State of Tennessee v. Quinterrio Murrell
Defendant, Quinterrio Murrell, appeals the trial court’s revocation of his probation, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion in ordering that he serve his four-year sentence in confinement. Upon our review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Blake O. Swann
The Defendant, Blake O. Swann, appeals the Washington County Criminal Court’s order revoking his probation for his aggravated assault conviction and ordering him to begin anew his four-year sentence on community corrections. The Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by revoking his probation. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Washington | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Christopher Jones v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Christopher Stephen Jones, was convicted by a jury of first degree murder and abuse of a corpse, for which he received a life sentence. His convictions were affirmed on direct appeal by this Court. State v. Christopher Jones, No. W2015-01028-CCA-R3-CD, 2017 WL 192146, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jan. 17, 2017), no perm. app. filed. Petitioner sought post-conviction relief on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. The post-conviction court denied relief after a hearing. Petitioner appealed. After a review, we dismiss the appeal. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joseph L. Ware
The Defendant-Appellant, Joseph L. Ware, was convicted by a Davidson County jury of first degree felony murder (count 4), second degree murder (count 5), attempted especially aggravated robbery (count 6), attempted aggravated robbery (counts 3, 7), reckless endangerment (counts 8, 9), aggravated assault (count 10), and theft under $500 (counts 2, 11, 12), for which he received an effective sentence of life plus 10 years imprisonment. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether the trial court “committed reversible error by the failure to charge the jury in the law regarding accomplice testimony;” (2) whether the trial court erred in admitting into evidence posts from the Defendant’s Facebook page; (3) whether the prosecutors engaged in prosecutorial misconduct during closing argument by “emotional displays . . . calculated to inflame and/or play to the sympathies of the jury” thereby denying the Defendant a fair trial; (4) whether the evidence is sufficient to support the conviction of first degree felony murder; and (5) whether the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentencing. Upon our review, we reverse and remand count eight for a new trial because felony reckless endangerment is not a lesser included offense of attempted first degree murder. In all other respects, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jamie Todd Birdwell
On November 15, 2016, Defendant, Jamie Todd Birdwell, pled guilty to Class D felony theft of property valued at $1,000 or more but less than $10,000 in case number 74CC4-2015-CR-708 and to three counts of Class A misdemeanor theft of property in case number 74CC2-2016-CR-266. The plea agreement provided that Defendant would be sentenced to twelve years as a career offender with the manner of service to be determined following a sentencing hearing. Defendant failed to appear for his January 13, 2017 sentencing hearing, a capias was issued for his arrest, and he was subsequently indicted for felony failure to appear. Defendant’s initial counsel then withdrew. After three other attorneys were appointed and two were allowed to withdraw, trial counsel entered a notice of appearance and filed a motion to withdraw Defendant’s guilty pleas. Following a hearing on June 12, 2017, the trial court denied Defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty pleas and set a sentencing hearing. On appeal, Defendant asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion to withdraw his guilty pleas because the trial court, defense counsel, and prosecutor were all under the mistaken impression at the guilty plea submission hearing that Defendant was facing a sentence of twelve years as a career offender for Class D Felony theft, rather than six years for a Class E felony theft, because the value of theft statute, Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-14-105, became effective January 1, 2017, before the date of his original sentencing hearing. After a thorough review of the facts and applicable case law, we affirm the trial court’s denial of the motion to withdraw Defendant’s guilty pleas. |
Robertson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Derek Wyche
The Defendant-Appellant, Derek Wyche, was convicted by a Davidson County jury of felony murder and especially aggravated robbery, for which he received a mandatory life sentence plus twenty years’ imprisonment. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence in support of his convictions and the trial court’s imposition of consecutive sentencing. Upon our review, the convictions of the trial court are affirmed. However, we remand this matter for a new sentencing hearing. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Donald Lee Harris
Aggrieved of his Davidson County Criminal Court jury convictions of one count of felony murder in the perpetration of aggravated child neglect, one count of the facilitation of felony murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse, three counts of aggravated child abuse, one count of aggravated child neglect, and one count of the facilitation of aggravated child abuse, the defendant, Donald Lee Harris, appeals. The defendant alleges that the trial court erred by permitting the State to introduce the victim’s medical records on rebuttal, that the State’s election of offenses was insufficient to ensure jury unanimity, that the trial court erred in its jury instructions regarding criminal responsibility for the conduct of another, that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions, and that the total effective sentence of life plus 75 years is excessive. The defendant’s convictions of felony murder (Count 9), facilitation of felony murder (Count 8), aggravated child abuse (Counts 2 and 3), aggravated child neglect (Count 7), and facilitation of aggravated child abuse (Count 1) are affirmed. We find no error in the sentencing decisions of the trial court. Because the State’s election of offenses was insufficient to safeguard the defendant’s right to a unanimous verdict in Count 6, the defendant’s conviction in Count 6 is reversed. Because dual convictions of aggravated child abuse in Counts 2 and 3 violate double jeopardy principles, those convictions must be merged. The case is remanded for a new trial on the offense of aggravated child abuse in Count 6 and for the entry of corrected judgment forms reflecting the merger of Counts 2 and 3. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Larry Sexton
A Lawrence County Circuit Court Jury convicted the Appellant, Larry Sexton, of aggravated statutory rape, a Class D felony, and the trial court sentenced him as a Range III, career offender to twelve years in confinement. On appeal, the Appellant contends that the trial court erred by allowing the State to reopen its proof after he moved for a judgment of acquittal and by sentencing him as a career offender. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Lawrence | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. David Mitchell Bentley
The Appellant, David Mitchell Bentley, pled guilty in the Davidson County Criminal Court to reckless aggravated assault, a Class D felony, and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury, a Class A misdemeanor. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered that he serve consecutive sentences of three years and eleven months, twenty-nine days, respectively, in confinement. On appeal, the Appellant contends that we should remand this case to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing. In the alternative, he contends that the trial court improperly enhanced his felony sentence and failed to apply mitigating factors, that the trial court erred by ordering consecutive sentencing, and that the trial court erred by ordering that he serve his sentences in continuous confinement. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we conclude that a new sentencing hearing is necessary because the trial court failed to place any findings on the record with regard to applicable enhancement factors, the order of consecutive sentencing, and the denial of alternative sentencing. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is reversed, and the case is remanded to the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Kalyn Marie Polochak v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Kalyn Polochak, appeals the denial of her petition for post-conviction relief, which petition challenged her 2012 Overton County Criminal Court jury convictions of first degree premeditated murder, first degree felony murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, and theft of property valued at $1,000 or more but less than $10,000. Discerning no error, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief. |
Overton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Ronald Turner
The Appellant, Ronald Turner, appeals the Knox County Criminal Court’s imposing a ten-year sentence for possession of one-half gram or more of cocaine with intent to deliver in case number 105636 and a twelve-year sentence for attempted second degree murder in case number 105481. On appeal, he contends that the trial court erred by not sentencing him to the minimum punishment in the range, eight years, for the offenses, Class B felonies. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the sentences but remand the case to the trial court for correction of judgments of conviction. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Christina Jones Thomas v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Christina Jones Thomas, was convicted by a jury of especially aggravated robbery and especially aggravated kidnapping, for which she received an effective sentence of eighteen years’ imprisonment. State v. Christina Jones Thomas, No. E2013- 01531-CCA-R3-CD, 2014 WL 3440687, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App July 14, 2014), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Nov. 20, 2014). The Petitioner subsequently filed a petition seeking post-conviction relief, arguing that trial counsel was ineffective on multiple grounds, including (1) failure to secure an expert witness for trial; (2) failure to seek scientific testing of evidence presented by the State and failure to challenge such evidence; (3) failure to present a plea offer to the Petitioner; (4) failure to challenge and remove a juror whom the Petitioner knew and felt would be biased against her; (5) failure to impeach the victim about inconsistencies in his statements; (6) failure to address merger of the underlying offenses; and (7) failure to question the victim or present evidence of other injuries sustained by the victim that could have alleviated the seriousness of the Petitioner’s crimes. The trial court denied relief by written order, which the Petitioner now appeals. In addition, the Petitioner also argues that she is entitled to a second postconviction hearing because post-conviction counsel was suspended from the practice of law by the Tennessee Supreme Court shortly after the post-conviction hearing. Following our review, we affirm. |
Washington | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kyle Alex Batiz
The Defendant, Kyle Alex Batiz, was convicted of aggravated child abuse and reckless homicide and was sentenced, respectively, to concurrent sentences of 21 years at 100% and 3 years at 30 percent. On appeal, he argues that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction for aggravated child abuse; the trial court erred by not suppressing his text messages and statement to police; the trial court erred by allowing a forensic pathologist to testify regarding matters not within her expertise; he should have been sentenced as an especially mitigated offender; and the conviction for aggravated child abuse should be reversed because of cumulative errors that occurred during the trial. We have reviewed the record in this matter and conclude that the issues raised by the Defendant are without merit. Accordingly, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Wilbert Lamari Lottie, III
Wilbert Lamari Lottie, III, (“Defendant”) pled guilty, as a Range I standard offender, to one count each of possession of 0.5 grams or more of cocaine with intent to sell and possession of 0.5 grams or more of cocaine with intent to deliver and received a ten-year community corrections sentence. Six months into his sentence, the trial court issued a violation of community corrections warrant, which alleged that Defendant had tested positive for cocaine. Following a hearing, the trial court found that Defendant had violated the terms of his community corrections sentence. The trial court revoked Defendant’s community corrections sentence and resentenced Defendant to twelve years to serve in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, Defendant argues that his sentence is excessive and that the trial court “did not follow the established sentencing guidelines.” Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Dearick Stokes v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Dearick Stokes, was denied post-conviction relief from his convictions for felony murder and attempted especially aggravated robbery and his effective life sentence. On appeal, the Petitioner alleges that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to: (1) interview and subpoena four eyewitnesses who identified another individual as being present at the crime scene; (2) investigate and adequately cross-examine a police officer regarding the crime scene; (3) investigate or present rebuttal witnesses concerning admissions allegedly made by the Petitioner; (4) obtain and review the victim’s cellular phone records; (5) investigate and discuss the case with the Petitioner; and (6) properly investigate a witness for the State and request Jencks material relative to him. The petitioner additionally contends that either the State committed a Brady violation by failing to provide a witness’s supplemental statement to trial counsel or, if it was provided, counsel’s failure to use it during cross-examination was ineffective assistance of counsel. Furthermore, the Petitioner argues that he received ineffective assistance of appellate counsel because appellate counsel should have asserted on direct appeal that the trial court (1) improperly denied his motion for a mistrial due to juror intimidation, and (2) committed plain error by allowing a witness to testify as to how he discovered the Petitioner’s real name. After a thorough review of the record, we discern no error and affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kenneth R. Boyd
Defendant, Kenneth R. Boyd, appeals from the trial court’s denial of his motion requesting additional pre-trial jail credits. The State responds that the appeal should be dismissed because it was untimely filed and that the sentence is legal. Because Defendant has failed to state a colorable claim for relief, we affirm the trial court’s denial of the motion and the denial of additional pre-trial jail credits. However, we remand the matter to the trial court for correction of a clerical error on the corrected judgment form for Count Three. |
Robertson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jimmy Lee Pearce, Jr.
