David Enrique Leon v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, David Enrique Leon, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his first degree felony murder and aggravated robbery convictions, arguing that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. After review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Dickson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Broderick Joseph Smith v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Broderick Joseph Smith, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. After review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Xavion Lyndon Underwood
Appellant, Xavion Lyndon Underwood, was convicted of aggravated robbery, for which he received a ten-year sentence. He appeals his conviction and sentence, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction and that the trial court erred in sentencing him. Upon our review, we discern no error and affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Justin Gibson
The Defendant, Justin Gibson, entered a guilty plea to driving under the influence, first offense. He agreed to a sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days, all of which was suspended after seven days’ incarceration. As a condition of his guilty plea, the Defendant reserved a certified question of law challenging the warrantless search of his home as not justified by either consent or exigent circumstances. After a thorough review of the applicable law, we conclude that the officer’s entry into the Defendant’s home was supported by neither exigent circumstances nor as a part of the community caretaker function; therefore, the trial court erred when it denied the Defendant’s motion to suppress. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and dismiss the charge against the Defendant. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Yovonda Sherith Chambers v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Yovonda Sherith Chambers, appeals the denial of her petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that she received ineffective assistance of counsel and that her guilty pleas were unknowing and involuntary. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Anthony Whited v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Anthony Whited, appeals the summary dismissal of his pro se petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that he presented a colorable claim for relief and that he should, therefore, have been afforded the assistance of post-conviction counsel and an evidentiary hearing. We agree. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand for the appointment of post-conviction counsel and an evidentiary hearing. |
Wilson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James Earl Evans
James Earl Evans (“the Defendant”) pleaded guilty to one count of sale of less than 0.5 grams of cocaine. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the Defendant was sentenced to ten years’ probation. Upon the filing of a probation revocation warrant, the Defendant was taken into custody, and a revocation hearing was held. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court revoked the Defendant’s probation and ordered him to serve his original sentence of ten years’ incarceration. The Defendant has appealed the trial court’s ruling, asserting that the trial court erred in sentencing him to his original sentence in confinement. Upon a thorough review of the record, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. William Richard Hicks, Alias Billy Richard Hicks
The defendant, William Richard Hicks, alias Billy Richard Hicks, appeals from his convictions for various alcohol- and driving-related offenses, which we will detail, the most serious of which were DUI, tenth offense, and violation of the habitual motor vehicle offender (“HMVO”) statute. He was sentenced as a Range III, persistent offender to six years for each of these convictions, with the HMVO sentences to be served consecutively and the DUI and misdemeanor convictions to be served concurrently, for an effective sentence of eighteen years. From these sentences he appeals, arguing that his sentences are excessive and that the court erred in ordering they be served consecutively. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand for entry of a corrected judgment in Case No. 91142, Count 5, to reflect the length of the defendant’s sentence as eleven months, twenty-nine days, which was omitted. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Nicholas Overbay v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Nicholas Overbay, appeals the Sullivan County Criminal Court’s denial of post-conviction relief for his conviction for first degree murder and attempted first degree murder. On appeal, the Petitioner argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Upon review, we affirm the decision of the post-conviction court. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Clarence Dewayne Hayes v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Clarence Dewayne Hayes, appeals the Davidson County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, in which he alleged the ineffective assistance of trial counsel and the misconduct of the prosecutor. We affirm the order of the post-conviction court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dustin Marshall Goforth
Defendant, Dustin Marshall Goforth, was serving a suspended eight-year sentence on supervised probation. Violation of probation warrants were filed, and his suspended sentence was revoked after an evidentiary hearing. The trial court ordered the sentence to be served by incarceration in the Department of Correction. In his sole issue on appeal, Defendant asserts that the trial court erred by denying Defendant’s motion for the judge to recuse himself in this case prior to the evidentiary hearing. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Sumner | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Darrell Carpenter
Appellant, Darrell Carpenter, was indicted by the Shelby County Grand Jury for second degree murder in November of 2007. At the conclusion of a jury trial, he was convicted of the offense as charged in the indictment and sentenced to twenty years in incarceration as a violent offender. After the denial of a motion for new trial, Appellant did not seek an appeal. Appellant subsequently filed a petition for post-conviction relief in which he sought a delayed appeal pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-30-113. The trial court granted the motion for delayed appeal. In this Court, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence resulting in his second degree murder conviction. After a review of the record and the applicable authorities, we conclude that the evidence at trial was sufficient to support the conviction. Accordingly, Appellant is not entitled to relief, and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dameon Williams
Following a jury trial, the defendant, Dameon Williams, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, a Class C felony, and sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to six years in the county workhouse. On appeal, he argues that the trial court erred in admitting an autopsy photograph of the victim’s skull and that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. Based upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Felton Neville Jackson
Appellant, Felton Neville Jackson, was indicted by a Wilson County grand jury for especially aggravated robbery and aggravated assault. He was convicted of both charges, and the trial court sentenced him to concurrent sentences of twenty-five years and six years, respectively. He now appeals his convictions and sentences on the following grounds: (1) the trial court erred by allowing a police officer to offer an allegedly testimonial statement attributed to the victim; (2) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions; and (3) his sentences are excessive. Following our review, we discern no error and affirm appellant’s convictions. However, we vacate the judgments in this case and remand this cause for entry of a single judgment of conviction noting merger of the aggravated assault conviction into the especially aggravated robbery conviction. |
Wilson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jeremy Keeton v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Jeremy Keeton, appeals as of right from the Wayne County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel failed to secure the appearance of several witnesses at his trial. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Wayne | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Lavario Devon Kibble
Defendant, Lavario Devon Kibble, entered guilty pleas to reckless endangerment and aggravated assault pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement. Under the agreement he received consecutive sentences of one year for reckless endangerment and four years for aggravated assault. The manner of service of the effective sentence of five years was left to determination by the trial court after a sentencing hearing. The trial court ordered the sentences to be served totally by incarceration. Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court should have ordered an alternative sentence of either split confinement or periodic confinement. After a thorough review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Stephen Anthony Scott
Pursuant to this court’s opinion in Stephen Anthony Scott v. State, No. M2010-00448-CCA-R3-PC, 2011 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 632, at *5 (Nashville, Aug. 16, 2011), the Montgomery County Circuit Court resentenced the appellant, Stephen Anthony Scott, to the presumptive minimum sentence in the range for his convictions of aggravated robbery, attempted aggravated robbery, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping, and attempted robbery. Six months later, the trial court found the appellant to be an especially mitigated offender and further reduced his sentences for count 3, especially aggravated kidnapping, and count 4, kidnapping, by ten percent. On appeal, the appellant contends that the trial court erred by not allowing him to be sentenced pursuant to the 2005 amendments to the Tennessee Sentencing Reform Act of 1989, that the trial court erred by failing to sentence him as an especially mitigated offender for all of the offenses, and that his sentences violate Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004). Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we conclude that the trial court was without jurisdiction to classify the appellant as an especially mitigated offender and could not reduce his sentences by ten percent. Therefore, the case is remanded to the trial court for reinstatement of his previous sentences for counts 3 and 4. Regarding the issues raised on appeal, we conclude that the appellant is not entitled to relief and affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kevin Bell
The appellant, Kevin Bell, appeals the trial court’s revocation of his probationary sentence and challenges the imposition of the original sentence to be served in confinement. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Robertson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Venus L. Viera vs. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Venus L. Viera, plead guilty in the Davidson County Criminal Court to one count of aggravated robbery. Pursuant to her plea agreement, Petitioner agreed to a sentence of eight years to be served at eighty-five percent incarceration. Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief in which she argued that she was afforded ineffective assistance of counsel and that she entered her guilty plea unknowingly and involuntarily. The post-conviction court held an evidentiary hearing and subsequently entered a written order denying the petition. Petitioner appeals to this Court. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that the denial of the petition should be affirmed. However, in our review of the record, we have discovered that the judgment form provides that the sentence is eight years to be served at 100 percent. Therefore, in addition to affirming the denial of the petition for post-conviction relief, we remand for the entry of a corrected judgment. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Antoinette Hill v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Antoinette Hill, appeals the Knox County Criminal Court’s summary dismissal of her petition for a writ of error coram nobis. She asserts that newly discovered evidence, namely an addiction to alcohol and pills by the trial court judge who presided over her trial for first degree premeditated murder, warrants a new trial. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the coram nobis court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. William Albert Kelly
The Defendant, William Albert Kelly, appeals the Sumner County Criminal Court’s order revoking his probation for perjury and attempted failure to report as a sex offender and ordering his effective two-year, eleven-month, and twenty-nine-day sentence into execution. The Defendant contends that the trial court (1) abused its discretion by revoking his probation and (2) illegally recommended that he not be eligible for release after serving thirty percent of his sentence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Sumner | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dante Devon Omar Truitt
The Defendant, Dante Devon Omar Truitt, pled guilty to explosive weapon possession with an agreed eight-year sentence as a Range I, standard offender. At a subsequent sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to serve the eight-year sentence in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Defendant appeals, asserting that the trial court erred when it denied alternative sentencing. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we find no error in the trial court’s judgment. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee (Appellant) vs. Jay Hart Frier
Appellee, Jay Hart Frier, was indicted by the Williamson County Grand Jury for driving under the influence (“DUI”), DUI per se, DUI with a blood alcohol concentration of .20% or more, and DUI second offense. Prior to trial, Appellee filed a motion in limine to dismiss the last count of the indictment based on the fact that his prior DUI was facially invalid. The trial court held a hearing and denied the motion. Appellee filed a motion to reconsider. The trial court ultimately granted the motion in limine and dismissed the last count of the indictment. The State sought reconsideration of the ruling. The trial court declined to reconsider. The State sought an interlocutory appeal. The trial court denied the application. The State then sought an extraordinary appeal pursuant to Rule 10 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. This Court granted the application. On appeal, after a review of the record and applicable authorities, we determine that the trial court improperly dismissed the indictment where Appellant sought to collaterally attack his previous conviction rather than seeking review of the underlying conviction via a writ of habeas corpus. As a result, thedecision of the trial court is reversed. On remand, the indictment should be reinstated and the matter set for further proceedings. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Timothy R. Chatmon v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Timothy R. Chatmon, filed in the Hamilton County Criminal Court a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, seeking relief from his two convictions for possession of cocaine with the intent to sell. The habeas corpus court denied the petition, and the petitioner appeals. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Stephan L. Beasley, Sr. v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Stephan L. Beasley, Sr., filed for habeas corpus relief from his conviction for first degree murder. The habeas corpus court denied the petition, and the petitioner appeals. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals |
