Courtney Means v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Courtney Means, appeals the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief in which he alleged that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel. Specifically, Petitioner contends that (1) the search of his car and seizure of a gun was unconstitutional; (2) counsel failed to file a motion to suppress the victim's identification; (3) counsel failed to file a motion to suppress his statement to police; and (4) the introduction of a gun into evidence with a different serial number than the gun that was found in his vehicle violated his due process rights. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that Petitioner has failed to show that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel, and we accordingly affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Craig E. Shears v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Craig E. Shears, filed a petition for post-conviction relief attacking his conviction of first degree murder on the basis of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Following an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief based upon its finding that the Petitioner had failed to prove his allegations by clear and convincing evidence. In this appeal as of right, the Petitioner contends that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to effectively argue a motion to suppress his statement and in preparing for trial. The Petitioner also contends that co-counsel was ineffective in failing to request a continuance when co-counsel was hired to assist trial counsel. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Daniel Livingston v. Stephen Dotson, Warden
Petitioner, Daniel Livingston, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The State has filed a motion pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, for this Court to affirm the judgment of the trial court by memorandum opinion. We grant the motion and affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jerry Orlando Weaver
An Anderson County jury convicted the defendant, Jerry Orlando Weaver, of two counts of facilitation of possession of less than one-half gram of cocaine for sale or delivery, Class D felonies. The trial court sentenced the defendant as a career offender to twelve years for each count, to be served consecutively in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court erred in sentencing him as a career offender and in imposing consecutive sentences. Following our review of the record, the parties' briefs, and the applicable law, we conclude that the defendant failed to timely file his notice of appeal and that his claims do not warrant consideration in the "interest of justice." Therefore, we dismiss his appeal. |
Anderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Craig O. Majors
The Defendant, Craig O. Majors, was convicted by a Montgomery County jury of especially aggravated kidnapping, a Class A felony, attempted aggravated robbery, a Class C felony, and aggravated burglary, a Class C felony. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to concurrent sentences of twenty years as a Range I offender for the especially aggravated kidnapping conviction and to six years each as a Range II offender for the attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary convictions, for a total effective sentence of twenty years. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that (1) the State's exercise of peremptory challenges to excuse African-Americans from the jury pool resulted in a systematic exclusion of African-Americans from the jury, (2) his convictions for especially aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated robbery violate due process, (3) there is insufficient evidence of his identity as the perpetrator, and (4) the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Danny Lee Greene
The defendant, Danny Lee Greene, was convicted by a jury of second degree murder and sentenced to twenty-three years as a violent offender. On appeal, he contends that the trial court improperly denied him a jury instruction concerning voluntary intoxication. After careful review, we conclude no error exists and affirm the judgment from the trial court. |
Washington | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Robin Lynn Cooper, Alias
The defendant, Robin Lynn Cooper, was convicted of attempted second degree murder, a Class B felony; rape, a Class B felony; aggravated rape, a Class A felony; especially aggravated kidnapping, a Class A felony; and three counts of aggravated kidnapping, a Class B felony. The convictions for the Class B felony kidnappings were merged into one count. The defendant was sentenced to life without parole as a repeat violent offender for the rape, aggravated rape, especially aggravated kidnapping, and three convictions of aggravated kidnapping and to a concurrent sentence of twelve years at thirty percent for attempted second degree murder. On appeal, he argues that: the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions; the trial court erred in admitting evidence; the trial court abused its discretion when it failed to grant a continuance; and the presence of his parole officer's folder on the witness stand violated a court order that the State could not mention that he was on parole. After careful review, we affirm the judgments from the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Mickey Earl Brown
The Defendant, Mickey Earl Brown, appeals his conviction upon a guilty plea in the Davidson County Criminal Court for aggravated assault, a Class C felony. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range III, persistent offender to eleven years in the Department of Correction, to be served consecutively to a prior six-year sentence. On appeal, the Defendant contends that his sentence is excessive and that the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentencing and in denying alternative sentencing. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. George C. Kilgore
The Montgomery Count Grand Jury indicted Appellant for aggravated robbery and possession of .5 grams or more of cocaine. After a bench trial, the trial court found Appellant guilty as charged. Appellant was sentenced to two, concurrent twelve-year sentences to be served at 35% as a Range II, multiple offender. On appeal, Appellant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for aggravated robbery. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient. Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Marvin Anthony Matthews v. Tony Parker, Warden
The petitioner, Marvin Anthony Matthews, appeals the lower court's denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The state has filed a motion requesting that this court affirm the lower court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. We conclude that the state's motion is meritorious. Accordingly, we grant the state's motion and affirm the judgment of the lower court. |
Lake | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Joe Marvin Ellison v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Joe Marvin Ellison, appeals the post-conviction court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing he received the ineffective assistance of counsel which caused him to enter unknowing and involuntary guilty pleas. After review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Eric P. Lumpkin v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Eric P. Lumpkin, appeals the post-conviction court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. He argues that the post-conviction court erred in finding that he received the effective assistance of appellate counsel. After review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Bobby Dwaine England
The Defendant, Bobby Dwaine England, pled guilty in the Cumberland County Criminal Court to two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, a Class A felony, with the sentence to be determined by the trial court. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed consecutive sentences of twenty-four years as a Range I, standard offender, for a total effective sentence of forty-eight years. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that the trial court imposed an excessive sentence both in length and manner of service. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Cumberland | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Bobby Dwaine England
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Cumberland | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Donovan Michael Munroe
The Defendant, Donovan Michael Munroe, appeals from his jury convictions in the Sullivan County Criminal Court for attempted second degree murder, possession of .5 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to sell, both Class B felonies, possession of oxycodone with the intent to sell, a Class C felony, and maintaining a dwelling where drugs are sold, a Class D felony. The trial court imposed Range I sentences of twelve years, eight years, three years, and two years, respectively; the trial court also ordered the sentences for the drug-related offenses to be served concurrently with one another and on supervised probation, but consecutively to the twelve-year sentence of incarceration for attempted second degree murder. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence, (2) the trial court erred in admitting evidence seized in Virginia, (3) the trial court improperly limited the examination of witnesses, (4) the State committed prosecutorial misconduct in its closing arguments, (5) the trial court imposed an excessive sentence, and (6) the cumulative effect of these errors deprived the Defendant of due process and a fair trial. Following our review, we conclude that the fines imposed were excessive and order them modified consistent with this opinion. Accordingly, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed in part, reversed in part, and the case is remanded. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Franklin Howard. v. State of Tennessee
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Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Billy Ray Farris v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Billy Ray Farris, pled guilty in the Chester County Circuit Court to second degree murder, and he received a sentence of twenty-five years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Thereafter, he filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that his trial counsel was ineffective and that his guilty plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and Petitioner appeals. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Chester | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Donald Clark v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Donald Clark, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The State has filed a motion pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, for this Court to affirm the judgment of the trial court by memorandum opinion. We grant the motion and affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jesse B. Gilliland
Appellant, Jesse B. Gilliland, was arrested at the Cool Springs Mall in Franklin, Tennessee for videotaping underneath women's skirts. Officers obtained a search warrant and while conducting the search, discovered marijuana. The Williamson County Grand Jury indicted Appellant for one count of possession of marijuana weighing less than a half of an ounce. Appellant filed a motion to suppress based on lack of probable cause for the search warrant. The trial court denied the motion. Appellant entered a negotiated plea to the marijuana charge with a sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days. As part of his plea agreement, Appellant reserved a certified question arguing that there was not probable cause to support the search warrant because the facts as alleged, of Appellant photographing underneath women's skirts in a public place, did not constitute a crime. On appeal, the State concedes that the facts as presented do not actually constitute crime under our State's current statutory scheme. Therefore, we must reverse trial court's judgment, order that the evidence found as a result of the execution of the search warrant be suppressed, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Patty Sue Lawrence
Appellant, Patty Sue Lawrence, was convicted of two counts of prostitution, a Class B misdemeanor, and one count of submitting a false police report, a Class D felony. The trial court ordered an effective sentence of three years in custody. She appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and the trial court's denial of alternative sentencing. We affirm. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Brent Richardson
Following a jury trial, the defendant, Brent Richardson, was convicted of first degree felony murder, second degree murder, carjacking, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, and aggravated kidnapping. The trial court merged the second degree murder conviction with the felony murder conviction and sentenced the defendant to an effective term of life plus forty-four years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court erred in allowing the State to amend two counts of the indictment after the jury had been sworn and that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. Based upon our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Lonnie L. Cross
After the appellant, Lonnie L. Cross, led police on a high-speed chase, a Bradley County Criminal Court jury convicted him on two counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, felony evading arrest with risk to others, driving on a revoked license, and speeding. The trial court sentenced the appellant to an effective sentence of eight years in custody. On appeal, the appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support two of his convictions: the evading arrest conviction and one of the reckless endangerment convictions. The appellant also challenges the trial court's reliance on two sentencing enhancement factors. Upon review, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence for the appellant's convictions. We also conclude that, although the trial court erred in its application of one of the enhancement factors, the error was harmless. However, our review of the record reveals that the trial court committed plain error. The appellant's conviction on the reckless endangerment in count three violates constitutional double jeopardy protections. We therefore affirm the judgements of the trial court as to count one, reckless endangerment, and count two, evading arrest. The judgment of conviction in count three is vacated, and the case is remanded to the trial court for merger of the conviction in count three with the evading arrest conviction in count two. |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Manuel Haynes
A jury convicted the defendant, Manuel Haynes, of two counts of aggravated robbery, Class B felonies. The trial court sentenced him as a Range II multiple offender to serve an effective sentence of thirty-five years in the Tennessee Department of Correction, twenty years for the first count consecutive to fifteen years for the second count. On appeal, the defendant argues that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions; (2) the trial court erred in its application of enhancement factors when sentencing the defendant on the first count; (3) the trial court erred by imposing consecutive sentences; (4) the trial court erred by failing to re-read portions of the jury instructions; (5) the trial court erred by failing to grant a new trial based on the intoxication of a juror. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. David Smith
The defendant, David Smith, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of second degree murder, a Class A felony, and sentenced to twenty-four years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he argues that: (1) the trial court erred in allowing hearsay testimony under the dying declaration exception; (2) the trial court erred in conducting its own voir dire of the defendant regarding his decision to testify; (3) the trial court erred in giving a jury instruction on flight; (4) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction; and (5) the trial court erred in enhancing his sentence based on the use of a firearm. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dennis Ray Bailey
The Defendant-Appellant, Dennis Ray Bailey, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court of Dickson County of driving under the influence, second offense, a Class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to eleven months and twenty-nine days, suspended after serving 45 days in confinement, and ordered to pay a $600 fine. Bailey claims on appeal that he was denied a fair trial due to prosecutorial misconduct. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Dickson | Court of Criminal Appeals |