The pro se Defendant, Jimmy Lee Pearce, Jr., appeals the Fayette County Circuit Court’s dismissal of his motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Fayette | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael Andrew Burrows
The Montgomery County Grand Jury indicted Defendant, Michael Andrew Burrows, on seven counts of rape of a child and eight counts of aggravated sexual battery. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pled guilty as a Range I offender to two counts of sexual battery, with an agreed out-of-range sentence of four years on each count, with sentence alignment, manner of service, and the issue of judicial diversion to be determined by the trial court. The remaining counts were dismissed. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court denied judicial diversion, imposed consecutive sentences, and sentenced Defendant to eight years’ probation. Defendant now appeals the denial of judicial diversion. Based on a thorough review of the record and applicable case law, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Christian Aaron Needham
The Defendant, Christian Aaron Needham, appeals the McMinn County Circuit Court’s order revoking his probation for his convictions for two counts of felony theft and one count of aggravated burglary and ordering him to serve the remainder of his effective six-year sentence in confinement. The Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by ordering his sentence into execution. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
McMinn | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Kalpesh Patel and Pratikkumar V. Patel v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioners, Kalpesh Patel and Pratikkumar V. Patel, appeal from the Rutherford County Circuit Court’s summary dismissal of their respective petitions for post-conviction relief from their 2015 convictions for conspiracy to commit first degree murder and solicitation to commit first degree murder, for which the Petitioners each received fifteen-year sentences. The Petitioners contend that the post-conviction court erred by summarily dismissing their petitions for relief and motions to reconsider because (1) they received the ineffective assistance of trial counsel and (2) the trial court erred by denying their respective motions to suppress cell phone evidence at the trial. We affirm the judgments of the post-conviction court. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Robert Andrew Hawkins v. State of Tennessee
A Claiborne County jury convicted the Petitioner, Robert Andrew Hawkins, of one count of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of aggravated assault, and the trial court sentenced him to an effective sentence of sixteen years in confinement. The Petitioner appealed his convictions on the basis of a juror issue and sentencing. This court affirmed his convictions and sentence. State v. Robert Andrew Hawkins, No. E2015-01542-CCA-R3-CD, 2016 WL 5210770 (Tenn. Crim. App, at Knoxville, Sept. 19, 2016), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Dec. 14, 2016). The Petitioner filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief in which he alleged that: (1) the State withheld evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 93 (1965); (2) Counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate or communicate effectively with him; and (3) the cumulative effect of these errors entitles him to a new trial. The post-conviction court denied relief, and the Petitioner maintains his allegations on appeal. After review, we affirm the postconviction court’s judgment. |
Claiborne | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James Anthony McCurry
A Madison County Circuit Court Jury convicted the Appellant, James Anthony McCurry, of aggravated kidnapping, a Class B felony, attempted aggravated robbery, a Class C felony, and being a felon in possession of a handgun, a Class E felony, and he received an effective sentence of twenty-one-years in confinement. On appeal, the Appellant claims that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions and that his effective sentence is excessive. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Melvin Wiggins
The defendant, Melvin Wiggins, appeals his Shelby County Criminal Court jury convictions of especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery, arguing that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress certain statements he gave to the police, that the trial court erred by admitting certain statements in violation of evidence rule 404(b), and that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Malik Hardin v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Malik Hardin, filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that his trial counsel was ineffective and that his guilty pleas were not knowingly and voluntarily entered. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and the Petitioner appeals. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Randall Ray Ward
A Madison County jury convicted the Defendant, Randall Ray Ward, of possession of cocaine with the intent to sell, possession of cocaine with the intent to deliver, and possession of illegal drug paraphernalia. The trial court merged the cocaine convictions and ordered that the Defendant serve ten years in confinement as a Range II, multiple offender. The trial court imposed a consecutive sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days for the paraphernalia conviction. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions; (2) the trial court erred when it admitted the Defendant’s statement to police; (3) the trial court erred when it instructed the jury regarding confessions; and (4) the trial court erred when it sentenced the Defendant. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals |
