State of Tennessee v. Terrance Yves Smothers
Following a bench trial, the Defendant, Terrance Yves Smothers, was convicted by the Montgomery County Circuit Court of aggravated robbery, misdemeanor theft, and two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping. The Defendant received an effective twenty-year sentence for these convictions. The single issue presented for our review is whether the testimony of the accomplice was sufficiently corroborated. After a review of the record, we find that the evidence is insufficient to corroborate the accomplice's testimony and, therefore, reverse and dismiss the judgments of conviction. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Leonard Masonet v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Leonard Masonet, filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus alleging that the length of his sentence contravened the Criminal Sentencing Reform Act of 1989 and was therefore void. The trial court summarily denied the petition without an evidentiary hearing, and Petitioner now appeals. After a review of the record, we affirm the trial court's dismissal of Petitioner's petition for writ of habeas corpus. |
Wayne | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Bruce M. Vann v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Bruce M. Vann, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, contending that the trial court erred in finding that counsel rendered effective assistance at trial. Upon review, we conclude that the sole issue raised by the petitioner on appeal has been waived for failure to support it with argument or citations to the appellate record. Therefore, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief, pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Victor Thompson v. David Mills, Warden, et al.
The petitioner, Victor Thompson, appeals the denial of habeas corpus relief contending that: (1) his sentence was outside the applicable range and was, therefore, illegal; and (2) that the indictment was fatally defective. Upon review, we conclude that the defendant’s sentence was within the agreed range and that the remaining issue is waived, as it is raised for the first time on appeal. Therefore, we affirm the denial of habeas relief in accordance with Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. |
Lauderdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Shannon A. Holladay - Concurring
I agree with the majority that this case is not properly before this court for an appeal as of right pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 3 and that it does not qualify as an extraordinary appeal under Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 10. I write separately because it is my view that the dismissal of the state appeal might imply that evidence obtained from a vehicle's event data recorder (the air bag sensor module) is generally inadmissible. |
Anderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Shannon A. Holladay
An Anderson County grand jury indicted the defendant, Shannon A. Holladay, for one count of vehicular homicide by intoxication, a Class B felony, and one count of vehicular homicide by recklessness, a Class C felony. Before trial, the defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the air bag sensor module in the defendant’s car, which the Anderson County Criminal Court granted. The state appeals, contending that the trial court erred in granting the defendant’s motion to suppress. We dismiss this case for lack of jurisdiction. |
Anderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James H. Carter
The defendant, James H. Carter, pled guilty to two counts of burglary, Class D felonies; two counts of vandalism over $1,000 but less than $10,000,Class D felonies; and one count of resisting arrest a Class B misdemeanor. The trial court imposed Range I sentences of four years for each burglary, which were to be served consecutively, and four years for each vandalism, to be served concurrently. The six-month sentence for resisting arrest was also ordered to be served concurrently. The effective sentence is, therefore, eight years. In this appeal, the defendant asserts that the trial court erred by ordering his sentences for the two burglary convictions to be served consecutively. The judgments of the trial court are affirmed. |
Grundy | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Alejandro Gonzalez
The defendant, Alejandro Gonzalez, appeals a certified question of law following his guilty plea to possession of cocaine, within 1000 feet of a school, with intent to sell or deliver, an offense for which he received an eight-year sentence to be served in a community corrections program. The question certified for appeal is whether a Metro Nashville police officer had sufficient cause to search a grocery bag the defendant was carrying, in which the officer found 26 grams of cocaine. Because we hold that the search was lawful and that the fruits thereof were admissible, we affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Anthony Howard Skelton
This is a direct appeal from the order of the trial court revoking the Defendant's probation and ordering him to serve his five-year sentence in the Department of Correction. The Defendant, Anthony Howard Skelton, raises two issues on appeal: 1) there was insufficient evidence to establish that he violated his probation, and 2) the trial court abused its discretion in ordering the Defendant to serve his entire sentence in the Department of Correction. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Wayne | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael Ortiz
The defendant, Michael Ortiz, was found guilty by a Shelby County Jury of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, to wit: cocaine over 300 grams. He was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to twenty years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he argues the trial court erred in denying: (1) his motion to suppress evidence obtained from a search of his vehicle; and (2) his motion to suppress his statement given to police. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Lorenzo Porter v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Lorenzo Porter, appeals the trial court's denial of his motion to reopen his postconviction or, in the alternative, requesting habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner has not established that he is entitled to habeas corpus relief. Moreover, this Court is not vested with jurisdiction to entertain a request for an appeal of a denial of a motion to reopen a post-conviction petition. Accordingly, we grant the state's motion and affirm the judgment of the lower court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
A.T. Pruitt v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, A.T. Pruitt, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing his trial counsel was ineffective in communicating to him or preparing him for trial, which resulted in him entering guilty pleas that were neither knowing or voluntary. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jeremy D. Shivers v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Jeremy D. Shivers, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. In this appeal, he asserts that his trial counsel was ineffective and that, as a result of counsel's deficient performance, his guilty pleas were not knowingly and voluntarily entered. The judgment of the post-conviction court is affirmed |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Joseph D. Gaines v. Kevin Myers, Warden
The petitioner appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. In this appeal, he asserts that the judgments are void because the indictment was defective. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Wayne | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Larry McKay v. State of Tennessee
This matter is before the Court upon the State's motion to affirm the judgment of the trial court by memorandum opinion pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The petitioner has appealed the trial court's order summarily dismissing the petition for the writ of habeas corpus. In that petition, the petitioner argues that his indictments were void because the applicable statute under which he was indicted did not "define the use of a deadly weapon as an element of first degree murder." Upon a review of the record in this case we are persuaded that the trial court was correct in summarily dismissing the habeas corpus petition and that this case meets the criteria for affirmance pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Accordingly, the State's motion is granted and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Ryan Sandson
The defendant, Ryan Sandson, was found guilty by a Shelby County jury of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony, and was sentenced as a standard offender to eleven years, six months in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he raises two issues: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction; and (2) whether his sentence was excessive. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Robert Fluellen
Following a bench trial, the Defendant, Robert Fluellen, was convicted of one count of burglary of a building, a Class D felony. The Defendant was sentenced as a multiple offender to six years in the workhouse. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence presented at his bench trial is not sufficient to sustain his conviction. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Terry L. Tabor
The Appellant, Terry L. Tabor, was convicted by a Sullivan County jury of driving under the influence ("DUI"), speeding, and failure to use headlights. As a result of Tabor's conviction for DUI, he received a sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days, with six months service in confinement. On appeal, Tabor raises two issues for our review: (1) whether the evidence is sufficient to support the conviction for DUI; and (2) whether the court erred in ordering him to serve six months in jail. After review, the judgment of conviction and resulting sentence are affirmed. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Travis Ray Wilkins
The Appellant, Travis Ray Wilkins, was convicted by a Cocke County jury of aggravated burglary and theft of property over $500. As a result of these convictions, Wilkins received an effective sentence of five years. On appeal, Wilkins argues that the evidence is insufficient to support either of his convictions. After review of the record, we conclude that the evidence supports the convictions. |
Cocke | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Shawn Donzell Anglin v. State of Tennessee
This is an appeal from the denial of post-conviction relief. The Petitioner, Shawn Donzell Anglin, pled guilty to and was convicted of facilitation of possession for resale of more than 0.5 grams of cocaine. Pursuant to a plea agreement, the Petitioner was sentenced to ten years to be served in Community Corrections and was fined $2,000. The Petitioner filed for and was denied post-conviction relief. The Petitioner now appeals the trial court's order denying post-conviction relief, claiming his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel which resulted in an involuntary guilty plea. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Letonio Swader
A Rutherford County Circuit Court jury convicted the appellant, Letonio Swader, of first degree felony murder, second degree murder, attempted especially aggravated robbery, and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of an offense. The trial court merged the murder convictions and sentenced the appellant to life. The trial court also sentenced the appellant to ten years for the attempted especially aggravated robbery conviction and two years for the possession of a weapon conviction. The trial court ordered the appellant to serve the life and ten-year sentences concurrently and ordered that the two-year sentence be served consecutively to the other two sentences. On appeal, the appellant claims (1) that the State committed reversible error by telling potential jurors during voir dire that the punishment for first degree murder in this case was life with the possibility of parole, (2) that the trial court erred by failing to suppress his statement to police, and (3) that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions because there is no evidence to corroborate his statement to police that he intended to rob someone. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we conclude that the State's comments during voir dire were improper but harmless error and affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Thomas Poston Studdard v. State of Tennessee
This case is before us after remand by the Tennessee Supreme Court. The defendant, who was indicted on three counts of rape of a child, a Class A felony, pled guilty to one count of incest, a Class C felony, in exchange for a negotiated eight-year sentence as a Range II, multiple offender. On direct appeal, this court originally vacated the judgment of conviction on the grounds that incest is not a lesser-included offense of rape, without reaching the merits of the defendant’s sentencing issues. Thomas Poston Studdard v. State, No. W2003-01210-CCA-R3-PC, 2004 WL 370259 (Tenn. Crim. App. Feb. 27, 2004), perm. to appeal granted (Tenn. Sept. 7, 2004). Our supreme court, however, concluded that the trial court had jurisdiction to accept the defendant’s guilty plea and remanded the case to this court for consideration of the defendant’s sentencing issues. Studdard v. State, __ S.W.3d __, 2005 WL 3192279 (Tenn. 2005). Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Dyer | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tim Flood
The defendant, Tim Flood, appeals from his Knox County Criminal Court jury convictions of four counts of rape of a child, for which he received an effective sentence of 40 years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant claims that the convictions are unsupported by the evidence and that the trial court erred in refusing to allow a proposed defense witness to testify. Because the refusal to permit the defendant to call a witness was error, we reverse the convictions and remand the case. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Charles Dewayne Moore v. Kenneth W. Locke, Warden and State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Charles Dewayne Moore, appeals from the trial court's summary dismissal of his petition seeking habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The State's motion is granted. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Maurice Darnell Tyler
This is a direct appeal as of right from convictions entered on a jury verdict of guilty of two first degree premeditated murders. The jury sentenced the Defendant to life without the possibility of parole for one conviction, and he received a life sentence for the other. On appeal, the Defendant advances five arguments: (1) the state violated his equal protection rights by striking three African Americans during jury selection; (2) the court erred by admitting into evidence a photograph of one of the victims; (3) the court erred by admitting into evidence a threatening statement made by the Defendant three years prior to the date of the crimes at issue in this case; (4) the court erred by failing to declare a mistrial when the State made a statement during closing argument which was unsupported by the evidence; and (5) the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's guilty verdicts. We affirm the judgments of the court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals |
