APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

Appellant, Charles Matthew Garrett, entered a guilty plea without a recommended sentence to robbery, for which the trial court imposed a four-year sentence to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. He appeals the manner of service of this sentence. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This appeal focuses on a public request for juvenile court records. Morristown Certified Properties General Partnership (“Petitioner”) was sued in a civil action by the victim of an assault that took place on its property. In preparing for its defense, Petitioner filed a motion in the Juvenile Court for Hamblen County seeking access to the juvenile court records of Jaylen J. and Adrian H (“the juveniles”), the two individuals who allegedly perpetrated the subject assault. Following a hearing, the juvenile court granted Petitioner access to a portion of the records, but refused to release the remaining records based upon its finding that they were not relevant to the civil suit. On further review, the trial court adopted the juvenile court’s ruling and denied further inspection of the records. Petitioner appeals. During the pendency of the appeal, the issue of whether Petitioner is entitled to access the court records has become moot. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.

This action presents the question of whether a claim properly may be brought against the City of Knoxville (“the City”) pursuant to the Governmental Tort Liability Act (“GTLA”) under circumstances where a tree located on the real property of a private landowner fell and caused the death of a motorist traveling on a city street. The trial court dismissed the claim, finding that the City maintained immunity pursuant to the GTLA and the public duty doctrine. Plaintiff appeals. We affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the claim.

The petitioner, William Anthony McDaniel, appeals the denial of his “Motion to Correct Judgment/Sentence or in the Alternative Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea.” The petitioner pled guilty in 2002 to three counts of rape of a child, Class A felonies, and was sentenced as a Range I offender to concurrent terms of twenty-five years for each offense to be served at 100%. On appeal, the petitioner contends that his sentence should be reduced to reflect service of the sentence at 30%, as a standard Range I offender, or in the alternative that his plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered because the 100% service requirement for child rape was never explained to him. Following review of the record, we affirm the denial of the motion.

The appellant, Ryan Neal Dickens, pled guilty in the Cheatham County Circuit Court to voluntary manslaughter. The trial court imposed a sentence of three years, with one year to be served in confinement and the remainder on probation. On appeal, the appellant challenges the trial court’s refusal to grant a sentence of full probation. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This appeal arises from the trial court’s determination that Defendant Taxpayer was entitled to a refund in the amount of $323,596.14. We affirm the  trial court’s determination that Taxpayer is entitled to a refund, but vacate the judgment with respect to the amount of refund due Taxpayer. We remand for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion.

Megan A.A. (“Mother”) appeals the termination of her rights to her children, Kayla N.A. and Haylei M.A. (“the Children”). The Department of Children’s Services filed a petition alleging that the Children were dependent and neglected as a result of both parents’ drug abuse. On the same day, the juvenile court entered an ex parte order awarding temporary custody of the Children to Teresa W., the Children’s paternal grandmother (“Grandmother”). After later entering an agreed order that adjudicated the Children as dependent and neglected, the court awarded temporary legal and physical custody to Grandmother. More than a year after the Children came into her custody, Grandmother filed a petition in the trial court to terminate Mother’s parental rights. Following a bench trial, the court granted the petition based on its finding that Mother abandoned the Children by willfully failing to visit and support them. The court further found that termination of Mother’s rights is in the Children’s best interest. The court stated that it made both findings by clear and convincing evidence. Mother appeals. We affirm.

Two executive employees of Continental Car Club, Inc., resigned in order to start a business in competition with their former employer. The issues on appeal are (1) whether the employees resigned for “Good Reason” as that term is defined in their employment agreements; (2) whether the employees violated their employment agreements by copying all the data on their work computers to personal computers shortly before resigning; (3) whether the non-competition and non-solicitation provisions of their agreements are enforceable; (4) whether the trial court correctly found the employees liable for conversion; and (5) whether the employees violated the Tennessee or Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act. We hold that the employees did not establish that they resigned for “Good Reason.” We further hold that they violated their employment agreements, and, accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s judgment awarding them severance pay and benefits. We affirm the trial court’s judgment on the conversion claim but modify the judgment to award the former employer the value of tickets to a football game that one of the employees converted by sending the tickets to business clients, then renting a bus and taking the clients to the game several months after the employee’s resignation. We hold that the trial court correctly determined that the covenants not to compete were valid and enforceable and that the agreements are reasonable in time and geographic limits but overbroad in scope. Therefore, we reverse the trial court’s judgment in part and modify it in part. With respect to the portion of the trial court’s judgment not reversed, we affirm, as modified.

Petitioner, Jeffrey Boyd Trusty, was convicted of first degree premeditated murder, first degree felony murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, and theft over $1,000 by a Smith County jury. The trial court merged the murder convictions and sentenced Petitioner to an effective sentence of life imprisonment. Petitioner’s sentence and convictions were affirmed on appeal. State v. Trusty, 326 S.W.3d 582, 585 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2010). Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief in which he alleged that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and various violations of due process. After an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied post-conviction relief. Petitioner appeals. After a review of the record and applicable authorities, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court denying post-conviction relief.

Plaintiff appeals judgment in favor of Defendant apartment complex. We affirm.

Petitioner appeals from the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his conviction for possession with intent to sell over 300 grams of cocaine and resulting sentence of 13.5 years as a mitigated offender. On appeal, Petitioner contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that his guilty plea was rendered involuntary by the ineffective assistance of counsel. Based upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

This is a termination of parental rights case in which the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of Father to the Child. Following a bench trial, the trial court found that clear and convincing evidence existed to support the termination of Father’s parental rights on the statutory grounds of abandonment and severe child abuse and that termination of his rights was in the Child’s best interest. Father appeals. We affirm the decision of the trial court.

Petitioner, Jerome Wall, pled guilty to robbery and aggravated robbery in August, 1992, in the Shelby County Criminal Court. Petitioner received concurrent sentences of three years for his robbery conviction and ten years for his aggravated robbery conviction, to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On May 18, 2012, Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, challenging his 1992 convictions, which the trial court denied without an evidentiary hearing. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Calvin Person (“Defendant Person”) and Maurico Grandberry (“Defendant Grandberry”) (collectively “the Defendants”) were convicted by a jury of first degree felony murder. The trial court sentenced the Defendants to life imprisonment. On appeal, Defendant Grandberry asserts that the trial court erred in not severing the Defendants. Defendant Person argues that the trial court erred in: excluding evidence of Defendant Grandberry’s involvement in a separate robbery on the day the victim in this case was killed; admitting Defendant Person’s statement to police; including the natural and probable consequences rule in its jury instruction on felony murder; and denying Defendant Person’s request to provide a special jury instruction on the requisite mens rea necessary for criminal responsibility. Additionally, both of the Defendants contend that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support their convictions. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the Defendants’ convictions.

This is a breach of contract claim brought by the appellant road paving contractor, APACAtlantic, Inc., Harrison Construction Division (“APAC”), after the defendant, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (“TDOT”), refused payment of $221,998.36 pursuant to a special “rideability,” or smoothness, provision of the parties’ written contract. The Claims Commission, William O. Shults, Commissioner, finding the special provision language to be unambiguous, denied the claim. APAC appeals. Discerning no error, we affirm.

This case concerns Erie’s refusal to pay insurance proceeds to Plaintiff, who filed suit, alleging claims of breach of contract, bad faith refusal to pay, and violations of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, codified at Tennessee Code Annotated section 47-18-101, et. seq. The case proceeded to jury trial. After denying a myriad of motions and reopening the proof to admit the insurance policy into evidence, the trial court submitted the case to the jury. The jury awarded Plaintiff compensatory and punitive damages and found that Erie’s failure to pay was in bad faith and in violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. The court assessed the statutory bad faith penalty and awarded treble damages and attorney fees. Erie appeals. We affirm the decision of the trial court.

This appeal involves and Administrative Procedures Act proceeding in which the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners appeals an order of the trial court which vacated a civil penalty imposed by the Board on a licensed pharmacist when the Board found that the pharmacist illegally practiced naturopathy and practiced medicine without a license. We affirm the judgment of the trial court vacating the penalty and remand the case with instructions for the court to remand the case to the Board of Medical Examiners for reconsideration of the penalty.

This is an appeal from an order of terminating a biological father's parental rights. Because the father did not file his notice of appeal with the trial court clerk within the time permitted by Tenn. R. App. P. 4, we dismiss the appeal.

This appeal calls into question the validity of a covenant not to compete. A former employee of a seller and distributor of brick brought this action seeking a declaratory judgment that his agreement not to compete for two years with his former employer in the employee’s sales territory is unenforceable. Following a bench trial, the court held the covenant unenforceable and void. We hold that, because the employee had access to confidential pricing and profit margin information and was the sole commercial brick salesperson for the company in the Chattanooga area, the employer had a legitimate protectable business interest. We further hold that the terms of the non-compete agreement are reasonable under the facts of this case. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant, Christopher S. Kinsler, was convicted by a Hamblen County Criminal Court jury of fourth offense driving under the influence (DUI), a Class E felony. See T.C.A. § 55-10-401 (2012). The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range I, standard offender to two years’ confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction, (2) the State violated the rules of discovery by failing to provide notice of expert testimony, (3) trial testimony contained inadmissible hearsay, and (4) his sentence is excessive. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Following a retrial, the Defendant, Tommy Earl Jones, was convicted by a jury of rape, theft of property valued between $1,000 and $10,000, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated burglary. The trial court ordered that the ten-year sentence for rape be served consecutively to the ten-year sentence for aggravated kidnapping, for a total effective sentence of twenty years. In this direct appeal, the Defendant again contends that (1) the trial court erred when it excluded him from jury selection, trial, and the return of the verdict in the absence of any waiver; and (2) the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentencing. After our review, we conclude that the trial court complied with the dictates from this court upon remand. Accordingly, there is no error in the judgments of the trial court, and we affirm.

The Petitioner, William Darryn Busby, appeals the Lewis County Circuit Court’s denial of  post-conviction relief from his convictions for four counts of rape of a child. In this appeal, the Petitioner argues that he was denied a full and fair hearing by the post-conviction court, that he received ineffective assistance from both trial and appellate counsel, and that the cumulative effect of these errors deprived him of a defense at trial and meaningful appeal. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

This is a lawsuit alleging unauthorized cremation. The plaintiffs’ mother, a Tennessee resident, died in Arkansas while visiting a friend. The plaintiffs hired a Tennessee funeral home to transport the decedent’s body back to her hometown of Medina, Tennessee, for an informal family viewing. The plaintiffs instructed the Tennessee funeral home operator that, after the viewing, the decedent’s body was to be taken to Nashville, Tennessee, to be cremated there. The Tennessee funeral home retained the defendant Arkansas funeral home to handle the matter. The Arkansas funeral home delivered the body to an Arkansas crematory. The plaintiffs’ mother’s body was cremated by the crematory in Arkansas, so the plaintiffs were deprived of the opportunity to view their mother’s deceased body in Tennessee. The plaintiffs filed this lawsuit against several defendants, alleging various causes of action arising out of the unauthorized cremation of their mother’s body in Arkansas. The defendant Arkansas funeral home filed a motion for summary judgment as to all counts of the complaint. The trial court granted summary judgment to the Arkansas funeral home on all counts and certified the order as final under Tenn. R. Civ. Proc. 54.02. The plaintiffs now appeal. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand the case for further proceedings.

A Bedford County jury found the Defendant, Michael Tyrone Gant, guilty of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to thirty years for the aggravated robbery conviction, a concurrent fifteen-year sentence for the aggravated burglary conviction, a consecutive six-year sentence for the possession of a weapon by a convicted felon conviction, and a consecutive twelve-year sentence for the possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony conviction for a total effective sentence of forty-eight years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant contends: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions; and (2) the trial court erred when ordering his sentences to run consecutively. After a thorough review of the record and applicable authorities, we conclude there exists no error in the judgments of the trial court. Accordingly, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed.

The circuit court denied Appellants’ Rule 60.02 motion on the ground that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate the motion. We affirm.