APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

The lead opinion of Judge Ogle, the separate concurring opinion of Judge Welles, and the separate opinion of Judge Woodall concurring in part and dissenting in part, filed in this case on March 6, 2000, are withdrawn.

The appellant, La Southaphanh, appeals his jury convictions for aggravated burglary and theft over $1,000. The trial court imposed, as a Range II offender, a nine year sentence for aggravated burglary and a concurrent seven year sentence for theft. On appeal, the appellant’s sole challenge is the sufficiency of the convicting evidence.  Following review, we affirm.<?xml:namespace prefix = o /?>

The appellant, Samantha Heard, appeals from a judgment of conviction entered by the Davidson County Criminal Court. The appellant pled guilty to one count of sale of cocaine in excess of .5 grams, a class B felony. As a condition of the plea agreement, the appellant reserved the right to appeal, as a certified question of law, the trial court's denial of her motion to suppress.¹ See Tenn. R. App. P. 3(b); Tenn. R. Crim. P. 37(b). Specifically, she asserts that the facts alleged in the affidavit of the search warrant are insufficient to support a finding of probable cause for the search of her person.  After review of the record, we affirm the trial court’s denial of the motion to suppress and affirm the judgment of conviction.<?xml:namespace prefix = o /?>

This appeal from the Circuit Court of Blount County concerns liability under the Tennessee Governmental Tort Liability Act, which grants immunity, subject to certain statutory exceptions, to governmental entities pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 29-20-201. Cynthia Y. Long, the Plaintiff/Appellant, appeals the Trial Court’s judgment on directed verdict in favor of the City of Maryville, the Defendant/Appellee.

Defendant Nicholas S. Cakmes files a petition requesting that instead of adjudging the value of the remaining interest of Plaintiff Reuben N. Pelot, III, in their dentistry partnership, that the case be remanded for the Trial Court to make that determination.

The defendant, Kermit Maurice Cozart, appeals from a guilty verdict returned against him by a Henry County jury for Aggravated Kidnapping, a Class B felony. The trial court sentenced the defendant to ten years at 100% as a violent offender for the aggravated kidnapping. The defendant contends that the trial court erred in failing to give the defendant’s requested special jury instruction. The defendant had requested that the trial court specifically charge the jury on aggravated kidnapping in the context of a robbery in accordance with the language of State v. Anthony, 817 S.W.2d 299 (Tenn. 1991). The defendant contends that the court’s instruction left the jury without guidance sufficient to decide whether the defendant should stand convicted for the offense of aggravated kidnapping. After careful review, we AFFIRM the instruction, judgment, and sentence from the trial court.

The appellant, Gregory Austin, appeals his jury conviction for first degree premeditated murder. The appellant was originally indicted for felony murder in the perpetration of attempted robbery and first degree premeditated murder. Because the State did not seek a sentence of death or life without parole, the trial court imposed a life sentence. On appeal, the appellant argues the trial court erred in failing to: (1) suppress the appellant’s statement to the police; (2) permit redaction of portions of appellant’s statement to the police prior to its admission; and (3) contemporaneously instruct the jury regarding prior inconsistent statements.

The appellant, David Remus, appeals the jury verdict of the Shelby County Criminal Court finding him guilty of burglary of a building, a Class D felony.. The trial court imposed a sentence of three years and three months in the county workhouse.  On appeal, the appellant challenges (1) the sufficiency of the evidence; (2) the jury’s viewing of the appellant while “shackled;” and (3) the trial court’s application of an enhancement factor in determining the appellant’s sentence.

I dissent from the majority opinion affirming the judgment of the Trial Court awarding compensatory damages of $130,000. From my review of the record, Plaintiff did not meet her burden of proving that Defendant had notice of the condition of the roadway, and therefore I would reverse the judgment of the Trial Court.

The appellant, James A. Ayers also known as James Harris, appeals the order of the Shelby County Criminal Court summarily dismissing his petition for post-conviction relief. In this appeal, the appellant challenges the trial court’s summary dismissal of his petition as being time-barred. Specifically, he argues that his claim was later arising under Burford and Sands.

The appellant, James Emmett Moses, Jr., a/k/a Ali Hakem Mahammed, appeals the sentencing decision of the Lauderdale County Circuit Court following his guilty pleas to the offenses of one count aggravated burglary, two counts of robbery, and one count of theft under $500. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed an effective sentence of twenty six years imprisonment.1 On appeal, the appellant challenges the length of the sentences and the imposition of consecutive sentences.

The defendant, Michael Thomason, appeals as of right his conviction by a Haywood County Circuit Court jury of four counts of sexual battery, one count of aggravated sexual battery, and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The trial court sentenced the defendant as a Range I standard offender to two years on each of the sexual battery charges; ten years on the aggravated sexual battery charge; and eleven months and twenty-nine days on the misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the sentences to be served concurrently. The defendant presents the following issues for review:

In this tort action, the defendants appeal from an award of compensatory damages capped by the trial court at $130,000 pursuant to the Governmental Tort Liability Act (“GTLA”). They also seek to reverse the trial court’s decision to assess them with discretionary costs of $3,440.98. We affirm all of the trial court’s judgment except the award of discretionary costs.

The defendant, Christopher Walls, appeals from the denial of his motion for reduction of sentence by the Criminal Court of Morgan County. The defendant pleaded guilty to escape, a Class E felony, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-601 (1997), and theft of property valued over $1000, a Class D felony, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-103 (1997). In accordance with his plea agreement, the trial court sentenced the defendant to serve his bargained-for sentence of three years in the Department of Correction. In his appeal, he complains that the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion to reduce his sentence. Following a review of the record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the trial court's judgment.

The Davidson County Board of Education conducted a termination hearing for a tenured teacher who had been caught on videotape stealing pills from a student’s prescription bottle. After the hearing, the teacher was dismissed -2- from her position. She subsequently filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari, which was dismissed after a Chancery Court hearing. We affirm the Chancery Court.

The petitioner, Steven DeWayne Bolden, appeals the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief by the Lake County Circuit Court on March 26, 1999. Following a review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

This appeal involves the jury’s assessment of damages arising out of a premises liability case. Finding the plaintiff to be 49% at fault and the defendant to be 51% at fault, the jury awarded to the plaintiff 51% of the damages that it had assessed. On appeal, the plaintiff argues that the jury’s damage award is not supported by material evidence in that it does not include damages for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. We agree with the plaintiff. Therefore, we reverse the jury’s award as to damages and remand this case for a new trial only on the issue of damages.

In Heck van Tran v. State,1 a majority of this Court established the protocol that an inmate sentenced to death must follow to assert a common law and constitutional challenge to his or her competence to be executed. In the context of a Separate Concurring and Dissenting Opinion, I identified three components of the protocol which, when implemented, would each produce an unconstitutional result. Two are most significant: (1) use of the protocol would permit the execution of inmates who are, due to mental defect or disease, unable to consult with and assist their counsel; and (2) use of the protocol would deprive inmates of the right to have the ultimate issue–-competence to be executed-- determined by a jury of their peers.

This is an appeal by the contestant in an election contest brought pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated sections 2-17-101 to 2-17-116. The trial court dismissed the complaint specifically holding that the mandate of section 17-106, that trial of an election contest “be held no more than fifty days from the date the complaint was filed,” was jurisdictional such that after the expiration of this fifty-day period, the trial court lost jurisdiction.

On December 11, 1998, the defendant, Patricia Spencer, pled guilty to one count of second degree murder and one count of attempted especially aggravated robbery. The trial court sentenced her as a Range I Violent Offender to 25 years for the second degree murder and as a Range I Standard Offender to 8 years for the attempted especially aggravated robbery, the sentences to be served concurrently. From this sentencing, the defendant now appeals asserting that the trial court erred in its 25-year sentence for the second degree murder; accordingly, she requests that her sentence be reduced. After careful review, we AFFIRM the sentence as imposed by the trial court.

The petitioner, Carlous Coman, appeals from the Madison County Circuit Court’s order denying his petition for post-conviction relief. On April 19, 1997, the petitioner was convicted by a Madison County jury of second degree murder. For this offense, the defendant, a Range I offender, was sentenced to twenty years in the Department of Correction. On February 17, 1999, he filed a post-conviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and upon appeal. The trial court denied this petition after a hearing. After careful review, we AFFIRM the order of the trial court denying the petition.

Defendant, Tim D. Smith, was found guilty by a Shelby County jury of automobile burglary, a Class E felony, and was sentenced by the trial court to six years as a career offender. The sole issue in this appeal as of right is whether the evidence is sufficient to support the guilty verdict. After a careful review of the record, we conclude the evidence is indeed sufficient to support the verdict.  Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

The defendant, William Padilla, appeals from his Haywood County jury conviction of one count of rape of a child. The defendant received 25 years, the maximum sentence for a Range I standard offender. He appeals this conviction and sentence, arguing that:

(1) The evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s verdict; and

(2) the sentence was excessive.

After careful review, we AFFIRM the judgment and sentence from the trial court