Alcar Chemicals Group, Inc. (fka ALCX)

[pinkeyepete]

CHARLOTTE BROWN, ET AL. v. BIRMAN MANAGED CARE, INC., ET AL.
Court:TSC

Attorneys:

Kelli L. Thompson, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellants, Birman
Managed Care, Inc., Birman & Associates, Inc., Dr. David N. Birman,
and Sue D. Birman.

Steve D. Gibson, Ashland City, Tennessee, for the appellee, Charlotte
Brown, individually and as custodial parent on behalf of the minor
child Christen Barenkamp.

Judge: DROWOTA

First Paragraph:

The plaintiff, individually and on behalf of her daughter, sued her
former husband and his employers for fraud and civil conspiracy to
defraud. She alleges that these defendants successfully carried out a
plan to reduce the amount of her former husband's child support
payments. Part of the plaintiff's conspiracy claim is based on the
testimony of her former husband in a child support hearing in which he
is alleged to have falsely stated his income. The defendants moved
for summary judgment on two grounds: (1) the quality of the
plaintiff's evidence and (2) the defense of "testimonial privilege,"
which grants a witness immunity from subsequent civil liability based
on testimony he gave in a judicial proceeding. The trial court
granted the defendants' motion. The Court of Appeals, in an opinion
authored by Judge Cantrell, reversed, holding that the defendants were
not entitled to summary judgment and that the former husband's
testimony comes within the "larger conspiracy" exception to the
testimonial privilege. We affirm both holdings of the Court of
Appeals.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC/birman.wpd