APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

The petitioner, James T. Spurling, appeals the post-conviction court's summary dismissal of his pro se petition as untimely. Because the petitioner's claims, when taken as true, allege attorney misrepresentation concerning the filing of a post-conviction petition, we conclude that an evidentiary hearing is necessary to determine: (1) whether due process tolled the limitations period because counsel did, in fact, assure the petitioner that he would continue his representation through the filing of a post-conviction petition; and if so, (2) whether the petitioner was within the reasonable opportunity afforded him by due process. Therefore, we reverse the post-conviction court's dismissal of the petition and remand the matter for an evidentiary hearing.

This is a quiet title and ejectment action. The plaintiff filed this lawsuit to quiet title to residential property and obtain a court order requiring the defendant to vacate the premises. The defendant asserted adverse possession as an affirmative defense, and filed a counter-claim arguing the existence of a constructive trust. During the trial, the plaintiff testified about a conversation with the defendant’s grandmother, deceased by the time of trial, in which the plaintiff agreed to permit the defendant’s grandmother to stay in the house if she paid the note and maintained the property. The trial court entered a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and dismissed the defendant’s countercomplaint.  The trial court found that the plaintiff filed the lawsuit within the applicable limitations period, and that the evidence did not support the imposition of a constructive trust or any other equitable relief. The defendant appeals. We affirm.

Stockholders of an insolvent corporation sought disbursement of corporate funds remaining on deposit with the trial court. The trial court determined that stockholder-creditor should be repaid prior to splitting the excess funds equally between stockholders. Stockholder appealed and we affirm the decision of the trial court in all respects.

We have before us the defendant's appeal in this case pursuant to Rule 11 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure, and we granted the application in order to determine whether the trial court had authority, following imposition of an agreed sentence, to grant the defendant judicial diversion. Because judicial diversion was not included in the agreement, we conclude that the trial court lacked authority to alter the plea agreement. Additionally, once the judgments of "guilty" were entered, the trial court was precluded from granting judicial diversion because judicial diversion must be granted, if at all, "without entering a judgment of guilty." Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

The Petitioner, Charles Damien Darden, 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.

Father appeals the trial court's failure to grant his petition to modify custody of his three minor daughters to the extent he requested. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The defendant, Edgar Goodwin, was convicted of domestic aggravated assault and sentenced to eight years to be served on probation. Later, the trial court revoked probation and ordered the defendant to serve his sentence in the Department of Correction. In this appeal, the defendant contends that the trial court abused it discretion by revoking probation. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

This is a post-divorce petition to modify custody. During the marriage, the mother and father lived with the mother's parents. The parties were divorced in September 1998, and custody of the parties' three children was granted to the mother. After the divorce, the mother and the parties' children continued to live with the maternal grandparents. In March 2000, the mother filed a petition to restrict the father's visitation, alleging that the father sexually abused the parties' two daughters. A guardian ad litem was appointed for the children. After a hearing, the allegations of sexual abuse were determined to be unfounded. Approximately a year later, the mother filed a second petition to restrict the father's visitation, once again alleging sexual abuse. The father filed a counter-petition for custody based on a material change in circumstances. The father alleged that the mother and her parents were causing harm to the children by subjecting them to persistent questioning and repeated physical examinations in an attempt to prove sexual abuse. The mother's parents were joined as third-party defendants. The mother's parents then filed a cross-petition for grandparent visitation. After a bench trial, the trial court granted the father's petition for a change in custody and allowed the mother unsupervised visitation in the grandparents' home. The grandparents' petition for grandparent visitation was dismissed. At the conclusion of trial, the guardian ad litem for the children submitted a request for $15,000 in fees. The trial court denied the request, awarding the guardian ad litem only the $1,500 she had already been paid. The mother, the grandparents, and the guardian ad litem now appeal. We affirm the decision of the trial court, except that we remand to the trial court for reconsideration of the guardian ad litem's fee request in light of the applicable law.

