COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OPINIONS

State of Tennessee v. Melvin L. Harper
E2001-01089-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge Phyllis H. Miller
The appellant, Melvin L. Harper, was convicted by a jury in the Criminal Court of Sullivan County of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony. The appellant was sentenced as a Range II multiple offender to twenty years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the appellant challenges: (1) the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction of armed robbery; (2) the trial court's granting of the State's motion to amend the indictment on the day of trial; (3) the wording of the trial court's jury instructions regarding lesser-included offenses; and (4) the sentence imposed by the trial court. After a careful review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Sullivan Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Adrianne Elizabeth Noles
W2002-01558-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge J. Curwood Witt, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Clayburn L. Peeples

Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-213(a)(1) (1997), the defendant, Adrianne Elizabeth Noles, was charged with vehicular homicide by recklessness in the Haywood County Circuit Court. She submitted a guilty plea to the charge, a Class C felony, and agreed to have the trial court determine the length and manner of service of her sentence. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed a three-year sentence to be served in the Department of Correction.  Aggrieved of the trial court’s rejection of any sentencing alternative to incarceration, she appeals.  We affirm.

Haywood Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Tracy R. Pipes
W2002-00433-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge James Curwood Witt, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge C. Creed McGinley

The defendant, Tracy R. Pipes, appeals the Hardin County Circuit Court's revocation of her drug-offense probation. The court ordered her to serve the effective eight-year sentence in the Department of Correction. Because the record supports the lower court's actions, we affirm.

Hardin Court of Criminal Appeals

State v. Patty Grissom
M2002-00279-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Charles D. Haston, Sr.
The appellant, Patty Francine Grissom, was convicted of the simple possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and she received a probationary sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days. Subsequently, the trial court revoked the appellant's probation upon finding that she had possessed drugs and drug paraphernalia while on probation. On appeal, the appellant raises several issues concerning her probation revocation. Upon reviewing the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Warren Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Carlos E. Bryan
M2001-02705-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Timothy L. Easter

This is yet another case in which the parties have been ensnared in the procedural pitfalls of a certified question of law. Defendant entered a negotiated plea of guilty to possession of over seventy pounds of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver with an agreed sentence of eight years. He attempted to reserve a certified question of law pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 37(b)(2)(iv), "with the consent of the court," relating to the search and seizure of the contraband. Because the defendant entered a negotiated plea of guilty and neither the judgment nor the order of the court reflects the state's consent to the certified question, we must dismiss the appeal.

Williamson Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. James Charles Cavaye
M2001-02154-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Thomas T. Woodall
Trial Court Judge: Judge Steve R. Dozier

Following a jury trial, Defendant, James Charles Cavaye, was convicted of first degree felony murder and especially aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, and to a consecutive sentence of twenty-four years for the especially aggravated robbery. In this appeal as of right, Defendant contends that (1) the trial court failed to fulfill its role as the thirteenth juror; (2) the accomplice's testimony was insufficiently corroborated; (3) the trial court erred in applying enhancement factors in setting Defendant's sentence for especially aggravated robbery; and (4) the trial court erred in ordering Defendant's sentences to run consecutively. Based upon our review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Davidson Court of Criminal Appeals

State v. Phillip Wilcox
M2002-00667-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Trial Court Judge: L. Craig Johnson
The defendant contends the trial court erred in revoking his probation. He claims the trial court improperly considered evidence of probation violations, because he was not given proper notice of the violations by the probation revocation warrant. He further claims that the evidence adduced at the probation revocation hearing was insufficient to revoke his probation. The trial court heard evidence of probation violations that were not included in the probation warrant, but the trial court specifically stated it did not consider such evidence in revoking the defendant's probation. Because sufficient evidence exists to prove the defendant violated Rule One of his Rules of Probation, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Coffee Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Mark Anthony Griffin
E2001-01233-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge Richard R. Baumgartner

A jury convicted the Defendant of aggravated robbery and attempted robbery. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective nine-year term. The Defendant appealed, and our Court affirmed the case in part, but remanded the case in part for the trial court to determine whether the Defendant's right to a speedy trial was violated. On remand, the trial court found that the Defendant's right to a speedy trial had not been violated. The Defendant now appeals from the trial court's order denying his motion to dismiss for a violation of his right to a speedy trial. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Knox Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Sherrie Mae Crawford
E2002-01292-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge Phyllis H. Miller

Pursuant to a plea agreement, the Defendant pled guilty to theft under $500 and to violating an habitual traffic offender order. She entered Alford pleas to possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia, and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Her total effective sentence was two years as a Range I standard offender plus eleven months and twenty-nine days on supervised probation. The manner of service of the two-year sentence was to be determined by the trial court following a sentencing hearing. The trial court denied alternative sentencing and ordered the Defendant to serve the entire two years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred in failing to impose an alternative sentence. Concluding that the record supports the trial court's denial of alternative sentencing, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Sullivan Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Darren A. Dewalt
W2001-02778-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Thomas T. Woodall
Trial Court Judge: Judge James C. Beasley, Jr.

Defendant, Darren A. Dewalt, appeals as of right from the trial court's order revoking his probation and reinstating his original sentence to be served in the Shelby County Correction Center. Defendant contends that the trial court erred by revoking his probation based upon an unidentified and unsubstantiated laboratory report indicating that Defendant had used drugs in violation of his probation. Based upon a review of the entire record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Shelby Court of Criminal Appeals

James Robert Crawford v. State of Tennessee
E2002-01535-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Gary R Wade
Trial Court Judge: Judge Lillie Ann Sells

The defendant, indicted on counts of especially aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, theft over $1,000.00, and evading arrest, entered pleas of guilt to aggravated robbery and theft over $1,000.00. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of ten years. There was no appeal. Later, the defendant filed a petition for post-conviction relief and the trial court granted a delayed appeal. The issues presented for our review are as follows: (1) whether the guilty plea was knowingly and voluntarily entered; (2) whether trial counsel was ineffective by failing to file a direct appeal or by failing to timely file a motion to reduce the sentence; (3) whether the trial court properly modified an illegal sentence; and (4) whether the sentence imposed was excessive. The judgment is affirmed.

Cumberland Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Shirley Mason
M2002-00121-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Lee Russell

The defendant pled guilty to delivery of cocaine under .5 grams. The trial court imposed a Range II eight-year sentence in the Department of Correction. The defendant appeals her sentence, arguing it was excessive and she should have received alternative sentencing. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Bedford Court of Criminal Appeals

James E. Jackson v. State of Tennessee
M2001-02005-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Joseph M. Tipton
Trial Court Judge: Judge Steve R. Dozier

The petitioner, James E. Jackson, appeals the trial court's denial of his petitions for writ of error coram nobis and post-conviction relief from his conviction for first degree murder. In regard to the petition for writ of error coram nobis, the petitioner claims that newly discovered evidence entitles him to a new trial. In regard to the petition for post-conviction relief, he contends that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial attorney failed to call certain witnesses to testify and did not investigate and present a diminished capacity defense. We affirm the trial court's denial of the petitions.

Davidson Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Timothy Maurice Reynolds
M2001-00900-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jim T. Hamilton

A Giles County jury convicted the defendant, Timothy Maurice Reynolds, of aggravated robbery, and the trial court sentenced the defendant to twenty years as a Range II multiple offender. On direct appeal, the defendant raises the following issues: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction for aggravated robbery; (2) whether the trial court erred in prohibiting defense counsel, during cross-examination and closing arguments, from referring to the United States Attorney General's comments on eyewitness identification; and (3) whether the trial court erred in finding the defendant to be a Range II multiple offender. We affirm the conviction; however, because essential exhibits relating to sentencing are missing from the record without fault of the parties, we remand for resentencing.

Giles Court of Criminal Appeals

Javonni Jones v. State of Tennessee
M2001-01322-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge John H. Gasaway, III

The petitioner, Javonni Jones, appeals the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief as being barred by the statute of limitations. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Montgomery Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Clark Douglas Lively
M2002-00666-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Allen W. Wallace

The defendant pled guilty to attempted second degree murder, and the trial court imposed a ten-year sentence. He appeals his sentence, arguing he should have received the minimum sentence of eight years with alternative sentencing. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Cheatham Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Paul Hayes
W2001-02637-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Judge Chris B. Craft

The Appellant, Paul Hayes, appeals his convictions by a Shelby County jury for aggravated burglary and two counts of aggravated robbery. In this appeal as of right, Hayes raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether the trial court erred by prohibiting defense counsel from addressing the jury during entry of the plea; (2) whether the trial court erred by denying Hayes' motion for a mistrial following a detective's testimony that Hayes was a suspect in uncharged similar crimes; (3) whether the trial court committed plain error by limiting the scope of cross-examination of a co-defendant testifying for the State; (4) whether the evidence was sufficient as a matter of law to support the convictions; and (5) whether the cumulative effect of all errors amounted to a denial of due process of law. After a review of the record, we hold that Hayes' issues are without merit and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Shelby Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Randolph Scott Jennings
E2001-02118-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge J. Curwood Witt, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Douglas A. Meyer

Randolph Scott Jennings appeals from his Hamilton County conviction of aggravated robbery. He was found guilty by a jury of his peers and sentenced by the trial court to a seventeen-year, Range II term in the Department of Correction. In this direct appeal, he alleges error in the trial court's (1) denial of his motion to suppress evidence of a "showup" identification and admission of the subsequent in-court identification of him as the perpetrator of the crime, (2) denial of motions to compel production of clothing the defendant wore at the time of his arrest, or alternatively, to dismiss the charged based upon the state's inability to produce the clothing, and (3) application of enhancement factors, imposition of a Range II sentence, and order of consecutive sentencing. Because we are unpersuaded of error, we affirm.

Hamilton Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Colin Reed Wells
E2001-02612-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge J. Curwood Witt, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz

The defendant, Colin Reed Wells, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court jury of carjacking (Class B felony), robbery (Class C felony), aggravated assault (Class C felony), resisting arrest (Class B misdemeanor), violation of driver's license law (Class B misdemeanor), evading arrest (Class A misdemeanor), evading arrest (Class D felony), and assault (Class A misdemeanor). Following his convictions, the trial court merged some convictions and imposed an effective sentence of 32 years as a multiple offender in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he claims his carjacking conviction is infirm because the prosecution failed to disclose exculpatory evidence. Discerning no error, we affirm.

Knox Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Mark E. Conner
E2002-00038-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Judge Leon C. Burns, Jr.

The Defendant, Mark E. Conner, was convicted by a jury of attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, a Class D felony. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant argues four issues: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain his conviction, (2) whether the trial court erred by denying the Defendant's motion to exclude the testimony of witnesses Sherri Conner, the Defendant's wife and former co-defendant, and Gloria Whitehead, the Defendant's mother-in-law, (3) whether the trial court erred by denying the Defendant's motion to require the State to provide the Defendant with any statement, arrest history, and prior convictions of the State's witnesses, and (4) whether the trial court erred by denying the Defendant's motion to exclude the State's photographs and the Defendant's request to introduce at trial the remaining photographs that were provided to the Defendant during discovery. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Cumberland Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennesse v. Ann Marie Thornton Kelly
M2001-01054-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge Robert L. Jones

The appellant, Ann Marie Thornton Kelly, was indicted by the Giles County Grand Jury on twenty counts relating to incidents involving the sexual abuse of her children. She was ultimately convicted of two counts of rape of a child, three counts of criminal responsibility for rape of a child, one count of aggravated sexual battery, one count of criminal responsibility for aggravated sexual battery, and one count of incest. The trial court imposed a total effective sentence of sixty-two years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the State concedes that the appellant was not competent to stand trial. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we reverse the judgments of the trial court.

Giles Court of Criminal Appeals

Anthony Hodges v. State of Tennessee
M2001-03068-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Judge J. Randall Wyatt, Jr.

The Defendant, Anthony Hodges, was convicted by a jury of first degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse. He was sentenced to concurrent sentences of life without parole and twenty-five years, respectively, to be served in the Department of Correction. The Defendant's convictions and sentences were affirmed on direct appeal. See State v. Hodges, 7 S.W.3d 609 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1998). The Defendant subsequently petitioned for post-conviction relief, which the trial court denied. The Defendant now appeals, alleging that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and that his due process rights were violated by the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on second degree murder; by the State's employment of inconsistent theories of guilt at his and his co-defendant's separate trials; and by the denial of his right to testify. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Davidson Court of Criminal Appeals

Randy Caldwell & Stevie W. Caldwell v. State of Tennessee
M2001-00334-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Trial Court Judge: Judge Charles D. Haston, Sr.

The petitioners, brothers, were tried and convicted, jointly, of first degree murder, aggravated arson, and conspiracy to commit arson against personal property. They filed petitions for post-conviction relief, which the post-conviction court denied. After careful review, we affirm the decision of the post-conviction court.

White Court of Criminal Appeals

Barry C. Melton v. State of Tennessee
E2001-02689-CCA-MR3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Rex Henry Ogle

The petitioner appeals the denial of post-conviction relief, arguing: (1) his "best interest" plea was not entered voluntarily and intelligently; and (2) trial counsel was ineffective in representing him at sentencing. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Sevier Court of Criminal Appeals

Ricky Lee Netherton v. State of Tennessee
E2001-02989-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge Lillie Ann Sells

The petitioner, Ricky Lee Netherton, was convicted by a jury in the Criminal Court of Cumberland County of especially aggravated robbery, a Class A felony. The trial court sentenced the petitioner as a violent offender to twenty-four years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction to be served at one hundred percent (100%). Following an unsuccessful appeal of his conviction, the petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging, among other grounds, ineffective assistance of counsel. The petitioner now brings this appeal challenging the post-conviction court's denial of his petition. After reviewing the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Cumberland Court of Criminal Appeals