Town of Huntsville, Tennessee, et al. v. Scott County, Tennessee, et al.
The dispositive issue on appeal in this annexation dispute by the annexing municipality against the county and Tennessee Commissioner of Revenue is which tax allocation statute controls the allocation of Local Option Revenue derived from the annexed territory, the one in effect when the municipality passed the annexation ordinances upon final reading or the one in effect when quo warranto litigation challenging the ordinances was concluded. The county and Commissioner of Revenue contend the statute in effect when the quo warranto actions challenging the validity of the ordinances were concluded applies, because that is the date the annexations became operative. The municipality contends that the tax scheme in effect when the ordinances were passed by final reading applies became the quo warranto actions challenging the ordinances were dismissed due to the petitioners’ failure to effect sufficient service of process on the municipality. The Chancellor ruled in favor of the municipality, finding in pertinent part that the quo warranto litigation that was filed but not followed by sufficient service of process had no effect on the operative dates of annexation. We reverse, finding that the statute in effect when the quo warranto litigation was concluded controls the allocation of tax revenue from the annexed territories. |
Scott | Court of Appeals | |
Marc A. Schwartz v. James Neely, Commissioner of Labor & Workforce Development of the State of Tennessee
This appeal arises from the denial of Plaintiff’s claim for unemployment benefits by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. We affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jashua Shannon Sides, Alias Joshua Shannon Sides
The defendant, Jashua Shannon Sides, alias Joshua Shannon Sides, was convicted of vehicular homicide by reckless conduct (Class C felony); leaving the scene of an accident involving death (Class E felony); reckless endangerment (Class E felony); and driving under the influence (Class A misdemeanor). The defendant received an effective sentence of ten years, eleven months and |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Nathaniel Henderson v. Glen Turner, Warden
The Petitioner, Nathaniel Henderson, appeals the lower court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner has failed to allege any ground that would render the judgment of conviction void. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal. |
Hardeman | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Central Sales and Services, Inc., Edward J. Kehrer and Ralph A. Deavers v. Mark A. Berg
Plaintiff corporation and stockholders sued defendant to enforce a Stock Redemption and Shareholder Agreement signed by defendant, when he refused to comply with the terms of the Agreement after he was terminated from the company. The Trial Court granted plaintiff partial summary judgment, finding that the Agreement was enforceable, and defendant has appealed. We affirm the partial summary judgment of the Trial Court and remand, with instructions. |
Humphreys | Court of Appeals | |
Rudolph Powers v. State of Tennessee (Tony Parker, Warden)
The Petitioner, Rudolph Powers, appeals the lower court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner has failed to comply with the procedural prerequisites for seeking habeas corpus relief. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal. |
Lake | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Craig L. Beene v. State of Tennessee (Steven Dotson, Warden)
The Petitioner, Craig L. Beene, appeals the lower court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner has failed to allege any ground that would render the judgment of conviction void. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal. |
Hardeman | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Billy R. Shelly v. Glen Turner, Warden
The Petitioner, Billy R. Shelly, appeals the lower court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner has failed to allege any ground that would render the judgment of conviction void. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal. |
Hardeman | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Thomas Morrow, et al v. Ronnie Bull, et al.
The tenants, who leased a newly-constructed house from the builder/owner, sued the builder/owner alleging, among other things, that the house was negligently constructed in that it was built on a site that unreasonably exposed the house to excessive moisture and with a deficient water runoff and drainage system. The tenants sought compensation for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by toxic mold in the house due to excessively wet basement walls. The trial court granted the builder/owner summary judgment. Upon review, we vacate the trial court’s summary judgment based on our finding that genuine issues of material fact exist. |
Hamilton | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee, Department of Children's Services v. Leigh Ann McAlister, et al.
This is a termination of parental rights case. Mother/Appellant appeals the Order of the Shelby County Juvenile Court terminating her parental rights to her two minor children. Specifically, Appellant asserts that the grounds of persistence of conditions and failure to substantially comply with the permanency plans are not supported by clear and convincing evidence in the record, and that termination of her parental rights is not in the best interests of the children. Because we find clear and convincing evidence in the record to support termination on the grounds of failure to substantially comply with the permanency plans, and clear and convincing evidence that termination is in the best interests of the children, we affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
M. R. Stokes Company, Inc. v. Michael L. Shular, et al.
This is a construction case. In a contract prepared by the plaintiff, contractor agreed to install sewer lines, water lines, roads and to perform certain site preparation work for a section of a subdivision development owned by the defendant-owner. The total contract price is $925,000, which includes the material and labor to complete the project. The trial court entered judgment for contractor. Owner appeals and contractor cross-appeals. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. |
Sumner | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Naomi Lovell Preyer
The Appellant, Naomi Lovell Preyer, appeals the sentencing decision of the Tipton County Circuit Court. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Preyer pled guilty to identity theft and forgery, both Class D felonies. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed concurrent sentences of twelve years, as a career offender, for each conviction and ordered that the sentences be served in confinement. On appeal, Preyer asserts that the trial court’s denial of a community corrections sentence was error. Following review of the record, we affirm. |
Tipton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
David Michael Rust v. Southern Environmental Contractors, Inc., et al.
