State of Tennessee v. Joseph Sarkozy
The Defendant-Appellant, Joseph Sarkozy, appeals the revocation of his probation. On appeal, the Defendant argues the trial court erred by (1) finding the Defendant violated the terms of his probation when he did not possess the requisite intent for the domestic assault charges used as the basis for the revocation and (2) ordering the Defendant to serve the remainder of his sentence in prison. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Lester Lee Doyle
The Benton County Grand Jury indicted Defendant, Lester Lee Doyle, for second offense driving under the influence of an intoxicant or drug (“DUI”) (Count One), violation of the implied consent law (Count Two), failure to illuminate the registration plate of his vehicle at all times when the headlights are illuminated (Count Three), and failure to maintain his vehicle as nearly as practicable entirely within a single lane of a roadway divided into two or more lanes for traffic (Count Four). Following trial, the jury found Defendant guilty of DUI in Count One and not guilty of the traffic offenses in Counts Three and Four. On appeal, Defendant argues that because the jury found Defendant not guilty on Counts Three and Four, there was no reasonable suspicion to stop Defendant and therefore Defendant is entitled to a new trial or a reversal of the DUI conviction. Following a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgments of conviction. |
Benton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Kevin Farrell Wells v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Kevin Farrell Wells, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition arguing that the post-conviction court applied the incorrect burden of proof in evaluating his claims, erroneously denied him relief on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, and entered its order beyond the sixty-day statutory deadline. After hearing oral arguments and following a review of the entire record, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Sean Mitchell aka Antwon Rainer
Defendant, Sean Mitchell A.K.A. Antwon Rainer, was indicted for rape and aggravated kidnapping, and a jury convicted Defendant as charged. The trial court sentenced Defendant, pursuant to the repeat violent offender statute, to two life sentences without the possibility of parole and ran the sentences consecutively. On appeal, Defendant argues (1) that the trial court erred by admitting hearsay evidence, (2) that the chain of custody for Defendant’s penile swabs was not properly established, (3) that the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions, and (4) that the trial court erred by imposing excessive sentences. After a thorough review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Christapher Baumgartner
The Appellee, Christapher Baumgartner, was charged in the Bradley County Criminal Court with vehicular homicide by intoxication, a Class B felony, and driving under the influence (DUI), a Class A misdemeanor. He filed a motion to suppress his blood test results, arguing that he did not voluntarily consent to the blood draw. The trial court held an evidentiary hearing and granted the motion, and the State appeals. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Perry Brent Lanham v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Perry Brent Lanham, pleaded guilty to burglary and theft of property valued $2,500 or more, and he received an effective eight-year sentence on probation supervised by community corrections. The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, contending that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that he did not plead guilty knowingly and voluntarily. Following a hearing, the post-conviction court denied the petition, and the Petitioner appeals. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Chester | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tim Gilbert
The defendant, Tim Gilbert, appeals his Giles County Circuit Court Jury convictions of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and resisting arrest, challenging the sufficiency of the convicting evidence and the rulings of the trial court permitting the State to amend the indictment and to admit the pretrial statement of a State’s witness as substantive evidence in violation of the rule against hearsay. The defendant also argues that permitting both the grand and petit juries to deliberate in a room in the Giles County Courthouse maintained by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (“U.D.C.”) and adorned with various mementos of the Confederacy exposed the jury to extraneous prejudicial information and violated his constitutional rights to a fair trial conducted by an impartial jury, due process, and equal protection under the law. The trial court did not err by permitting the State to amend the indictment because the amendment did not allege a new or different offense. The court did err, however, by admitting the challenged witness statement, and that error cannot be classified as harmless. Further, we conclude that the Confederate memorabilia in the jury room was extraneous information and that the State failed to rebut the presumption that the petit jury’s exposure to that extraneous information was prejudicial. Accordingly, we reverse the judgments of the trial court and remand the case for a new trial. |
Giles | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Carl Dwayne Prince
The defendant, Carl Dwayne Prince, appeals his Robertson County Circuit Court Jury conviction of aggravated assault, arguing that the trial court erred by finding a valid waiver of the right to counsel and permitting him to proceed pro se, that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction, and that the State’s failure to disclose certain evidence violated due process principles as announced in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963). Because the trial court failed to conduct a sufficient inquiry to support a finding that the defendant effectuated a valid waiver of the right to counsel, the defendant is entitled to a new trial. Because the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction of aggravated assault but sufficient to support a conviction of simple assault, the judgment of the trial court is reversed, and the case is remanded to the trial court for a new trial on alternative counts of assault involving bodily injury and assault by offensive touching. |
Robertson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Eric Boyd
