State of Tennessee v. Bryan A. Erwin
A Bradley County jury convicted the defendant, Bryan A. Erwin, of simple assault and aggravated assault for which the trial court imposed an effective three-year sentence to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant contends that the State committed prosecutorial misconduct at various times during the trial and that the trial court erred in certain evidentiary rulings and in sentencing. After reviewing the record and considering the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. Additionally, we remand for the entry of corrected judgment forms to reflect the appropriate conviction for count 1, for simple assault, and count 2, for aggravated assault. |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Raymond Paul Lankey
The Defendant, Raymond Paul Lankey, appeals the trial court’s order imposing confinement after finding that the Defendant violated his probation. The Defendant’s probation began in December 2019, when he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in exchange for an effective three-year sentence, with two years, eleven months and eight days to be served on supervised probation. In July 2021, a probation violation warrant was issued, the Defendant’s second, alleging multiple violations. After a hearing, the trial court revoked the Defendant’s probation, ordering him to serve the remainder of his sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the trial court abused its discretion when it revoked his probation and when it ordered him to confinement. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Trimon J. Pruitt v. State of Tennessee
A Madison County jury convicted the Petitioner, Trimon J. Pruitt, of one count of second degree murder, and the trial court sentenced him to serve twenty-four years, at 100%. The Petitioner appealed, and this court affirmed his conviction and sentence. State v. Trimon Pruitt, No. W2018-00039-CCA-R3-CD, 2019 WL 1501552, *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, Apr. 4, 2019), Tenn. R. App. P. 11 application denied (Tenn. Aug 19, 2019). The Petitioner filed an untimely petition for post-conviction relief, which the post-conviction court dismissed after a hearing. We affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Phillip Myron Looper
The Defendant, Phillip Myron Looper, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated animal cruelty and one count of aggravated assault. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to 364 days to be served in the county jail, followed by twelve years of probation, including a restriction from leaving the county of residence except for medical treatment. The Defendant did not object to the sentence but filed a timely appeal, contending that the trial court erred when it imposed a sentence in excess of the agreed upon five years and by improperly imposing travel restrictions. After review, we reverse the trial court’s judgments and remand the case for entry of an order as set forth herein. |
Sumner | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DANIEL SMITH
The Defendant, Daniel Smith, appeals the trial court’s revocation of his ten-year probation sentence for aggravated assault. The trial court determined that the Defendant’s act of sending a letter to the victim violated the terms of his probation sentence and ordered the Defendant to serve his sentence. The Defendant asserts that the trial court’s revocation of his probation sentence was an abuse of discretion and that he should be returned to service of a probation sentence. After review, we conclude that revocation of the probation sentence was not an abuse of discretion. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John P. Stone
The Defendant, John P. Stone, was convicted of aggravated burglary following a bench trial, and he received a sentence of twelve years in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of aggravated burglary. After reviewing the record, the parties’ briefs, and the applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Decatur | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Lavonte D. Simmons v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Lavonte D. Simmons, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that the post-conviction court erred in finding that he received effective assistance of trial counsel. Based on our review, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Bryan Shawn Blevins v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Bryan Shawn Blevins, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance, which rendered his guilty pleas unknowing and involuntary. The State argues that the post-conviction court erred in denying the State’s motion to summarily dismiss the petition as time-barred. Based on our review, we conclude that the Petitioner failed to show that the one-year statute of limitations should be tolled on due process grounds. Thus, the Petitioner’s post-conviction claims are barred by the statute of limitations. We, therefore, reverse the post-conviction court’s denial of the State’s motion to dismiss the petition as untimely. |
Carter | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. GARY WAYNE PONDER
A DeKalb County jury convicted the Defendant, Gary Wayne Ponder, of aggravated arson. The trial court imposed a twenty-three-year sentence to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction, that the trial court erred when it denied his motion for a change of venue, and that the trial court erred when it sentenced him. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
DeKalb | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
David H. Johnson v. Steve Upton, Warden
The Petitioner, David H. Johnson, appeals the denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. He maintains that the trial court did not have jurisdiction over his case because the superseding indictment was returned after the expiration of the statute of limitations for aggravated rape. The habeas court summarily denied the petition because the record failed to establish that the judgment was void. After review, we affirm the habeas court. |
Trousdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Sterling Carter v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Sterling Carter, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery, and the trial court imposed a twenty-two year sentence to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Petitioner filed a post-conviction relief petition, alleging that he had received the ineffective assistance of counsel and that his guilty plea was involuntary. After a hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief, finding that the Petitioner had not proven his allegations by clear and convincing evidence. On appeal, the Petitioner maintains his arguments. After review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
DESHAWN MCCLENTON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
The Petitioner, DeShawn McClenton, appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. After review, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Etta Faye Beck Bombacino v. Anthony John Bombacino, Sr.
