New TBALink search engine offers more power TBALink is offering a new Google-powered search engine to give you more power in searching our online database of Tennessee court decisions, Attorney General's opinions, Tennessee Bar Journal articles and more. http://www.tba.org/tba_searchlink2.html    TODAY'S OPINIONS: Thursday, December 01, 2005 Following this index are summaries of each case, including its name, first paragraph, author's name, and the names of attorneys for the parties of each opinion. 00 - TN Supreme Court 01 - TN Worker's Comp Appeals 00 - TN Supreme Court - Rules 01 - TN Court of Appeals 07 - TN Court of Criminal Appeals 00 - TN Attorney General Opinions 00 - Judicial Ethics Opinions 00 - Formal Ethics Opinions - BPR TBA members can get the full-text versions of these opinions three ways detailed below. All methods require a TBA username and password. If you have forgotten your password or need to obtain a password, you can look it up on-line at http://www.tba.org/getpassword.mgi Here's how you can obtain full-text version. We recommend you download the Opinions to your computer and then open them from there. Click the URL at end of each Opinion paragraph below. This should give you the option to download the original document. If not, you may need to right-click on the URL to get the option to save the file to your computer. Do a key word search in the Search Link area of TBALink. This option will allow you to view and save a plain-text version of the opinion. Browse the Opinion List area of TBALink. This option will allow you to download the original version of the opinion. Howard H. Vogel Knoxville, Tennessee Editor-in-Chief, TBALink PAUL JOHNSON, JR. v. SNAP-ON INCORPORATED Court: TWCA Attorneys: Jennifer P. Keller, Johnson City, Tennessee, for appellant, Snap-On Incorporated. Howell H. Sherrod, Johnson City, Tennessee, for appellee, Paul Johnson, Jr. Judge: INMAN This workers’ compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-225(e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The plaintiff alleges that his employment subjected him to heavy metal dust which decreased his pulmonary function. The defendant says that the decreased pulmonary function, if any, was caused by smoking forty cigarettes a day for forty-five years, and pleads the statute of limitation of one year, and lack of proof of causation. The trial court awarded benefits based on a finding of 40 percent permanent partial disability. We reverse and dismiss. http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TSC_WCP/2005/johnsonp120105.pdf GORDON R. MCGEE v. CARL PIPPIN, ET AL. Court: TCA Attorneys: W.H. (Steve) Stephenson, II, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Carl Pippin and Helen Pippin. Quentin Scott Horton, McMinnville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Gordon R. McGee. Judge: WILLIAM B. CAIN Stockholders of an insolvent corporation sought disbursement of corporate funds remaining on deposit with the trial court. The trial court determined that stockholder-creditor should be repaid prior to splitting the excess funds equally between stockholders. Stockholder appealed and we affirm the decision of the trial court in all respects. http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2005/mcgeeg12105.pdf STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KENNETH RAY BRASHER Court: TCCA Attorneys: Bradley G. Kirk, Lexington, Tennessee, for the appellant, Kenneth Ray Brasher. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Benjamin A. Ball, Assistant Attorney General; James G. Woodall, District Attorney General; and Bill R. Martin, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: ALAN E. GLENN The defendant, Kenneth Ray Brasher, was convicted of theft of property under $500, a Class A misdemeanor, and sentenced to eleven months, twenty-nine days to be served consecutively to a prior sentence. His sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/brasherk12105.pdf STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMES D. COOKS, JR. Court: TCCA Attorneys: Robert Wilson Jones and Tony N. Brayton (on appeal) and William Robilio and Jane Sturdivant (at trial), Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, James D. Cooks, Jr. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; J. Ross Dyer, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Stacy McEndree, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: NORMA MCGEE OGLE A Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the appellant, James D. Cooks, Jr., of assault and theft of property valued less than five hundred dollars, and the trial court sentenced him to consecutive sentences of eleven months, twenty-nine days for each offense. The appellant appeals, claiming that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions. Upon review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/cooksj12105.pdf CHARLES DAMIEN DARDEN v. TONY PARKER, WARDEN Court: TCCA Attorneys: Charles Damien Darden, Pro Se Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; and Seth P. Kestner, Assistant Attorney General, for the appellee, the State of Tennessee Judge: ALAN E. GLENN The Petitioner, Charles Damien Darden, appeals the lower court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner has failed to allege any ground that would render the judgment of conviction void. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal. http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/dardenc12105.pdf JOSEPH HOUGH v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court: TCCA Attorneys: Joseph Hough, Mountain City, Tennessee, pro se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; John H. Bledsoe, Assistant Attorney General; C. Berkeley Bell, Jr., District Attorney General, and Victor Vaughn, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, the State of Tennessee. Judge: THOMAS T. WOODALL Petitioner, Joseph Hough, appeals from the post-conviction court’s summary dismissal of his pro se petition for post-conviction relief because the petition did not include a proper verification under oath. After a thorough review, we conclude that the circumstances in this case warrant allowing Petitioner the opportunity to amend his petition pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-30-106(d). The judgment of the trial court is reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings. http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/houghj12105.pdf MARVIN ANTHONY MATTHEWS v. DAVID MILLS, WARDEN Court: TCCA Attorneys: Marvin Anthony Matthews, pro se. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Seth P. Kestner, Assistant Attorney General, for the appellee, the State of Tennessee. Judge: DAVID G . HAYES The Petitioner, Marvin Anthony Matthews, appeals the lower court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner has failed to allege any ground that would render the judgment of conviction void. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal. http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/matthewsm12105.pdf STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RONNIE MISHER Court: TCCA Attorneys: Joseph P. Atnip, District Public Defender, and William K. Randolph, Assistant District Public Defender, Dresden, Tennessee, for the appellant, Ronnie Misher. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Brian C. Johnson, Assistant Attorney General; and Kevin McAlpin, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: GARY R. WADE The defendant, Ronnie Misher, was convicted of three counts of burglary of a vehicle and three counts of theft under $500. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-402(a)(4), - 103, -105(1) (2003). The trial court imposed a sentence of six years for each burglary conviction and a sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days for each theft conviction. The trial court ordered that two of the burglary sentences be served consecutively and the remainder of the sentences be served concurrently, for an effective sentence of twelve years. In this appeal, the defendant asserts that the evidence was insufficient and that the trial court erred by imposing consecutive sentences. The judgments of the trial court are affirmed. http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/misherr12105.pdf KARLIS WILLIAMS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court: TCCA Attorneys: Claiborne H. Ferguson, Memphis, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Karlis Williams. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Rachel E. Willis, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and John Tibbits, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: JAMES CURWOOD WITT, JR. The petitioner, Karlis Williams, pleaded guilty on January 14, 2003, to three counts of robbery and six counts of misdemeanor theft of an amount less than $500. By plea agreement with the state, the petitioner received an effective seven-year sentence, as a Range II multiple offender. The petitioner subsequently filed with the Shelby County Criminal Court a petition for post-conviction relief alleging that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that as a result, his guilty plea was not knowingly, intelligently, or voluntarily made. He also raised a challenge to his sentence based on Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). The post-conviction court denied the petition, and the petitioner brings the instant appeal challenging that denial. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCCA/2005/williamsk12105.pdf   PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL! Feel free to forward this Opinion Flash on to anyone you know of with an e-mail address. GET A FULL-TEXT COPY OF AN OPINION! See the instructions at the beginning of this edition of Opinion Flash. JOIN THE TENNESSEE BAR ASSOCIATION! 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