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Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 5, 2025

In January 2019, the Petitioner, James David Duncan, pled guilty to possession with the intent to sell .5 grams or more of methamphetamine. The trial court sentenced the Petitioner to serve ten years and placed him on supervised probation. In January 2020, the trial court revoked the Petitioner’s probation sentence. On appeal, this court affirmed the revocation. State v. Duncan, No. E2020-00827-CCA-R3-CD, 2021 WL 3403152, at * 1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Aug. 4, 2021), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Nov. 17, 2021). In December 2021, the Petitioner filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief that was amended with the assistance of counsel in July 2023. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court concluded that the Petitioner’s petition for post-conviction relief was barred by the statute of limitations. After review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment.

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 5, 2025

The Rutherford County Grand Jury indicted Defendant, Daniel J. Dreaden, for three counts of rape. On the State’s motion, the trial court dismissed Count 3. Defendant waived a jury trial, and following a bench trial, Defendant was convicted on the remaining two counts. The trial court sentenced Defendant to a total effective sentence of eight years, with ten months to serve and the balance to be supervised on probation. Defendant appeals his convictions, asserting 1) that his confrontation right was violated when the trial court prohibited him from cross-examining the victim, Defendant’s then-wife, about her extra- marital affair to establish her motive for the allegations of rape; and 2) that the evidence was insufficient to establish that Defendant raped the victim. We affirm the judgments of the trial court, but remand for entry of a judgment form in Count 3 to reflect dismissal of that count.

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 5, 2025

Defendant, Michael Joe Cunningham, pled guilty in two separate cases to one count of making a false report and one count possession of twenty-six grams or more of methamphetamine. He received an effective fourteen-year community corrections sentence that was later transferred to probation. Following a hearing on a warrant for violation of his probation based on Defendant’s arrest for new offenses, the trial court revoked Defendant’s probation and ordered him to serve his original sentence incarcerated. Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion by fully revoking his probation rather than ordering treatment for his drug addiction. Upon review of the record, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 5, 2025

Petitioner, Bobby V. Summers, appeals the Davidson County Criminal Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for writ of error coram nobis as untimely. Following our review of the entire record, briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the coram nobis court.

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 5, 2025

This appeal stems from a trial court’s order enforcing a settlement agreement regarding a long-running business divorce. However, because the appellants’ notice of appeal is untimely, this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, and the appeal must be dismissed.

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 5, 2025

This appeal concerns counterclaims and third-party claims for breach of contract, violation of the Prompt Pay Act of 1991, and enforcement of a lien. The counter-plaintiff, C4 Sourcing Solutions, LLC, alleged that a third-party defendant, Capital City Construction, LLC, breached its agreement to purchase 171 custom-fabricated steel containers for use in an apartment complex. C4 also sought to enforce a lien against the complex property, which was owned by the plaintiff, 83 Freight, LLC. After a trial, the jury found Capital City breached its contract with C4 and awarded $866,000 in compensatory damages. And after a post-trial hearing, the court granted C4’s request to collect on its lien. Capital City and 83 Freight raise numerous issues on appeal. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and modify in part.

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jun 5, 2025

The city of Memphis wants to use the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recent decision to retract its civil rights investigation into the Memphis Police Department to limit information it has to share with lawyers representing Tyre Nichols’ family and estate in a civil suit, the Daily Memphian reports. The city and Nichols’ attorneys have sparred for months over access to documents the city gave to DOJ as part of the investigation. The city, in court filings, is arguing that DOJ’s recent decision to drop the investigation should keep it from having to hand over the information. As part of its filing, the city provided a letter from Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet K. Dhillon that said, in part, “The current Justice Department does not have faith in the previously reported findings in this case. Accordingly, the findings report is withdrawn in its entirety.”

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jun 5, 2025

Bar exam officials have released details about the structure and scoring of the new national test set to debut in July 2026, Reuters reports. The NextGen UBE will be significantly shorter than the current Uniform Bar Exam, according to a new test blueprint issued by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. It also will place greater scoring weight on the performance task portion of the test than the existing exam in an effort to rely more on practical legal skills and less on the memorization of laws. The testing time will be shortened from 12 to nine hours comprised of three testing sessions: three hours for 120 multiple choice questions, three hours for integrated questions and three hours for performance tasks. So far, 41 states and territories across the country have announced plans to transition to the new exam. Tennessee will implement it in July 2027.

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jun 5, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court has made it easier for people from majority backgrounds such as white or straight individuals to pursue claims alleging workplace "reverse" discrimination, The Hill reports. The unanimous decision revives an Ohio woman's lawsuit alleging she was illegally denied a promotion and demoted because she is heterosexual. In another recent opinion, the court rejected Mexico’s lawsuit against firearms maker Smith & Wesson. Bloomberg Law has more on that decision.

Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Jun 5, 2025

An inmate at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, run by CoreCivic, is suing prison officials, alleging they allowed gang members to repeatedly assault and extort him. The federal lawsuit alleges that Charles Anderson was beaten, sexually assaulted, and forced to have his mother and family friends send money to gang members, despite repeatedly asking prison staff for protection. The Tennessee Lookout reports that the complaint claims staff ignored warnings and failed to place him in protective custody, even after severe attacks and a hospital visit. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2024 opened an investigation into conditions at the facility; in April, a former Tennessee state trooper sued CoreCivic after he was allegedly beaten by a cellmate there.


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