Defendant, Eric Boyd, was convicted of two counts of first degree felony murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, and four counts of aggravated rape. For his convictions, Defendant received an effective sentence of two consecutive life sentences for the felony murder convictions and an additional 90 years for the remaining convictions. Defendant appeals his convictions, asserting that: 1) the trial court erred by denying Defendant’s motion for a change of venue, or in the alternative, a special jury venire; 2) the trial court erred by allowing the State to introduce transcripts of a witness’s testimony from a federal court proceeding as substantive evidence against Defendant; 3) the evidence was insufficient to support Defendant’s convictions; and 4) he is entitled to relief under the cumulative error doctrine. After a thorough review of the record, we determine no error. Accordingly, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. G'Wayne Williams
A Lauderdale County jury convicted the Defendant, G’Wayne Williams, of numerous sexual offenses. State v. G’wayne Kennedy Williams a/k/a Kenney Williams, No. W2018- 00924-CCA-R3-CD, 2020 WL 211546, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App, at Jackson, Jan. 14, 2020). The trial court imposed a sixty-four-year sentence. Id. On appeal, this court vacated and dismissed fifteen of the Defendant’s convictions and concluded that the trial court had improperly merged a number of the Defendant’s convictions. We remanded the case for entry of corrected judgments and resentencing where applicable and affirmed the Defendant’s remaining convictions. Id. On remand, the trial court dismissed the relevant convictions, merged the additional relevant convictions, and resentenced the Defendant on twelve of the convictions. The trial court concluded that it had lost jurisdiction as to the Defendant’s remaining convictions affirmed on appeal. On this second appeal, the Defendant asserts that the trial court erred in finding it had lost jurisdiction on the convictions affirmed by this court. He further contends his sentence is excessive. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Lauderdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Keith Lamont Brown v. State of Tennessee
A Tipton County jury convicted the Petitioner, Keith Lamont Brown, of delivery of 0.5 grams or more of cocaine, and the trial court sentenced him as a Range III, persistent offender to twenty-five years of incarceration. The Petitioner appealed his convictions to this court, and we affirmed the judgments. State v. Keith Lamont Brown a.k.a. “Kee Kee”, No. W2018-00731-CCA-R3-CD, 2019 WL 2158103, at *6 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, May 16, 2019), no perm. app. filed. Subsequently, the Petitioner filed a petition for postconviction relief, claiming that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel, which the post-conviction court denied after a hearing. After review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment. |
Tipton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Marvin Magay James Green
The Defendant pleaded guilty to several drug offenses stemming from a 2006 arrest, and the trial court sentenced him to a fifteen-year sentence. The Defendant appealed, it was denied, and he filed multiple motions challenging his convictions. Most recently, he filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence or correct a clerical error, contending that he had not received 128 days of pretrial jail credits. The trial court denied the motion, finding that it did not have jurisdiction to amend his sentence and that any alleged error in calculating time should be directed to the Tennessee Department of Correction. It is from that judgment that the Defendant now appeals. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Marvin Magay James Green - concurring opinion
I write separately because I disagree with the majority’s interpretation of the issue raised on appeal by the Defendant. The majority, concluding that the Defendant’s contention is unclear, addresses the issue as one of pretrial jail credits or day-for-day service. I believe that, on the contrary, the Defendant asserts that his sentence is illegal or contains a clerical error because he was denied 128 days of sentence reduction credits which he earned prior to the imposition of his sentence. Because this type of claim must be addressed via the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, I would affirm the denial of relief on this basis. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joseph Gevedon
The Defendant-Appellant, Joseph Gevedon, pleaded guilty to two counts of driving under the influence and to one count each of leaving the scene of an accident, violation of the financial responsibility law, and simple possession of marijuana. He agreed to serve an effective sentence of three consecutive terms of eleven months, twenty-nine days, with ninety-six hours in confinement and the remainder on probation. He also agreed to a special condition that a restitution hearing would be held at a later time. A violation of probation warrant was issued before the restitution hearing was held, and following a hearing, the trial court found that the Defendant violated the terms of his probation, revoked his probation, and ordered him to serve his sentence in confinement and to pay $30,490.76 as restitution. On appeal, the Defendant challenges the trial court’s order requiring him to serve his sentence in confinement and its restitution order. After review, we conclude that we are without jurisdiction to consider the merits of this appeal. |
Giles | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joseph Gevedon (Dissent)
John Everett Williams, P.J., dissenting. I respectfully disagree with the majority’s conclusion that this court is without jurisdiction to hear the appeal because no final judgment has been entered. Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 3(b) provides that a criminal defendant has “a right to appeal when the trial court has entered a final judgment of conviction.” State v. Comer, 278 S.W.3d 758, 760-61 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2008) (quotation omitted). However, “‘Rule 3 appeals … may be taken only from final judgments.’” State v. William Chandler Daniels, No. E2009-02172-CCA-R3-CD, 2010 WL 5343776, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Dec. 23, 2010) (quoting State v. Maddox, 603 S.W.2d 740, 741 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1980)). A judgment is considered final “‘when it decides and disposes of the whole merits of the case leaving nothing for the further judgment of the court.’” State v. David Allan Bohanon, No. M2012-02366-CCA-R3-CD, 2013 WL 5777254, at *3 (Tenn. Crim. App. Oct. 25, 2013) (quoting Richardson v. Tenn. Bd. of Dentistry, 913 S.W.2d 446, 460 (Tenn. 1995)). |
Giles | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Perry Singo v. State of Tennessee
