State of Tennessee v. Brandon Wallace
The defendant, Brandon Wallace, was convicted by a jury of two counts of attempted first degree murder (Counts 1 and 2); attempted second degree murder (Count 3); attempted especially aggravated robbery (Count 4); especially aggravated burglary (Count 5); and felony reckless endangerment (Count 6). He was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to twenty-three years in the Department of Correction for Counts 1 and 2, to be served consecutively; ten years for Count 3, to be served concurrently with Counts 1 and 6; ten years for Count 4 which the trial court merged with Count 5, for which he also was sentenced to ten years, to be served consecutively to Count 1 and concurrently with Count 2; and two years for Count 6, to be served concurrently with Counts 1 and 3, for a total effective sentence of forty-six years. Additionally, the jury set fines totaling $138,000, which were reduced by the trial court to $1,000. The defendant raises two issues on appeal: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to support his convictions, excluding his felony reckless endangerment conviction; and (2) whether the trial court erred in sentencing. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand for resentencing and for entry of corrected judgments reflecting the offense date as July 1, 2002. |
Lauderdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joseph Barajar
The defendant, Joseph Barajar, originally charged with premeditated first degree murder, was convicted of second degree murder. The trial court ordered a twenty-five-year sentence in the Department of Correction. In this appeal of right, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, cites error in the admission of the evidence, and asserts that his sentence is excessive. See Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. __, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). The sentence must be modified to twenty-two years; otherwise, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Christopher Franklin Waddell
The Appellant, Christopher Franklin Waddell, appeals the sentencing decision of the Sumner County Criminal Court which resulted in the imposition of an effective thirty-year sentence. Under the terms of a plea agreement, Waddell pled guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, four counts of attempted aggravated robbery, and three counts of coercion of a witness. On appeal, Waddell argues that the trial court erred: (1) in its application of enhancing factors with respect to his aggravated assault convictions; (2) in imposing consecutive sentences; and (3) in denying an alternative sentence. After review, we affirm. |
Sumner | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Aaron T. Binkley
The defendant, Aaron T. Binkley, pled guilty to forgery, a Class D felony, and was sentenced as a Range One standard offender to two years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying him alternative sentencing. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael Lebron Anderson
The defendant, Michael Lebron Anderson, was convicted of burglary of a building other than a habitation, a Class D felony, and was sentenced to twelve years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant contends that the trial court erred by allowing hearsay statements of eyewitnesses to be introduced through the testimony of a police officer as an excited utterance, thereby violating his right to confront witnesses against him. After careful review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Arzolia Charles Goines v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Arzolia Charles Goines, appeals the trial court's dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. The state has filed a motion requesting that this court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20. See Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. R 20. The petition was properly dismissed as time-barred. Accordingly, the State's motion is granted and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jeffrey Martin Reaves, alias, Roland Lee Mallin
A Knox County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Jeffrey Martin Reaves, of voluntary manslaughter, a Class C felony, attempted reckless homicide, a Class E felony, and misdemeanor reckless endangerment, a Class A misdemeanor, and the trial court sentenced him as a Range II, multiple offender to an effective sentence of ten years in the Department of Correction. The defendant appeals, claiming that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions, that the trial court erred in applying certain enhancement factors, and that it erred in ordering consecutive sentencing. Because attempted reckless homicide is not a crime in Tennessee, we vacate the defendant's conviction for that count under plain error review. In all other respects, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Braddie Eric Sullivan
The state was granted an extraordinary appeal pursuant to Rule 10, T.R.A.P., to challenge the Lincoln County Circuit Court's denying its motion to use statements made by the defendant, Braddie Eric Sullivan, to his attorney for impeachment purposes in his first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery trial. We affirm the trial court's denial of the state's motion. |
Lincoln | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joe Calvin Boyce
A Hardeman County jury convicted the Defendant, Joe Calvin Boyce, of one count of theft of property valued between $1,000 and $10,000 and one count of attempted theft of property valued between $500 and $1,000. The trial court sentenced the Defendant, as a career offender, to twelve years in prison for the theft conviction and six years for the attempted theft conviction, to be served concurrently. The Defendant appeals, contending: (1) the evidence presented at trial is insufficient to sustain his convictions; and (2) the trial court erred when it sentenced him. On appeal, we vacate the Defendant’s six year sentence for attempted theft, and impose a sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days for that conviction. The Defendant’s convictions and his sentence for theft are affirmed. |
Hardeman | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Mario Pendergrass v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that he should have been appointed post-conviction counsel and given an evidentiary hearing. We conclude that the petitioner presents a colorable claim for relief under the more lenient standards afforded a pro se petition. Accordingly, we reverse the summary dismissal of the petition and remand the case to the post-conviction court for the appointment of counsel. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James D. Nicholson
On appeal, the defendant challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress. After careful review, we conclude that, under the facts presented, the defendant was seized when the officers instructed the defendant to “hold up,” pursued him on foot, and eventually apprehended him. Moreover, we hold that the detectives lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause to effectuate the stop. Therefore, we reverse the findings of the trial court, the evidence flowing from the illegal seizure is suppressed, the defendant’s conviction is vacated, and the charges are dismissed. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James D. Nicholson - Dissenting
I would affirm the judgment of the trial court. In my view, the defendant was not seized when the officer directed him to "hold up." Further, the defendant's flight, coupled with his presence in an area known for drug trafficking, provided the officers with reasonable suspicion to pursue and detain him for further inquiry. That he was not a resident of the housing project, refused to provide his name or identification, and refused to provide the name of the individual he claimed to be visiting established probable cause to arrest him for trespassing. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Billy Britton, III
The defendant challenges his convictions for first degree premeditated murder and felony unlawful possession of a weapon. Specifically, he contends that: 1) the evidence was insufficient to support the element of premeditation; 2) the trial court improperly admitted the statement made by the victim identifying the defendant as the shooter; and 3) the trial court improperly denied his request for judicial use immunity for a prospective defense witness. After careful review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the convictions. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Carl Johnson v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Carl Johnson, was convicted by a jury in the Shelby County Criminal Court of especially aggravated robbery, and he received a sentence of twenty-five years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Subsequently, the petitioner filed for post-conviction relief, alleging numerous instances of ineffective assistance of counsel. The post-conviction court dismissed the petition without conducting a full evidentiary hearing. The petitioner now appeals the dismissal of his petition. Upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we reverse the post-conviction court’s dismissal of the petition and remand for an evidentiary hearing. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
William David Farrar v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, William David Farrar, pled guilty to one count of burglary, and the trial court sentenced him to five years in prison, to be served consecutively to another sentence in Marshall County. The Petitioner did not perfect a direct appeal, but later filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief, which was amended by appointed counsel. After a hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed the petition, and the Petitioner now appeals, contending that the post-conviction court erred because his trial counsel was ineffective. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Michael Dwayne Carter v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Michael Dwayne Carter, pled guilty in May of 2002 to two counts of forgery, one count of felony theft, two counts of misdemeanor theft, one count of misdemeanor evading arrest and one count of burglary of a vehicle in exchange for an effective sentence of six years and acceptance into a "Drug Court" program. The trial court set a sentencing date. Prior to sentencing, the petitioner was charged with several other offenses. In October of 2002, the petitioner appeared for sentencing on the previous guilty pleas and entered guilty pleas on four additional counts of forgery. By agreement, the petitioner's sentences on the subsequent offenses were considered with the prior offenses, resulting in an effective ten-year sentence for all of the charged offenses. The petitioner subsequently filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. The trial court denied the petition. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Anthony Jackson v. State of Tennessee
