Withdrawal of Voluntary Dismissals
Case: George Gary Ingram v. Dr. Michael Gallagher et al. Facts: In this healthcare liability action, the plaintiff initially sued the doctor and the hospital. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the action without prejudice against the hospital. The doctor subsequently filed an answer to the complaint, stating that the...
Malicious Prosecution
Case: Kenneth J. Mynatt v. National Treasury Employees Union, Chapter 39 Et Al. Facts: Plaintiff sued Defendants for malicious prosecution after a criminal charge against Plaintiff prompted by Defendants was “retired” and then dismissed. Defendants moved to dismiss the suit, contending that the retirement of the criminal case...
Governmental Tort Liability Act
Case: Penny Lawson et al. v. Hawkins County, TN et al. Facts: After a fatal road accident, Plaintiffs sued municipal Defendants for negligence, gross negligence, and recklessness in Defendants’ response to a road washout that led to Decedent’s death. The trial court dismissed the case on the grounds...
Criminal Jury Instructions
Case: State of Tennessee v. Lynn Frank Bristol Facts: In a sex abuse trial, the trial court’s written jury charge failed to include instructions regarding the indicted offenses and several relevant definitions. However, the transcripts reflects that the oral charge differed significantly from the written charge and did...
Consecutive Sentencing
Case: State of Tennessee v. Quinton Devon Perry Facts: Defendant pled guilty to several counts of aggravated sexual exploitation, and additional counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor where the number of exploitive materials exceeded twenty-five. The trial court ordered partial consecutive sentencing on the basis that...
Competitive Cable and Video Services Act
Case: City of Knoxville v. Netflix Certified Question of Law From Federal Court: “Whether Netflix and Hulu are video service providers, as that term is defined in the relevant provision of the CCVSA, Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-59-303(19).” Review Granted: January 19, 2022. Prediction : The Hot List...
Prosecutorial Misconduct Standard of Review
Case: State of Tennessee v. Tyler Ward Enix Facts: On appeal, Defendant raised six challenges to the State’s closing argument. The State argued all but one of those challenges were waived because Defendant failed to object during the closing argument, in the motion for new trial, or both....
Health Care Liability Act: Vicarious Liability Claims
Cases: Beverly Gardner v. Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital Dennis Harold Ultsch v. HTI Memorial Hospital Corporation Facts: In two unrelated cases, the plaintiffs initially filed suit against hospitals for vicarious liability of their agents and provided the requisite pre-suit notices. The plaintiffs then sought to add the agents as...
Expert Testimony Against Co-Defendant in Health Care Liability Case
Case: Brittany Borngne Ex Rel. Miyona Hyter v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority Et Al. Facts: Plaintiff filed a Health Care Liability Act claim against various defendants generally alleging Nurse was negligent in calling Doctor too late after failing to timely recognize a serious medical issue. During Doctor’s deposition, he...
Criminal Savings Statute
Case: State of Tennessee v. Marvin Maurice DeBerry Facts: Defendant was convicted of driving after having been declared a motor vehicle habitual offender (“MVHO”). After his conviction but prior to his sentencing, an amendment to the statute that was the basis of his MVHO conviction went into effect,...
Arrests Outside Officers’ Jurisdiction
Case: State of Tennessee v. Corey Forest Facts: Defendant was arrested for possessing contraband found during a traffic stop. Notably, the stop was initiated by a City of Columbia police officer outside of the Columbia city limit. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, contending, among other things, that...
Forgery Convictions
Case: State of Tennessee v. Ronald Lyons, James Michael Usinger, Lee Harold Cromwell, Austin Gary Cooper, and Christopher Alan Hauser Facts: The Defendants, who were upset with various government officials, electronically submitted baseless lien filings against them with the Secretary of State’s office. The Defendants were convicted on...
Expungements
Case: Recipient of Final Expunction Order v. David B. Rausch, Director of TBI Facts: The Plaintiff in this case received and completed judicial diversion for a criminal offense. Plaintiff then obtained an Order from Circuit Court directing that all public records regarding the offense be expunged and destroyed....
Drug Free School Zones
Case: State of Tennessee v. Douglas E. Linville Facts: Defendant was convicted and sentenced under the Drug Free School Zone for possessing drugs near a park. Pursuant to the “School Zone” law, the record reflected the Defendant was to be punished one classification higher, but the judgement form...
Comparative Fault and Attorney’s Fees
Case: Pryority Partnership v. AMT Properties, LLC, Et Al. Facts: In this action involving a commercial lease, the trial court granted judgment in favor of the lessee, determining that the lessor had materially breached the lease. The court further determined that the lessor was liable for negligent misrepresentation,...
Speedy Trial
Case: State of Tennessee v. William Eugene Moone Facts: Defendant was convicted of attempted second degree murder and unlawful employment of a firearm. Among other issues, Defendant argued he was denied the right to a speedy trial. On appeal, Defendant contended that the speedy trial issue should be...
Probation Violations
Case: State of Tennessee v. Craig Dagnan Issues: When determining the consequence of a probation violation, must a trial court make additional findings? Is the determination subject to appellate review? Facts : At a probation revocation hearing, the trial court found Defendant violated the terms of his probation and then...
Mootness
Case: Elijah “LIJ” Shaw Et Al. v. Metropolitan Government Of Nashville And Davidson County Facts: Homeowners sued City challenging a City code provision that prevented Homeowners from serving customers at their home-based businesses. The trial court granted summary judgment to the City, concluding that the client prohibition had a rational...
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Case: Tommie Phillips v. State of Tennessee Facts: In a petition for post-conviction relief, Defendant contended his trial attorney was ineffective for failing to move to suppress his statement on Fourth Amendment grounds (although the trial attorney did move to suppress on Fifth Amendment grounds). Intermediate Decision: ...
Health Care Liability Act
Case: Donna Cooper, Et Al. v. Dr. Mason Wesley Mandy, Et Al. Issue: Does the Health Care Liability Act apply to claims of intentional misrepresentation or medical battery? Facts : Patient filed a lawsuit alleging that Provider intentionally misrepresented that the treating doctor was board certified and also committed medical...
Attorney Fees after Dismissal
Case: Mindy Donovan v. Joshua R. Hastings Issues: How should attorney fees be calculated after a motion to dismiss is granted? Facts : Homeowner sued Contractor regarding a contract dispute. Contractor filed a counter-complaint, and then an amended counter-complaint. Homeowner filed a motion to dismiss Contractor’s amender counter-complaint, which was...
Statutory Damages Cap
Case: Cynthia E. Yebuah et al. v. Center for Urological Treatment, PLC Facts: In this health care liability case, a jury awarded Patient $4 million in noneconomic damages and $500,000 to Spouse for loss of consortium. The Defendant argued that the statutory damage cap should reduce the totality...
Prosecutorial Misconduct
Case: State of Tennessee v. Edward Walsh Facts: Defendant contends that the prosecutor made an improper statement in closing argument. Defendant did not make a contemporaneous objection at trial but did raise the issue in his motion for new trial. Appellate Decision: The intermediate court applied a...
Loss of Consortium in Claims Commission Cases
Case: Steven Kampmeyer, Et Al. v. State of Tennessee Facts: Husband filed a claim for damages against the State in the Division of Claims Administration regarding a car accident. The claim was transferred to the Claims Commission, and then Husband and Wife filed a joint complaint for damages...
Insurance Payments to General Contractors
Case: Affordable Construction Serv. v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co. Facts: In this federal diversity case, Construction Company seeks the recovery of money from Insurance Company allegedly due under a purported construction contract between Construction Company and an HOA. The HOA had property insured by Insurance Company, who hired Construction...
Gang Evidence and Premeditation
Case: State of Tennessee v. Jeremy Reynolds Facts: Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder. Over the defense’s objection, the State introduced evidence of gang affiliation “for the purposes of establishing the Defendant’s identity and completing the story.” Appellate Decision: The intermediate court first held there was...
Res Judicata
Case: Regions Bank v. Nathan I. Prager Facts: After Plaintiff’s first suit was dismissed for failure to prosecute, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Reconsider. The trial court denied the motion but said the dismissal was neither “with nor without prejudice” and the Plaintiff was “welcome to refile.” Relying on that...
Parental Right Termination
Case: In Re Mattie L. Facts: Mother petitioned to terminate Father’s parental rights. Father was arrested shortly before the trial and did not appear. The trial court held a trial without Father and held two grounds for termination had been proven by clear and convincing evidence: abandonment by...
Juvenile Life Sentences
Case: State of Tennessee v. Tyshon Booker Facts: Defendant received a mandatory life sentence for a murder committed with he was sixteen years old. Defendant argued that “an automatic sentence of life imprisonment (with release no sooner than fifty-one years) is unconstitutional for a juvenile” based on the...
Res Judicata
Case: Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc., et al. v. City of Memphis, et al. Facts: The City of Memphis entered into an agreement with the now-Memphis Grizzlies basketball team to build an arena, which included a provision that the city would not fund or benefit “any new competing facility.”...
Prompt Pay Act
Case: Snake Steel, Inc. v. Holladay Construction Group, LLC Facts: A subcontractor sought statutory penalties against a prime contractor based on the contractor’s failure to comply with the Prompt Pay Act’s requirement that any retainage withheld be deposited into an interest-bearing escrow account as set forth in Tenn....
Parental Right Termination
Case: In Re Neveah M. Facts: The trial court granted foster parents’ petition to terminate the parental rights of the biological mother. The trial court found, among other things, placing the child with the biological mother would pose a risk of substantial harm because the mother had failed...
Negative Reciprocal Easements
Facts: In this declaratory judgment action involving neighboring landowners in a residential development, the trial court determined that the restrictive covenants applicable to the development would prevent the defendant from constructing a commercial business on his property. The trial court accordingly entered an injunction preventing the defendant from constructing...
Judgments of Acquittal
Case: State of Tennessee v. Shalonda Weems Facts: Defendant was found guilty of aggravated child neglect and reckless homicide in connection with the starvation death of her six-month-old daughter. The trial court then entered a Judgment of Acquittal for the aggravated child neglect conviction and set it aside....
Inevitable Discovery Doctrine
Case: State of Tennessee v. Samantha Grissom Scott Facts: Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to the Defendant’s home to serve an arrest warrant on a man who did not live there but believed to be present. Upon arrival, the Deputies saw an unknown male enter Defendant’s residence and lock...
Gang Enhancement Statute
Case: State of Tennessee v. Terrell Lamont Reid Facts: Defendant pled guilty in 2015 and received a sentence that was enhanced by the “criminal gang enhancement statute.” The following year, the enhancement was held to be unconstitutional in State v. Bonds, 502 S.W.3d 118 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2016)....
Unlawful Detainers
Case: Belgravia Square, LLC v. Melvin White, et al. Facts: Borrower refused to vacate his property after it was sold to Company at a foreclosure auction, so Company filed an unlawful detainer action in general sessions court. Company prevailed, and Borrower appealed to circuit court while retaining possession of the...
Opioid Lawsuits
Case: Jared Effler Et Al. v. Purdue Pharma L.P. Et Al. Facts: Several District Attorneys and two minor children sued certain drug manufacturers under the Tennessee Drug Dealer Liability Act, alleging the redirection of a drug from a proper use to an illicit use. The trial court dismissed the case,...
Negligent Insurance Procurement Suits
Case: Talat Parveen Et Al. v. ACG South Insurance Agency, LLC Et Al. Facts: Plaintiffs contacted an insurance agent to procure a new umbrella insurance policy with the same terms as their existing one, which included excess uninsured motorist coverage. Such coverage was not included, but they payed premiums and...
Teacher Tenure Act
Case: Melanie Lemon v. Williamson County Schools, Et Al. Facts: A former tenured teacher sued the county school board and three administrators for wrongful termination, among other things, alleging she was “bullied” and forced to resign. The trial court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss because the teacher had resigned...
Products Liability
Case: Carolyn Coffman et al. v. Armstrong International, Inc. et al. Facts: Plaintiffs sued multiple defendants for their alleged involvement in the exposure to asbestos in the workplace. Among the defendants were the “Equipment Defendants” who “purchased asbestos-containing gaskets and/or packing from other manufacturers and incorporated those asbestos components into...
Pre-Suit Notice
Case: Clarissa Bidwell, Deceased, By Next Friend and Husband, James Bidwell, Et Al v. Timothy A. Strait, M.D., Et Al Facts: Plaintiff sued two doctors for medical malpractice and provided each with the required pre-suit notice. Plaintiff did not provide notice to Erlanger, the governmental hospital authority which employed the...
Money Laundering
Case: State of Tennessee v. Robert Jason Allison Facts: Defendant “fronted” marijuana on two occasions to a drug dealer in exchange for payments on a later date. The drug dealer turned out to be a cooperating informant, and Defendant was arrested for both selling the drugs as well as money...
Illegal Sentences
Case: State of Tennessee v. Yodelkis Contreras Facts: Defendant pled guilty to aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 10 years of probation, which was an unauthorized sentence pursuant to TCA 40-35-303. When he violated probation, the trial court revoked probation and imposed a sentence of 10 years’ confinement. Defendant appealed,...
Economic Loss Doctrine
Case: Milan Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. f/k/a Milan Express, Inc. v. Navistar, Inc., et al. Facts: Plaintiff sued Defendant in a commercial dispute pertaining to the quality of trucks purchased by the Plaintiff pursuant to a contract. The lawsuit alleged breach of contract, fraud, and violation of the Consumer Protection...
Wrongful Termination
Case: Joshua Keller v. Janice Casteel, Et Al. Facts: A city firefighter was terminated and challenged the termination procedure. The trial court granted him partial summary judgment regarding wrongful termination, but with respect to damages, found that the petitioner failed to exercise reasonable diligence in securing employment. The...
Property Tax Classification Appeals
Case: East Tennessee Pilot’s Club, Inc. v. Knox County Tennessee, Et Al. Facts: After an ALJ concluded certain property should be classified as “farm property,” the county property assessor reclassified it in 2013 as split property, commercial and farm. The property owner paid its 2013 to 2016 taxes...
Property Deeds
Case: Scott Trent Et Al. v. Mountain Commerce Bank et al. Facts: Adren and Pamela Greene owned a piece of real property. Adren executed a quitclaim deed to Company, which was a business they both owned. Later, Company executed a deed conveying its interest to Buyers. The Greenes...
Non-Economic Damages Caps
Case: Jodi McClay v. Airport Management Services, LLC, U.S. District Court Case 3:17-cv-00705. Facts: The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee requested an opinion on the following certified questions of law: (1) Does the non-economic damages cap in civil cases imposed by Tenn. Code Ann....
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Case: Marty Holland v. State of Tennessee Facts: Petitioner pled guilty and received a sentence ordered to run concurrently to an ongoing federal sentence. Nothing was presented at sentencing regarding his federal sentence. Petitioner sought post-conviction relief on the basis that his attorney had failed to investigate three matters related...
Health Care Liability Act
Case: Lataisha M. Jackson v. Charles Anthony Burrell, et al. Facts: Plaintiff alleged she was assaulted while receiving a massage at a day spa. She brought intentional tort and negligence claims against both the therapist and the business. She provided a pre-suit notice but did not file a...
Delayed Criminal Appeals
Case: Antonio Howard v. State of Tennessee Facts: Petitioner filed for post-conviction relief, alleging that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to file a timely motion for new trial. Appellate Decision: The intermediate court held that trial counsel was deficient and Petitioner was presumptively prejudiced by...
Bail Bonds
Case: In Re: Cumberland Bail Bonding Facts: Bail Bond Company’s bonding privileges were suspended due to violation of a local rule requiring a bonding agent be present for a defendant’s first court appearance. Appellate Decision: The intermediate court reversed, holding that because the rules already require a...
Attorney’s Fees
Case: David New v. Lavinia Dumitrache, et al. Facts: Mother was granted an Order of Protection against Father in general sessions court. Thirty-Six days later, Father filed suit in chancery court seeking to enroll their Texas divorce decree and appeal the OP. The chancery court dismissed the suit...
Expert Witness Geographic Requirement
Case: Vickie S. Young v. Frist Cardiology PLLC, et al Facts: In this interlocutory appeal, Defendants moved to exclude medical opinion testimony of Plaintiff’s expert physician, averring that he does not satisfy the competency requirements of TCA 29-26-115(b) because he was not licensed to practice medicine in Tennessee...
Sex Offender Registry
Case: State of Tennessee v. Carl Allen aka Artie Perkins Facts: Carl Allen was convicted of sexual battery in Florida, moved to Tennessee, and registered on Tennessee Sex Offender Registry. He was originally classified as a “sexual” offender, was reclassified as a “violent” offender in 2009, and then...
Aggravated Burglary
Case: State of Tennessee v. Abbie Leann Welch Facts: Defendant entered a Walmart store and stole merchandise after she had received notification that she was banned from all Walmart properties. Defendant was convicted at a bench trial of one count of misdemeanor theft and one count of burglary....
General Sessions Appeals
Case: Ken Smith Auto Parts v. Michael F. Thomas Facts: Plaintiff sued Defendant in General Sessions Court and prevailed. Defendant appealed to Circuit Court, but did not appear for the de novo trial, and the Circuit Court entered an order dismissing the appeal and remanding the case to General Sessions...
Teacher Tenure Act
Case: Stephen P. Geller v. Henry County Board of Education Facts: A tenured teacher serving as an assistant principal was transferred to teach at an alternative school after the local director of schools learned that the teacher did not hold an administrator’s license. On appeal, the teacher asserts that the...
Evidence of Acquitted Conduct
Case: State v. Steve M. Jarman Facts: Defendant was charged with first degree murder and convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Defendant challenged, among other things, that the court improperly admitted evidence of an alleged 2013 assault where the Defendant had been acquitted. Appellate Decision: The intermediate court agreed with Defendant and...
Fraud Convictions
Case: State v. Reuben Eugene Mitchell Facts: Defendant was convicted of arson and filing a false insurance claim. Defendant appealed, alleging that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the convictions. Appellate Decision: The intermediate court reversed the conviction for filing a false insurance claim because the defendant “legally, and under...
Self-Defense
Case: State v. Antonio Benson Facts: The Defendant shot and killed the victim after an argument and was convicted of first-degree murder. The Defendant requested a self-defense jury instruction , contending the proof showed the victim was under the influence of meth, was the first aggressor, and attacked the Defendant...
Hospital Liens
Case: Roy Franks, et al. v. Tiffany Sykes, et al. Facts: Two separate Plaintiffs alleged the filing of undiscounted hospital liens violated the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by “[r]epresenting that a consumer transaction confers or involves rights, remedies or obligations that it does not have or involve or which...
Loudermill Notice of Public Employee Termination
Case: Paul Zachary Moss v. Shelby County Civil Service Merit Board Facts: Employee was terminated from his employment with the Shelby County Fire Department after he was involved in a physical altercation at a political rally. Appellate Decision: The intermediate court reversed, finding that the employee’s due process rights were...
Parenting Plan Modifications
Case: Lewis Alvin Minyard v. Laura Nicole Lucas and Bradley James Cox v. Laura Nicole Lucas Facts: Both of these cases involve a post-divorce custody dispute between Mother and her two ex-husbands. In each case, the Fathers filed petitions for ex parte emergency relief and modification of the permanent parenting...
Bail Bonds
Case: In re: Rader Bonding Company Facts: Bonding Company was the surety for a defendant’s DUI-2nd and Driving on a Revoked License. The State later obtained an indictment that increased the severity of the defendant’s DUI charge to DUI-4th offense and also contained the original Driving on a Revoked License...
Judicial Estoppel
Case: Polly Spann Kershaw v. Jeffrey L. Levy Issue: Is a former client judicially estopped from claiming her attorney gave her negligent representation after the client swore in the underlying legal proceeding that she was satisfied by the result of the case? Facts: Former Client sued her former...
Warrantless Searches of Probationers
Case: State v. Angela Hamm and David Hamm Issue: Are probationers subject to warrantless, suspicionless searches? Facts: Angela and David Hamm were married and lived together. Angela Hamm was on probation. A confidential informant made a statement potentially implicating Angela and David for selling methamphetamine. Officers were unsuccessful in...
Comparative Fault
Case: Carolyn Crisp v. Michael Nelms Issue: Was “paceline” cycler at least 50% at fault for accident as a matter of law? Facts: Plaintiff died while bicycling in a “paceline” group. His surviving spouse sued other cyclists, alleging they had slowed down suddenly. Defendants were granted summary judgment on the...
Tennessee Teacher Tenure Act
Case: Emory v. Board of Education Issue: What is the remedy when a School Board fails to conduct a tenured teacher’s termination hearing within the time mandated by the statute? Facts: Teacher, who had tenure, requested a hearing before the School Board to challenge her pending termination. Although the Tenure...