David R. Seaton, et al. v. Wise Properties-TN, LLC
Appeal from the Chancery Court for McMinn County
Case Number: E2011-01728-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge John W. McClarty
Originating Judge: Judge Lawrence H. Puckett
Date Filed: Friday, June 22, 2012
This appeal concerns a contract for the purchase and sale of property. The buyer refused to close pursuant to the terms of the contract and stopped payment on its earnest money check. The sellers brought an action for specific performance and breach of contract. The buyer alleged that the sellers breached the contract first. The trial court found in favor of the buyer, holding that because the sellers did not cause title to be examined ten days from the effective date of the contract, the buyer had a right to withdraw the earnest money payment. The sellers appeal. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Pfizer, Inc. and Pharmacia Corp. v. Reagan Farr, Commissioner of Revenue, State of Tennessee
Case Number: M2011-01359-COA-R10-CV
Authoring Judge: Judge Holly M. Kirby
Originating Judge: Chancellor Carol L. McCoy
Date Filed: Friday, June 22, 2012
This appeal involves the disqualification of an attorney and the denial of permission to appear pro hac vice. The plaintiff taxpayer corporations filed two lawsuits against Tennessee’s Commissioner of Revenue for a refund of franchise and excise taxes. The Commissioner filed a motion to permit an out-of-state attorney to appear pro hac vice to assist in representing Tennessee’s Attorney General in the taxpayers’ lawsuits. The attorney to be admitted pro hac vice is a full-time in-house attorney with a quasi-governmental multistate tax policy entity. The plaintiff taxpayers objected, arguing that admission pro hac vice of the multistate tax entity’s in-house attorneywas tantamount to allowing the multistate tax entity to intervene in the lawsuits. The plaintiff taxpayers also argued that the attorney should be disqualified from representing the Commissioner because such representation would present an inherent conflict of interest and would give the attorney access to confidential taxpayer information. The trial court agreed with the plaintiff taxpayers. It denied the Commissioner’s motion to admit the attorney pro hac vice and disqualified the attorney from representing the Commissioner in these proceedings. This Court granted the Commissioner’s application for an extraordinary appeal. We reverse and remand the case for entry of an order granting permission for the attorney to appear on behalf of the Commissioner pro hac vice.
The Counts Company v. Praters, Inc.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hamilton County
Case Number: E2011-01624-COA-R3-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Originating Judge: Judge W. Jeffrey Hollingsworth
Date Filed: Friday, June 22, 2012
Plaintiff, was general contractor for the renovation of a private club, and employed defendant to install flooring at the club. Plaintiff sued defendant to recover damages incurred when plaintiff was sued by the club which obtained judgment for damages against plaintiff for the defective floor, as well as for attorney’s fees for defending the action and other expenses. Defendant moved to dismiss the action, relying on the statute of repose, Tenn. Code Ann. §28-3-202. The Trial Court granted defendant’s motion and dismissed the action, and plaintiff has appealed. We affirm the Judgment of the Trial Court.
State of Tennessee v. Antywon Montrace Beasley
Appeal from the Criminal Court for Hamilton County
Case Number: E2011-00780-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Originating Judge: Judge Don W. Poole
Date Filed: Tuesday, June 26, 2012
The defendant, Antywon Montrace Beasley, appeals the Hamilton County Criminal Court’s denial of his request for probation. The defendant pled guilty to one count of attempted aggravated child abuse, a Class B felony, and received a sentence of ten years, with the manner of service to be determined by the trial court. Following a hearing, the court determined that the sentence was best served in confinement. On appeal, the defendant contends that this determination was error. Following review of the record, we find no error and affirm the sentence as imposed.
George Clay, III., v. First Horizon Home Loan Corporation
Appeal from the Chancery Court for Hamilton County
Case Number: E2011-01503-COA-R9-CV
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Herschel Pickens Franks
Originating Judge: Chancellor Jeffrey M. Atherton
Date Filed: Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Plaintiff sued defendant mortgage company that held a mortgage on his home, on which defendant foreclosed. Plaintiff’s alleged cause of action was that defendant had received money from the U.S. Treasury pursuant to the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and that defendant failed to properly consider him for a home loan modification pursuant to the federal acts and regulations. Defendant moved to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action and the Trial Court dismissed part of plaintiff’s complaint, but denied defendant’s motion as to plaintiff’s third party beneficiary claim, the negligent implementation of the HAMP claim and the wrongful foreclosure claim. Defendant sought a Tenn. R. App. P. 9 appeal, which was granted by the Trial Court and this Court and we hold that under the federal acts and regulations, there was no provision for a private right of action claim, and reverse so much of the Trial Court’s judgment that holds otherwise.
Stephen L. Beasley v. State of Tennessee.
Case Number: W2011-01956-CCA-R3-HC
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Originating Judge: Judge Joseph H. Walker III
Date Filed: Monday, June 25, 2012
In 1994, a Hamilton County jury convicted the Petitioner, Stephen L. Beasley, of first degree premeditated murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. This Court affirmed the Petitioner’s conviction on appeal. State v. Stephen Lujan Beasley, No. 03C01-9509-CR-00268, 1996 WL 591203, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Knoxville, Oct. 10, 1996), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Apr. 27, 1998). After a somewhat lengthy procedural history, the Petitioner filed a second petition for habeas corpus relief, alleging that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to “instruct trial jury and argue murder in perpetration of felony reckless.” The habeas corpus court summarily dismissed the petition. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that he has been subjected to multiple punishments for the same crime, arguing that the jury violated his constitutional rights when it applied the felonymurder aggravating circumstance to his conviction for first degree premeditated murder. He does not contest his sentence for life in prison but contests the jury’s decision that he not have the possibility of parole. The Petitioner states that because he was convicted of premeditated murder, the jury improperly applied the felony murder aggravator as a basis for imposing his “without parole” sentence. Upon a review of the record in this case, we conclude that the habeas corpus court properly dismissed the petition for habeas corpus relief. Accordingly, the judgment of the habeas corpus court is affirmed.
Christopher Allen Scoggins v. Jenkins Masonry, Inc.
Appeal from the Chancery Court for Hamilton County
Case Number: E2011-01176-WC-R3-WC
Authoring Judge: Special Judge Larry H. Puckett
Originating Judge: Chancellor Jeffrey M. Atherton
Date Filed: Wednesday, June 27, 2012
In this workers’ compensation case, the employee acquired contact dermatitis, which caused a chronic skin condition of his hands and feet, due to his exposure to potassium dichromate in the workplace. The trial court found that he was permanently and totally disabled as a result of the condition. The employer has appealed, contending that the evidence preponderates against the trial court’s finding. We affirm the judgment.