In this case, the Appellant, Anthony Jackson, has appealed from the trial court's order summarily dismissing, without an evidentiary hearing, his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The State has filed a motion for the trial court's judgment to be affirmed pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. We grant the motion and affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Stacy Dewayne Ramsey v. State of Tennessee
Appellant, Stacy Dewayne Ramsey, filed a petition for post-conviction relief challenging his conviction for first degree murder and sentence of life without the possibility of parole. The petition was timely filed. Approximately two months after the petition was filed, the post-conviction court entered an order summarily dismissing the petition without a hearing. Appellant has appealed from this order, and the State concedes that the matter should be reversed and remanded for proceedings in accordance with Post-Conviction Procedure Act. We agree and accordingly, reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand this matter for proceedings in accordance with the Post-Conviction Procedure Act. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Shamain Johnson v. State of Tennessee
The Appellant, Shamain Johnson, appeals the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. On appeal, Johnson collaterally challenges his convictions for class B felony possession of cocaine and two counts of sale of a counterfeit controlled substance, class E felonies. In support of his arguments, Johnson contends that: (1) his community corrections sentences, resulting from these convictions, were not statutorily authorized; (2) his plea agreement, with regard to his convictions for sale of a counterfeit controlled substance, "constitutes a plea to a non-existent offense and is therefore void;" and (3) his guilty pleas to the offenses were not knowingly or voluntarily entered. After review, we affirm the dismissal. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Ralph E. Scates v. State of Tennessee
The appellant, Ralph E. Scates, pled guilty to two counts of theft, attempted misdemeanor theft, and simple possession of marijuana. He was placed on unsupervised probation for eleven (11) months and twenty-nine (29) days. In January of 2004, the appellant filed a petition to expunge and seal records in both the cases in which he pled guilty and in previous cases, including several that had been dismissed or in which the grand jury had not returned a true bill. The trial court dismissed the petition. The appellant filed a timely notice of appeal challenging the trial court’s dismissal of the petition. Because the trial court properly denied the petition for expungement as to the cases which resulted in convictions, we affirm that portion of the trial court’s judgment. Because the trial court improperly denied expungement of the records relating to cases which were dismissed or where a no true bill was returned by the grand jury, we remand the case to the trial court for expungement of those records. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand the case to the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Linda Overholt
Convicted of five counts of selling marijuana, the defendant, Linda H. Overholt, appeals and challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence, the prosecutor's trial conduct, various evidentiary rulings of the trial court, the denial of judicial diversion, and the trial court's sentencing determinations. Because the record supports the judgments of the trial court, we affirm the convictions and sentences. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael E. Johnson, Jr.
The defendant appeals the trial court's denial of probation. The defendant pled guilty to a reduced charge of possession of marijuana for resale and agreed to a six-year sentence as a Range I offender. Following a hearing to determine the manner of service, the trial court denied probation and ordered the defendant to serve his sentence in confinement. Upon careful review, we affirm the trial court's denial of probation; however, we remand the matter for the limited purpose of entry of a corrected judgment. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kenny Lynn Evans
The petitioner, Kenny Lynn Evans, appeals the dismissal by the Dyer County Circuit Court of his petition for post-conviction relief. On appeal, the petitioner argues that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial. After review of the record, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief. |
Dyer | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Ronnie Weddle v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Ronnie Weddle, appeals the dismissal by the Madison County Circuit Court of his petitions for post-conviction relief. On appeal, the petitioner argues that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel in connection with a previously negotiated plea agreement that disposed of two narcotics-related offenses. Upon review of the record, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Frank D. Grundy
The trial court found that Defendant, Frank D. Grundy, violated the terms of his eight-year community corrections sentence. It ordered him to serve one year "day for day" in the county jail before serving the remainder of his community corrections sentence. On appeal, Defendant argues the trial court's imposition of "day for day" sentencing was improper. We conclude the trial court imposed an illegal sentence and remand for entry of an appropriate amended order. |
Dickson | Court of Criminal Appeals |
