COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OPINIONS

State of Tennessee v. Jerry Waymon Travis, aka Jerry Waymon Ray
W2001-01914-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Trial Court Judge: Judge Julian P. Guinn

The defendant claims it was error for the trial court to sentence him to the Department of Correction for three years, then order one-year split confinement with the balance on Community Corrections. The defendant contends that a one-year split confinement sentence will require him to serve 1.2 months longer in confinement than a three-year sentence at 30% to the Department of Correction. We conclude the sentence imposed did not violate the principles of sentencing and, accordingly, affirm the judgment from the trial court as modified.

State of Tennessee v. Andre Dealto Perkins
W2001-02635-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Julian P. Guinn

The defendant appeals his jury conviction for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to manufacture, deliver, or sell. He argues the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. We find this issue is waived because the defendant has failed to include a trial transcript in the record. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

State of Tennessee v. William Roy Gray
W2002-00460-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Judge Donald H. Allen

Following a bench trial, the Defendant, William Roy Gray, was found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor, and resisting arrest, a class B misdemeanor. He received consecutive sentences of eleven months and twenty-nine days and six months, respectively, to be served in jail. However, approximately two months later, the trial court entered an order allowing the Defendant to serve his sentences at home due to the Defendant's poor health. The court revoked this order based on the Defendant failing to comply with the conditions of his release from jail and the Defendant being arrested for theft. Moreover, the court ordered that the Defendant not be given credit for the portion of his sentences that he served at his home. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant argues that the order of the trial court denying him credit for the time he served outside of jail serves to increase his sentence and to effectively punish him twice for the same offense in violation of the double jeopardy clauses of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions. We disagree and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Randy Tyrone Crawford - Order
M2001-03063-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes

The Appellant, Randy Tyrone Crawford, appeals from the order of the Sumner County Criminal Court revoking his probation and ordering him to serve his sentence in the Department of Correction. We affirm the judgment of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.

State of Tennessee v. Thomas Dee Huskey - Order
E1999-00438-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Per Curiam
Trial Court Judge: Judge Richard R. Baumgartner

On August 23, 2002, the defendant filed a petition to rehear claiming that the opinion of this court fails to consider material facts, contains misstatements of fact, and overlooks or misapprehends case law. We disagree.

State of Tennessee v. Rufus E. Neeley
E2001-02243-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Thomas T. Woodall
Trial Court Judge: Judge R. Jerry Beck
Defendant, Rufus E. Neeley, was convicted of the following offenses following a jury trial: (1) unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon, to wit: a short-barreled shotgun, a Class E felony; (2) possession of a knife with a blade length exceeding four inches with intent to go armed, a Class C misdemeanor; (3) driving on a revoked driver's license, a Class B misdemeanor; and (4) operating a motor vehicle while possessing an open container of beer, a Class C misdemeanor. Defendant was sentenced to serve three years and six months as a Range II multiple offender for the felony offense, thirty days for each Class C misdemeanor, and six months for the Class B misdemeanor. All sentences were ordered to be served concurrently with each other. He was ordered to serve the felony sentence in the Department of Correction. Defendant has appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions for unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of a knife with intent to go armed, and argues that he should have been sentenced to split-confinement rather than total incarceration. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Eric Boyd v. State of Tennessee
E2001-02069-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Thomas T. Woodall
Trial Court Judge: Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz
Appellant, Eric Boyd, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The issues presented for review are, whether the State's promise not to offer Appellant's co-defendant a lesser sentence than Appellant, was in fact a condition of Appellant's plea agreement, and if so what relief Appellant should receive as a result of the State's breach of that condition. We hold that the State breached the conditions of its plea agreement with Appellant, thereby entitling him to post-conviction relief. We further hold that the appropriate remedy is to set aside Appellant's guilty pleas and for the original charges to be reinstated.

David Andrew Jackson, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
E2001-02646-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge Ray L. Jenkins

The petitioner, David Andrew Jackson, Jr., was convicted by a jury in the Criminal Court of Knox County of six counts of aggravated sexual battery, Class B felonies, and two counts of rape of a child, Class A felonies. Prior to sentencing, the petitioner also pled guilty to one pending count of aggravated sexual battery and two pending counts of rape of a child. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the petitioner received an effective sentence of twenty years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction to be served at one hundred percent (100%). The petitioner timely filed for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. The post-conviction court denied his petition. On appeal, the petitioner challenges the post-conviction court's finding that the petitioner received effective assistance of counsel. After reviewing the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Donnie W. Foulks v. State of Tennessee
E2002-00224-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge James E. Beckner

The petitioner, Donnie W. Foulks, appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. The post-conviction court, citing Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-30-202(c) (1997), determined that the petitioner had previously filed a petition for post-conviction relief and was therefore precluded from seeking relief in a second proceeding. Concluding that the post-conviction court failed to consider that the petitioner's first post-conviction petition was not resolved on the merits, we reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand for further proceedings.

State of Tennessee v. Donna F. Benson
W2001-01926-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Trial Court Judge: Judge Bernie Weinman

The defendant, a former employee of the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk's office, pled guilty to two counts of public servant accepting a bribe, in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-16-102, a Class C felony. The trial court sentenced her as a Range I, standard offender to concurrent terms of three years on each count, but suspended all but ninety days of the sentence, to be served on weekends at the county workhouse. The defendant was also placed on probation for three years, ordered to perform 300 hours of community service, and assessed a $1000 fine for each count. She argues on appeal that the trial court erred in denying her judicial diversion or full probation. After reviewing the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Mark D. Nunnally
W1999-01305-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Carolyn Wade Blackett

The defendant seeks appellate review of his motion to clarify the prior judgments of the trial court. We dismiss the appeal because the record does not reflect any order of the trial court concerning the motion.

State of Tennessee v. Steven D. Fish
E2001-02200-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge D. Kelly Thomas, Jr.

As a result of his guilty plea to one count of attempted rape of a child, the appellant, Steven D. Fish, was sentenced to eight years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction, with thirty days to be served in confinement and the balance served on supervised probation. After the appellant began serving his probationary sentence, a probation violation warrant was issued. Subsequent to a probation revocation hearing, the trial court found that the appellant had violated the terms of his probation and ordered the appellant to serve the remainder of his sentence in confinement. On appeal, the appellant alleges that the trial court erred in revoking his probation. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Charles Berry Bourne, Jr.
M2001-00196-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Michael R. Jones

Defendant appeals his conviction by a jury for the offense of arson and the resulting five-year sentence. The issues presented for our review are: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict; (2) whether the trial court erred in allowing an investigator to testify as an expert in arson investigation; (3) whether the trial court erred in not dismissing the indictment based upon the state's failure to provide proper discovery; and (4) whether the trial court erred in applying a sentencing enhancement factor. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Frank Michael Vukelich
M2001-01184-CCA-R3-CO
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Cheryl A. Blackburn

The defendant appeals the order of the Davidson County Criminal Court directing the clerk of that court to apply the defendant's funds, which were obtained through an attachment directed to the Metro Trustee, to the defendant's fines and court costs. We conclude the state improperly sought to enjoin enforcement of the chancery court's order relating to the distribution of these funds by seeking an injunction in the criminal court. We further conclude the funds were held by the Metro Trustee in custodia legis for the chancery court and were not subject to attachment.  Therefore, we reverse the judgment of the criminal court.

State of Tennessee v. Frank Michael Vukelich - Dissenting
M2001-01184-CCA-R3-CO
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Judge Cheryl A. Blackburn

With all due respect to my colleagues, I must dissent. After review of the record, I find that the Davidson County Chancery Court never obtained jurisdiction of the approximately $102,000 seized by the Drug Task Force and deposited with the Metro Trustee. The following chronological history is critical to this finding:

State of Tennessee v. James Andrew Nichols
M2000-02758-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge Charles D. Haston, Sr.

The Defendant pled guilty to three Class C felony drug offenses. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed sentences of five years in the Tennessee Department of Correction for each offense and ordered that the sentences be served consecutively for an effective sentence of fifteen years. On appeal, the Defendant challenges the lengths, the manner of service, and the consecutive nature of the sentences. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Tommy Henry
E2002-00166-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge R. Jerry Beck

The Sullivan County Grand Jury charged the defendant with one count of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance with intent to sell or deliver and with two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. The defendant subsequently entered an Alford plea to one count of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and to one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the trial court sentenced the defendant to eleven months and twenty-nine days for each offense and ordered that the sentences run consecutively. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered that the defendant serve his sentence for possession of a Schedule II controlled substance in the county jail followed by service of his sentence for possession of drug paraphernalia on supervised probation. The defendant appeals the denial of alternative sentencing with regard to his sentence for possession of a Schedule II controlled substance. Finding no error in the record before us, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Erwin Scott Patterson
E2001-02652-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Gary R Wade
Trial Court Judge: Judge Stephen M. Bevil

The defendant, Erwin Scott Patterson, entered pleas of guilt to three counts of vehicular assault, reckless endangerment, and violation of the driver's license law. A charge of driving under the influence of an intoxicant was dismissed. The trial court imposed a sentence of four years for one count of vehicular assault, two years for the remaining vehicular assault convictions, two years for reckless endangerment, and 30 days for violation of the driver's license law. An application for alternative sentencing was denied. In this appeal, the defendant contends that the four-year sentence for vehicular assault was excessive and that the trial court erred by denying an alternative sentence. The judgments are affirmed as modified.

State of Tennessee v. Bobby Shellhouse, Jr.
E2001-01604-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Trial Court Judge: Judge Rex Henry Ogle

The defendant contests his conviction and sentence for aggravated sexual battery. We conclude the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction, the seven-year-old victim was competent to testify, venue was properly established, proper chain of custody for the DNA evidence was established, and the amendment of the indictment was proper. Accordingly, we affirm the defendant's conviction. A review of the defendant's sentence reveals the trial court misapplied enhancing factor (8). There being two enhancing factors and one mitigating factor applicable to the defendant's sentence, the judgment is modified from the maximum of twelve years to eleven years.

Andrade Bruce Williams, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
M2002-00357-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Joe G. Riley
Trial Court Judge: Judge Seth W. Norman

Petitioner appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. He was originally convicted of felony murder and attempted especially aggravated robbery and received an effective life sentence. He now contends he received ineffective assistance of counsel at his jury trial. We conclude otherwise and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

State of Tennessee v. Michael George Medina
M2001-02412-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Judge J. O. Bond

The Appellant, Michael George Medina, appeals his conviction by a Smith County jury finding him guilty of first-degree murder. On appeal, Medina challenges (1) the sufficiency of the convicting evidence, as it relates to the element of premeditation, and (2) the trial court's ruling which he asserts interfered with the defense's order of proof, thus, "forcing a premature election on defendant's right to testify." After review, we find no error. Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed.

State of Tennessee v. Christopher Duwan Robertson
M2001-00976-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Joseph M. Tipton
Trial Court Judge: Judge Cheryl A. Blackburn
The defendant, Christopher Duwan Robertson, appeals as of right from his conviction by a jury in the Davidson County Criminal Court of first degree, premeditated murder. The defendant received a sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. He contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction, (2) the trial court erroneously failed to instruct the jury to determine whether witnesses Karen Mullins and Michael Simpson were accomplices as a matter of fact, and (3) the trial court should have granted a mistrial after the victim's mother testified that the defendant had committed another murder. We affirm the trial court's judgment of conviction.

State of Tennessee v. James L. Carrethers
M2001-01503-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge J. Curwood Witt, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge J. Randall Wyatt, Jr.

James L. Carrethers appeals his second-degree murder conviction. He was found guilty of that offense by a Davidson County Jury. He is presently serving an eighteen-year sentence in the Department of Correction for the crime. In this direct appeal, he claims that the evidence does not sufficiently support the conviction and that the lower court erred in denying a motion to suppress his inculpatory, pretrial statements. Because we are unconvinced of error in either respect, we affirm.

State of Tennessee v. Lonnie Keith Dishner
E2001-00870-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Jerry L. Smith
Trial Court Judge: James E. Beckner
The appellant was convicted at a jury trial of the offense of felonious reckless endangerment. He was sentenced to a term of one year imprisonment in the Greene County workhouse. In this appeal the appellant claims that the indictment is defective, that the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict, and that the prosecution improperly commented in closing argument that the appellant should have produced a certain tape recording. After a review of the record we are of the opinion that the indictment and evidence are constitutionally sufficient to support the verdict. We are also of the opinion that the appellant has waived any error concerning closing argument by failing to include the transcript of the arguments in the record. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

State of Tennessee v. Treca Finchum
E2001-01072-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge Richard R. Vance
A Sevier County jury convicted the Defendant of theft of property valued over $500 and of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range I, standard offender to two years for the theft conviction and to eleven months and twenty-nine days for the contributing to the delinquency of a minor conviction, to run concurrently. The trial court also ordered sentences of split confinement, with the Defendant to serve ninety days in jail, "day for day," and the balance of each sentence to be served on supervised probation. The Defendant now appeals, arguing the following: (1) that insufficient evidence was presented at trial to convict her of theft and of contributing to the delinquency of a minor; (2) that the admission into evidence of a list of items stolen from Wal-Mart was inadmissible hearsay; (3) that the trial court committed reversible error by excluding a statement against interest from an unavailable witness; and (4) that the trial court erred in sentencing her. After a review of the record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court as modified.