The Tennessee Supreme Court unanimously affirmed a Shelby County trial court’s decision denying relief from a final order of dismissal in a wrongful death case because the party filing the motion waited too long to seek relief. Justice Sharon G. Lee authored the unanimous opinion.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that, when one spouse unilaterally withdraws money from a married couple’s joint bank account and places it in a certificate of deposit, the money is no longer joint property and belongs to the spouse to whom the certificate of deposit was issued. The opinion in In Re Estate of Calvert Hugh Fletcher was authored by Justice Sharon G. Lee.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated a life sentence without the possibility of parole that defendant Kevin Patterson received under Tennessee’s three strikes law. The defendant argued the state did not provide him with the required pre-trial notice that it planned to use his prior convictions to obtain an enhanced sentence. The Supreme Court held that while the notice was imperfect, the defendant was not prejudiced by the errors. The unanimous opinion was authored by Justice Cornelia A. Clark.

In State of Tennessee v. Tabitha Gentry (AKA Abka Re Bay), the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled the state’s theft statute applies to real property. In the case, the defendant challenged whether Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-14-103 encompassed theft of a house. The Supreme Court affirmed the defendant’s convictions of Class A felony theft and aggravated burglary. Justice Cornelia A. Clark authored the opinion.

The Tennessee Supreme Court addressed a certified question from a federal district court on an aircraft maintenance company’s effort to collect a bill for work done on a commercial airplane. Nashville-based Embraer Aircraft Services performed maintenance work on a plane leased by Colgan Air but owned by AeroCentury Corporation. Embraer acquired a repairman’s lein on a the plane itself in case of nonpayment. Colgan never paid after the work was completed, and later went bankrupt. Embraer then filed a lawsuit against AeroCentury in effort to collect the money owed. The federal district court handling the case asked the Tennessee Supreme Court whether a repairman’s lien under the statute can be enforced by a method other than allowing the creditor to take possession of the property and sell it to pay the debt. The Supreme Court held that it only allows creditors to enforce a repairman’s lien by sale of the lien-subject property, which in this case, is the airplane.

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for two cases on Nov. 30 in front of hundreds of high school and college students when it brings court to Lane College in Jackson as part of the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students (SCALES) program. This 20-year-old program has allowed thousands of students across Tennessee to learn more about the legal system and the function of the appellate courts. “Taking cases directly to Tennessee students is one of our most enjoyable experiences,” said Chief Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has adopted amendments to Rule 7 of the Rules of the Tennessee Supreme Court. The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners petitioned for changes in August. After review, the court amended Rule 7, with changes going into effect immediately.