State of Tennessee v. Breyon Bates

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.