The Supreme Court today reversed a decision from the Court of Appeals in a wrongful death case and reinstated the trial court’s pre-trial dismissal for lack of proof. The court explained that the standard appellate courts use to review motions to amend a judgement is called “abuse of discretion.” When those decisions are appealed, appellate courts may only reverse if the trial judge “abused” his or her discretion. In this case, the court found that the Court of Appeals had substituted its judgement for that of the trial court and reinstated the trial court’s decision after finding it was not outside the “range of reasonableness."

The Tennessee Supreme Court today amended Rule 12, sections 1 and 2, and the First-Degree Murder Report that is appended to Rule 12. The court had solicited public comments last summer, and received one comment from the Office of the Post-Conviction Defender, as well as a letter from the Tennessee Bar Association.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has adopted amendments to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, sections 8, 12 and 30, regarding Types of Discipline. Under the amended rules, individuals disbarred on or after July 1, 2020, are not eligible for reinstatement. The court had entered an order soliciting public comments on Sept. 8, 2019, with a deadline of  Dec. 17, 2019. The court received written comments during that period from the Tennessee Bar Association, the Knoxville Bar Association, the Board of Professional Responsibility, David Steele and Elliott J. Schuchardt. The amendments take effect immediately.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has released Episode 8 of its podcast "Tennessee Court Talk." The new episode focuses on women in judiciary and the need for more female judges in the state. The episode features conversations with Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Connie Clark, Court of Appeal Judge Carma Dennis McGee, Chancellor Jerri Bryant and Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton. The group discusses the importance of diversity on the bench, why they decided to run, and how they balance campaigns and work with family and other obligations.

The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled today that an entity that posted bond for a defendant for a charge of driving under the influence (second offense) remains obligated even though the charge was changed to driving under the influence (fourth offense) when the case was bound over from general sessions court to a grand jury. When the defendant failed to appear in criminal court, the judge directed the bonding company to show why it should not forfeit the bond. The company argued it did not owe the bond because the original charge had been changed. The Court of Criminal Appeals agreed but the Supreme Court reversed that decision saying the DUI charge in the warrant and the indictment were the same, even though the punishment differed. Download the opinion or read more in a press release from the court.

In an opinion released today, the Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated a conviction for presenting a false or fraudulent insurance claim after the Court of Criminal Appeals struck it down. Just days after securing a homeowner’s policy, a fire caused extensive damage to the defendant’s residence and he subsequently filed an insurance claim. The defendant was later convicted of arson and presenting a false or fraudulent insurance claim. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the arson conviction but reversed the insurance claim conviction saying the defendant did not meet the technical requirements for filing a claim. The Supreme Court disagreed, finding that the defendant’s actions clearly showed he asserted a right to payment under the homeowner’s policy. Read more in a press release from the court.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Friday issued orders soliciting comments on three proposed amendments to its rules. In each case, the court had previously requested comments but made additional changes to the proposed amendments. The amendment to Rule 9 Section 10 addresses annual registration and payment requirements. The amendment to Rule 9 Section 26 addresses payment of the professional privilege tax. And the amendment to Rule 43 deals with interest on lawyers’ trust accounts. All comments are due by Jan. 30, 2020.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today stayed the execution of death row inmate Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman, the Tennessean reports. Abdur'Rahman was to have been executed in April 2020 but the court allowed additional time for the lower courts to consider whether his death sentence should be converted to life in prison given prosecutorial misconduct that occurred in his case. In August, Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk acknowledged that racial discrimination occurred during jury selection. Funk negotiated a deal that would have replaced the death sentence with life in prison, but Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery said that deal was improper and appealed the decision.

The state Supreme Court ruled today that nonpublic, one-on-one conversations between a newspaper reporter and sheriff’s department detective are not covered by the fair report privilege. That privilege shields persons and organizations that report on official acts from defamation claims, if the reports are fair and accurate. The decision arose from a defamation suit brought by Jeffrey Todd Burke against Sparta Newspapers. The newspaper published what Burke claimed were defamatory statements made by a sheriff’s department detective during a nonpublic, one-on-one conversation with a reporter. A trial court sided with the Sparta Newspapers and granted summary judgement based on the fair report privilege. The Court of Appeals reversed that decision and held that the conversation did not fall within the scope of the privilege. The Supreme Court sided with the appeals court, but granted Sparta Newspapers permission to appeal to define the scope of the privilege. The case was sent back to the trial court for further proceedings.

The state Supreme Court has issued an order asking for comments on adopting an amendment to Rule 8, RPC 1.15 after a petition to do so was filed by the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility and the Tennessee Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. The amendment concerns efforts that must be made after a lawyer learns of unidentified funds in an IOLTA account. The deadline to submit a written comment is Feb. 3, 2020. Comments may be emailed to appellatecourtclerk@tncourts.gov or mailed to: James M. Hivner, Clerk, Re: Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 8, RPC 1.15(f), Tennessee Appellate Courts, 100 Supreme Court Building, 401 7th Ave. North, Nashville, TN 37219-1407.