APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

The appellant, Frankie Lee Woodard, was indicted on October 29, 1999, by the Robertson County Grand Jury on one count of theft of property over $500. The appellant was found guilty as charged and sentenced to four years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The appellant now appeals contending that the evidence was not sufficient to support his conviction for theft of property over five hundred dollars and that the trial court improperly instructed the jury regarding the value of the stolen item. After a review of the record before this Court we find these issues have no merit and therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The plaintiff, as next friend of Francisco Valencia, filed two causes of action against Valencia's employer, the defendant, Freeland and Lemm Construction Company. The first is an action in tort alleging that the employer acted with "substantial certainty" in causing Valencia's death. The other action is a claim for benefits under the Workers' Compensation Law. The trial court dismissed the tort claims. On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's ruling, holding that in the absence of proof that the employer acted with the "actual intent" to injure Valencia, the plaintiff's exclusive remedy lay within the provisions of the workers' compensation statute. We granted review in order to determine whether the judicially-created exception to the exclusive remedy requirement of workers' compensation law, which requires "actual intent," should be broadly interpreted to include an employer's conduct that is "substantially certain" to cause injury or death. Under the exception as currently construed, the plaintiff cannot sustain a tort action against the employer unless he can prove the employer acted with "actual intent." Therefore, in the absence of an allegation of "actual intent," the plaintiff is limited to his workers' compensation remedies. It is this result that the plaintiff urges us to change. We must decline to interpret the exception as the plaintiff urges. Accordingly, the provisions of the workers' compensation statute are the exclusive remedy for employees to obtain relief from employers for injuries occurring in the course and scope of employment, unless "actual intent" to injure has been established.

The defendants, Sandra Kay Webb and Tabitha Nicole Webb, were convicted of forty-seven counts of cruelty to animals and each was sentenced to concurrent sentences of eleven months and twenty-nine days for each count, with incarceration for sixty days and a prohibition from either owning animals for ten years. In addition, the defendants were ordered to pay $39,978.85 in restitution to the Jackson-Madison County Humane Society and to perform fifty hours of community service work, and each defendant was fined a total of $5000. Soon afterwards, the trial court found that each had possessed animals since their convictions and revoked their community corrections sentences. On appeal, the defendants argue that their convictions should be reversed because the search warrant affidavit was defective, as was its execution; the affiant was untruthful in the affidavit; the animal cruelty statute is unconstitutionally vague; animal shelter records, utilized by the State during the trial, were hearsay and should not have been allowed; the evidence was insufficient, failing to prove either that the defendants acted knowingly or intentionally or failed to provide necessary care; the humane society was not entitled to restitution; the defendants should not have been required to serve their sentences in incarceration or prohibited for ten years from possessing animals; their community corrections sentences should not have been revoked; and the court should not have ordered that their dogs be forfeited. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court as to forty-seven of the counts, but remand for entry of a corrected judgment to show that the defendants were acquitted of Count 8 and for an evidentiary hearing as to the payment of restitution.

The defendants, Jackie Leonard Durham and Gary Lee Raines, alias Gary L. Rains, appeal as of right their convictions by a Hamilton County Criminal Court jury for second degree murder, a Class A felony. Durham received an agreed twenty-five-year sentence as a violent offender, and Raines received an agreed twenty-year sentence as a violent offender. Both defendants contend that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support their second degree murder convictions and (2) prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument requires a new trial. Additionally, Raines contends that (3) the trial court committed plain error by not instructing the jury on voluntary intoxication. We affirm the trial court's judgments of conviction.

The parties have addressed several issues in this case, each of which concerns the trial court's authority to grant relief pursuant to Rule 35(b) of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, which articulates the procedure for correcting or reducing a sentence. Only one, however is dispositive: whether the trial court can, after adjudicating guilt, imposing sentence, and entering judgment, grant judicial diversion as Rule 35(b) relief. This issue is one of first impression in this state. After careful examination of the record and due consideration of applicable authority, we conclude that there is no statutory authority for permitting judicial diversion after an adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence. Therefore, judicial diversion was erroneously granted. Because our ruling on this issue is dispositive of this cause, we need not address other issues presented by the parties.

The defendant was convicted of theft of property over $10,000, felony evading arrest with risk of death or injury, and felony reckless endangerment. The trial court merged the reckless endangerment conviction with the evading arrest conviction, and sentenced the defendant to fifteen years as a persistent offender for the theft conviction and twelve years as a career offender for the felony evading arrest conviction, the sentences to be served consecutively. On appeal, he presents the following claims: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions for theft over $10,000 and felony evading arrest; (2) the trial court erred in excluding his exculpatory statement, denying his request for a mistrial, and failing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offenses of unauthorized use of a vehicle and reckless driving. Following our review, we conclude that the trial court, in its instructions as to theft over $10,000, should have instructed the jury as to the Class A misdemeanor, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Accordingly, we reverse the conviction for theft over $10,000 and remand for a new trial. The conviction for felony evading arrest with risk of death or injury is affirmed.

The petitioner, Richard Lynn Norton, was convicted in 1989 of aggravated assault and assault. He received an effective sentence of ten years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Subsequently, the petitioner filed for habeas corpus relief, contending that the indictment charging him with aggravated assault was defective and therefore his conviction for aggravated assault is void. The trial court denied the petition for habeas corpus relief and the petitioner appealed to this court. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Petitioner, David Lynn McClure, was indicted on March 28, 1994 for one count aggravated sexual battery and two counts of rape of a child. He was convicted by a jury of aggravated sexual battery, rape of a child and attempt to commit the rape of a child. He received an effective sentence of 30 years as a Range I offender. The petitioner appealed his convictions and sentence, and they were affirmed. See State v. David Lynn McClure, No. 01C01-9505-CR-00145, 1997 WL 211254 (Tenn. Crim. App at Nashville, Apr. 30, 1997). The petitioner filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief on October 14, 1999. Following an evidentiary hearing counsel was appointed and an amended petition was filed. This petition was denied on October 31, 2001. The petitioner then filed a notice of appeal on November 15, 2001. In this appeal the petitioner raises the issue of whether the post-conviction court correctly dismissed his petition for post-conviction relief concluding that he received effective assistance of counsel. After a review of the record we find that petitioner has failed to carry his burden of showing that the evidence preponderates against the findings of the post-conviction court. Accordingly, the judgment of the lower court is affirmed.

We granted the State permission to appeal pursuant to Rule 11 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure to determine whether fellatio requires actual penetration. The defendant was indicted and convicted for rape of a child, aggravated sexual battery and incest. At the close of his trial on these indictments, the defendant requested an instruction on attempted rape of a child, which the trial court denied. On appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals, the defendant contended that the victim's testimony supported an attempt instruction because a jury could interpret it to be evidence that the defendant did not actually engage in fellatio with the victim, thereby proving that he committed attempted rape and not rape. The appellate court agreed and held that the trial court's failure to instruct on attempted rape was reversible error. We find that fellatio does not require actual intrusion into the victim's mouth, and accordingly, we hold that the evidence did not support an attempt instruction. Therefore, we reinstate the defendant's conviction for rape of a child.

The Defendant was charged with and convicted of burglary. The trial court sentenced him to three years' incarceration. In this direct appeal, the Defendant argues (1) that the trial court erred by denying his motion for judgment of acquittal and (2) that the State did not establish a proper chain of custody concerning the stolen property in this case. Having reviewed the record, we conclude that legally sufficient evidence was presented at the Defendant's trial to support his conviction and thus that the trial court did not err by denying the Defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal. We also conclude that a proper chain of evidence was established for the recovered property in this case and thus that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the property into evidence. We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant entered a "best interest" guilty plea to arson, a Class C felony. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to a split confinement sentence of four years, with one year to be served in the Bledsoe County jail and the remainder to be served on probation. The Defendant now challenges the propriety of the sentence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.