State of Tennessee v. Calvin Lyndell Dibrell
The defendant, Calvin Lyndell Dibrell, appeals his Knox County Criminal Court jury convictions of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell or deliver within a prohibited zone, claiming that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained from the search of his vehicle and that the trial court improperly admitted evidence of the defendant’s prior convictions. Because the evidence obtained from the defendant’s vehicle was the result of an illegal search and seizure, the judgments of the trial court are vacated, and the case is dismissed. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Adam Davis
Following a bench trial, the Defendant-Appellant, Adam Davis, was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony. See T.C.A. § 39-13-504. The trial court sentenced him as a Range I, standard offender to a concurrent term of eight years’ imprisonment. The sole issue presented for our review is whether the evidence is sufficient to support his convictions. After a thorough review of the record and briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Calvin Lyndell Dibrell - concurring
ROBERT L. HOLLOWAY, JR., J., concurring. I agree with the majority that the defendant was searched without reasonable suspicion, that the evidence should have been suppressed by the trial court,1 and that the judgment of conviction must be vacated and the case dismissed. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Steven O. Hughes-Mabry v. Randy Lee, Warden and the State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, appeals from the Sullivan County Criminal Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for a writ of error coram nobis. The Petitioner contends that the coram nobis court erred by summarily dismissing his petition as having been untimely filed and for failing to state a cognizable claim for relief. Following our review, we agree with the coram nobis court that the Petitioner is attempting to relitigate the denial of his pretrial suppression motion. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the coram nobis court. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Thomas Louis Moore
The Defendant, Thomas Louis Moore, appeals as of right from the Bradley County Criminal Court’s revocation of his probation and order of incarceration for the remainder of his ten-year sentence. The Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion in ordering execution of his sentence. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kevin Allen Fleming
After a bifurcated trial, a jury convicted the Defendant, Kevin Allen Fleming, of one count of driving under the influence (“DUI”), fourth offense, and three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective sentence of forty-two years in confinement. At the motion for new trial hearing, the parties agreed that the Defendant’s DUI fourth offense conviction should have merged into his conviction for aggravated vehicular homicide conviction, reducing his sentence to an effective sentence of forty years. No amended judgment appears in the record. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress the blood draw evidence; (2) the trial court erred when it admitted the results from the blood draw because the evidence was not authenticated and the chain of custody was not established; (3) the trial court erred when it admitted autopsy photographs of the victims; (4) the State violated his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent; (5) the trial court erred when it found that Trooper James Fillers was an expert witness; (6) the trial court erred when it admitted the written report of expert Dr. Davis because the report contained hearsay; (7) the trial court erred when it sentenced him; (8) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions; and (9) the cumulative errors by the trial court constitute reversible error. After review and for the reasons stated herein, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. We also remand the case for entry of an amended judgment reflecting that the Defendant’s DUI fourth offense conviction is merged with one of his aggravated vehicular homicide convictions. |
Campbell | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Timothy Evans v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Timothy Evans, appeals from the Hamilton County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner contends that trial counsel was ineffective (1) for failing to have the Petitioner “evaluated in order to present an insanity or diminished capacity defense”; (2) for failing to call “a psychological expert” to support the Petitioner’s duress defense; (3) for failing to “adequately prepare” the Petitioner to testify on cross-examination; and (4) for “depriving [the] Petitioner of a review of his duress [defense] by the appellate courts” by failing to include portions of the trial transcript in the appellate record. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Valentino L. Dyer v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Valentino L. Dyer, appeals from the denial of his petition for postconviction relief, wherein he challenged his convictions for especially aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-403, -14-403. In this appeal as of right, the Petitioner alleges that trial counsel was ineffective in the following ways: (1) by failing to object to the State’s deficient notice seeking enhanced punishment, thereby causing the Petitioner to be confused regarding the State’s plea offer and factoring into his decision to reject the fifteen-year offer; (2) by failing to negotiate a more favorable plea offer from the State due to his “improper understanding of the Petitioner’s criminal convictions”; (3) by failing to prepare the Petitioner to testify at trial; (4) by failing to visit the crime scene; (5) by failing to object to two photographs of the machete used during the break-in; (6) by failing to argue that the victim did not suffer serious bodily injury; (7) by failing to discuss with the Petitioner “any mitigating factors or the sentencing hearing” prior to the hearing itself; (8) by failing to subpoena or call witnesses on the Petitioner’s behalf at the sentencing hearing; and (9) “all other reasons set forth in the petition and amended petition for post-conviction relief.” Following a review of the record, all but one of the Petitioner’s issues are waived due to an inadequate brief, and the single issue properly presented for review lacks merit. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Rhea | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Cory Lynn White
The Defendant, Cory Lynn White, was convicted by a jury of making a false report or statement, and he received a three-year spilt confinement sentence for this conviction. The Defendant appeals, arguing (1) that there was a fatal variance between the indictment and the proof offered at trial and (2) that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction.1 Following our review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Anderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jenna Sims
The Defendant, Jenna Sims, pled guilty to multiple driving and drug offenses, for which she received an agreed-upon sentence of one-year, eleven months, and twenty-nine days. The Defendant was later placed on probation. During her probation, the Defendant left a residential treatment program and failed to return to jail, so a probation violation warrant was filed and she was charged with failure to appear. She pled guilty to the failure to appear charge and received an agreed-upon sentence of one year to be served consecutively to the remainder of her probationary sentence. At the subsequent sentencing hearing, the trial court revoked her probation and ordered her to serve her one year sentence for failure to appear in confinement. On appeal, she argues that the trial court abused its discretion by revoking her probation and by denying her alternative sentencing. We disagree. Accordingly, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. David Wayne Cupp, Alias
The Defendant, David Wayne Cupp, alias, appeals as of right from the Knox County Criminal Court’s denial of his request for judicial diversion. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by overvaluing “the circumstances of the offense[s] to the exclusion of the factors supporting diversion.” Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Ralph Alan Stanley
The Defendant, Ralph Alan Stanley, was convicted of aggravated assault after a jury trial and was sentenced to ten years of supervised probation. The Defendant appeals his conviction, asserting that he is entitled to a new trial because the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. He also contends that the trial court erred in denying a motion to suppress, in allowing evidence of text messages and other bad acts, in allowing evidence produced in violation of the rules governing discovery, and in limiting crossexamination regarding a prior conviction. The Defendant also requests relief under a theory of cumulative error. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that the Defendant is not entitled to a new trial, and we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
In Re Amarria L.
This is a termination of parental rights case focusing on the minor child, Amarria L. (“the Child”), of Patricia L. (“Mother”). The Child was placed in protective custody on November 8, 2014, after Mother left the Child unsupervised at a homeless shelter. On July 7, 2016, the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (“DCS”) filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of Mother. DCS alleged as a basis for termination the statutory grounds of (1) abandonment by failure to provide a suitable home, (2) abandonment by an incarcerated parent, (3) substantial noncompliance with the reasonable requirements of the permanency plan, and (4) persistence of the conditions leading to removal of the Child. Following a bench trial, the trial court granted the petition upon its determination by clear and convincing evidence that DCS had proven the statutory grounds of abandonment by failure to provide a suitable home and substantial noncompliance with the reasonable requirements of the permanency plan. The court further determined by clear and convincing evidence that termination of Mother’s parental rights was in the Child’s best interest. Mother has appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm. |
Robertson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jonathan Eugene Goodwin
The Defendant, Jonathan Eugene Goodwin, appeals as of right from the Carter County Criminal Court’s revocation of his community corrections sentence and order of incarceration for the remainder of his six-year sentence. The Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion in ordering execution of his sentence. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Carter | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Julie A. Morgan (Moran)
The Appellant, Julie A. Morgan (Moran), appeals from the Unicoi County Criminal Court’s denial of her “motion to set aside disposition and/or retired status of traffic citation for mistake and to reset for further consideration.” On appeal, the Appellant contends that the trial court should have treated her motion as a petition for post-conviction relief or applied Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 60.02 “for post[-]judgment relief.” Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Unicoi | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
George Timmons v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, George Timmons, appeals from the Hamilton County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner contends that trial counsel was ineffective (1) for failing to present a defense based on the Petitioner’s “mental instability”; and (2) for failing to properly advise the Petitioner that he would be sentenced as a repeat violent offender to life without the possibility of parole upon his conviction at trial. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joel W. Allen
The Defendant, Joel W. Allen, was convicted by a Benton County Circuit Court jury of driving under the influence, “DUI,” fifth offense, a Class E felony; simple possession of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle after being declared a habitual motor vehicle offender, a Class E felony. He was sentenced to an effective term of twelve years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, he argues that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his DUI conviction and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Benton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Christopher Gatewood
The Defendant, Christopher Gatewood, is charged in the Hamilton County Criminal Court with rape of a child. See T.C.A. § 39-13-522 (2014). The State contends in this interlocutory appeal pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 9 that the trial court erred in granting the Defendant’s motion in limine to exclude evidence of the alleged victim’s statements to a nurse practitioner on Confrontation Clause grounds. We affirm the order of the trial court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Lavonte Dominique Simmon
The Defendant, Lavonte Dominique Simmon, appeals as of right his jury convictions for first degree premeditated murder and two counts of aggravated assault. On appeal, the Defendant alleges the following errors: (1) that the Defendant was deprived of his right to present a viable defense when the trial court permitted Charles Maples to assert the privilege against self-incrimination and, thereafter, refused to allow defense counsel to withdraw so that defense counsel could testify about Mr. Maples’ past statements; (2) that the trial court improperly denied the Defendant’s motion to dismiss the indictment after the State failed to preserve exculpatory evidence in the form of Mr. Maples’ testimony; (3) that the trial court should have granted the Defendant’s motion to suppress his statement to the police in light of testimony that the Defendant suffered a brain injury causing intellectual impairment, that the Defendant invoked his right to counsel, and that the Defendant did not voluntarily waive his Miranda rights; (4) that the trial court erred by allowing the State to introduce numerous photographs of weapons, weapons-related items, and ammunition found during the search of the home where the Defendant was apprehended; (5) that the evidence was insufficient to support the Defendant’s convictions because the State failed to prove that the Defendant was the person who shot the murder victim or that the Defendant acted with premeditation; and (6) that the trial court should have instructed the jury on diminished capacity.Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Macolm Orlando Witherow v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Malcolm Orlando Witherow, appeals the Hamilton County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his 2011 conviction for first degree premeditated murder and his life sentence. The Petitioner contends that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tracy Lebron Vick
The Defendant, Tracy Lebron Vick, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and received a forty-year, Range II sentence to be served at 85%. Nineteen years after his sentencing, he filed a motion pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1 alleging that his sentence was illegal because 100% service was statutorily mandated but that the trial court imposed 85% service in his case. The trial court summarily dismissed the motion on the basis that it failed to state a colorable claim. We affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael Eugene Tolle
In this appeal, the State challenges the trial court’s decision to apply the amended version of Code section 39-14-105, which provides the grading of theft offenses, to modify the class of the defendant’s conviction offense and the corresponding sentence following the revocation of the defendant’s probation. No appeal right lies for the State pursuant to either Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 3, Code section 40-35-402, or Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 35 under the circumstances in this case. Because we have concluded that the trial court exceeded its authority by the application of the amended version of Code section 39-14-105, however, we have elected to treat the improperlyfiled appeal as a petition for the common law writ of certiorari. Accordingly, we vacate the order of the trial court and remand the case for proceedings consistent with this opinion. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Rebecca Michelle Robinson
A Lawrence County jury convicted the Defendant, Rebecca Michelle Robinson, of vehicular homicide by intoxication, reckless endangerment, and failure to exercise due care while operating a motor vehicle. The trial court sentenced her to an effective sentence of eight years of incarceration. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred when it denied her an alternative sentence and ordered that she serve her sentence in confinement. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Lawrence | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Robert C. Clanton v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Robert C. Clanton, appeals from the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Damarko D. Clay
The Defendant, Damarko D. Clay, appeals as of right from his convictions for possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The Defendant argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals |
