the defendant and the victim, but that such error was harmless. We also conclude that the defendant’s contentions regarding the other challenged statements and the State’s closing argument are waived for the defendant’s failure to include them in the motion for new trial and that the issues do not merit plain error review. We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Lawrence | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Mike Allmand v. Jon Pavletic, et al. - Dissenting
This Court accepted a question of law certified by the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee regarding the authority of municipal utility boards to enter into employment contracts with at-will employees that provide for severance benefits if the employee is terminated without cause. While the Court has decided that “some form of severance compensation . . . [may be] permissible,” it has concluded that the particular severance provisions in the two employment contracts at issue in this case are not enforceable. I respectfully disagree. |
Jackson | Supreme Court | |
Mike Allmand v. Jon Pavletic, et al.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee has submitted a certified question of law pursuant to our Rule 23 as to the validity of certain provisions within two separate employment contracts: “Whether a municipal utility board has the authority to enter into a contract with an appointed city official who serves at the will and pleasure of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen whereby the utility board contracts to continue to pay the official’s salary for a multiyear time period [8 and 14 years] after the official’s employment is terminated.” Because it is within our discretion to do so, we have elected to answer the question in a manner designed to fit the facts and circumstances in this particular case. Our conclusion is that neither Ripley Power and Light nor Ripley Gas, Water, and Wastewater, utility boards for the City of Ripley, Tennessee, had the authority to enter into multi-year contracts with Mike Allmand, the former superintendent of the two utilities, or to obligate the City for the payment of salary and benefits as provided by the terms. |
Jackson | Supreme Court | |
Tennessee Cable Telecommunication Association. v. Electric Power Board of Chattanooga
An association of cable providers sued the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga in Davidson County challenging the Board’s plan to provide a cable and internet network under Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-52- 601 et seq. Specifically, the association alleged that the Board was improperly funding the network in violation of Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-52-603 and that the plan submitted to the comptroller for review in Davidson County under Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-52-602 was defective. The trial court dismissed finding that since no violation allegedly occurred in Davidson County then the trial court lacked jurisdiction and venue under Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-52-609. We affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Casey Barclay v. Kindred Healthcare Operating, Inc.
The trial court concluded that decedent’s nephew had express oral authority to bind decedent to an optional arbitration agreement with a nursing home. It further determined that the arbitration agreement was not unconscionable. Plaintiff, decedent’s son, appeals. We reverse. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals |