2011 saw a lot of court action, with most being in U.S. District Court. There were claims of unfair firing, pill pushing, judicial impropriety, and money loss. In the state courts, there were cases involving cabin assessments, a road, and a decades-old murder.

Flawed Indictment

A botched indictment in the Vehicular Homicide trial against James Brown for the 2009 deaths of Josh Cronan and Hunter McTaggert led to a plea agreement in July. After jury selection, Defesne Attorney Scott Kanavos brought the wording of the indictment to the attention of Judge Carroll L. Ross.

Both indictments against Brown stated he “did recklessly kill Hunter McTaggart/Josh Cronan by the operation of an automobile, the killing being the proximate result of James Brown as operator of said automobile.” According to state law, the indictment should have included a specific mention of the behavior that led to the alleged crime, and four potential elements are cited in the law to be used. The indictment as written madde the crime reckless homocide instead of vehicular homicide.

Brown plead no contest to the reckless homicide charge and was sentenced to a 4-year suspended sentence for each charge and 4 years probation.

Melissa Barnett

In November, A hearing was held to consider facts not in evidence during the trial of  Melissa Barnett, who was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit the murder of her father in 1991. Barnett’s attorney, Wylie Richardson, argued that when Barnett’s co-defendant David Honey pled guilty to second-degree murder, his plea should be considered new evidence because he had never admitted to the crime during the original trial. He told Judge Carroll L. Ross that Barnett has been unable to file in a more timely manner because she was unaware Honey had received post-conviction relief. Judge Ross took the matter under consideration.

Dr. Richard Adler

As the year ended, no decision had been made on a suppression request by Dr. Richard Adler, who had been charged in U.S. District Court with 87 counts of dispensing controlled substances outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose, including two counts alleging that the controlled substance resulted in death. His medical license has been pulled by the state and his Copperhill office has closed.

In August, he filed a motion to suppress all patient records and prescription records obtained in the case against him, saying TBI violated state law when it used a prescription database created for TennCare. For a criminal investigation, he said, a court order was required. TBI Special Agent Kim Harmon, who used information from the database to obtain a search warrant for Adler’s office, said there was also an investigation in TennCare fraud. U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan K. Lee held a hearing on the suppression request and recommended the motion be denied. Adler objected; Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. MacCoon said the findings were well supported.

Cabin owners

In a case that has been going on for several years, Chancellor Jerri S. Bryant ruled in July that the county Assessor of Property and state Division of Property Assessment used an unlawful procedure and methodology in assessing the leasehold interest of those who hold cabin permits from the Cherokee National Forest. She said the taxes should be voided and a reassessment made that allows a credit for the portion of the permit fee paid by the U.S. government to the county. An attorney for the cabin owners said the voided taxes total more than $119,000, which would have to be returned to those who paid under protest.

The case, which was heard in Chancery Court in February, revolved around a 2003 decision by Assessor Randy Yates to tax the “leasehold interest” on the property. The permit holders have always paid taxes on the improvements but Yates based his decision on the fact the permits themselves were being sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In her ruling, the Chancellor noted that the permits are in fact leaseholds and thus are taxable, so the case revolved around the assessment method used. She said the state law was changed in 2009 so the method used is now allowed.

The county cited errors in the court’s ruling and asked the court to reconsider the Order or to allow a new trial because the judgment is contrary to the weight of the evidence.

Paul Hunter

The trial on Paul Hunter’s claim that he was fired from Copperhill because of age and disability is scheduled for January. The year began with a failed attempt at mediation and ended with arguments about what testimony could be allowed at trial. Federal charges were dropped because Copperhill does not have enough employees to come under the Americans With Disabilities Act but similar state charges remain. Hunter claims he was replaced by a younger person; Copperhill says he was not completely replaced. Hunter claims his hearing disability was a cause of his firing; Copperhill says his hearing was not a disability and officials were unaware of any hearing problem.

Jeremy Hopkins

In June, federal charges brought by Jeremy Hopkins against Sessions Judge Billy Baliles, District Attorney General Steve Bebb and attorney Randy Sellers were dismissed. Hopkins had claimed his Constitutional rights were violated when Baliles and Bebb allegedly allowed Sellers to act as special prosecutor in a custodial interference case while Sellers was representing Hopkins’ wife in a contentious divorce and child custody case in Bradley County. At issue was a hearing held in Polk County Sessions Court after Mrs. Hopkins claimed that Hopkins refused to return the child after a Thanksgiving visitation. Hopkins said state law requires a hearing before a special prosecutor can be appointed. Bebb and Baliles insisted that Sellers was not acting as prosecutor.

The judge ruled that Hopkins cannot establish the existence of any relevant “right” arising directly under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which Sellers may have violated. As to the claim of malicious prosecution by Sellers, Collier ruled that Hopkins was never arrested, never jailed, never detained, never required to post bond, and never placed under travel restrictions. Collier said there was no violation of Hopkins’ Constitutional rights, so any possible violation would be of the state law.

Jimmy Logan

County attorney Jimmy Logan was a key player in a bankruptcy case filed by Mark Anderson. Anderson filed for bankruptcy in 2010 after receiving a foreclosure notice from Anderson Partners, LP. The partnership had been formed after Anderson won the Georgia lottery in January 2000 and enlisted Logan’s help with managing the more than $813,000 he received. In his bankruptcy filing, Anderson questioned the loss of his lottery winnings. Logan said Anderson had dissipated the money.

In March, the court dismissed three claims made by the partnership, which would have been the major debt for the estate, saying Anderson contributed all or a substantial portion of his winnings to the partnership. Logan, a general partner, contributed nothing to the partnership assets. The court’s Order also noted that trust documents were never executed and no funds were placed in the trusts. It said Anderson received some of the proceeds from his winnings and signed the three promissory notes prepared by Logan, but Anderson contends he did not understand he was obligating himself to pay back to the partnership what he considered to be his money.

Logan unsuccessfully fought against providing personal financial information and a “2004 exam,” similar to a deposition. Logan said Miller was attacking him personally and fishing for information for a possible malpractice lawsuit. Logan was subject to a lengthy 2004 exam and was expecting to question Anderson, but Anderson filed a motion asking the court to cancel that exam, saying Logan was no longer a party in interest because the partnership was never formally consummated. Logan argued that the court should allow the development of evidence to demonstrate that Anderson’s loss of his lottery winnings was the result of his own negligence, not errors or omissions by Logan. Anderson’s request to avoid the exam was denied and he appealed to U.S. District Court.