This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. In this case, the employer contends that the trial court erred in finding: 1) that the employee’s pre-existing leg condition was aggravated by his work for the employer; 2) that the employee gave proper notice of his injuries; and 3) that the employee had sustained a 90% permanent partial disability to the body as a whole. For the reasons set out below, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This appeal involves the Tennessee Regulatory Authority’s consideration of a tariff filed by BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. A group of competing telecommunications providers and the Consumer Advocate and Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General filed petitions to suspend the proposed tariff and to open a contested case proceeding because the tariff was discriminatory and anti-competitive. The Authority considered the proposed tariff and the requests for a contested case proceeding at three conferences. After BellSouth amended the tariff to meet several of the objections of its competitors and the Consumer Advocate and Protection Division, the Authority, by divided vote, declined to suspend the tariff or to convene a contested case proceeding and permitted the revised tariff to take effect. On this appeal, the Consumer Advocate Division and the competing telecommunications providers assert that the Authority erred by refusing to open a contested case proceeding regarding their objections to the revised tariff. They also insist that the Authority’s approval of the tariff is not supported by substantial and material evidence. We have determined that the Authority abused its discretion by refusing to open a contested case proceeding to resolve the contested issues regarding whether the revised tariff was discriminatory and anticompetitive.

The dispute in this case arises out of an employment contract which provides severance pay for an employee who is terminated for reasons “other than gross misconduct, fraud, embezzlement, theft or voluntary termination.” The defendant employer ceased providing severance pay to the employee after the employer discovered that the employee had engaged in gross misconduct while still employed by the company. The employee sued for breach of contract, seeking the severance pay due under the contract; the employer responded that had it known previously of the gross misconduct, it would have fired the employee, thus absolving it of any duty to provide severance pay. The trial court granted summary judgment for the employee, after concluding that the employee had been involuntarily terminated, thus triggering the severance pay provision, and that there was no clear and convincing evidence that the employer would have fired the employee had it known of the gross misconduct. The employee was awarded $795,037.35, less thirty days severance pay already paid, plus prejudgment interest. The Court of Appeals affirmed. We hold that after-acquired evidence of employee misconduct need only be shown by a preponderance of the evidence in order to avoid liability in a breach of contract action, and because there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the employee would have been fired had the employer discovered the gross misconduct, we remand the case for trial. On the remaining issues raised by the employer, we affirm the Court of Appeals: the employee did not voluntarily resign from his position but was involuntarily terminated; the payment schedule found in the “Employment Protection Plan” regarding severance pay was incorporated into the employment contract; and the severance pay provisions did not constitute an illegal penalty.

A Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the appellant, James D. Cooks, Jr., of assault and theft of property valued less than five hundred dollars, and the trial court sentenced him to consecutive sentences of eleven months, twenty-nine days for each offense. The appellant appeals,
claiming that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions. Upon review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

In this workers' compensation case, the employee sought benefits due to mental injuries that allegedly arose out of his contact with hazardous material in the course of his employment. We conclude that the record and the applicable law support the trial court's determination that the employee's mental injuries arose out of and in the course of his employment and that the employee is 100% permanently disabled with respect to his mental faculties. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This appeal involves a dispute regarding a shareholders agreement negotiated as part of a merger between National Health Industries, Inc. and Senior Services Corporation. The merged companies became Caretenders Health Corporation. Franklin Capital Associates, a shareholder of Caretenders, filed this action against Caretenders alleging, inter alia, breach of the parties’ shareholders agreement. Franklin contends Caretenders failed to use its best efforts to register the stock issued in the merger. The trial court found Caretenders liable for failing to use its best efforts to register the shares under any registration form available, and awarded damages of $984,970 to Franklin.  Caretenders appeals contending the trial court erred by: (1) not requiring Franklin to prove Caretenders acted in bad faith, (2) determining Caretenders must use best efforts to register the stock under any registration form available, and (3) applying a 25% “block discount” to the net proceeds, rather than the price per share. Franklin appeals the denial of their request for prejudgment interest.  We affirm the trial court on the first two issues and the denial of prejudgment interest to Franklin but find the trial court incorrectly calculated the “block discount.”

Option to purchase under lease was dismissed by the Trial Court. Consolidated action by defendant for detainer and fees was granted by the Trial Court. We affirm the dismissal of the action on option but reverse the Judgment for detainer and fees.

The petitioner, Karlis Williams, pleaded guilty on January 14, 2003, to three counts of robbery and six counts of misdemeanor theft of an amount less than $500. By plea agreement with the state, the petitioner received an effective seven-year sentence, as a Range II multiple offender. The petitioner subsequently filed with the Shelby County Criminal Court a petition for post-conviction relief alleging that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that as a result, his guilty plea was not knowingly, intelligently, or voluntarily made. He also raised a challenge to his sentence based on Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). The post-conviction court denied the petition, and the petitioner brings the instant appeal challenging that denial. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Basketball coach and employee association appeal trial court's refusal to order coach reinstated as a method to enforce arbitration decision under Master Contract between school board and association. We affirm.

Pro se prisoner Plaintiff filed a claim against circuit court clerk, circuit court judge, district attorney general, assistant public defender, and two attorneys, alleging civil conspiracy and forfeiture. The trial court dismissed the claims sua sponte without a hearing pursuant to Rule 12.02(6) of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. Plaintiff appealed and we affirm the decision of the trial court.

Plaintiffs appeal the action of the trial court in granting Defendants' Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 12.02(6) Motions to Dismiss their challenge to a November 9, 1992, amendment to the Rutherford County Zoning Resolution. The trial court determined that the 10-year statute of limitations provided by Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-3-110 barred the action and that the discovery rule did not apply. We hold that on the record before the Court, the November 9, 1992, purported amendment is void ab initio. The judgment of the trial court is reversed, and the cause is remanded for further proceedings.

In this divorce action, Husband appeals the Chancery Court's denial of alimony, denial of Rule 60 post-judgment relief, and the court's classification of his workers' compensation benefits as marital property. Finding Husband's appeal without merit, we affirm the Chancery Court's decision.

This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeal Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The employee sustained injuries to his left shoulder while working for the employer. The trial court: (1) held that the injury was compensable; (2) awarded a 45 percent vocational disability; (3) awarded the employee 45 weeks of temporary total disability benefits; (4) held that the employer denied the claim in bad faith; and (5) awarded a bad faith penalty of 25 percent of the temporary total disability award plus 25 percent of the permanent partial disability award. We affirm the trial court’s finding that the injury was compensable. We affirm the award of 45 percent to the arm. We modify the award of 45 weeks of temporary total disability to 16 weeks. We vacate the penalty for partial permanent benefits, but affirm the penalty for temporary total benefits, as modified.

A Hamilton County jury convicted the Petitioner, Dolwin Deon Cormia, of first degree murder and abuse of a corpse, and the trial court imposed a life sentence with the possibility of parole plus a concurrent two year sentence. On direct appeal, this Court affirmed the conviction, and the Tennessee Supreme Court denied the Petitioner's application for permission to appeal. The Petitioner then sought post-conviction relief, alleging that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. Following a hearing on the post-conviction petition, the trial court dismissed the petition, and this appeal ensued. We affirm the trial court's dismissal of the petition.

This appeal presents the issue of the enforceability of an arbitration agreement. The plaintiff entered into a loan transaction with the defendant mortgage corporation to obtain funds on behalf of her daughter. The loan was secured by a mortgage on plaintiff's home. Plaintiff's daughter subsequently discontinued making payments on the loan, and plaintiff filed a petition to rescind the loan, asserting that plaintiff was caused to sign the loan by defendant lender's fraud. Several months after the case had been pending, lender demanded that the case be submitted to arbitration pursuant to an agreement signed by plaintiff when the loan was closed. The trial court granted lender's motion compelling arbitration. Plaintiff appeals, arguing that the arbitration agreement she entered into is unenforceable because it is an adhesion contract and is unconscionable and unreasonable. Plaintiff further argues that lender waived its right to compel arbitration under the circumstances in this case. We hold that the arbitration agreement is enforceable, and we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Deceased had executed loan guaranties to claimant. Claimant filed claim in Estate based on the guaranties. The Estate excepted on the grounds that the underlying loans were not due and payable because claimant had not accelerated the indebtednesses. The Trial Court upheld the claims. We affirm.

The child who is the subject of this Petition to Terminate Parental Rights, A.J.H., is the latest of five children born to the mother, M.H. A.J.H. is the fourth child of D.H., the father. At the conclusion of an initial investigation by DCS personnel, A.J.H. was removed from the parents’ custody immediately after birth and has remained with his foster parents since that removal. The father appeals the juvenile court’s termination of his parental rights as well as its refusal to consider the paternal grandparents’ petition for custody. We reverse and vacate the order of termination and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.