The Trial Court Vacancy Commission is currently accepting applications to fill a vacancy in the 1st Judicial District Criminal Court following the appointment of Judge Stacy Street to the appellate bench. Applicants must be Tennessee-licensed attorneys who are at least 30 years old and have been residents of the state for at least five years and residents of the judicial district, which covers Carter, Johnson, Unicoi and Washington counties. The public hearing for this position will be held June 4 at 9 a.m. EDT at the George P. Jaynes Justice Center, 108 West Jackson Blvd., Jonesborough 37659. More information, including application requirements, may be accessed on the Administrative Office of the Courts' (AOC) website. Applications must be received by noon CDT on May 6. Contact John Jefferson at the AOC at John.Jefferson@tncourts.gov or 615-741-2687 with questions.

On April 13, the Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Putnam County lawyer James Nathan Hargis from the practice of law. The court took the action after finding that Hargis misappropriated client and third-party funds and poses a threat of substantial harm to the public. He immediately is precluded from accepting new cases and must cease representing existing clients by May 13. The suspension will remain in effect until dissolution or modification by the court.

MURPHY, Circuit Judge. Chase Lovell’s mental-health struggles repeatedly led him to try to take his life. He arrived at a Michigan jail after starting a fire at a psychiatric hospital during one such suicide attempt. Lindsey O’Neil oversaw this jail’s mental-health unit. She originally ordered that Lovell stay in a padded cell and wear a suicide-prevention gown. When she later evaluated Lovell, however, she could tell that the padded cell and gown were causing him mental distress. O’Neil thus came up with a compromise. To alleviate the mental strain, she would move him to a less isolated cell and give him a regular jumpsuit. To reduce the risk that he would commit suicide, she would require Lovell to have a suicide-prevention blanket instead of regular bedding. Unfortunately, jail staff still gave Lovell regular bedding as a result of some type of miscommunication. Lovell used a sheet to commit suicide. His estate sued O’Neil, among several other defendants. The district court granted summary judgment to all defendants but O’Neil. She has appealed. We agree with O’Neil that no case would have clearly established that her compromise placement decision showed deliberate indifference to the risk that Lovell would commit suicide. Qualified immunity thus shields O’Neil from this damages suit. We reverse.

The employee in this interlocutory appeal sustained a compensable low back injury. After a period of authorized medical care, the relationship between the employee and his authorized physician deteriorated. The employee requested a new panel of orthopedic physicians and a panel of neurosurgeons pursuant to a purported referral from the treating physician. The authorized physician then declined to see the employee again. Following an expedited hearing, the trial court ordered the employer to provide a new panel of orthopedic specialists for selection of a new treating physician, but it declined to order a panel of neurosurgeons, finding that no referral was made. The employer has appealed. Having carefully reviewed the record, we affirm the trial court’s order and remand the case.

Jayshawn Edward Williams, Defendant, was convicted by a jury of second degree murder for the shooting death of Travis Brown in Knoxville. The trial court sentenced Defendant to a thirty-six-year sentence. After the denial of a motion for new trial, Defendant appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction because the proof did not establish his identity and because he acted in self-defense. Because we determine the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Petitioner, Vonda Star Smith, appeals the denial of her petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that the post-conviction court erred in denying her claim that the State withheld exculpatory evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland. Petitioner also argues that the post-conviction court erred in denying her claims that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to (1) obtain a DNA expert, (2) object to a comment made by the trial court, (3) object to the State’s introduction of an undisclosed impeachment statement, and (4) call a corroborating witness. Upon review of the entire record, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Defendant, Tyrome Cameron Ferguson, was charged by a Monroe County grand jury with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon relating to an alleged road-rage incident. On the first day of the Defendant’s trial, the trial court found that the State had violated Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 and declared a mistrial. In a subsequent hearing, the trial court ordered the State to pay defense counsel $500 “as a contribution toward his attorney[’s] fees” as a sanction for its discovery violation. The Defendant’s charges were ultimately dismissed by agreement. The State thereafter filed both an application for extraordinary appeal pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 10 and a petition for common law writ of certiorari challenging the trial court’s assessment of $500. We denied the State’s application for an extraordinary appeal but granted its petition for writ of certiorari. State v. Ferguson, No. E2025-00044-CCA-WR-CO (Tenn. Crim. App. Apr. 1, 2025) (Order). Finding that the trial court’s order violated the State of Tennessee’s sovereign immunity from suit, we grant certiorari and reverse and vacate the trial court’s order.

In 2023, a Knox County jury convicted the Defendant, Demetruice Bennett, of assault, several offenses involving the possession of a weapon and evading arrest. The trial court sentenced the Defendant, a Range II offender, to a total effective sentence of twenty years, to be served at 100%. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the trial court erred when it admitted a video showing that he possessed a firearm on a day different from the day upon which the indicted offenses occurred; (2) his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the admissibility of the video; and (3) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions related to his possession of a firearm. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments.

Because Appellant’s notice of appeal was untimely, this Court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over the appeal, and it is dismissed.

In this grandparent visitation action, the grandparents filed a contempt petition, alleging that the child’s father had violated provisions of a previously entered visitation order. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court rendered an oral ruling and found the father in contempt. Before the trial court’s entry of a written order regarding contempt, however, the father filed a motion seeking the trial court judge’s recusal. The trial court entered orders adjudicating the contempt charges and the father’s bond before entering a written order adjudicating the recusal issue. The trial court then entered orders awarding attorney’s fees to the grandparents. The father has appealed. Upon review, we determine that the trial court erred by entering further orders before entering an order adjudicating the recusal motion. We therefore vacate the trial court’s August 2023 bond orders and the August 2023 order regarding the second contempt petition, which were entered while the motion to recuse was pending. We reverse the trial court’s orders awarding attorney’s fees to the grandparents. We remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion.