Timothy Aldridge v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Timothy Aldridge, entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder and received a sentence of forty years’ imprisonment. He now appeals from the denial of postconviction relief, arguing that trial counsel was ineffective in misleading him to believe that, by pleading guilty, he would be incarcerated at the Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility (“DeBerry”). He also argues that his guilty plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered based on trial counsel’s assurance of the same. Upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kareem Northington
Kareem Northington, Defendant, appeals from the summary dismissal of his motion to correct an illegal sentence, filed pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1. After a review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Audarius Watts v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Audarius Watts, appeals the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that the post-conviction court abused its discretion in summarily dismissing the petition. Following our review, we affirm the summary dismissal of the petition as time-barred. |
Trousdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Omari Shakir Davis
In this, his second delayed appeal, the defendant, Omari Shakir Davis, appeals the sentence imposed for his Davidson County Criminal Court guilty-pleaded conviction of possession with intent to sell or deliver 15 grams or more of a substance containing heroin, arguing that the trial court erred imposing an 18-year, fully-incarcerative sentence. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jeffrey Mansir
The Defendant-Appellant, Jeffrey Mansir, was convicted by a Blount County jury of kidnapping, in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-303, and assault, in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-101.1 He was sentenced as a Range II multiple offender to ten years’ imprisonment, to be served consecutively to a Knox County conviction. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant presents the following issues for our review: (1) whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain the Defendant’s conviction for kidnapping; (2) whether the trial court erred in denying the Defendant’s request for a mistrial following an improper comment by the victim; and (3) whether the trial court erred in sentencing the Defendant as a Range II offender based on a prior out of state felony conviction. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Donald Gardner
The defendant, Donald Gardner, appeals his Cocke County Circuit Court jury conviction of aggravated sexual battery, arguing that the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to support his conviction. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Cocke | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dallas Sarden
The Defendant-Appellant, Dallas Sarden, was convicted by a Washington County jury of first-degree felony murder and robbery, for which he received an effective sentence of life imprisonment plus five years. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether the State committed prosecutorial misconduct and whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying the Defendant’s request for a mistrial based on the same; (2) whether the trial court erred in allowing the introduction of pre-recorded testimony of the forensic pathologist and whether the photographs displayed during the testimony unduly prejudiced the Defendant; (3) whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain the Defendant’s convictions; and (4) whether the Defendant is entitled to relief under the cumulative error doctrine. After a thorough review of the relevant facts and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Washington | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jose Alvarado v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Jose Alvarado, appeals from the Davidson County Criminal Court’s denial of post-conviction relief from his conviction for aggravated sexual battery. On appeal, the Petitioner argues that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to call certain witnesses and present certain evidence and that trial counsel’s actions deprived him of his right to testify at trial. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Felix Hall v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Felix Hall, appeals the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief challenging his convictions for theft of property valued at $10,000 or more but less than $60,000, burglary of a building other than a habitation, and theft of property valued at $500 or less. The Petitioner contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. After review, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Joe Jackson v. State of Tennessee
Pro se petitioner, Joe Jackson, appeals from the summary dismissal of his petition for postconviction relief arguing, inter alia, that the post-conviction court erred in (1) dismissing his petition without a hearing; and (2) denying his motion to recuse. Upon our review, we reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand this matter for proceedings consistent with this opinion. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Ryan D. Buford v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Ryan D. Buford, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, asserting that he received ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. After review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Trevon Scott Barcus v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Trevon Scott Barcus, appeals as of right from the Scott County Criminal Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. He claims entitlement to habeas corpus relief, alleging that (1) his separate federal and state convictions for failing to register as a sex offender violate double jeopardy principles; (2) he entered an unknowing and involuntary guilty plea because the trial court failed to inform him that he could not transfer the supervision of his probation to another state; and (3) that this “categorical” prohibition on travel constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and violates principles of substantive due process. Following our review, we conclude that the Petitioner has failed to state a cognizable claim for relief and, therefore, affirm the summary dismissal of his petition. |
Scott | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Santos M. Martinez-Aleman v. Russell Washburn, Warden
Santos M. Martinez-Aleman, Petitioner, appeals from the denial of habeas corpus relief from his guilty plea to two counts of sexual battery and resulting twelve-year sentence. After a review, we affirm the denial of habeas corpus relief. |
Trousdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Paul Wright v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Paul Wright, pleaded guilty to six counts of rape of a child, a Class A felony, and seven counts of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of twenty-five years. The Petitioner timely filed a postconviction petition, alleging that his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary and that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. After a hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief, concluding that the Petitioner had not proven Counsel was deficient or shown prejudice. On appeal, the Petitioner maintains his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary and that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. After review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment. |
Lauderdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Shawn Gibson Delosh v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Shawn Gibson Delosh, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received effective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal. Following our review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s denial of the petition. |
Dyer | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Coty Shane Smith v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Coty Shane Smith, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, which petition challenged his |
Monroe | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Isaiah Williams
A jury convicted the Defendant, Isaiah Williams, of attempted second degree murder and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. The trial court sentenced him to an effective sentence of seventeen years of incarceration. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence presented is insufficient to establish his identity as the shooter. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Sebastian A. Stevens
