COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OPINIONS

State vs. Curtis R. Sparks
M1999-01330-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Gary R Wade
Trial Court Judge: Cornelia A. Clark
The defendant, Curtis R. Sparks, was convicted of sale of cocaine over .5 grams. The jury assessed a fine of $2,000. The trial court imposed a Range I sentence of nine years. In this appeal of right, the defendant contends that the sentence is excessive and that the trial court should have granted an alternate, community-based sentence. Because the defendant was clearly untruthful in much of his testimony and demonstrated little indication of rehabilitation, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Quincy L. Love v. State of Tennessee
W2002-02081-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: John P. Colton, Jr.

03C01-9508-CC-00232
03C01-9508-CC-00232
Trial Court Judge: James B. Scott, Jr.

Alphonso Bradford v. State of Tennessee
M1998-00078-CCA-MR3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Trial Court Judge: J. Randall Wyatt, Jr.

State of Tennessee vs. Willie H. Johnson
02C01-9510-CR-00316
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Judge Chris Craft

This is an appeal as of right pursuant to Rule 3 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. A Shelby County jury found the Defendant guilty of burglary. The trial judge found the Defendant to be a career offender and sentenced him to twelve years in the Department of Correction. In this appeal, he argues that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the jury’s finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. We disagree and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Petitioner, Relying In Part Upon State v. Roger Dale Hill, No. 01C01-9508-Cc-00267
02C01-9611-CC-00397

01C01-9508-CC-00269
01C01-9508-CC-00269
Trial Court Judge: James L. Weatherford

01C01-9510-CR-00337
01C01-9510-CR-00337

03C01-9510-CC-00334
03C01-9510-CC-00334

03C01-9511-CC-00368
03C01-9511-CC-00368

03C01-9505-CR-00130
03C01-9505-CR-00130
Trial Court Judge: R. Steven Bebb

02C01-9505-CR-00146
02C01-9505-CR-00146
Trial Court Judge: Arthur T. Bennett

02C01-9507-CR-00179
02C01-9507-CR-00179
Trial Court Judge: L. Terry Lafferty

02C01-9509-CR-00277
02C01-9509-CR-00277

02C01-9510-CC-00307
02C01-9510-CC-00307
Trial Court Judge: Dick Jerman, Jr.

02C01-9605-CR-00173
02C01-9605-CR-00173
Trial Court Judge: Bernie Weinman

02C01-9411-CC-00245
02C01-9411-CC-00245

02C01-9412-CC-00265
02C01-9412-CC-00265

02C01-9412-CC-00265
02C01-9412-CC-00265

State of Tennessee v. Richard Higgs
W2000-02588-CCA-MR3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Carolyn Wade Blackett

James J. Benson, v. State of Tennessee
01C01-9401-CC-00026
Authoring Judge: Judge Joseph M. Tipton
Trial Court Judge: Judge Donald P. Harris

The petitioner, James J. Benson, appeals as of right from the Williamson County Circuit Court's denial of post-conviction relief. He is presently in the custody of the Department of Correction, serving as a Range II, multiple offender, an effective sentence of one hundred and twenty-eight years for convictions of two counts of aggravated kidnaping and one count each of armed robbery, conspiracy, and accessory before the fact to armed robbery, receiving a sentence of sixty years for each of the crimes except the conspiracy, for which he received a sentence of eight years. The convictions and sentences were affirmed on direct appeal on September 7, 1987, and reaffirmed on a petition to rehear on February 16, 1990. State v. Bobby Mitchell, Richard Cook, and James Benson, Williamson County, No. 87-185-III (Tenn. Crim. App. Sept. 27, 1989), app. denied, (Tenn. April 2, 1990).

State of Tennessee v. Michael Gentry
01C01-9510-CC-00336
Authoring Judge: Judge Gary R. Wade
Trial Court Judge: Judge Donald P. Harris

The defendant, Michael Gentry, entered a plea of guilt to one count of official misconduct. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-402(a)(5). Pursuant to a plea agreement, the trial court imposed a Range I sentence of two years and granted probation but denied the defendant's request for judicial diversion. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-313; State v. Dishman, 915 S.W.2d 458 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1995). In this appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to grant judicial diversion; he also insists that the district attorney general was guilty of prosecutorial vindictiveness.

State of Tennessee v. Mario A. Lavender and Eric L. Hobbs
01C01-9506-CR-00202
Authoring Judge: Presiding Judge Joe B. Jones
Trial Court Judge: Judge J. Randall Wyatt, Jr.

The appellants, Mario A. Lavender and Eric Hobbs, were found guilty of two counts of robbery, a Class C felony, and one count of theft over $1,000, a Class D felony, by a jury of their peers. The trial court found that Lavender was a standard offender and imposed Range I sentences as follows: (1) count 1, robbery, confinement for six (6) years in the Department of Correction, (2) count 2, robbery, confinement for six (6) years in the Department of Correction, and (3) count 4, theft, confinement for four (4) years in the Department of Correction. The trial court found that Hobbs was a multiple offender and imposed the following Range II sentences: (1) count 1, robbery, confinement for ten (10) years in the Department of Correction, (2) count 2, robbery, confinement for ten (10) years in the Department of Correction, and (3) count 4, theft, confinement for four (4) years in the Department of Correction. The trial court ordered that the sentences are to be served consecutively. The effective sentence for Lavender is sixteen (16) years, and the effective sentence for Hobbs is twenty-four (24) years. In this Court, both Lavender and Hobbs contend that the sentences imposed by the trial court are excessive. Hobbs also contends that the trial court committed error of prejudicial dimensions by (a) denying his motion to suppress a statement he made to police and (b) denying his motion in limine, which sought to deny the State of Tennessee the right to use his prior convictions to impeach him if he opted to testify. After a thorough review of the record, the briefs submitted by the parties, and the law applicable to the issues presented for review, it is the opinion of this Court that the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed.

03C01-9510-CR-00330
03C01-9510-CR-00330

Mario Harris v. State
M2004-01782-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Seth W. Norman
The Defendant, Mario Harris, appeals from the order of the trial court dismissing his petition for post-conviction relief as time-barred. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the judgment of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. We grant the State's motion and affirm the judgment of the trial court.