Etta Faye Beck Bombacino (“Wife”) filed for divorce from Anthony John Bombacino (“Husband”) on January 29, 2021. Trial was held on July 21, 2021, and the trial court assessed equal fault to the parties and ordered them divorced. The trial court also ordered that the parties split the equity in their home after marital debts were paid and awarded Wife no spousal support. Wife appeals. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Corry Merriweather v. State of Tennessee
Pro se Petitioner, Corry Merriweather, appeals the summary dismissal of his second petition seeking post-conviction relief from his conviction of second-degree murder. On appeal, the Petitioner argues the post-conviction court erred by dismissing his petition without conducting an evidentiary hearing. Upon review, we affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Bobby Lovin
A jury convicted the Defendant, Bobby Lovin, of two counts of rape of a child, and he received an effective sixty-four-year sentence. The Defendant appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence on one count of rape of a child and the trial court’s admission of the victim’s recorded forensic interview. We conclude that the evidence is sufficient and that there was no error in the admission of the video, and we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Claiborne | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Christopher James Carbin
Petitioner, Christopher James Carbin, appeals the trial court’s denial of his “Motion for Order Compelling Discovery,” which he filed regarding his 1986 Shelby County convictions for attempted second degree burglary, carrying burglar’s tools, and receiving stolen property. Upon review, we conclude that we are without jurisdiction to address the merits of the instant case, and the appeal is dismissed. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Demerrick Porter
The Defendant, Demerrick Porter, was convicted in the Shelby County Criminal Court of second degree murder, attempted second degree murder, and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony and received an effective sentence of thirty-eight years in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions of second degree murder and attempted second degree murder. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Marvin Dewayne Bullock
The Defendant, Marvin Dewayne Bullock, appeals his convictions for four counts of rape of a child, five counts of rape, nine counts of incest, three counts of sexual battery by an authority figure, one count of solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of aggravated sexual battery, for which he received an effective sentence of 178 years. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions; that due to a hearing impairment, he was unable to hear the witnesses’ testimony at trial; that the prosecutor improperly coached jurors during voir dire in how to avoid jury service; that his sentences are excessive; and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. We conclude that the Defendant’s notice of appeal was untimely and that the untimely filing should not be waived in the interest of justice. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal, and we remand the case to the trial court for entry of corrected judgments as set forth in the opinion. |
Campbell | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. George Steven Waters
Defendant, George Steven Waters, was convicted by a jury of one count of reckless homicide. The trial court imposed a sentence of four years, suspended to ten years of supervised probation after service of 364 days in confinement. On appeal, Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction; that the trial court erred in denying his request for judicial diversion; and that his sentence is excessive. Following our review of the entire record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Polk | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michelle Bennington
The Defendant-Appellant, Michelle Bennington, appeals the dismissal of her second pro se Rule 36 motion to correct a clerical error on an order revoking her probation. See Tenn. R. Crim. P. 36. The sole issue presented is whether the trial court abused its discretion in not applying jail credits the Defendant-Appellant earned on a concurrent sentence in another jurisdiction to the order of revocation. We affirm the dismissal. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Joshua Simpson v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Joshua Simpson, was convicted upon his guilty pleas to aggravated rape, aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, and two counts of aggravated burglary, for which he received an effective twenty-year sentence. He filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which the trial court denied after a hearing. On appeal, he contends that the post-conviction court erred in denying relief on his claims that he received the ineffective assistance of trial counsel and that he did not knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently enter his guilty pleas. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Bryan Williams v. State of Tennessee
Bryan Williams, Petitioner, was convicted of multiple sex offenses and a panel of this Court affirmed his convictions on direct appeal. State v. Bryan Williams, No. W2013-00418-CCA-R3-CD, 2014 WL 280398, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jan. 24, 2014), no perm. app. filed. Petitioner now appeals from the Gibson County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, in which he alleged that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. After reviewing the record, oral argument, and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Gibson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Glenn Bohanan, Jr.
Glenn Bohanan, Jr., Defendant, was charged with one count of rape of a child, three counts of rape, and four counts of incest, for events that took place over the span of several years. After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of all counts of the indictment and sentenced to an effective sentence of 40 years. Defendant raises the following issues on appeal: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions for rape of a child in Count 1, rape in Counts 3 and 4, and incest in Counts 5-8 because the victim did not testify specifically that Defendant penetrated her on each occasion; and (2) the sentence is excessive. After a review of the evidence, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Henderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Dustin Shawn Price v. State of Tennessee
In 2009, a Davidson County jury convicted the Petitioner, Dustin Shawn Price, of first degree felony murder, first degree premeditated murder, two counts of reckless endangerment, and three counts of attempted first degree murder. The trial court sentenced him to life plus forty years of incarceration. The Petitioner appealed his convictions to this court, and we affirmed the judgments. State v. Dustin Shawn Price, No. M2012-00117-CCA-R3-CD, 2013 WL 4539034, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Nashville, Aug. 26, 2013), no perm. app. filed. Subsequently, the Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction 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. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Tondreon Bowles a/k/a Tondreon Merriweather v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Tondreon Bowles, also known as Tondreon Merriweather, appeals from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of post-conviction relief. Petitioner argues that his guilty plea to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, a Class C felony, was not knowingly and voluntarily entered and that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. Petitioner claims that he believed he was pleading guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun, a Class E felony, and therefore, his sentence is illegal. Following a hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court; however, we remand the case to the trial court for entry of judgment forms in counts two and four. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals |
