Ronald David Harris v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Ronald David Harris, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received the effective assistance of counsel in conjunction with his guilty pleas. Following our review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s denial of the petition. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Stephen D. Anderson
The Appellant, the State of Tennessee, appeals the Cocke County Circuit Court order granting the Defendant’s motion to dismiss his indictment. On appeal, the State contends that the trial court erred in dismissing the indictment “in the interest of justice.” Upon review, we remand for entry of corrected judgments but otherwise affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the indictment. |
Cocke | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Deandre Marrece Ellis
A Montgomery County jury convicted Defendant, Deandre Marrece Ellis, of second degree murder, tampering with evidence, and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon with a predicate felony involving force or violence, for which the trial court imposed an effective sentence of fifty-one years’ incarceration. In this direct appeal, Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence as it relates to his conviction for tampering with evidence. He asserts that, when he placed the murder weapon in water inside a toilet tank in a friend’s apartment, he intended only to conceal his possession of the gun and that the State failed to prove that his intent was to hinder the police investigation by impairing the gun’s “verity, legibility, or availability as evidence.” Following a thorough review, we affirm Defendant’s conviction for tampering with evidence. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jalean Robert Williams and Markeil Linskey Williams
A Davidson County grand jury indicted the defendants, Jalean Robert Williams and Markeil Linskey Williams, for one count of premeditated first-degree murder and one count of felony murder. Per a negotiated plea agreement, the defendants pled guilty to one count of second-degree murder for which they each received a sentence of thirty years to be served at 100%. The defendants also agreed to have the trial court determine whether their sentence in the instant matter would be served concurrently or consecutively to a sentence of life in prison plus fourteen years they were currently serving in Case No. 2017- A-296. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed consecutive terms. On appeal, the defendants contend the trial court abused its discretion in imposing consecutive terms. After a thorough review of the record, the applicable law, and the arguments of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Antonio Dewayne Sivels v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Antonio Dewayne Sivels, appeals from the Knox County Criminal Court’s dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief from his 2017 conviction upon his guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, for which he received a twenty-year sentence as a Range I offender. On appeal, he contends that the post-conviction court erred by summarily dismissing the petition after determining it was untimely. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Martin Riley, III
A Putnam County jury convicted the defendant, Martin Riley, III, of felony evading arrest in a motor vehicle, a Class D felony, and the trial court imposed a twelve-year sentence. On appeal, the defendant argues the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on the statutory defense available under Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-16-603(b)(2). After reviewing the record and considering the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Putnam | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Rohman M. Harper v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Rohman M. Harper, appeals from the Cheatham County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his aggravated sexual battery conviction and his eight-year sentence. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the postconviction court erred by denying relief on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim. We affirm the judgment of the |
Cheatham | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jerry Lewis Tuttle v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Jerry Lewis Tuttle, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received the effective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal. After our review of the record, briefs, and applicable law, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Maury | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Christopher Orlando Lyles v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Christopher Orlando Lyles, appeals the trial court’s dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief as time barred, which petition challenged his 2016 convictions of first degree felony murder, second degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, attempted aggravated robbery, and aggravated burglary. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Donald Johnson
The Defendant, Donald Johnson, pled guilty to three counts of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony, and three counts of rape of a child, a Class A felony. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-504, -13-522. The trial court imposed a total effective sentence of eighty years. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentences and that the trial court failed to consider mitigating factors. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
McNairy | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Joshua Hill-Williams v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Joshua Hill-Williams, was convicted of first degree premeditated murder. His conviction was affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Joshua Hill-Williams, No. W2015-01743-CCA-R3-CD, 2017 WL 1907735, at *8 (Tenn. Crim. App. May 9, 2017), perm. app. denied (Aug. 18, 2017). Petitioner filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief and an amended petition through counsel, alleging nine claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The post-conviction court denied relief and Petitioner now appeals. After review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Leavy L. Johnson
Following a bench trial, Defendant, Leavy L. Johnson, was convicted of rape, and the trial court sentenced him to eight years in confinement. On appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court committed plain error by admitting hearsay, that the evidence at trial was insufficient to support his conviction, and that the trial court erred by ordering him to serve his sentence in confinement. After a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Demontez D. Watkins
The Defendant, Demontez D. Watkins, was convicted by a Davidson County Criminal Court jury of first degree felony murder; two counts of attempted first degree premeditated murder, a Class A felony; second degree murder, a Class A felony; attempted especially aggravated robbery, a Class B felony; and two counts of employing a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony, a Class C felony. See T.C.A. §§ 39-13-202(a)(2) (2018) (first degree murder), 39-13-210 (2014) (subsequently amended) (second degree murder); 39-13-403 (2018) (especially aggravated robbery); 39-17-1324(b)(1), (2) (2018) (employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony); 39-12-101 (2018) (criminal attempt). The trial court merged the first degree felony murder and second degree murder convictions and imposed an effective sentence of life plus twenty-seven years. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions, (2) the trial court erred in admitting expert testimony regarding probabilistic genotyping regarding DNA evidence, (3) the court erred in denying his motion to suppress his pretrial statement, (4) the court erred in admitting evidence because the chain of custody was not adequately shown, and (5) the court erred in imposing consecutive sentencing. We affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John Bradford Underwood III
The Defendant, John Bradford Underwood III, was convicted by a Bradley County Criminal Court jury of possession of contraband in a penal facility, a Class D felony. See T.C.A. § 39-16-201 (2018) (subsequently amended).1 The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range II, multiple offender to eight years in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction, (2) the trial court erred by denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal, and (3) the trial court erred by admitting an expert report identifying the contraband. Although we affirm the Defendant’s conviction, we remand for the entry of a corrected judgment reflecting the conviction offense as possession of contraband in a penal facility. |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Tony Light v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Tony Light, appeals from the Knox County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his 2017 guilty plea to attempted robbery, for which he received a four-year sentence as a Range I offender. The Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred by denying relief because his guilty plea was involuntarily and unknowingly entered. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Kimberly Ann Scott v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Kimberly Ann Scott, appeals the summary dismissal of her pro se petition for post-conviction relief. She argues that her petition alleges a colorable claim for relief and that therefore, the post-conviction court erred by dismissing the petition without appointment of counsel or an evidentiary hearing. The State concedes that the post-conviction court erred by summarily dismissing the petition. Upon review, we reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand the case for further proceedings. |
Wilson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Treadence Lee Howard
Defendant, Treadence Lee Howard, pled guilty to possession of 0.5 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to sell and was sentenced to nine years, suspended to supervised probation after service of one year in confinement. Following a hearing on a probation violation warrant based on Defendant’s arrest for attempted first-degree murder, reckless endangerment, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, the trial court revoked Defendant’s probation and ordered him to serve the remainder of the |
Giles | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Telly Lamont Booker v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Telly Lamont Booker, filed a petition for post-conviction relief challenging his convictions for possession with intent to sell or deliver .5 grams or more of cocaine in a school zone, evading arrest, and unlawful possession of a weapon, as well as the resulting twenty-eight-year sentence. The post-conviction court denied relief, and the Petitioner appeals. On appeal, the Petitioner alleges that trial counsel was ineffective in the following ways: (1) by not pursuing a defense of simple possession; (2) by failing to object to the testimony of Officers Heitz and Noe regarding habits of drug dealers because they were not experts; (3) and by cumulative error. After our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court denying the Petitioner relief. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kevin Brazelton
A Knox County Criminal Court Jury convicted the Appellant, Kevin Brazelton, of four counts of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced him to twenty-five years for each conviction and merged the convictions. On appeal, the Appellant contends that the trial court should have granted a mistrial when a court officer shocked him with a stun belt in the jury’s presence; that the trial court erred by allowing the prosecution to use a peremptory challenge against the only |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Gai D. Kuot v. State of Tennessee
Gai D. Kuot, Petitioner, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus (the “petition”) claiming that his convictions are void because the indictment was defective, the capias was unsigned, and the trial court did not have subject matter jurisdiction. The trial court summarily dismissed the petition. We affirm. |
Wayne | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Larry Pittman v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Larry Pittman, appeals the dismissal of his petition for writ of error coram nobis, arguing entitlement to coram nobis relief on the ground that newly discovered evidence supported his claim that the warrant issued for his arrest was defective. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael Leon Caudle
The Defendant, Michael Leon Caudle, was convicted of two counts each of selling less than 0.5 gram of cocaine within a drug-free school zone and delivering less than 0.5 gram of cocaine within a drug-free school zone, and one count of possessing 0.5 gram or more of cocaine within a drug-free school zone with the intent to sell, deliver, or manufacture. The trial court merged the two delivery convictions with the corresponding sale convictions and imposed an effective sentence of sixty years’ incarceration. In this delayed appeal,the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. Following our review of the record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Byron Hartshaw and Gary Lee Emory
A Knox County jury convicted the defendants, Byron Hartshaw and Gary Lee Emory, of robbery, aggravated robbery, and aggravated burglary. The trial court imposed total effective sentences of fifteen years for Defendant Hartshaw and twelve years for Defendant Emory. In this consolidated appeal, both defendants challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, the jury instructions, and the admission of certain evidence. They also contend that the State’s closing argument amounted to prosecutorial misconduct. Defendant Emory additionally argues that the trial court provided “improper assistance” to the State, he challenges the length of his sentence, and he contends that cumulative error entitles him to a new trial. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Cleotris Ruben
The Defendant, Cleotris Ruben, entered guilty pleas pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970), to one count of theft of property valued more than $1,000 but less than $2,500, a Class E felony, and one count of theft of property valued $1,000 or less, a Class A misdemeanor. After entry of the pleas but prior to sentencing, the Defendant discovered that, contrary to what he had been told by the two attorneys representing him, he was not eligible for judicial diversion. The Defendant moved to withdraw his guilty pleas, and the trial court denied the motion. On appeal, this court concluded that counsel had a conflict of interest and reversed the decision, remanding for appointment of new counsel. The trial court appointed new counsel, held a hearing, and again denied the Defendant’s motion to withdraw his pleas, and the Defendant appeals. We conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in denying the motion, and we reverse and remand the case for entry of an order permitting withdrawal of the pleas and for further proceedings. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Vern Braswell
After the trial court granted the State’s motion to dismiss the “Emergency Motion to Alter or Adjust Sentence to Conform With the Principles of Compassionate Release” filed by Vern Braswell, Defendant, this appeal was initiated. On appeal, Defendant challenges the trial court’s dismissal of his motion. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals |
