Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts

The Petitioner, Darrell Malone, appeals the Shelby County Criminal Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief from his 2016 conviction for attempt to commit rape and his four-year sentence. The Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred by determining that his petition was untimely. We reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand the case for consideration of the issues raised in the petition.

In 2006, the Petitioner, Brent Allen Blye, was convicted by a jury of various drug offenses, and later entered guilty pleas to several other unrelated offenses, for which he received an effective sentence of thirty years’ confinement. State v. Brent Allen Blye, No. E2008-00976-CCA-R3-CD, 2011 WL 529515, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Feb. 14, 2011), perm. app. denied (Tenn. May 25, 2011). On direct appeal, this court determined that the issues raised pertaining to his jury convictions were waived based on trial counsel’s failure to timely file a motion for new trial and reviewed those convictions for sufficiency of the evidence only. His remaining issues, pertaining to his guilty pleas, were reviewed and affirmed. The Petitioner later filed a post-conviction petition seeking relief based on trial counsel’s failure to timely file a motion for new trial and ineffective assistance of trial counsel based on failure to assert a certain defense theory. After conducting a full evidentiary hearing as to both issues, the post-conviction court denied relief, a decision which was later reversed, in part, by this court. Brent A. Blye v. State, No. E2012-02626-CCA-R3-PC, 2013 WL 3973468 (Tenn. Crim. App. Aug. 5, 2013), no perm. app. filed. In that case, this court remanded to the post-conviction court on the issue of the delayed appeal, id. at *12; however, we affirmed the court’s denial of the Petitioner’s claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel based on his failure to pursue a certain defense theory. The Petitioner was granted a delayed appeal on remand and filed a timely motion for new trial, which was denied by the trial court. Upon review of the delayed appeal, we affirmed the Petitioner’s felony drug convictions, but reversed and remanded his misdemeanor drug convictions for a new trial. State v. Brent Allen Blye, No. E2014-00220-CCA-R3-CD, 2015 WL 4575279 (Tenn. Crim. App. July 30, 2015), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Jan. 14, 2016). The Petitioner subsequently filed a “second” petition for post-conviction relief, the subject of this appeal, alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel, which was summarily dismissed by the post-conviction court. After an exhaustive review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

I agree with the majority’s conclusion that the evidence was sufficient to support the Defendant’s arson conviction. I respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusion that the evidence is insufficient to support the Defendant’s conviction for filing a false insurance claim.

A Davidson County jury convicted Petitioner, Angel Geovanna Hurtado, of three counts of aggravated child abuse, one count of child neglect, and one count of reckless aggravated assault. She was sentenced to serve twenty-five years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The judgment was affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Angel Geovanna Hurtado, No. M2014-00180-CCA-R3CD, 2014 WL 7417763 (Tenn. Crim. App. Dec. 30, 2014). Petitioner filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief. Following an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed the petition. Petitioner has appealed, asserting that she is entitled to relief based upon her trial counsel’s ineffective assistance of counsel. Following a review of the briefs of the parties and the entire record, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Defendant, Kayla Marie Anderson, pled nolo contendere to theft of property valued over five hundred dollars for her role in arranging a drug transaction during which the victim was robbed. The Defendant preserved as certified questions several issues related to her arrest, her interview, and the search of her telephone pursuant to two separate warrants. Because the record reveals the existence of inculpatory evidence not derived from the arrest, interview, or search, we determine that the questions are not dispositive and dismiss the appeal.

The Defendant, Ronald Jones, was convicted of the second degree murder of the victim and sentenced to serve 25 years. On appeal, he argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction. We disagree and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Defendant, John Matthew Cabe, was indicted for tampering with evidence after selling an item, which was the subject of a theft investigation, from his pawnshop. After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of attempted tampering with evidence. On appeal, Defendant contends that he was improperly charged with tampering with evidence because the Pawnbrokers Act of 1988 is a specific statute which governs his conduct as a pawnbroker, and he argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for attempted tampering with evidence. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable statutes, we conclude that the Pawnbrokers Act of 1988 specifically governs the actions of a pawnbroker in his or her official capacity, thereby precluding prosecution for tampering with evidence. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is reversed and vacated.

The Petitioner, Marvin Christopher Long, filed for post-conviction relief, alleging that his trial counsel and his appellate counsel were ineffective. The post-conviction court dismissed the petition upon finding that the Petitioner previously filed for post-conviction relief and that he failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. On appeal, the Petitioner challenges the dismissal of the petition. Upon review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s dismissal of the Petitioner’s claim regarding the effectiveness of appellate counsel. However, we remand to the post-conviction court for entry of an order ruling on the Petitioner’s claims regarding the effectiveness of trial counsel.

The Petitioner, Don Edward Carter, appeals from the McNairy County Circuit Court’s dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions of two counts of first degree murder, for which he is serving concurrent life sentences. On appeal, he contends that (1) the post-conviction court erred in dismissing his petition as untimely without a hearing to determine whether due process required tolling of the statute of limitations, (2) he received the ineffective assistance of counsel, and (3) prosecutorial misconduct in the conviction proceedings deprived him of his rights to due process and a fair trial. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Defendant, Tracy Arnold, appeals the Henderson County Circuit Court’s revocation of her probation related to her convictions for attempted aggravated child abuse and neglect. After a review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

The Defendant, Breyon Bates, was convicted by a Madison County Circuit Court jury of possession of .5 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to deliver, a Class B felony; simple possession of cocaine, a Class A misdemeanor; and resisting arrest and criminal impersonation, both Class B misdemeanors. The trial court merged the simple possession count into the possession with intent to deliver count and sentenced the Defendant as a Range II, multiple offender to concurrent terms of 18 years for the felony cocaine conviction and six months for each of the misdemeanor convictions, for an effective term of 18 years in the Department of Correction, to be served consecutively to the sentence for an offense for which the Defendant was on probation at the time he committed the instant offenses. On appeal, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence in support of his felony conviction and argues that the trial court erred by not charging the jury with casual exchange under Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-17-419. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Defendant, Merrico Jackson, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of first degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred in: (1) denying his request for a continuance; (2) failing to exclude a witness statement written on the back of a photograph array due to a discovery violation; (3) ruling that photographs of text messages and the call log from the Defendant’s phone were properly authenticated; and (4) excluding testimony about alleged witness intimidation by the State. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.