State of Tennessee v. David Ivy
The Appellant, David Ivy, appeals as of right his sentence of death resulting from the June 2001 murder of Lakisha Thomas. On January 10, 2003, a Shelby County jury found Ivy guilty of premeditated first-degree murder. Following a separate sentencing hearing, the jury unanimously found the presence of two statutory aggravating circumstances, i.e., Ivy had previously been convicted of a violent felony offense and the murder was committed to avoid prosecution. The jury further determined that these aggravating circumstances outweighed any mitigating circumstances and imposed a sentence of death. The trial court approved the sentencing verdict. Ivy appeals, as of right, presenting for our review the following issues: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to establish his identity as the perpetrator, (2) whether the trial court improperly permitted hearsay statements of the victim to be admitted into evidence, (3) whether the trial court erred by impaneling an anonymous jury, (4) whether the trial court erred in refusing to permit the defense, during closing argument, to discuss the rationale behind the hearsay exclusion, (5) whether the trial court erred by preventing defense counsel from arguing “residual doubt” as a non-statutory mitigating circumstance, (6) whether the trial court erred by permitting the State to introduce evidence that Ivy had previously been charged with first degree murder, (7) whether the trial court’s instruction that Ivy’s prior offenses were offenses whose statutory elements involved the use of violence violated his right to trial by jury, (8) whether the death penalty imposed in this case violated due process because the indictment failed to allege the aggravators relied upon by the State, (9) whether the trial court erred in refusing to answer the jury’s questions as to the consequences if they were unable to reach an unanimous verdict as to punishment, and (10) whether Tennessee’s death penalty statutory scheme is unconstitutional. Finding no error requiring reversal, we affirm Ivy’s conviction and sentence of death. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jeffery D. Hostetter
Defendant, Jeffery D. Hostetter, pled guilty to one count of furnishing intoxicating alcoholic beverages to a person under twenty-one years of age in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-15-404, a Class A misdemeanor, without a recommendation as to sentencing. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced Defendant to eleven months, twenty-nine days, with fifty percent of the sentence to be served in confinement. On appeal, Defendant argues that the period of confinement imposed by the trial court is excessive and inconsistent with sentencing principles, and the trial court improperly applied enhancement factors and failed to apply appropriate mitigating factors. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Stacy McKinley Taylor alias Ronald Lee Taylor - Dissenting
The majority concludes that modification of the defendant’s sentences for aggravated assault and theft are required in light of Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S.___, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
James William Parsons, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, James William Parsons, Jr., appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. In 1999, he pled guilty to theft of property over $1000, arson, consuming alcohol while under the age of twenty-one, and possession of a weapon in the commission of an offense and was sentenced to an effective sentence of two years and one day, with all but 120 days to be served on probation. He was subsequently convicted on separate charges in federal court and sentenced to the federal penitentiary. The petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Greene County Criminal Court, claiming that his state plea agreement was illegal and void and therefore it was improper for the federal court to use the state convictions to enhance his federal sentence. The trial court dismissed the petition without a hearing on the matter, and the petitioner appealed. Based upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Greene | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Stacy McKinley Taylor alias Ronald Lee Taylor
The defendant, Stacy McKinley Taylor, was convicted of aggravated assault, criminal impersonation, theft, speeding, and evading arrest he received following a jury trial in the Sullivan County Criminal Court. On appeal, he claims that the aggravated assault conviction is unsupported by sufficient evidence and that the trial court erred in sentencing him. Following our review of the record, the parties’ briefs, and the applicable law, we affirm the conviction of aggravated assault but modify the sentences. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Laconia Lamar Bowers v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Laconia Lamar Bowers, was convicted by a jury of second degree murder. The conviction was affirmed on direct appeal, see State v. Laconia Lamar Bowers, No. E1999-00170-CCA-R3-CD, 2000 WL 15020 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Knoxville, Jan. 11, 2000), and on appeal to the Supreme Court of Tennessee. See State v. Ely, 48 S.W.3d 710 (Tenn. 2001). The petitioner now seeks post-conviction relief on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. For the following reasons, we affirm the post-conviction court's dismissal of the post-conviction petition. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Leslie Carl Clark
The Defendant, Leslie Carl Clark, pled guilty to driving on a revoked license, violation of the implied consent law and driving under the influence of an intoxicant. Sentencing was left to the discretion of the trial court. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered the Defendant to serve eleven months and twenty-nine days for each offense, said sentences to be served concurrently in the local workhouse. It is from this order that the Defendant appeals. We affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kenneth M. Holliday
The Appellant, Kenneth M. Holliday, appeals the sentencing decision of the Shelby County Criminal Court. On appeal, Holliday argues that the trial court erred by refusing to grant his request for alternative sentencing. After review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jeffrey A. Utley v. Ricky J. Bell, Warden
The Defendant, Jeffrey A. Utley, appeals from the dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The trial court found that the petition did not set forth grounds which would entitle the Defendant to habeas corpus relief. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Harry Jamieson
The appellant, Harry Jamieson, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of one count of aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated assault. Following a hearing, the trial court sentenced the appellant to an effective sentence of nine years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The appellant now appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and the sentence imposed by the ial court. In light of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Blakely v. Washington, __ U.S. __, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004), we modify the appellant’s sentence for aggravated robbery to eight years and the sentences for aggravated assault to three years each, for an effective sentence of eight years incarceration. We otherwise affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Romelus Caraway
The Defendant, Romelus Caraway, was indicted for felony Escape. A Shelby County Jury convicted the Defendant of the indicted offense, and the trial court sentenced the Defendant to six years, after it determined the Defendant was a career offender. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred when it denied him a new trial because: (1) the indictment against the Defendant was fatally defective and the trial court allowed the State to use this defective indictment to prove essential elements of the offense for which he was charged; and (2) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Miko T. Burl v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Miko T. Burl, was convicted of aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, and especially aggravated robbery, and the trial court sentenced him to an effective sentence of twenty-five years. On direct appeal, this Court vacated the Petitioner’s aggravated assault conviction, but affirmed all of the Petitioner’s other convictions. The Petitioner subsequently filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging, among other things, ineffective assistance of counsel. After a hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed the Petitioner’s petition. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred because the Petitioner’s trial counsel was ineffective. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Steven Frederick Brinkley
The Defendant, Steven Frederick Brinkley 1, was convicted of driving under the influence of an intoxicant ("DUI"), second offense, and violation of the implied consent law. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence presented at trial is insufficient to sustain his conviction for DUI because: (1) he was not in "physical control" of his vehicle; and (2) the parking lot where his vehicle was located was not a premises frequented by the public at large. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John Whatley
The appellant, John Whatley, was convicted by a jury in the Maury County Circuit Court of aggravated sexual battery. The trial court sentenced the appellant to twelve years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the appellant challenges the trial court's actions as thirteenth juror, the specificity of the indictment, the trial court's instructions regarding lesser-included offenses, the trial court's evidentiary rulings, sentencing, and the denial of his motion for new trial. Upon our review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court; however, in light of Blakely v. Washington, __ U.S. __, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004), we modify the appellant's sentence to eleven years. |
Maury | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Freddie William Lewis
The appellee, Freddie William Lewis, was indicted for custodial interference after allegations arose that he moved his child to another state in violation of a juvenile court order. The appellee filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, arguing that a default judgment taken against him in juvenile court on the paternity petition, which later formed the basis for the indictment, was void. The trial court dismissed the indictment after a hearing. The State appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in dismissing the indictment. We determine that the trial court erred in dismissing the indictment because the default judgment was not void, but merely voidable. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the trial court, reinstate the indictment and remand the case for trial |
Sumner | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Donald Branch v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Donald Branch, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his aggravated vehicular homicide convictions, arguing that trial and appellate counsel were ineffective for failing to cite reported criminal law cases when arguing for a jury instruction on proximate causation and that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to supplement his appellate brief with State v. Farner, 66 S.W.3d 188 (Tenn. 2001), and for failing to raise as an issue on direct appeal the trial judge’s refusal to recuse himself. While the post-conviction appeal was pending, the petitioner sought and received permission to raise as an additional issue the impact of the United States Supreme Court’s Blakely v. Washington opinion on the sentencing in his case. Having thoroughly reviewed the record, we conclude that the petitioner has not met his burden of demonstrating either a deficiency in counsel’s representation or resulting prejudice to his case. We further conclude that Blakely does not apply retroactively to cases on collateral appeal. Accordingly, we affirm the post-conviction court’s denial of the petition. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John Ray Thompson
The Defendant, John Ray Thompson, appeals his convictions from two separate jury trials, where he was convicted of seventeen crimes involving his sexual contact with three minor girls. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective sentence of eighty years for his convictions in both trials, of which sixty-nine years must be served at 100%. On appeal, he contends that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain three of his convictions; (2) the State failed to elect facts to support two of his convictions; and (3) the trial court erred when it sentenced him. After throughly reviewing the record and the applicable authorities, we affirm all of the Defendant’s convictions in both trials except for two of his convictions for sexual battery because the jury was improperly instructed on those counts, and the instructional error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Further, we hold that the trial court improperly enhanced the Defendant’s sentences in light of Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. __, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004), and we reduce the Defendant’s sentence in accordance with this opinion to an effective sentence of sixty-eight years, sixty of which must be served at 100%. We remand the case for the entry of appropriate judgments of conviction. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Stanley Earl Cates
The Appellant, Stanley Earl Cates, was convicted by an Anderson County jury of aggravated robbery and sentenced to eight years imprisonment. On appeal, Cates raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress, (2) whether the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's verdict, (3) whether the trial court erred by requiring him to provide a voice exemplar before the jury, (4) whether the trial court erred in giving sequential jury instructions, and (5) whether the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to sentence him as an especially mitigated offender. After review, we find that Cates' issues are without merit. Accordingly, the judgment of the Anderson County Criminal Court is affirmed. |
Anderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jerry Britt v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Jerry Britt, entered Alford pleas in 1996 to three counts of attempted rape of a child and guilty pleas to one count of possession with intent to sell or deliver a Schedule II controlled substance, one count of possession with intent to sell or deliver a Schedule IV controlled substance, and six counts of delivery of a Schedule II controlled substance, and received an effective sentence as a Range I, standard offender of forty-eight years in the Department of Correction. He appeals the dismissal of his petition for writ of error coram nobis, arguing that the trial court should have granted him relief based on newly discovered evidence, the victim's recantation testimony. Following our review, we affirm the order of the trial court dismissing the petition. |
Hamblen | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Byron Edwards v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Byron Edwards, appeals the trial court's order dismissing his petition for writ of habeas corpus. 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 petition fails to establish either a void judgment or an expired sentence. Accordingly, the state's motion is granted and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Johnson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Gerald Pendleton
A Shelby County jury convicted the Defendant of first degree felony murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, and perjury. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction for felony murder; and (2) he was denied a fair trial because an expert witness for the State did not disclose to the jury that the witness was himself the subject of a federal criminal investigation. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Howard Lavelle Tate
The Defendant, Howard Lavelle Tate, was pulled over by a Metropolitan Police Officer in Nashville, Tennessee for violating the noise ordinance. The officer asked the Defendant for consent to search the Defendant's person and the Defendant's vehicle. The Defendant replied "whatever" to both these requests. The officer found scales with a white powder residue in the Defendant's vehicle. The Defendant then fled the officer. The officer and a second officer caught the Defendant who then told the officers that they could find the drugs in his pants leg. The officers retrieved the drugs and placed the Defendant under arrest. The Defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence found as a result of the warrantless searches. The trial court denied this motion. The Defendant pled guilty to possession of over .5 grams of cocaine, a Class B felony, but reserved a certified question concerning whether the warrantless searches fell within an exception to the warrant requirement. The Defendant now appeals on the basis of the certified question. We find that the searches fell within an exception to the warrant requirement and affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Rose Marie Hernandez
The defendant, Rose Marie Hernandez, pled guilty to seventy counts of forgery, a Class E felony, which the trial court merged into thirty-five convictions of forgery, and the trial court sentenced her as a Range III, persistent offender to five years and six months for each conviction. The trial court ordered some of the sentences to run concurrently and others to run consecutively for an effective sentence of thirty-three years and six months in the Department of Correction. The defendant appeals, claiming the trial court erred in applying certain enhancement factors in violation of the rule announced in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. __, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004), and in denying alternative sentencing. Although we conclude that the sentencing procedure violated the rule announced in Blakely, we hold it to be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
James David Alder v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, James David Alder, was found guilty by a jury of aggravated assault, kidnapping, and unlawful possession of a weapon. As a result, he received an effective sentence of twenty (20) years as a multiple offender. The judgments were affirmed on appeal. See State v. James David Alder, No. M2000-01804-CCA-R3-CD, 2001 WL 1285945 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Nashville, Oct. 25, 2001). In this post-conviction proceeding, the petitioner alleges that for various reasons his trial counsel was ineffective. For the following reasons, we affirm the dismissal of the post-conviction petition. |
Franklin | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Amy Jo Blankenship
Defendant, Amy Jo Taylor Blankenship, appealed the trial court's judgment revoking her probation and ordering her to serve the remainder of her sentence in confinement. We affirm the judgment of the trial court by memorandum opinion pursuant to Rule 20 of the Tennessee Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. |
Humphreys | Court of Criminal Appeals |
