Appeals Court Directs Sheriff Hammond To End Pay Disparity Among Sergeants

Appeals Court issues opinion in suit of Hamilton County Sergeants against Sheriff, reported here.


The Tennessee Court of Appeals has directed Sheriff Jim Hammond to equalize pay among sergeants in the department.

The appeals court modified a ruling by  Chancellor Frank Brown, who said the Sheriff's Civil Service Board did not have the authority to set pay.

Sheriff Hammond filed suit after the Civil Service Board ruled in favor of sergeants, who filed a grievance on the pay issue. He said the pay gap was between around $43,000 to around $49,000 and moving all sergeants to the higher rate would cost some $73,000.


Here is the link to the full opinion.

Governor Haslam Seeks to Stiffen Domestic Violence Penalties in Tennessee

We informed you in an earlier post about Governor Haslam's new public safety initiative. We briefly mentioned the provisions in the legislation about the new consequences for domestic violence offenders in Tennessee. Just recently, Bill Gibbons, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, spoke out about the domestic violence legislation.

The "Repeat Domestic Violence Offender" bill increases the penalties for repeat domestic violence offenders. Specifically, a second offender would receive at least 45 days in jail and a fine ranging from $350-$3,500. A third offense and any subsequent offense would warrant at least 120 days in jail and a fine ranging from $1,100 - $5,000. The main purpose of the legislation is to address the increasing problem with domestic violence in Tennessee. In a recent study, it was discovered that Tennessee was ranked fifth in the nation for women murdered by men as a result of domestic violence. Gibbons hopes the legislation would deter further domestic violence incidents.

When asked about the legislation, Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond voiced some concern over the cost of housing all the offenders as a result of the mandatory jail time. He also stated that the definition of domestic violence would need to be clarified in order for officers to be able to better determine when a domestic assault has actually occurred. In some instances, such as when there is no physical harm to the woman, it may be hard for officers to determine if a domestic assault occurred.

You can expect the legislation to be considered by the Legislature in the upcoming term. We'll keep you posted on its progress.

Failure to use turn signal not a basis for stop, crossing double yellow line is in this DUI

• STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CARLIE D. SCHOENTHAL

In this Chattanooga DUI Officer David Allen began following a woman who was in the vicinity of a local bar.  He followed her for some distance noting that she failed to use a turn signal to indicate a turn and that she crossed the double yellow line of Chestnut Street.

Ms. Schoenthal pleaded guilty to DUI and took a certified question to the Court of Criminal Appeals on whether this was a lawful traffic stop by Officer Allen.  The appeals court found no problem with Ms. Schoenthal's turning without a turn signal since the road was virtually empty and it did not affect traffic (Judge Steelman made no findings against her on this basis either).  However, the court did have a problem with her crossing the center line and on that basis upheld the trial court's denial of the motion to suppress the traffic stop.

The Court of Criminal Appeals has previously stated that “we do not think that a momentary drift out of a lane constitutes driving a vehicle outside of a single lane.” Unfortunately for Ms. Schoenthal, the video here shows that she did more than momentarily and slightly weave out of her lane. Instead, the video reflects that the she crossed the double yellow line and, for a brief period of time, was traveling on the wrong side of the road before drifting back into her lane. The court found her crossing of the double yellow lines and briefly driving on the wrong side of the road amounted to more than simply poor driving and this supported Officer Allen's stop.

As this court has previously held, “a turn signal is only required by law when another vehicle may be affected by the turn.” 
State v. Gonzalez.