The pro se petitioner, Perry Singo, appeals the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus by the Circuit Court for Hickman County, arguing the trial court erred in summarily dismissing the petition. After our review, we affirm the summary dismissal of the petition pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. |
Hickman | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Michael Kizer v. State of Tennessee
For offenses occurring in 2010, a Shelby County jury convicted the Petitioner, Michael Kizer, of two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of attempted aggravated robbery, and the trial court sentenced him to a total effective sentence of forty-five years of incarceration. This court affirmed the judgments on appeal. State v. Michael Kizer, No. W2013-02559-CCA-R3-CD, 2014 WL 5512863, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, Oct. 3, 2014), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Feb. 13, 2015). In 2017, the Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of error coram nobis. In it, he contended that there was newly discovered evidence about his mental capacity that was not considered by mental health professionals at the time of their evaluation. The coram nobis court summarily dismissed the petition, finding that the one-year statute of limitations had run and that the Petitioner had failed to establish that he was entitled to a hearing. The Petitioner filed this appeal. After review, we affirm the coram nobis court’s judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Bernard Woodard
A jury convicted the Defendant, Bernard Woodard, of burglary of a building other than a habitation, theft of property valued $2,500 or more, and Class E felony evading arrest in a motor vehicle, and he received an effective sentence of eighteen years in prison as a career offender. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that his right to an impartial jury was violated by the racial composition of the jury venire, that the State did not establish the value of the stolen property, that the prosecutor committed misconduct in closing argument, and that the trial court erred in imposing partially consecutive sentences. After a thorough review, we discern no error and affirm the judgments. |
Putnam | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Levie Roberts v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Levie Roberts, appeals the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his post-conviction petition, seeking relief from his conviction of second degree murder and resulting twenty-year sentence. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel because trial counsel did not notice before trial that the State’s “key” witness gave inconsistent statements to the police and because trial counsel failed to recall the witness to the stand in order to question her about the inconsistencies. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joseph Lawrence Street
The defendant, Joseph Lawrence Street, appeals the denial of his Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 35 motion to reduce the sentence imposed for his 2018 convictions of automobile burglary. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Laseena Tirree White
The Appellant, Laseena Tirree White, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court jury of theft of property valued $10,000 or more but less than $60,000, a Class C felony, and sentenced by the trial court as a Range I, standard offender to three years in the Department of Correction, suspended to supervised probation. On appeal, she challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, arguing that there was insufficient proof of her identity as the perpetrator and of the value of the stolen items. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Shawn Casey Walker
Defendant, Shawn Casey Walker, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated cruelty to animals, a Class E felony. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed a sentence of two years in confinement. On appeal, Defendant challenges the trial court’s denial of an alternative sentence. Having reviewed the record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Cocke | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Bobby Ray Graves, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Bobby Ray Graves, Jr., appeals from the Warren County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, wherein he challenged his conviction for failure to appear. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-609. On appeal, the Petitioner submits that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel due to trial counsel’s failure to call the Petitioner’s brother to testify in his defense at trial. Then, requesting this court to apply the cumulative error doctrine, the Petitioner contends that he was prejudiced by trial counsel’s “failures to properly object to the State’s impermissible statements during cross-examination and closing arguments,” trial counsel’s failure to present the Petitioner’s brother to testify, and trial counsel’s “fail[ure] to argue the missing witness rule.” As a final issue, he submits that appellate counsel was ineffective by failing to address the missing witness rule on appeal. Following our review of the record, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment denying relief. |
Warren | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Arnold Draper Shawell
Following a jury trial, Arnold Draper Shawell (“Defendant”) was convicted of aggravated robbery, evading arrest, and possession of drug paraphernalia, for which he received an effective sentence of twelve years’ incarceration. On appeal, Defendant contends that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction for aggravated robbery and that the trial court committed plain error by allowing the State to cross-examine him about a robbery conviction from 1991 for the purposes of impeachment. Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Curtis Dewayne Brown
A Hamilton County Criminal Court Jury found the Appellant, Curtis Dewayne Brown, guilty of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated assault, employment of a firearm during a dangerous offense, and possession of a firearm while having a prior violent felony conviction. On appeal, the Appellant contends that (1) the evidence was not sufficient to sustain his convictions; (2) the trial court erred by not allowing him to impeach Officer Downs with her preliminary hearing testimony regarding the number of muzzle flashes she saw; (3) the trial court erred by allowing the State to introduce proof of the Appellant’s prior conviction of aggravated assault during the bifurcated proceeding on count six; and (4) the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentencing. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals |
