Rania Anwar Al Qaisi v. Diab Mahmoud Alia
This appeal arises from a divorce proceeding after a short-term marriage. The husband challenges the trial court’s decisions regarding his parenting time, the calculation of his income, and its award of alimony to the wife. We affirm. |
Court of Appeals | ||
Brianne Marie (Lane)Baker v. Kenneth Dean Baker
A father challenges the trial court’s child support determination, property division, and attorney fee award. In its calculation of gross income for child support purposes, the trial court properly declined to give the father credit for retirement benefits awarded as part of the property division. If the value of the father’s retirement benefits has significantly appreciated since the time of the divorce, the father may bring a petition to modify the child support award to reflect an increase in the mother’s gross income. We affirm the decision of the trial court in all respects. |
Montgomery | Court of Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RONALD D. MCCALLUM, JR.
The Defendant, Ronald D. McCallum, Jr., was convicted by a Davidson County Criminal Court jury of two counts of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony, and vandalism, a Class A misdemeanor. See T.C.A. § 39-13-402 (2018) (aggravated robbery); § 39-14-408 (2018) (vandalism); § 39-14-105 (2018) (grading for vandalism). The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range I, standard offender to ten years’ confinement at 85% service for each aggravated robbery conviction and to eleven months, twenty-nine days for the vandalism conviction. The court imposed partial consecutive service, for an effective twenty-year sentence at 85% service. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the prosecutor engaged in misconduct during her closing argument. We affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. IDA VERONICA THOMAS
The Defendant, Ida Veronica Thomas, pleaded guilty to theft of property valued at $60,000 or more, but less than $250,000. Pursuant to a plea agreement, the trial court ordered the Defendant to serve twelve years on community corrections and scheduled a subsequent restitution hearing. At the restitution hearing, the trial court ordered restitution in the amount of $151,385 to be paid at a rate of $75 per month. On appeal, among other issues, the Petitioner challenges the trial court’s payment schedule for the restitution, $151,285 at $75 per month for twelve years, which cannot be completed during the length of the Defendant’s sentence. The State concedes this is error and agrees that a remand is the appropriate remedy as to this issue. After reviewing the record, we conclude that restitution is appropriate in this case, but we remand for the trial court: (1) to order a presentence report as required by statute in restitution cases; and (2) to consider the Defendant’s financial resources, future ability to pay, and length of her community corrections sentence as it relates to a payment schedule for restitution. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
REGINALD M. YOUNGER v. KIBREAB KIDANE OKBAHHANES
This appeal arises from a personal injury action. The plaintiff filed this action more than one year after the vehicle collision from which the cause of action accrued. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff’s action was untimely. The plaintiff filed a response arguing that the statute of limitations for personal injury actions was extended to two years, pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 28-3-104(a)(2), due to the traffic citation issued to the defendant for failure to exercise due care in violation of section 55-8-136 as a result of the vehicle collision. The Trial Court found that section 28- 3-104(a)(2) was applicable to extend the statute of limitations to two years because the defendant had been charged with a criminal offense and a criminal prosecution had been commenced against him. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Roane | Court of Appeals | |
Nathaniel J. Lee v. Amber F. Lee
In this appeal from a final decree of divorce, Husband challenges the trial court’s division of the marital estate and the award of alimony in futuro. He also raises issues concerning the court’s denial of his request to rescind a mediated settlement agreement and to pay the alimony in solido award in installments. Discerning no abuse of discretion, we affirm. |
Washington | Court of Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CRAIG DAGNAN
Craig Dagnan, Defendant, violated the conditions of probation, and the trial court revoked his probation but ordered his probation reinstated after eleven months and twenty-nine days’ incarceration. Defendant was granted a furlough from jail to attend an inpatient drug and alcohol program. After being dismissed from the inpatient program, Defendant failed to report back to jail and absconded. He was charged with escape, and a revocation warrant was issued. He was apprehended in Georgia and returned to Tennessee. Following a hearing, the trial court revoked Defendant’s probation and ordered Defendant to serve the balance of his six-year sentence. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Marion | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CRAIG DAGNAN- Concurring
I concur fully with the conclusion reached by the majority that there was overwhelming evidence to support the trial court's decision to revoke Defendant's probation and to order Defendant to serve the balance of his six-year sentence in incarceration. I write separately to simply express my belief that once a determination is made that a defendant has violated the conditions of his or her probation, neither an additional hearing not any additional findings are statutorily mandated of a trial court to determine the manner in which the original sentence should be served.1 Thus, there is no opportunity for an abuse of discretion when a "second exercise of discretion" is not required by either sections 40-35-310 or 40-35-311 of Tennessee Code Annotated. |
Marion | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Derrick Jefferson
The Appellant, Derrick Jefferson, was convicted of first degree premeditated murder, and he received a sentence of life imprisonment. On appeal, the Appellant contends that (1) the trial court erred by allowing the State to enter the Appellant’s prior mug shots into evidence; (2) the trial court erred by allowing the State to admit photographs of the victim’s body and the bullets taken from the victim’s body during the autopsy; (3) the trial court gave an erroneous oral jury instruction regarding the presumption of innocence; (4) the trial court gave an erroneous oral jury instruction that the stipulation regarding the Appellant’s mug shot, which revealed the Appellant’s prior arrests, was relevant only on the issue of the Appellant’s appearance; (5) the trial court erred by denying the Appellant’s request for a mistrial when, during voir dire, the jury pool entered the courtroom before the Appellant came out of “lockup”; (6) the cumulative errors require reversal of the Appellant’s conviction and a new trial. Upon review, we conclude that the trial court committed no reversible error, and we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Tyrone Bohanna v. State of Tennessee
Following a jury trial, the Petitioner, Tyrone Bohanna, was convicted of especially aggravated robbery, reckless endangerment, aggravated burglary, and three counts of aggravated assault. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of 120 years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days. This court affirmed the Petitioner’s convictions and sentences on direct appeal. See State v. Tyrone Bohanna, No. W2011-01273-CCA-R3- CD, 2013 WL 2393050, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. May 29, 2013), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Nov. 14, 2013). The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which the post-conviction court denied following an evidentiary hearing. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that trial counsel was ineffective at trial and during proceedings on his motion for new trial, that the State failed to disclose evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), and that the Petitioner did not receive a fair trial after his trial was severed from the trial of his co-defendant. Upon reviewing the record, the parties’ briefs, and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Baldomero Galindo
A Knox County jury convicted the defendant, Baldomero Galindo, of first degree murder, for which he received a sentence of life imprisonment. In this delayed appeal, the defendant argues the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial following the late disclosure of several discovery materials in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963). After reviewing the record and considering the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESEE v. JAVIAN JAKEIL HAWKINS
The Defendant, Javian Jakeil Hawkins, appeals from his twenty-five-year sentence imposed for his second degree murder conviction, contending that the trial court abused its discretion by imposing the maximum in-range sentence and by denying his motion to reduce sentence pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 35. Following our review, we affirm; however, we remand for correction of a clerical error on the judgment form. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Lori Ann Amacher v. Stanley Dwight Amacher
This is a divorce case. Appellant Wife appeals the trial court’s division of property, arguing that the court erred in: (1) classifying the appreciation of her separate property as marital property; (2) excluding from the marital estate certain real property that Husband transferred to his father; (3) not finding that Husband dissipated the marital estate; and (4) inequitably dividing the estate. Wife argues that alimony in solido should have been granted in light of the inequitable division and that she should have been awarded her attorney’s fees. Wife also requests attorney’s fees incurred in this appeal. We affirm the trial court’s exclusion of the transferred property from the marital estate. We also conclude that Wife failed to prove dissipation by a preponderance of the evidence. However, we vacate the property division and remand for additional findings of fact with respect to the appreciation of Wife’s separate property, and for a reconsideration of the property division. The reconsideration of the property division necessitates a reconsideration of alimony; thus, we vacate the trial court’s denial of alimony in solido and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion. We award Wife’s attorney fees for this appeal. |
Franklin | Court of Appeals | |
Raun Swafford v. Caprice Wofford
The appellee, Ruan Swafford (“Appellee”), filed a motion to dismiss this appeal alleging that the notice of appeal was not timely filed. Because the notice of appeal was not timely filed, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider this appeal. |
Hamilton | Court of Appeals | |
Tina Vaughn v. DMC-Memphis, LLC
Plaintiff filed a claim in general sessions court for injuries she allegedly received when she fell in standing water on the defendant’s premises. Judgment was rendered in favor of the defendant, and the plaintiff appealed to circuit court. The defendant then filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that it owed no duty to the plaintiff and that she was at least 50% at fault for her injuries. In support, the defendant relied on plaintiff’s testimony from the trial in general sessions court. The circuit court granted the motion for summary judgment, and plaintiff again appealed. We vacate the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMES EARL GORDON
The Pro Se Defendant, James Earl Gordon, appeals the trial court’s summary denial of his motion to correct an illegal sentence, pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1, in which he argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and raises various constitutional issues. After thorough review, we affirm the denial of the motion. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Franklin Real Estate Group, Inc. v. Spero Dei Church
A real estate broker filed a complaint against a client alleging that the client breached the parties’ brokerage agreement by purchasing a property and not paying a commission to the broker. The client filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that the brokerage agreement was void for vagueness because one of its provisions was illogical. The trial court disagreed with the client after concluding that any confusion was due to a simple drafting error. The trial court reformed the brokerage agreement to reflect the parties’ intentions and determined that the client breached the brokerage agreement as reformed. The trial court then, sua sponte, granted summary judgment to the real estate broker. We affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Curtis Keller v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Curtis Keller, appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for writ of error coram nobis, in which he sought relief from his convictions for three counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, three counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of attempted aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and intentionally evading arrest in a motor vehicle. The Petitioner seeks coram nobis relief related to an undiscovered report matching his DNA to DNA from a ski mask used during the home invasion that led to his convictions. The Petitioner asserts he is entitled to due process tolling and a hearing. We conclude that because there is no reasonable basis to conclude that the evidence might have led to a different outcome, the trial court did not err in dismissing the petition without a hearing, and we affirm the judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jack Edward Thomas
The Defendant, Jack Edward Thomas, pled guilty to arson and received a five-year sentence, with one year of incarceration to be followed by four years of probation. Following a hearing, the trial court ordered restitution in the amount of $4,320, with the Defendant to make installment payments of $90 per month. The Defendant appeals the restitution award, arguing that the State failed to present sufficient evidence of the victim’s pecuniary loss because the victim’s testimony was uncertain and unreliable. The Defendant also asserts that the judgment form erroneously reflects a restitution award of $7,000, which was the victim’s total pecuniary loss as determined by the trial court, because it exceeded the total amount the trial court found that the Defendant was able to pay in $90 per month installments for four years ($4,320). After reviewing the record, we conclude that the State introduced inadequate proof regarding the valuation of the loss. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for a new restitution hearing. The Defendant’s alternative argument regarding correction of the judgment form is rendered moot, though it does have merit. |
McMinn | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Clarissa Bidwell, Ex Rel James Bidwell Et Al. v. Timothy A. Strait MD Et Al.
James Bidwell filed this health care liability action individually and on behalf of his deceased wife, Clarissa Bidwell, and her estate against Drs. Timothy Strait and Jeffrey Colburn (“the physician Defendants”) and the entities he believed to be their employers—The Neurosurgical Group of Chattanooga, P.C., EmCare Inc., and Envision Healthcare Corporation. Mr. Bidwell timely provided pre-suit notice to the named defendants and timely filed his lawsuit. Mr. Bidwell did not provide Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority (“Erlanger”) with pre-suit notice, nor did he name Erlanger as a defendant. Furthermore, Dr. Strait and Dr. Colburn did not provide Mr. Bidwell written notice of Erlanger as their correct employer within thirty days of receiving pre-suit notice. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-26-121(a)(5). Dr. Strait answered Mr. Bidwell’s complaint, denying the allegations made against him and asserting that he was employed by Erlanger at all relevant times. Dr. Colburn similarly answered, denying the allegations made against him and that either EmCare Inc. or Envision Healthcare Corporation was his employer. Drs. Strait and Colburn then moved for summary judgment arguing that, pursuant to the Governmental Tort Liability Act, no judgment could be rendered against them because Mr. Bidwell had failed to name as a defendant their actual employer, Erlanger. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-20-310(b). Within ninety days of Dr. Strait’s and Dr. Colburn’s answers, Mr. Bidwell filed two motions for leave to amend his complaint to add Erlanger as a defendant. Mr. Bidwell relied on Tennessee Code Annotated section 20-1-119, which provides a plaintiff with a ninety-day “grace period” within which to amend a complaint when comparative fault “is or becomes an issue,” and section 29-26-121(a)(5), which he argued required the physician Defendants to notify him of Erlanger within thirty days of receiving pre-suit notice. The trial court granted Dr. Strait’s and Dr. Colburn’s motions for summary judgment, finding that Mr. Bidwell’s motions to amend were futile because he had not provided Erlanger with pre-suit notice. Mr. Bidwell appealed, and the Court of Appeals vacated the trial court’s orders granting summary judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings. Dr. Strait and Dr. Colburn subsequently filed an application for permission to appeal with this Court. We hold that, although the physician Defendants failed to comply with section Tennessee Code Annotated 29-26-121(a)(5), the statute provides no remedy for noncompliance, and their noncompliance does not constitute extraordinary cause sufficient to excuse Mr. Bidwell’s failure to provide Erlanger with pre-suit notice. However, we additionally hold that Dr. Strait’s and Dr. Colburn’s answers sufficiently asserted Erlanger’s comparative fault. Therefore, Mr. Bidwell was entitled to amend his complaint to name Erlanger as a defendant pursuant to section 20-1-119, so long as he amended his complaint and caused process to issue to Erlanger within ninety days of Dr. Strait’s answer—the first answer alleging Erlanger’s fault. Because section 20-1-119 applied, Mr. Bidwell was not obligated to provide Erlanger with pre-suit notice under Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(c). We conclude that, because the record on appeal reflects that Mr. Bidwell failed to file an amended complaint and cause process to issue, he is not entitled to amend his complaint to add Erlanger as a defendant. Accordingly, we affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment of the Court of Appeals on the grounds stated herein and reinstate the trial court’s orders granting the physician Defendants’ motions for summary judgment and denying the Plaintiff’s motions to amend. |
Hamilton | Supreme Court | |
Clarissa Bidwell, Ex Rel James Bidwell Et Al. v. Timothy A. Strait MD Et Al. - Concurring In Part, Dissenting In Part
I agree with the majority that the Defendants, Dr. Timothy Strait and Dr. Jeffrey Colburn, are entitled to summary judgment. It is a harsh and unfortunate result. The Defendants did not comply with the notice requirement of Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(a)(5) and gained a tactical advantage which allowed them to win this case. While I agree with the result, I disagree that the Defendants sufficiently alleged comparative fault in their answers so that the Plaintiff had ninety days to amend his complaint under Tennessee Code Annotated section 20-1-119. |
Hamilton | Supreme Court | |
Clarissa Bidwell, Ex Rel James Bidwell Et Al. v. Timothy A. Strait MD Et Al. - Concurring Separately
I concur in the well-reasoned majority opinion but write separately on the issue of “extraordinary cause” to excuse failure to give pre-suit notice under Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(b) (“The court has discretion to excuse compliance with this section only for extraordinary cause shown.”). |
Hamilton | Supreme Court | |
Devin Torquin Watkins v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Devin Torquin Watkins, appeals the denial of his petition for postconviction relief, arguing that the post-conviction court erred in finding that he received effective assistance of counsel. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction court denying the petition. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Charles Hampton v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Charles Hampton, appeals the denial of post-conviction relief from his conviction for first degree premeditated murder, arguing (1) the post-conviction court erred in refusing to consider an expert’s testimony, (2) trial counsel was ineffective in failing to seek the suppression of the Petitioner’s statements to police, and (3) his mandatory life sentence as a juvenile offender is unconstitutional because it is the “functional equivalent” of life without parole. After review, we affirm the judgment of the |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Michael Bland v. State of Tennessee
Michael Bland, Petitioner, was indicted for and convicted of first-degree murder. Petitioner received a life sentence. This Court affirmed Petitioner’s conviction and sentence on direct appeal, and our supreme court denied further appellate review. State v. Michael Bland, No. W2014-00991-CCA-R3-CD, 2015 WL 3793697, *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. June 16, 2015), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Oct. 15, 2015). Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief in which he raised claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. After an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals |