State of Tennessee v. Michael Patrick Sullivan and Deborah Clark Buckner, Alias

The Defendants, Michael Patrick Sullivan and Debra Clark Buckner, alias, appeal from their Knox County Criminal Court convictions for animal cruelty, for which they each received an effective sentence of eleven months, twenty-nine days, suspended to supervised probation. On appeal, the Defendants argue that Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-14-211 requiring a probable cause determination by a qualified livestock examiner is a condition precedent to an animal cruelty conviction and that the evidence was insufficient to establish the examiner’s qualifications in this case. Following our review, we conclude relative to co-defendant Sullivan that this court is without jurisdiction to consider his appeal because he was granted judicial diversion. Relative to co-defendant Buckner, we affirm.