A Rutherford County jury convicted the Defendant, Sebastian A. Stevens, of three counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated kidnapping. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to a total effective sentence of eight years to be served consecutively to a prior sentence. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions. He also contends that the trial court erred when it excluded the victim’s prior conviction and when it allowed the State to introduce evidence of the Defendant’s prior incarceration. The Defendant lastly contends that the trial court erred when it ordered that his effective sentence of eight years in this case be served consecutively to his sentence for a previous conviction. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Ricky Breeden
The Defendant, Ricky Dale Breeden, was convicted by a Union County Criminal Court jury of three counts of rape of a child, a Class A felony, and two counts of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony. See T.C.A. §§ 39-13-522 (2018) (subsequently amended) (rape of a child), 39-13-504 (2018) (aggravated sexual battery). He was sentenced to an effective ninety-five years for the convictions. On appeal, he contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his rape of a child convictions, (2) the State failed to make a proper election of offenses, (3) the trial court erred in denying his motion for expert funds, (4) the court erred by ordering consecutive service. Although we affirm the Defendant’s rape of a child convictions, we reverse the Defendant’s convictions for aggravated sexual battery and remand the case for a new trial. |
Union | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Judith Galilea Abner v. Steven Dale Abner
This appeal arises from a divorce action between Judith Galilea Abner (“Wife”) and Steven Dale Abner (“Husband”). As part of the divorce, the Trial Court entered an order classifying certain property inherited by Husband during the divorce as his separate property after finding that this property had not been comingled or transmuted into marital property. Husband also was awarded as his separate property the value of a log cabin at the time of marriage. The parties had resided in the log cabin throughout the marriage and made substantial improvements to the log cabin during the marriage to which Wife had substantially contributed. The Trial Court, therefore, classified the appreciation of value of the log cabin as marital property, and Wife was awarded one-half of the increase in value of the property. The Trial Court classified as marital property an account in Wife’s sole name, upon its finding that the money in the account had been comingled such that the money could no longer be traced back to the original deposit. Additionally, the Trial Court granted an award of attorney’s fees to Husband for four of the five days of trial due to Wife changing her testimony and the “immense amount of time spent on these issues.” Wife timely appealed to this Court. We affirm the Trial Court’s findings concerning the classification of the parties’ property. However, we reverse the Trial Court’s award of attorney’s fees to Husband. |
Anderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Travis L. Lindsey v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Travis L. Lindsey, appeals the post-conviction court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief in which he challenged his convictions for the sale of 0.5 grams or more of cocaine, the sale of 0.5 grams or more of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school, and his effective twenty-year sentence. On appeal, the Petitioner maintains that trial counsel was ineffective in failing to fully advise him of the deadline by which he could enter into a plea agreement with the State in order to avoid a trial. We conclude that the Petitioner has failed to establish that he is entitled to relief, and we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Maury | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Humberto Morales, Mario Garcia Flores, and Keyona Martina Newell
The Defendants, Humberto Morales, Mario Garcia Flores, and Keyona Martina Newell, (collectively “the Defendants”) were convicted of aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated burglary, theft of property valued at $1,000 or more, and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. Mr. Flores also was convicted of possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony and employment of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. After merging various convictions, the trial court ordered Mr. Morales to serve an effective sentence of forty-eight years, Mr. Flores to serve an effective sentence of thirty years, and Ms. Newell to serve an effective sentence of twenty-four years. On appeal, the Defendants, either collectively or individually, challenge: (1) the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the convictions; (2) the trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress based upon the constitutionality of the stop of the vehicle in which some of the perpetrators fled the scene; (3) the trial court’s denial of a continuance based upon the State’s late disclosure of discovery materials; (4) the trial court’s decision to admit expert testimony of evidence extracted from the perpetrators’ cell phones; (5) the trial court’s denial of Mr. Morales’s motion for mistrial after Ms. Newell’s counsel questioned a witness about evidence that the trial court previously ruled to be inadmissible; (6) the trial court’s failure to issue an accomplice instruction; and (7) the trial court’s imposition of consecutive sentences. We affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Randall Kenneth Reed
This appeal arises from the second jury trial of the Defendant-Appellant, Randall Kenneth Reed, for which he was convicted of first degree premeditated murder, first degree felony murder, aggravated robbery, and theft of property, and received an effective sentence of life imprisonment. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-202(a)(1), (a)(2), 39-13-402, 39-14-103. In this appeal, Reed argues: (1) the trial court erred in denying his right to self-representation; (2) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, which it construed as a motion for reconsideration; (3) the evidence is insufficient to establish his identity as the perpetrator of the offenses; (4) the guilty pleas he made in front of the jury should have been assessed and a new jury empaneled to ensure that he had a fair and unbiased trial; and (5) the trial court erred in admitting life and death photographs of the victim at trial. After carefully reviewing the record and the applicable law, we remand the case for entry of corrected judgment forms in Counts 1 and 2 as specified in this opinion. In all other respects, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Urshawn Eric Miller
Defendant, Urshawn Eric Miller, was convicted by a Madison County jury of premeditated first degree murder, felony first degree murder, attempted especially aggravated robbery, attempted second degree murder, aggravated assault, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, evading arrest, and resisting arrest. The trial court merged the felony murder conviction into the premeditated murder conviction and the aggravated assault conviction into the attempted second degree murder conviction. The jury sentenced Defendant to death for the first degree murder conviction. For the remaining convictions, the trial court imposed an effective sentence of thirty years, to be served concurrently with his death sentence. On appeal, Defendant raises the following issues, as renumbered and reorganized by this Court: (1) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions; (2) the trial court erred in ruling on various challenges during jury selection; (3) the trial court erred in admitting a video of his prior aggravated robbery during the penalty phase; (4) the death penalty is unconstitutional; (5) the aggravating factors did not outweigh the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt; and (6) the death penalty is disproportionate in this case. Having carefully reviewed the record before us, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. However, we remand the case to the trial court for the correction of a clerical error. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Charlie Evans
The Defendant, Charlie Evans, was convicted after a jury trial of especially aggravated kidnapping, a Class A felony. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-305. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he caused serious bodily injury to the victim. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals |
