The Defendant, Nancy Abbie Tallent, was convicted by an Anderson County Circuit Court jury of two counts of third-offense driving under the influence (DUI), a Class A misdemeanor. See T.C.A. § 55-10-401 (2024). The trial court merged the convictions and sentenced the Defendant to eleven months and twenty-nine days, to be served at 75%. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the case, (2) no probable cause existed for her arrest, (3) the trial court erred by failing to strike the testimony of witnesses who offered allegedly perjured testimony, (4) a police officer committed willful misconduct because he “overcharged” her in order to obtain a higher bond and obtain leverage for a plea agreement, (5) the trial court erred by not suppressing the blood sample evidence based upon the use of an allegedly outdated consent form, (6) the police violated the Defendant’s HIPAA rights and violated State law by requesting her medical records and by fabricating the alcohol toxicology report used at trial, (7) the police violated State law by altering video evidence used at trial, (8) she was denied due process of law due to various defects in the conviction proceedings, (9) she was denied an additional blood sample for defense testing, (10) police officers perjured themselves and suborned perjury, (11) the chain of custody for the blood evidence was not established, and (12) the State unjustifiably made a plea offer after the jury returned the guilty verdict in order to avoid an allegedly meritorious appeal following “an abusive performance” during the trial. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

A Shelby County jury convicted the Defendant, Byron Pipkin, of first degree premeditated murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, possessing a firearm during a felony, and possessing a handgun as a convicted felon. The trial court imposed an effective life sentence plus sixty-eight years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the evidence is insufficient to support his first degree premeditated murder conviction and the trial court erred when it admitted prejudicial information. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments.

On July 3, Shelby County lawyer Darryl Wayne Humphrey received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court. The court found that after taking over representation of a personal injury client in a colleague’s absence, Humphrey negligently failed to file all discovery responses and reply to opposing counsel’s discovery inquiries. This led to a motion to compel being filed against the client. Humphrey then failed to notify the client of the motion and of the subsequent court ruling that the client pay the opposing party’s attorney fees. The court also found that the failure to maintain communication with opposing counsel resulted in injury or potential injury to the client. These actions were determined to violate Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.4(a) and 8.4(d).

The July/August issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal is now available online and arriving in mailboxes next week. This issue's cover story by Travis Vest is an in depth look at metadata: what it is and how you can use it in building a case. Feature stories include a trademark fight between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Cheatham Middle School Bearcats by Andrew Coffman and a primer on Tennessee's construction payment retainage law from Phillip Byron Jones. New TBA President Heidi Barcus shares her vision for the 2025-2026 bar year in her first President's Perspective, Buddy Stockwell explains the significance of the ABA's new Model Rule on conditional admission, Wade Davies breaks down the factors involved in calculating sentencing and Russell Fowler looks back 100 years to the Scopes Trial in Dayton. Read updates from TBA's Annual Convention, a book review, a legislative update and more!

The federal judge who formerly presided over the criminal case of five former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 death of Tyré Nichols has recused himself from two more cases involving lawyers on the Nichols case. The Daily Memphian reports that U.S. District Judge Mark Norris has recused himself from a case involving 10 defendants charged with drug trafficking, one of whom is represented by Stephen Leffler, who also represented former Memphis police officer Demetrius Haley. In the other case, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Pritchard is prosecuting drug trafficking charges. He also was a prosecutor in the Nichols case. Norris previously removed himself from the federal sentencing of five former officers charged in connection with Nichols’ death and a pending civil rights lawsuit brought over the death.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week upheld a Texas law requiring age verification for users accessing online pornography. It was the first time the court has imposed requirements on adult consumers in order to protect minors, NPR reports. The 6-3 decision, split along ideological lines, affirms similar laws passed in nearly half of U.S. states, including in Tennessee. The ruling marks a setback for the Free Speech Coalition, an adult entertainment industry group that had challenged the law, arguing that it violated the First Amendment guarantee to free speech and expression.

A recent article in Reuters looks at both sides of the American Bar Association's (ABA) plan to double hands-on credit requirements for law students from six to 12. The proposal could come up to vote as early as August. More than one quarter of law schools have asked the ABA to reconsider and make changes incrementally.

Prior to passage of President Donald Trump’s massive policy and budget bill by the U.S. Senate, the parliamentarian struck a proposed tax on litigation financiers. The provision, championed by retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, would have imposed a 40.8% tax rate on all "qualified litigation proceeds" received by any third party through a litigation financing agreement. It met strong opposition from the industry, which argued the tax would chill investment and undermine access to justice, Reuters reports. According to litigation finance firm Westfleet Advisors, there are now more than 42 active funders managing a total of $16.1 billion in assets. The industry continues to face other challenges, including calls for greater transparency from the business community, state regulations and federal legislation that would require civil litigants to disclose any litigation funding agreements.

President Donald Trump on July 1 nominated Braden Boucek for U.S. attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee. According to The Tennessean, Boucek has 10 years of experience as a federal prosecutor, serving as an assistant U.S. attorney in Nashville from 2011-2015 and in the Western District of Tennessee from 2005-2011. He started his career in the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, followed by two years as an assistant district attorney in Williamson County. Most recently he was vice president of legal affairs at the Beacon Center before joining the Southeastern Legal Foundation as senior vice president of litigation. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Boucek would replace acting U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire, who plans to stay in the office after his interim role ends. The nomination came the same day Trump nominated Michael Dunavant to serve as the U.S attorney in the state’s Western District.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on June 25 suspended 11 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee; three of whom also failed to file proof that client funds are held in an IOLTA-compliant account. View the fee suspension order and IOLTA suspension order. See the list of all lawyers suspended and reinstated for fee and IOLTA violations in 2025 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.