An employee/minority shareholder appeals the summary dismissal of his action in which he sought to recover commissions the corporation allegedly owed him for prior work and damages arising out of an alleged breach of fiduciary duty and fraud by the president/majority shareholder. The trial court granted the Motions for Summary Judgment filed by the corporation and by the president/majority shareholder, finding the employee failed to show that there was a genuine issue for trial as to whether employee was owed commissions and whether the president/majority shareholder committed fraud or breached his fiduciary duty. We affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
William Miller v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, William Miller, pleaded guilty to sale of more than .5 grams of cocaine, a Class B felony, and two counts of sale of less than .5 grams of cocaine, Class C felonies, in exchange for an effective sentence of 12 years. On post-conviction appeal, the petitioner argues that his guilty plea was unlawfully induced and entered without an understanding of the consequences, that the prosecution failed to disclose favorable evidence, and that his trial counsel was ineffective by failing to investigate alibis and inform him of opportunities to appeal motions. Discerning no error, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief. |
Warren | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Keenan R. Keen v. Tennessee Department of Correction, et al.
A Prison Disciplinary Board found a prisoner guilty of two disciplinary infractions, fined him $5.00 for each infraction and sentenced him to two thirty-day terms in punitive segregation. The prisoner filed a petition for writ of certiorari, alleging that there were irregularities in the procedures followed by the disciplinary board and that its actions were arbitrary, capricious, and characterized by an abuse of discretion. The trial court granted the writ, and the department accordingly sent the administrative record to the court for review. The respondents then filed a motion for judgment on the record. The trial court granted the motion and dismissed the prisoner's claim. We affirm the trial court. |
Hickman | Court of Appeals | |
Melanie Gayle King (Lyon), et al. v. James David King
The mother and stepfather of two minor children filed a petition against the father of the children to terminate the father’s parental rights. The petitioners alleged, inter alia, that the father abandoned the children by failing to exercise any of the residential time and vacation time awarded to the father in the divorce and that he had willfully failed to visit the children during the four months preceding the filing of the petition. Following a bench trial, in which the mother and stepfather were represented by counsel, but the father was pro se, the trial court dismissed the petition to terminate based upon the finding that “due to the costs of transportation between the parties respective homes in Giles County and Cannon County and due to [the father’s] limited income,” the petitioners had failed to establish the ground of abandonment. The mother and stepfather have appealed, contending the trial court failed to correctly apply the law to the facts of this case and that the evidence clearly and convincingly proves that the father’s failure to visit was willful due to the fact he had a vehicle, for which he could afford insurance, and the cost of driving the approximately sixty miles between their homes was within his financial means. We have determined that the trial court committed reversible error when it failed to appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the best interests of the minor children, which is mandated by Tenn. S. Ct. R. 13 § 1(d)(2) in proceedings to terminate a parent’s rights when the petition is contested. We have also determined that if the father was indigent, which fact may be significant to the issue of willfulness, he had a constitutional right to appointed counsel. As Tenn. S. Ct. R. 13 § 1 (c) and (e) mandates, when the father appeared without counsel, the trial court had an affirmative duty to advise the father of his rights and to conduct an indigency hearing to determine if he was without sufficient means to pay reasonable attorney fees for representation in this case and, if so, to appoint counsel to represent him. We therefore vacate the judgment of the trial court and remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion, including if necessary a new trial on the merits of the issues raised in the petition filed in this matter. |
Cannon | Court of Appeals | |
Donald T. Arendale v. Glenda S. Arendale (Schuett)
The trial court entered an order modifying its earlier parenting plan. After the Court’s judgment, the mother filed a motion attacking the jurisdiction of the Court to modify the prior order. The trial court overruled the motion. On appeal, we find that neither the child nor either of the parents have resided in Tennessee since 2002. Therefore, the trial court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to modify its prior order. We reverse and dismiss. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Peter Graves v. State of Tennessee
A Weakley County jury convicted the Petitioner, Peter Graves, of possession of both a schedule II and a schedule IV drug with intent to sell or deliver, and the trial court sentenced him to an effective sentence of fifteen years. The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which the post-conviction court denied. The Petitioner now appeals, claiming: (1) he was denied the right to a fair trial because the jury saw him in handcuffs and shackles; (2) he was denied the right to a fair trial because the trial court did not conduct a jury out hearing when jurors wanted to ask him questions; and (3) he was not afforded the effective assistance of counsel. Upon a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment. |
Weakley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Daniel Pantoja Garcia v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company
In this appeal of a directed verdict in a wrongful death case, Daniel Pantoja Garcia (“Husband”) claims that Norfolk Southern Railway Company (“Norfolk Southern”) was negligent in failing to warn his now-deceased wife, Lydia Garcia (“Wife”), of the presence of diesel fuel inside a fuel tank that Wife, as an employee of Progress Rail Services Corporation (“Progress Rail”), was assigned to dismantle. As Wife was cutting the tank with a torch-cutter on Norfolk Southern’s property, the tank exploded, killing Wife. The trial court granted a directed verdict because it found no evidence that Norfolk Southern owed any duty in this case. We affirm. |
Hamilton | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. David Harold Hammond
Appellant, David Harold Hammond, was convicted by a Madison County jury of one count of rape. As a result, the trial court sentenced Appellant as a Range II multiple offender to twelve years incarceration. Because Appellant was on probation at the time the rape was committed, the trial court ordered Appellant’s sentence to run consecutively to two existing felony sentences. Appellant complains on appeal that the evidence was insufficient to support the rape conviction and that the trial court improperly ordered him to serve his sentence for rape consecutively to his existing sentences. Because the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction and the trial court properly sentenced Appellant, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Gary M. Carter
Defendant, Gary M. Carter, pled guilty to statutory rape, a Class E felony, with the length and manner of service of his sentence to be determined following a sentencing hearing. Defendant received a sentence of two years to be served in split confinement with nine months incarceration followed by four years probation. Defendant argues, on appeal, (1) that the trial court erred in denying full probation and (2) that the trial court abused its discretion in denying judicial diversion and not articulating the reasons on the record. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the denial of judicial diversion and reverse the imposition of the sentence of nine months incarceration and remand to the trial court for an entry of an amended judgment imposing 7.2 months incarceration followed by four years probation. |
DeKalb | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Boggs Kurlander Steele, LLC v. Horizon Communications, Inc.
This appeal involves a declaratory judgment regarding the termination of a contract to install a cable system and provide cable service to a trailer park as well as a counter-complaint for damages. The trial court determined that the contract was properly terminated and dismissed the counter-complaint. On appeal, the Appellant argues that (1) the Appellee waived its contractual right to have this matter decided pursuant to Kentucky law; (2) that the trial court erred in determining that it materially breached the contract by failing to install a new system in a timely manner; (3) that the trial court erred in determining that it did not provide cable service equal to the service rendered by the former cable provider; (4) that the trial court erred in determining that the contract was properly terminated; (5) that it is entitled to damages because the Appellee failed to notify the Appellant with information about new residents as required by the contract; and (6) that the trial court erred by awarding the Appellee its attorney’s fees and failing to award the Appellant its attorney’s fees. We find that the Appellee has waived its right to have this matter determined pursuant to Kentucky law. The trial court did not err in determining that the Appellant materially breached the contract by not providing cable service equal to the service previously provided and that the contract was properly terminated. Furthermore, we find that the Appellant is not entitled to damages because the Appellant did not prove what damages it incurred due to the Appellee’s failure to provide the homes of new residents as required by the contract. Finally, the trial court did not err in awarding the Appellee’s attorney’s fees. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed, and this cause is remanded to the trial court for the award of Appellee’s attorney’s fees on appeal. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joey Dewayne Thompson
The defendant, Joey Dewayne Thompson, appeals from his Knox County Criminal Court jury convictions of second degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of 25 years to be served in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant claims that the conviction of second degree murder is unsupported by sufficient evidence, that the verdicts are contradictory, that the prosecution for and conviction of second degree murder violated principles of double jeopardy, and that the prosecution was barred by principles of collateral estoppel. Following our review, we affirm the convictions. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James Alan Bates
The Appellant, James Alan Bates, appeals the order of the Sullivan County Criminal Court denying his petition for post-conviction relief in which he asserted ineffective assistance of counsel. Bates contends that trial counsel was ineffective based upon the following: (1) failing to call a DNA expert as a witness at trial; (2) failing to utilize an investigator to aid in locating potential defense witnesses; (3) failing to adequately communicate and report developments in preparation of the defense at trial and on appeal; (4) failing to file a motion for a speedy trial; and (5) failing to provide “street clothes” for incarcerated defense witnesses, who testified while wearing their jail uniforms. After review, we affirm. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
William Justin Brewster v. State of Tennessee
The Appellant, William Justin Brewster, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief by the Knox County Criminal Court. Brewster argues that the post-conviction court erred in denying him relief on his asserted claims of ineffective assistance of counsel both during trial and on appeal. Upon thorough review, we conclude that the post-conviction court correctly denied the petition and affirm. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals |