APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

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02C01-9503-CC-00091

02C01-9503-CC-00091
Haywood County Court of Criminal Appeals 11/15/95
03C01-9504-CR-00109

03C01-9504-CR-00109
Blount County Court of Criminal Appeals 11/15/95
Jerry D. Adcock and wife, Nancy M. Adcock, v. James F. Witcher, Jr.

01A01-9505-CH-00220

This is an appeal by plaintiffs/appellants, Jerry and Nancy Adcock, from the judgment of the trial court in favor of defendant/appellee, James F. Witcher.

Authoring Judge: Judge Samuel L. Lewis
Originating Judge:Chancellor Robert S. Brandt
Davidson County Court of Appeals 11/15/95
In the Matter of: Estate of Jim Eden (Deceased), Georgia Bradley, v. Betty Lewis, Agnes Hendsley, and Bertie Carver, Executors

01A01-9501-CH-00005

This appeal arises from a dispute over a will in which a 93-year-old man left his estate to three of his four surviving daughters. The daughter who was not named in her father’s will challenged the validity of the will after her sisters propounded it for probate in the Chancery Court for Trousdale County. The chancery court transferred the case to the Circuit Court for Trousdale County where a jury found in favor of the will. The daughter who contested the will has appealed. We have determined that no reversible error was committed in the circuit court proceeding and, therefore, affirm the circuit court’s judgment and remand the case to the chancery court for further probate proceedings.

Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Originating Judge:Judge Bobby H. Capers
Trousdale County Court of Appeals 11/15/95
03C01-9212-CR-00438

03C01-9212-CR-00438

Originating Judge:Arden L. Hill
Washington County Court of Criminal Appeals 11/15/95
02C01-9503-CC-00094

02C01-9503-CC-00094

Originating Judge:John Franklin Murchison
Court of Criminal Appeals 11/15/95
Donna Faye Glover England, v. Richard Piercey

01A01-9507-CH-00320

This is a grandparent's visitation case. Plaintiff, Donna Faye Glover England, is the maternal grandmother of Skylar Piercey, age four. Skylar's natural mother died in December of 1993. Skylar's natural father, Richard Piercey, now refuses to allow England to see Skylar. England filed a petition for grandparent visitation. The trial court dismissed the case based upon the Tennessee Supreme Court decision of Hawk v. Hawk, 855 S.W. 2d 573 (Tenn. 1993), reasoning that Hawk allows Piercey as the natural father, to deny England the right to see Skylar in the absence of a showing of substantial harm to the child. We affirm the decision of the trial court.

Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Originating Judge:Chancellor C. K. Smith
Court of Appeals 11/15/95
03C01-9412-CR-00445

03C01-9412-CR-00445

Originating Judge:D. Kelly Thomas, Jr.
Blount County Court of Criminal Appeals 11/14/95
Delo Brock, v. Tennessee Department of Corrections

01A01-9503-CH-00078

The Chancery Court of Davidson County dismissed the appellant's petition for declaratory judgment, filed pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-5-223, to review the Department of Correction's calculation of the credits due on his prison sentences. The chancellor concluded that the appellant had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies.

Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Originating Judge:Chancellor Robert S. Brandt
Davidson County Court of Appeals 11/13/95
03S01-9410-CR-00094

03S01-9410-CR-00094

Originating Judge:W. Lee Asbury
Supreme Court 11/13/95
03S01-9410-CR-00094

03S01-9410-CR-00094
Supreme Court 11/13/95
03C01-9311-CR-00388

03C01-9311-CR-00388

Originating Judge:James E. Beckner
Hawkins County Court of Criminal Appeals 11/13/95
Lisa Jones, Charlotte Tackett, and Jenetta Brock, v. James Davenport, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Employment of Security and Lake City Health Care Center

03A01-9506-CH00187

Appellants' appeal from the Chancellor's determination that the denial of unemployment benefits was properly based on the employees' misconduct connected with their work.

 

Authoring Judge: Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Originating Judge:Judge Billy Joe White
Court of Appeals 11/10/95
Marika Petra Vickers, v. Nicholas Scinta

01A01-9507-CH-00281

This is a suit to register and enforce a foreign divorce decree. The only issue on appeal is the proper amount of the judgment for delinquent child support.

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Originating Judge:Chancellor Alex W. Darnell
Montgomery County Court of Appeals 11/09/95
Terry LaClaire (Smith) Martin, v. Ray Willard Martin

01A01-9507-GS-00292

The General SessionsCourt of Wilson County granted the wife a divorce after a six month marriage. The court ordered the marital residence sold and the wife paid $2,000 for her attorney's fees and $10,000 to equalize her equity in the property. After the deductions, the balance of the equity was to be split evenly between the parties.

Authoring Judge: Judge Ben H. Cantrell
Originating Judge:Judge Robert P. Hamilton
Wilson County Court of Appeals 11/09/95
Nancy K. Wheeler Poyner, v. Alden Dennis Poyner

01A01-9503-CH-00116

This is a divorce case in which the Wife appeals the trial court's division of marital property and the court's award of custody to the Husband.

Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Highers
Originating Judge:Chancellor Leonard W. Martin
Humphreys County Court of Appeals 11/09/95
Strings & Things, v. State Auto Insurance Companies

02A01-9408-CH-00195

This appeal involves a suit to recover on a policy of insurance covering employee dishonesty. Plaintiff, Strings & Things in Memphis, Inc., appeals from the judgment of the chancery court in a nonjury trial that dismissed its suit against defendant, State Auto Insurance Companies. The only issue on appeal is whether the evidence preponderates against the findings of the chancellor.

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:Chancellor Neal Small
Shelby County Court of Appeals 11/08/95
The Wright Jeweler's, Inc., v. Farmer's Fund Insurance Company, D/B/A The American Insurance Company

02A01-9409-CV-00202

This is a declaratory judgment action to determine coverage under aninsurance policy. Plaintiff, Wright Jewelers, Inc., appeals from the order of the trial court denying its motion for summary judgment and granting summary judgment to defendant, Firemen's Fund Insurance Company, d/b/a The American Insurance Company.

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge W. Frank Crawford
Originating Judge:Judge Janice M. Holder
Court of Appeals 11/08/95
Daniel H. Caldwell v. Jimmy L. Fishburn and Brenda Fishburn - Concurring

03A01-9507-CH-00218

The Defendant, Brenda Fishburn, has appealed from an order denying her motion to set her counterclaim for trial. The motion was filed more than two years after an order had been entered dismissing the counterclaim and approximately 18 months after an agreed compromise decree had been  entered dismissing the claims of all parties to the litigation.

Authoring Judge: Judge Clifford E. Sanders
Originating Judge:Chancellor Chester S. Rainwater, Jr.
Sevier County Court of Appeals 11/07/95
State of Tennessee v. Gregory Adams Valentine

02S01-9410-CC-00070

Gregory Adams Valentine was convicted by a jury of unlawful possessoin of a Schedule VI Substance with intent to manufacture, deliever, or sell (a Class E felony) and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia (a Class A misdemeanor). We granted his application for review pursuant to Rule 11, Tenn. R. Crim. P., in order to determine whether his testimony fulfilled the requirements of Rule 41 (g), Tenn.R.Crim.P., thereby preserving his right to challenge, on appeal, the admission of illegally obtain evidence.

 

 

Authoring Judge: Justice Aldolpho A. Birch, Jr.
Originating Judge:Judge Julian P. Guinn
Henry County Supreme Court 11/06/95
Nathaniel Lillard and wife Pelinda Lillard, v. Richard H. Pinckley and Courier Printing Co., Inc.

01A01-9506-CV-00268

This appeal involves the dismissal of a nine-year-old personal injury action stemming from a collision between a truck and an automobile that was part of a funeral procession. The driver of the automobile and his wife filed suit in the Circuit Court for Davidson County against the owner and driver of the truck. Following two non-suits, the plaintiffs filed their third complaint more than five years after taking their first non-suit. The trial court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations. The plaintiffs assert on this appeal that the trial court’s decision is inconsistent with the “spirit” of the savings statute as recently construed by the Tennessee Supreme Court. We affirm the summary judgment and also find that this appeal is frivolous. Accordingly, we remand the case for the determination of damages for a frivolous appeal.

Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Originating Judge:Judge Barbara N. Haynes
Davidson County Court of Appeals 11/05/95
C.A. Hobbs, Jr., Inc., v. David Brainard, Susan B. Reyes, and Carol B. Ham

01A01-9506-CV-00236

This is an appeal by defendants/appellants from the trial court's order granting plaintiff/appellee's motion for summary judgment and the resulting judgment entered in favor of plaintiff/appellee, C.A. Hobbs, Jr., Inc. ("Hobbs").

Authoring Judge: Judge Samuel L. Lewis
Originating Judge:Judge James E. Walton
Montgomery County Court of Appeals 11/03/95
Joseph F. Mansfield, v. Deborah Ann Wills Mansfield

01A01-9412-CH-00587

This appeal involves a divorce that ended a brief, unhappy marriage. Both the husband and the wife sought a divorce in the Chancery Court for Williamson County. The trial court, sitting without a jury, declared the parties divorced and directed the husband to pay certain pre-divorce debts and to continue making pendente lite support payments until the wife received her share of the increase in the parties’ net worth during the marriage. The trial court later ordered the husband to pay the wife an additional $4,405 for the legal expenses she incurred to compel compliance with her discovery requests. The husband insists on this appeal that the trial court should not have required him to assume the debts the wife incurred prior to the divorce or to pay the wife’s discovery-related legal expenses. We have determined that the evidence supports the trial court’s decision on both issues and, therefore, affirm the judgment

Authoring Judge: Judge William C. Koch, Jr.
Originating Judge:Judge Henry Denmark Bell
Williamson County Court of Appeals 11/03/95
State of Tennessee, Upon Relation of Lloyd R. Adams, Murphy W. Ralston, and W.C. Tallant, v. City of Murfeesboro, Tennessee

01A01-9404-CH-00195

This is a suit to invalidate an annexation ordinance of the City of Murfreesboro. The plaintiff appealed from the dismissal of his suit, although neither party questioned the adequacy of the description of the land to be annexed. On October 26, 1994, this Court filed an opinion pointing out the infirmities of the ordinance and remanded to allow such infirmities to be remedied.

Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Henry F. Todd
Originating Judge:Chancellor Robert E. Corlew, III
Rutherford County Court of Appeals 11/01/95
Net Realty Holding Trust, v. James D. Maggart and Dorothy Maggart

01A01-9503-CH-00085

Net Realty Holding Trust ("NET") the owners of commercial property in Hermitage, Tennessee, brought an action to collect rent after the tenants, James and Dorothy Maggart, (doing business as "The Video Place") surrendered the premises. The Davidson County Chancery Court held that NET was estopped from collecting rent through the end of the lease term.

Authoring Judge: Judge Samuel L. Lewis
Originating Judge:Chancellor C. Allen High
Davidson County Court of Appeals 11/01/95