OPINION Roger A. Page , J. , delivered the opinion of the court, in which Jeffrey S. Bivins, C.J., and Cornelia A. Clark, Sharon G. Lee, and Holly Kirby, JJ., joined. The defendant, Brandon Cole-Pugh, was convicted of being a felon in possession of a handgun, in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-17-1307(b)(1). The evidence presented at trial suggested that the defendant obtained a handgun during a physical altercation, during which the handgun became loose, fell from another...
OPINION Jeffrey S. Bivins , C.J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Cornelia A. Clark, Sharon G. Lee, Holly Kirby, and Roger A. Page, JJ., joined. The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference ("TNDAGC") filed with this Court a petition to vacate Formal Ethics Opinion 2017-F-163 ("Opinion") issued by the Board of Professional Responsibility ("Board") regarding ethical considerations for prosecutors under Rule 3.8(d) of the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct. The...
OPINION Jeffrey S. Bivins , C.J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Cornelia A. Clark, Sharon G. Lee, Holly Kirby, and Roger A. Page, JJ., joined. Factual and Procedural Background In early January 2017, Defendant A. B. Price, Jr., attempted to plead nolo contendere to two counts of sexual battery, and Defendant Victor Sims attempted to plead guilty to three counts of aggravated assault. 1 Both Defendants had reached plea bargains with the State, and each of the pleas...
OPINION Jeffrey S. Bivins , C.J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Cornelia A. Clark, Sharon G. Lee, Holly Kirby, and Roger A. Page, JJ., joined. We granted permission to appeal in this case in order to determine whether Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-17-1007, which provides that "[n]o process, except as otherwise provided, shall be issued for the violation of [the statutes proscribing the offenses of sexual exploitation of a minor] unless it is issued upon the...
OPINION Cornelia A. Clark, J. , delivered the opinion of the court, in which Jeffrey S. Bivins, C.J., and Sharon G. Lee, Holly Kirby, and Roger A. Page, JJ., joined. In this appeal of a certified question of law, the defendant challenges the constitutionality of a statute that imposes a fee upon persons convicted of certain drug and alcohol offenses when forensic scientists employed by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation ("TBI") have conducted chemical tests to determine blood...
OPINION RHYNETTE N. HURD , J. This appeal challenges (1) the trial court's factual finding that the employee was pressured to resign after incurring an on-the-job injury, and declining to cap her workers' compensation award at one and one half (1 ) times the impairment rating on that basis; (2) the total amount awarded as permanent partial disability benefits; and (3) the award of temporary total disability benefits from the date of Employee's surgery on August 14, 2014, until Appellee...
OPINION Jeffrey S. Bivins , C.J. , delivered the opinion of the court, in which, Cornelia A. Clark, and Sharon G. Lee, Holly Kirby, and Roger A. Page, JJ., joined. The trial court terminated the father's parental rights. The father timely filed a notice of appeal signed by his attorney but not signed personally by the father. The Court of Appeals filed an order directing the father to show cause why his appeal should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction for failure to comply with...
OPINION HOLLY KIRBY , Justice . In this interlocutory appeal, the trustee of a trust executed an investment/brokerage account agreement that included a provision requiring the arbitration of disputes. The trust beneficiary filed a lawsuit asserting claims against the investment broker, and the defendant broker sought to compel arbitration under the arbitration provision in the account agreement. The trial court granted the motion to compel arbitration and granted permission for this...
OPINION Cornelia A. Clark , J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Jeffrey S. Bivins, C.J., and Sharon G. Lee and Holly Kirby, JJ., joined. Roger A. Page, J., Not Participating. We granted the State's appeal primarily to determine whether the intermediate appellate court erred in finding the search warrant affidavit insufficient to establish probable cause, and in doing so, to revisit the continuing vitality of State v. Jacumin , 778 S.W.2d 430 (Tenn. 1989). In Jacumin ,...
OPINION Jeffrey S. Bivins , J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Sharon G. Lee, C.J., and Cornelia A. Clark and Holly Kirby, JJ., joined. We granted permission to appeal in this case to determine whether a capital defendant, via a petition for writ of error coram nobis, may obtain a hearing to determine whether he is ineligible to be executed because he is intellectually disabled. The Petitioner, Pervis Tyrone Payne, was convicted in 1988 of two first degree murders, and the...
OPINION HOLLY KIRBY , J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which SHARON G. LEE, C.J., and CORNELIA A. CLARK and GARY R. WADE, JJ., joined. JEFFREY S. BIVINS, J., filed a separate opinion, concurring in part and dissenting in part. In this appeal, we review a tax variance. The Commissioner of Tennessee's Department of Revenue determined that, if the standard apportionment formula in Tennessee's franchise and excise tax statutes were applied to the appellant taxpayer, a multistate...
OPINION Sharon G. Lee , C.J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Cornelia A. Clark, Jeffrey S. Bivins, and Holly Kirby, JJ., joined. Holly Kirby, J., filed a separate concurring opinion. Gary R. Wade, J., filed a dissenting opinion. The issue in this case is whether a coalition of media groups and a citizens organization, relying on the Tennessee Public Records Act, have the right to inspect a police department's criminal investigative file while the criminal cases arising out...
OPINION Jeffrey S. Bivins , J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Sharon G. Lee, C.J., and Cornelia A. Clark and Holly Kirby, JJ., joined. We granted permission to appeal in this case to determine whether the traffic stop of the Defendant, William Whitlow Davis, Jr., violated the constitutional rights of the Defendant. The arresting officer initiated the stop after observing the Defendant cross the double yellow center lane lines with the two left wheels of the Defendant's car....
OPINION CORNELIA A. CLARK , J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which JEFFREY S. BIVINS and HOLLY KIRBY , JJ. , joined. SHARON G. LEE , C.J. , with whom GARY R. WADE , J. , joins, concurring and dissenting. We granted review in this case to decide (1) whether an indigent parent's right to appointed counsel in a parental termination proceeding includes the right to challenge an order terminating parental rights based on ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel;...
JUDGMENT This case was heard upon the record on appeal from the Court of Criminal Appeals, application for permission to appeal having heretofore been granted, and briefs and argument of counsel; and upon consideration thereof, this Court adopts a modified unanimity instruction for use in sexual abuse cases when only generic evidence is presented. Although this instruction was not given at the defendant's trial, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, and the evidence is sufficient...
OPINION ANDY D. BENNETT , J. Pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 51, this workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel for a hearing and a report of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court found that Employee suffered work-related injuries to both shoulders and awarded twenty percent permanent partial disability to the body as a whole. Employer argues that the trial court erred in finding that Employee suffered a...
OPINION Sharon G. Lee , C.J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Cornelia A. Clark , Jeffrey S. Bivins , and Holly Kirby , JJ. , joined. The petitioner appeals from a decision of the Board of Law Examiners denying his application to take the Tennessee bar examination. The denial was based on Mr. Chong's noncompliance with Supreme Court Rule 7, section 7.01. We affirm the judgment of the Board of Law Examiners. I. In December 2013, Daniel Sungkook Chong, a resident of South...
OPINION Cornelia A. Clark , J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Sharon G. Lee, C.J., and Jeffrey S. Bivins and Holly Kirby, JJ., joined. We granted this appeal to determine whether a party filing a motion under Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1 ("Rule 36.1") states a colorable claim for relief for correction of an illegal sentence by alleging that the trial court increased his sentence above the statutory presumptive minimum sentence but failed to find enhancement...
OPINION BEN H. CANTRELL, Sr. , Judge . Employee aggravated a pre-existing asymptomatic condition in her shoulder while working for Employer and failed to make a meaningful return to work. The trial court found employee to be 100 percent disabled and awarded permanent total disability benefits. Employer appealed, 1 arguing that the trial court erred in determining that employee sustained a compensable injury in the absence of anatomical change and in awarding employee permanent total...
OPINION Cornelia A. Clark , J. , delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Sharon G. Lee, C.J., and Jeffrey S. Bivins and Holly Kirby, JJ., joined. We granted this appeal to determine whether Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1 ("Rule 36.1") permits parties to seek correction of expired illegal sentences. We hold that Rule 36.1 does not expand the scope of relief available for illegal sentence claims and therefore does not authorize the correction of expired illegal sentences. We...
