JANICE M. LONGDUE v. MELISSA HAMMOCK

06/12/2025 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE Assigned on Briefs June 3, 2025 JANICE M. LONGDUE v. MELISSA HAMMOCK Appeal from the Circuit Court for Knox County No. 159894 Gregory S. McMillan, Judge ___________________________________ No. E2024-01073-COA-R3-CV ___________________________________ This appeal stems from the trial court’s granting of Appellee’s petition for an order of protection against Appellant. We do not reach the merits of Appellant’s argument because her brief does not comply with Rule 27 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure and Rule 6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals of Tennessee—most notably by failing to include a statement of issues presented for review. This appeal is therefore dismissed. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Appeal Dismissed and Remanded J. STEVEN STAFFORD, P.J., W.S., delivered the opinion of the court, in which FRANK G. CLEMENT, JR., P.J., M.S., and JOHN W. MCCLARTY, J., joined. Melissa Hammock, Corryton, Tennessee, Pro se Janice M. Longdue, Corryton, Tennessee, Pro se. MEMORANDUM OPINION1 I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 1 Rule 10 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals of Tennessee provides: This Court, with the concurrence of all judges participating in the case, may affirm, reverse or modify the actions of the trial court by memorandum opinion when a formal opinion would have no precedential value. When a case is decided by memorandum opinion it shall be designated “MEMORANDUM OPINION,” shall not be published, and shall not be cited or relied on for any reason in any unrelated case.  This matter involves a dispute between two property owners, Respondent/Appellant Melissa Hammock (“Appellant”) and Petitioner/Appellee Janice M. Longdue (“Appellee”). Appellee’s property is bordered on one side by a strip of land encumbered by an easement; the front of Appellant’s property abuts the easement. The easement is for the benefit of the property neighboring Appellant’s property, providing an access road to the rear of that property. In turn, that neighbor has allowed Appellant to use the road to access her own property. Appellant also performs maintenance on the easement. On May 16, 2024, Appellee filed a petition for an order of protection against Appellant in the Knox County Circuit Court (“the trial court”). Appellee alleged that Appellant had damaged her property by, inter alia, cutting a barbed-wire fence, destroying a privacy fence, and cutting trees. The petition further alleged that Appellant would often be on Appellee’s property line and would record Appellee in her yard. Following a hearing, the trial court granted Appellee an order of protection on June 20, 2024. Appellant was prohibited from contacting or communicating with Appellee and entering or intentionally damaging Appellee’s property. Appellant was further prohibited from performing maintenance of the easement along Appellee’s property. The order was set to expire on December 31, 2024. Appellee filed a motion for attorney’s fees on June 25, 2024. Appellee was awarded $3,975.00 in attorney’s fees by order of July 11, 2024. Appellant filed this appeal on July 23, 2024. II. ANALYSIS As discussed more in depth, infra, it is somewhat unclear from Appellant’s brief what questions she poses on appeal. Upon review, we conclude that Appellant’s failure to comply with the requirements of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure and the Rules of the Court of Appeals of Tennessee concerning appellate briefs precludes effective review, and we decline to reach the substantive issues. The Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure and the Rules of the Court of Appeals set forth rules regarding appellate practice, specifically, the form and content of a party’s brief. Rule 27 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure provides that the brief of an appellant shall contain the following: (1) A table of contents, with references to the pages in the brief; (2) A table of authorities, including cases (alphabetically arranged), statutes and other authorities cited, with references to the pages in the brief where they are cited; (3) A jurisdictional statement in cases appealed to the Supreme Court directly from the trial court indicating briefly the jurisdictional grounds for the appeal to the Supreme Court; -2-  (4) A statement of the issues presented for review; (5) A statement of the case, indicating briefly the nature of the case, the cou