State of Tennessee v. Anderson Toliver - Concurring
E2001-00584-SC-R11-CD
Authoring Judge: Justice Adolpho A. Birch, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Stephen M. Bevil

Although I concur in the analysis and holding of the majority, I write to address an issue of concern: whether in today’s society a parent’s right to corporally chastise a refractory child survives, and, if so, how does one reconcile that right with the child abuse statutes as currently written and interpreted. It is my intention by this concurring opinion to raise the level of discussion and to provide, perhaps, a measure of guidance for the trial court on remand.

Pamela J. Moses v. State of Tennessee
E2002-02319-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz

The Defendant, Pamela J. Moses, pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to aggravated assault and numerous misdemeanors. The plea agreement encompassed the length of the sentences, but left the manner of service for the trial court's determination. The trial court denied an alternative sentence and ordered the Defendant to serve her terms in confinement. The Defendant subsequently filed for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel in conjunction with her plea. After an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief and this appeal followed. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

State of Tennessee v. Rita Cates
W2003-00096-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Joseph H. Walker, III
>The defendant pled guilty to attempted second degree murder, especially aggravated burglary, and reckless aggravated assault. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed an effective sentence of eight years and six months. In this appeal, the defendant argues her sentences are excessive because she should have received alternative sentencing. We affirm the judgments of the trial court, but, due to a clerical error, remand for entry of a corrected judgment.

Willie Jason Christopher v. Plumley Marugo Limited
W2002-02007-SC-WCM-CV
Authoring Judge: Robert L. Childers, Sp.J.
Trial Court Judge: Julian P. Guinn, Judge
The appellant presents the following issue for review: Whether the trial court erred in finding that the expert medical testimony established that the plaintiff's injury and/or medical impairment arose out of and in the course of his employment with the defendant.

State of Tennessee v. Hershel David Standridge
M2002-01699-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge Leon C. Burns, Jr.

A jury in the White County Criminal Court found the appellant, Hershel David Standridge, guilty of theft of property valued under $500 and resisting arrest. The trial court imposed a total effective sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days incarceration in the White County Jail but suspended service of the sentence and immediately placed the appellant on probation. Later, subsequent to his timely filing a notice of appeal, the appellant's probation was revoked. On appeal, the appellant raises issues concerning the sufficiency of the evidence, sentencing, and the jury instructions. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm in part and reverse in part the judgments of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Vidal L. Strickland
M2002-01714-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Trial Court Judge: Judge J. Randall Wyatt, Jr.

The defendant, Vidal L. Strickland, was convicted by a Davidson County Criminal Court jury of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony; attempted aggravated robbery, a Class C felony; and felony possession of a weapon, a Class E felony. He was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender by the trial court to ten years for the aggravated robbery conviction, four years for the attempted aggravated robbery conviction, and two years for the felony possession of a weapon conviction, with the robbery sentences ordered to be served consecutively, for an effective sentence of fourteen years in the Department of Correction. Following the denial of his motion for a new trial, the defendant filed a timely appeal to this court, arguing: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his robbery convictions; (2) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the results of the victims' pretrial identifications; (3) the trial court erred in ordering consecutive sentencing; and (4) the trial court erred in granting the State's motion in limine to suppress the defendant's statements to law enforcement officers. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Jodell Dunkin v. David Dunkin
M2002-01899-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Charles D. Susano, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Muriel Robinson
This is a post-divorce dispute concerning the custody of Kaylea Jodell Dunkin ("the child") (DOB: July 1, 1994), the child of these litigants. The non-custodial parent, David H. Dunkin ("Father"), filed a petition seeking to enjoin the child's mother, Jodell L. Dunkin ("Mother"), from relocating with the child to Montana. Following a hearing, the trial court found that there was no reasonable purpose for the proposed move and that the relocation would not be in the best interest of the child. The trial court then denied Mother's request to relocate. We affirm.

Beverly Wilson v. Thomas Wilson
M2002-02286-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: Steven A. Cassety
This appeal arises from an order of the trial court distributing 25% of the increase in value of the husband's business to the wife as marital property. We affirm.

James E. Polk v. State of Tennessee
M2002-02430-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jim T. Hamilton

A Maury County jury convicted the Petitioner of aggravated robbery, and the trial court sentenced him to twelve years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On direct appeal, this Court affirmed the conviction, and the Tennessee Supreme Court denied the Defendant's application for permission to appeal. The Petitioner then sought post-conviction relief, alleging that he was denied due process and effective assistance of counsel. Following a hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed the petition, and this appeal ensued. We affirm the dismissal of the petition.

Michael Binkley v. Rodney Medling
M2001-01687-SC-R11-CV
Authoring Judge: Justice Frank F. Drowota, III
Trial Court Judge: Allen W. Wallace
The issue in this appeal is whether the defendant's motion to alter or amend filed thirty-three days after entry of judgment was timely under Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 58 and therefore sufficient to toll commencement of the thirty-day period for filing a notice of appeal. The Court of Appeals dismissed the defendant's appeal as untimely. We agree with the intermediate court's conclusion that the defendant has failed to carry his burden of proving that the motion to alter or amend was timely filed. We therefore affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals, dismissing the appeal.

Joe Clark Mitchell v. State of Tennessee
M2002-03011-CCA-R3-CO
Authoring Judge: Judge Jerry L. Smith
Trial Court Judge: Judge Robert L. Jones

Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus alleging that the indictments against him were fatally defective and that this Court's reduction of one of his convictions for aggravated rape to rape violated the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. The trial court dismissed the petition without an evidentiary hearing. Following a review of the record in this matter, we affirm the order of the trial court's dismissing the petition for writ of habeas corpus.

John William Jones v. Conagra Grocery Products
W2002-01947-SC-WCM-CV
Authoring Judge: Allen W. Wallace, Sr. J.
Trial Court Judge: George R. Ellis, Chancellor
The trial court determined that: (1) the employee is 1% disabled and that he is limited by Tenn. Code Ann. 5-6-27(4)(A)(i) to 26 weeks of benefits; and (2) the employer is entitled to a reduction for the Social Security payments made on behalf of the employee totaling $25,296.. The employer was ordered to continue to be liable for employee's medical treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in accordance with the workers' compensation law. As discussed below, the panel has concluded the judgment should be affirmed.

Mahle, Inc. v. Terry Reese
E2002-1199-WC-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Howell N. Peoples, Special Judge
Trial Court Judge: Thomas Frierson, Ii, Chancellor
The issues are the amount of the award and whether the trial court erroneously applied the doctrine of intervening cause. We affirm.

Diana J. Neese v. Shoney's Inc.
M2002-01277-WC-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: James L. Weatherford, Sr.J.
Trial Court Judge: John A. Turnbull, 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. In this case, the trial court found that the employee had sustained a 75% vocational disability to each extremityfor bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome caused by her work activity. The employer argues that this award is excessive and preponderates against the evidence. For the reasons set out in this opinion, We affirm the judgment of the trial court. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e) (1999) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court Affirmed JAMES L. WEATHERFORD, SR.J., in which FRANK F. DROWOTA, III, C.J., and JOE C. LOSER, JR., SP.J., joined. Mark A. Baugh, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Shoney's Inc. Kelly R. Williams, Livingston, Tennessee, for the appellee, Diana J. Neese. MEMORANDUM OPINION Ms. Diana Neese was 51 years old at the time of trial. She has a ninth grade education, but later earned her GED in 1984. She lives in rural Tennessee near the border of Clay County and Overton County, although she has a Hilham, Tennessee street address. She has worked primarily as a cook for retirement centers and a public school system since she started working in 196. She has worked as a backline cook for several fast food restaurants. She has also worked as a cashier, an assembly line worker, and child care worker. In August of 1999, Ms. Neese began working at Shoney's in Cookeville as a salad bar attendant. In this job, she was responsible for maintaining the salad bar by carrying out trays of food, big pots of soup, bowls, and plates. In February of 2, Ms. Neese started experiencing problems with her hands: "My hands and arms were hurting, going numb and tingling, and I kept dropping things." She stated she had never had any problems with her hands or wrists prior to February of 2. On March 22, 2, she saw her primary care physician, Dr. Mauricio, complaining of numbness in her arms, which started at her elbow. Dr. Mauricio, then referred her to Dr. Robert Nelson. On April 17, 2, Dr. Nelson diagnosed Ms. Neese with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. On April 28, 2, Ms. Neese informed Mr. Jimmy Price, manager at Shoney's, that she had carpal tunnel syndrome. Dr. Nelson performed surgery on her right wrist on May 31, 2 and operated on her left wrist on June 3, 2. On November 7, 2, Ms. Janet K. Patterson, physical therapist administered Ms. Neese's functional capacity evaluation. Ms. Patterson indicated that Ms. Neese would not use her fingers for fine motor tasks, would take frequent rests and would not use her arms for reaching more than 3 seconds at a time during the test. According to Ms. Patterson, test results indicated 1) inconsistent or sub-maximal effort on grip strength and push tests; and 2) that her heart rate did not correlate with reported levels of pain. On November 16, 2, Dr. Nelson released Ms. Neese to return to work light- duty and assigned restrictions of no lifting over 1 to 12 pounds and no repetitive lifting of 5 to 7 pounds on a regular basis, and no repetitive motions with her hands. Ms. Neese returned to Dr. Nelson on January 2, 2, still complaining of some pain in her hands with weakness and numbness. Dr. Nelson found she had reached maximum medical improvement and assigned the same restrictions on a permanent basis. Dr. Nelson found that Ms. Neese has sustained a 3% permanent partial impairment to each hand. Dr. Nelson indicated there are different factors that relate to the level of pain you can expect from patients after a bilateral carpal tunnel release. He listed one factor as what the surgeon finds at the time of surgery----"[F]or instance, in her case where I described that the median nerve as it was coming underneath that ligament, it was really adherent or adhered to the ligament, ... I had to do what is called a neurolysis, which means that you have to take a nerve once you kind of separate it off the ligament and actually try to release pressure on the individual fibers of the nerve. In her case that was necessary. Sometimes that is not necessary. So, all of that has to do with the prognosis of what you expect the future to be for that particular patient." As to Ms. Neese's prognosis, Dr. Nelson stated ".... essentially on both sides [of] the median nerve I found that she had quite a bit of compression on the nerve. So, from that standpoint, I felt that she may not recover as much as some do that have that type of surgery. So, I was a little bit -2-

State of Tennessee v. Gerald E. Saylor
E2001-00604-SC-R11-CD
Authoring Judge: Justice E. Riley Anderson
Trial Court Judge: Lynn W. Brown

State of Tennessee v. Gerald E. Saylor
E2001-00604-SC-R11-CD
Authoring Judge: Justice E. Riley Anderson
Trial Court Judge: Lynn W. Brown

State of Tennessee v. Patrick J. Gray
E2002-01003-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge Lillie Ann Sells

The appellant, Patrick J. Gray, pled guilty in the Cumberland County Criminal Court to vehicular homicide and was placed on judicial diversion. During his probationary period, the appellant violated the terms of his probation. Accordingly, the trial court revoked the appellant's probation and ordered him to serve a six-year sentence in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the appellant complains that the trial court erred in its rulings during the probation revocation hearing. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Carl Watson
W2002-01679-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge Chris B. Craft

A jury convicted the Defendant, Carl Watson, of rape, and the trial court imposed a ten-year sentence. On appeal, the Defendant contends: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction; (2) the State’s bill of particulars was inadequate; (3) the trial court erred in failing to grant him a continuance or a mistrial due to the State’s failure to comply with discovery; (4) the trial court erred in excluding evidence of the victim’s alleged gang affiliation and initiation as a possible source of her hymenal tear; and (5) the trial court erred in not recusing itself following an ex parte communication with jurors after trial. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Jeffery P. Beckham
W2002-02444-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge C. Creed McGinley

A Hardin County jury convicted the defendant, Jeffery P. Beckham, of aggravated assault. The trial court sentenced him to five years incarceration as a Range I standard offender. On appeal, the defendant contends (1) the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction; (2) his sentence is excessive; and (3) the trial court erred in denying probation. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Charles Wayne Sawyer
M2001-01062-CCA-R9-CO
Authoring Judge: Judge Jerry L. Smith
Trial Court Judge: Judge W. Charles Lee

A Marshall County grand jury indicted the defendant, Charles Wayne Sawyer, for aggravated sexual battery. The defendant filed a motion to suppress a statement that he allegedly made to the police without first being advised of his rights under Miranda. He made the alleged statement in response to a police officer's reading of the affidavit of complaint supporting his arrest warrant. The trial court, after conducting an evidentiary hearing, granted the defendant's motion to suppress his statement, finding that the reading of the affidavit was the functional equivalent of interrogation and therefore should have been prefaced by an admonishment of the defendant's constitutional rights. The state, with the trial court's permission, filed an interlocutory appeal, and pursuant to the state's Rule 9 application, this Court agreed to review the state's appeal. After reviewing the evidentiary hearing and other materials presented to this Court, we find that the trial court properly suppressed the defendant's statement and therefore affirm the judgment below.

State of Tennessee v. William Paul Eblen
E2002-01221-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Judge Richard R. Baumgartner

The Defendant, William Paul Eblen, was convicted by a jury of two counts of aggravated rape and one count of aggravated kidnapping. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to two concurrent terms of twenty-four years for the rapes, and to a concurrent term of eleven years for the kidnapping, all to be served in the Department of Correction. In this direct appeal, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence; alleges that the prosecutor committed reversible misconduct during closing argument; and complains that the trial court erred in overruling his petition for writ of error coram nobis. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

In Re: Martha Blanks Maxwell
M2002-01654-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Patricia J. Cottrell
Trial Court Judge: Charles D. Haston, Sr.
The niece of an elderly woman who suffered a stroke, followed by memory loss and confusion, petitioned the court to be appointed as her aunt's conservator. The trial court granted the petition as well as the conservator's plan to have her aunt moved to an assisted living environment. There, the woman's condition improved, and the guardian ad litem moved the court to consider whether it was advisable to revoke the conservatorship and allow her to return to her own home. After a hearing, the court terminated the conservatorship. The former conservator appeals, and we affirm.

State of Tennessee v. Aaron Blake Franz
M2002-01855-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge J. S. Daniel

After several opportunities to comply with the conditions of his probation, the trial court ordered the appellant, Aaron Blake Franz, to serve thirty months in confinement, the original sentence imposed for the appellant's burglary conviction. On appeal, the appellant argues that the trial court was without jurisdiction to revoke his probation because the revocation warrant was filed after the first extension of the probationary period expired. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Denicia Wills v. Russell Wills
M2002-02167-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge David R. Farmer
Trial Court Judge: C. L. Rogers
This case involves an appeal from an order of the trial court modifying the father's child support obligation and denying the father's request for change of custody. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

Rita Davis v. State of Tennessee
M2002-02446-CCA-R3-PC-
Authoring Judge: Judge Jerry L. Smith
Trial Court Judge: Judge W. Charles Lee

Petitioner, Rita Davis, appeals the trial court’s denial of her petition for post-conviction relief. Petitioner entered an open plea of guilty to felony failure to appear, a charge apparently stemming from another case in which Petitioner was charged with possession of a schedule II narcotic for resale, a Class B felony. Petitioner was convicted by a jury on the drug possession charge, and on August 18, 1999, she was sentenced on both convictions. Petitioner filed a pro se petition for relief from her conviction and sentence in the failure to appear case. The trial court denied post-conviction relief, but granted a delayed appeal. Petitioner appealed, and this Court affirmed Petitioner’s sentence, but reversed the denial of post-conviction relief, remanding the case for dismissal of the petition without prejudice. Petitioner filed another post-conviction petition, alleging that she received the ineffective assistance of counsel and that her plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the petition. In this direct appeal, Petitioner challenges the trial court’s denial of her petition. After a careful review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.