This is an appeal from a grant of summary judgment in a personal injury case. The plaintiff, a diabetic, consumed a substantial amount of alcohol and then proceeded to drive south towards an intersection. At about the same time, the defendant was traveling east toward the same intersection. The plaintiff's vehicle skidded, hit the curb, and then collided with a telephone pole. After the one-car accident, the plaintiff followed the defendant and his family to a nearby parking lot and accused the...  

This appeal concerns the enforceability of an arbitration agreement between a nursing home and one of its patients. Although the trial court found that the patient's spouse had authority to sign the agreement under the terms of a power of attorney, the court concluded that the spouse did not knowingly and voluntarily waive the patient's right to a jury trial. Therefore, the trial court denied the defendant's motion to compel arbitration. After reviewing the entire record, we find that the facts...  

Petitioner, Michael Ralph Brown, appeals the trial court's summary dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus in which he alleged that his sentence is illegal and void because he was sentenced as a Range II, multiple offender, instead of a Range I, standard offender. After a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court... I. Background... Petitioner was originally indicted for first degree premeditated murder. On April 22, 2002, Petitioner entered a plea of guilty to the...  

A jury convicted the Defendant, John C. Cline, of passing a worthless check, a Class E felony, and theft over $500, a Class E felony. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to two concurrent eighteen-month periods of probation. The Defendant appeals, contending that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's findings; that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of prior bad acts; and that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of a prior conviction. After thoroughly...  

An apartment complex owner filed a petition for writ of certiorari to challenge a decision of the Metro Board of Fire and Building Code Appeals denying the owner's appeal of the fire marshal's citation of the apartment complex for failure to install pull station alarms in certain areas. We agree with the chancellor's conclusion that the Board did not exceed its jurisdiction, did not act illegally or arbitrarily, and based its decision upon material evidence... FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL...  

In this post-divorce dispute, Wife asserts that the trial court erred in denying her motion for a hearing to refer the matter to a special master in order to effectuate this court's previous opinion. We have concluded that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Wife's motion... This is the second appeal in this divorce action. The original divorce complaint was filed by Linda Owens ("Wife") against James Owens ("Husband") in March 2003. The trial court entered a...  

This case comes before us on an appeal of the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants. Because the plaintiffs have established the existence of several genuine issues of material fact, we conclude that summary judgment is inappropriate. We further conclude that the trial court did not err in excluding evidence of a defendant's subsequent remedial measures. We therefore reverse the trial court's judgment and remand for further proceedings... I. Factual and Procedural...  

In this consolidated appeal, the petitioner, Gerald Wayne Carter, challenges the circuit court's summary dismissal of his petitions for both post-conviction relief and writ of error coram nobis. The circuit court dismissed the petitions, finding that the petitioner had filed outside the statute of limitations period. After review, we affirm the judgments of the court... I. Procedural History... This case involves the summary dismissal of the petitioner's separate petitions for post-conviction...  

The petitioner, Bobby Lee, appeals the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus relief. The petitioner was convicted of attempted first degree murder and received a sixty-year Department of Correction sentence as a career offender. The State has filed a motion for the judgment of the trial court to be affirmed by memorandum opinion pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. Finding merit in the motion, we grant the same and affirm the judgment of the trial...  

We granted the defendant's application for permission to appeal to determine whether the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to establish the identification of marijuana, an essential element of the offense, beyond a reasonable doubt. We conclude that the evidence presented was sufficient to support the jury's conclusion that the substance was marijuana beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court... I. Factual and Procedural History... On the night...  

We granted Wife's application for permission to appeal in this divorce case to address whether the trial court properly entered the parties' divorce decree nunc pro tunc to June 6, 2005, the date upon which the parties announced in open court that they had reached a divorce settlement. We hold that the record does not support a finding that the trial court granted the parties a divorce that day. As a result, the divorce proceeding between Wife and Husband was still pending on October 30, 2005,...  

The petitioner, Jimmie Lee Hoyle, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that the post-conviction court erred in finding that he received effective assistance of trial counsel and entered his guilty pleas knowingly and voluntarily. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition... FACTS... The petitioner was indicted by the Hardeman County Grand Jury in Case Number 06-010-173 for five counts of delivery of... 5 grams or more of cocaine, a Class B...  

The petitioner, Marcus Johnson, appeals the Shelby County Criminal Court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions for first degree felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, and aggravated assault. On appeal, he contends that he received the ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Based upon the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court... I. Factual Background... We glean the following facts from this court's opinion...  

The petitioner, Allan Joseph Robles, appeals the Henry County Circuit Court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his conviction for aggravated sexual battery and resulting twelve-year sentence. On appeal, he contends that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial attorney failed to file a motion to suppress his confession to police. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court... I. Factual...  

In this appeal we are asked to reverse the trial court's grants of summary judgment to Appellees and adopt a loss of chance theory of recovery, thus allowing Appellants to recover for Appellees' alleged failure to timely notify them that their unborn child was afflicted with spina bifida such that they could participate in a clinical trial. Because our supreme court has expressly stated that Tennessee does not recognize a cause of action for loss of chance, we affirm... ... ... I. FACTS &...  

This appeal involves a motion to dismiss for insufficient service of process. The summons issued for service on the defendant-appellee was served by the deputy sheriff on a co-defendant. The trial court granted the defendant-appellee's motion to dismiss. We affirm... ... ... I. FACTS & PROCEDURAL HISTORY... Ronald Watson ("Plaintiff") and Roberto Garza, Jr., ("Defendant Garza") were involved in an automobile accident on November 19, 2004. Defendant Garza was driving a...  

This appeal involves a defendant who shot two persons during a robbery at the home of one of the victims. One of the victims died. A Shelby County grand jury indicted the defendant for (1) premeditated and intentional murder, (2) murder during the perpetration of a robbery, (3) attempted first degree murder, and (4) especially aggravated robbery. A jury found the defendant guilty on all counts. At the penalty phase of the trial, the jury found the presence of the aggravating circumstances in...  

The Defendant, Marcus Conner, appeals from the sentencing decision of the Lincoln County Circuit Court. In June 2007, the Defendant entered guilty pleas to three counts of selling... 5 grams or more of cocaine, Class B felonies, and two counts of selling less than... 5 grams of cocaine, Class C felonies. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed an effective fourteen-year sentence as a Range I, standard offender and ordered the Defendant to serve his sentence in the Department of...  

The defendant, Michael Lee Jeffcoat, pled guilty to three counts of delivery of twenty-six grams or more of cocaine, a Class B felony. The trial court sentenced the defendant as a Range II, multiple offender to eighteen years in the Department of Correction on each count, with the sentences to be served concurrently. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court erred by denying him alternative sentencing, and he also argues that the eighteen-year sentences imposed by the trial court...  

This appeal involves a claim against a decedent's estate for one million dollars. The probate court denied the claim on various grounds, and we affirm... I. FACTS & PROCEDURAL HISTORY... William B. Tanner ("the Decedent") died on December 1, 2005. The probate court of Shelby County admitted the Decedent's will to probate on December 5, 2005. The Decedent's will was dated October 6, 2005. It listed various bequests to the Decedent's daughters, and the remainder of the estate was devised...