David Englebert v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, David Englebert, entered guilty pleas to aggravated robbery and four counts of aggravated assault pursuant to a plea agreement, in exchange for an effective sentence of twelve years to be served with an eighty-five percent release eligibility date. The Petitioner subsequently filed for post-conviction relief, asserting that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that his pleas were not knowingly and voluntarily entered because he was never informed of the elements of the offense of aggravated robbery. The post-conviction court denied his claim without making any findings of fact, and the Petitioner appeals. We conclude that the Petitioner has not established prejudice with regard to his ineffective assistance of counsel claim, and we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment denying that claim. Because there is inconsistent evidence regarding whether the Petitioner was informed about the elements of the offense, we remand for the post-conviction court to make factual findings and credibility determinations relevant to the claim that the Petitioner’s pleas were not knowing and voluntary. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Edward Dewayne Shelton, Jr.
The Appellant, Edward Dewayne Shelton, Jr., appeals as of right from the Davidson County Criminal Court’s summary denial of his “motion to dismiss the indictment and motion to withdraw guilty plea and motion to correct illegal sentence.” The Appellant contends (1) that his motion to withdraw his guilty plea was timely filed because there was no file stamp date on the judgment form; (2) that his guilty plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered due to the ineffective assistance of his trial counsel; (3) that the charging indictment was void because it “was only signed by the foreman of the grand jury”; and (4) that his sentence was illegal because he was classified as a Range II, multiple offender rather than a Range I, standard offender. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Calvin Kinzer v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner appeals the post-conviction court’s summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief based on the post-conviction court’s finding that the Petitioner failed to state a colorable claim. On appeal, the Petitioner argues that the post-conviction court erred in dismissing his pro se petition without appointing counsel or holding an evidentiary hearing, and the State concedes that the post-conviction court erred. After a review of the record and applicable law, we reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand for the appointment of counsel and for an evidentiary hearing. |
Maury | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Michael J. McCann v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Michael J. McCann, appeals the Wayne County Circuit Court’s summary dismissal of his pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus. The Petitioner contends that a probation revocation involving certain 1994 drug convictions was in error and that the erroneous probation revocation led to an incorrect calculation of his pretrial jail credits. After a review of the record and applicable law, we conclude that the habeas corpus court did not commit error, and we affirm the habeas court’s dismissal of the petition. |
Wayne | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Raymond Arthur Klein v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Raymond Arthur Klein, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his conviction for aggravated sexual battery. On appeal, Petitioner argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. After thorough review, we determine that Petitioner has failed to prove that trial counsel’s performance was deficient and affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Deaundra Donnell Smith v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Deaundra Donnell Smith, sought post-conviction relief on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel after his convictions for felony murder and especially aggravated robbery were affirmed on direct appeal. The post-conviction court denied relief, finding that Petitioner failed to prove his allegations by clear and convincing evidence. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. H.C. Brown, Jr.
A Davidson County grand jury indicted the defendant, H.C. Brown, Jr., with attempted first degree murder, aggravated assault by strangulation, false imprisonment, and violation of an order of protection. Following trial, a jury found the defendant guilty of aggravated assault by strangulation and violation of an order of protection, and the trial court imposed an effective sentence of fifteen years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days. On appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his aggravated assault conviction. After reviewing the record and considering the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Dale Samuel Waggoner v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Dale Samuel Waggoner, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received effective assistance of counsel at trial. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tracy Douglass
A Shelby County jury convicted the Defendant, Tracy Douglass, of first degree premeditated murder, for which he received a life sentence. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the trial court erred when it failed to declare a mistrial following the State’s improper statements during closing argument. He also asserts that the evidence presented at trial is insufficient to support the jury’s verdict. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
In Re: Gary's Bonding Company
A final forfeiture was entered against the appellant, Gary’s Bonding Company, in the Marion County Circuit Court ordering the complete forfeiture of the bail bond in the case of the criminal defendant, Johnny Cook. On appeal, the appellant contends the trial court erred in ordering a final forfeiture. Because the notice of appeal was not timely filed in this matter, we are without jurisdiction to determine whether the trial court erred. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed. |
Marion | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Sedrick Darion Mitchell
Defendant, Sedrick Darion Mitchell, was convicted of the sale and delivery of 0.5 grams or more of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school and simple possession of cocaine. Defendant was sentenced as a career offender to an effective 60-year sentence of imprisonment. On appeal, Defendant claims that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions; that his simple possession conviction should be reversed because he was questioned without an attorney present; and he challenges the constitutionality of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-17-420(h), (i), and (j). Following our review, we affirm Defendant’s convictions. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Amanda Beth Marcy
Defendant, Amanda Beth Marcy, appeals from the denial of her “Motion to Amend Revocation Order” in which she argued that the trial court failed to award her credit for time served on Community Corrections when her probation was revoked. For a multitude of reasons, we dismiss the appeal. |
Putnam | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Gregory Duff v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Gregory Duff, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received effective assistance of counsel at trial. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Richard Dickerson v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Richard Dickerson, appeals the post-conviction court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because trial counsel coerced him into testifying and failed to discover a mistake in his presentence report. After thorough review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. German Calles
A Rutherford County jury convicted the defendant, German Calles, of one count of attempted voluntary manslaughter, four counts of aggravated assault while acting in concert with others, two counts of attempted especially aggravated robbery, one count of especially aggravated burglary, two counts of employment of a weapon during the commission of a dangerous felony, two counts of conspiracy to commit especially aggravated robbery, and one count of conspiracy to commit especially aggravated burglary, for which the trial court imposed an effective sentence of twenty-six years in confinement. On appeal, the defendant contends the trial court erred when setting the length of his sentences and ordering partial consecutive sentences. Following our review of the record and applicable authorities, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Linda Anne Dunavant
The Defendant, Linda Anne Dunavant, was convicted of aggravated assault and filing a false police report and sentenced, respectively, to terms of three years and two years, to be served concurrently. On appeal, she argues that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction for aggravated assault, and that the court erred in sentencing. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Tipton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Luis G. Mendoza v. State of Tennessee
The pro se petitioner, Luis G. Mendoza, appeals the Henderson County Circuit Court’s dismissal of his motion for writ of error coram nobis. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the lower court’s denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Upon review, we conclude that the State’s motion is well-taken. Accordingly, we affirm the summary dismissal of the motion. |
Henderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Randy Louis Roe
A jury convicted the Defendant, Randy Louis Roe, of three counts of rape of a child, one count of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of solicitation to commit rape of a child. He received an effective sentence of thirty-five years in prison. A few days prior to trial, the State alerted the Defendant to the existence of voluminous documents consisting of emails between the Defendant and the victim which had not previously been produced in discovery. The Defendant sought a continuance. The trial court denied the continuance but ruled that the new materials would not be admissible unless the Defendant “opened the door” during his testimony. On appeal, the Defendant seeks a new trial based on the trial court’s ruling on the admissibility of the emails. After a thorough review of the record, we discern no error and affirm the judgments. |
Sumner | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John D. Henry
The Appellant, John D. Henry, was convicted in the Knox County Criminal Court of driving under the influence (DUI) per se, fifth offense, and driving on a revoked license and received an effective two-year sentence to be served as 150 days in jail with the remainder to be served on supervised probation. On appeal, the Appellant contends that the trial court erred by refusing to grant his motions to suppress evidence because his warrantless stop did not fall under the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement and because he did not voluntarily consent to his warrantless blood draw. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Christopher C. Solomon
The Defendant, Christopher C. Solomon, entered an open guilty plea to aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, and leaving the scene of an accident. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed an effective sentence of thirty-three years and imposed a restriction banning the Defendant from driving for life. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court imposed an excessive sentence and erred in imposing a lifetime ban from driving. We conclude that the Defendant’s sentence is not excessive but that the trial court erred in imposing the lifetime driving ban. Accordingly, we remand for entry of a corrected judgment for the Defendant’s aggravated vehicular homicide conviction to reflect that the Defendant’s license is to be revoked in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-50-501(a)(1). We otherwise affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Sumner | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Nikia Bowens
A jury convicted Defendant, Nikia Bowens, of six counts of theft of property under the value of $500 and burglary in case number 105992, and of theft of property under the value of $500 and burglary in case number 106786. The trial court ordered Defendant to serve a total effective sentence of eighteen years in the Tennessee Department of Correction for his convictions in both cases. On appeal, Defendant does not challenge the theft convictions, but asserts that his burglary convictions violate the principles of due process under the Tennessee and United States Constitutions because Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-14-402(a)(3) is unconstitutionally vague and does not provide defendants fair warning that they can be prosecuted for burglary if they commit or attempt to commit a felony, theft or assault after entering a building open to the public knowing that the property owner has revoked its consent for them to enter. After a thorough review of the facts and applicable case law, we conclude that subsection 39-14- 402(a)(3) is not vague, that the word “building” in subsection -402(a)(3) is not ambiguous, and that Defendant’s due process rights were not violated by his burglary convictions. Thus, we affirm Defendant’s convictions, but remand for correction of judgments. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jason Kane Ivey
Jason Kane Ivey, Defendant, was convicted following a jury trial of two counts of misdemeanor theft based on alternative theories and one count of Class D felony burglary. The trial court merged the theft conviction in Count 3 into the theft conviction in Count 2 and then merged the theft conviction in Count 2 into the burglary conviction in Count 1 and sentenced Defendant to serve four years as a Range II multiple offender. Defendant claims that his burglary conviction “violated constitutional due process protections” because Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-14-402 is unconstitutionally vague and subsection 39-14-402(a)(3) failed to give him fair warning that his conduct was forbidden by the burglary statute. After a thorough review of the record, the briefs, and applicable law, we hold that Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-14-402 is not unconstitutionally vague and that subsection 39-14-402(a)(3) provided fair warning to a person of common intelligence that a person could be convicted of burglary for committing theft after entering a building open to the public, knowing the owner had revoked its effective consent for the person to enter. We affirm the judgments of conviction. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Stephano Lee Weilacker
Following a jury trial in the Montgomery County Circuit Court, Defendant, Stephano Lee Weilacker, was found guilty of especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery for his role in a criminal episode at the Triangle Kwick Stop (Triangle Market) in Montgomery County. He received an effective sentence of twenty years to be served consecutively to a sentence received for another aggravated robbery. This is the fourth time the direct appeal has been before this court. Per the order of the Tennessee Supreme Court granting Defendant’s Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 11 application, we address three issues in this opinion: (1) plenary review of Defendant’s assertion that his motion to suppress evidence should have been granted by the trial court, (2) plenary review of Defendant’s issue that he is entitled to a new trial because of improper closing arguments by the prosecutor; and (3) plain error review of Defendant’s issue wherein he asserts that the trial court caused a reversible constructive amendment to the especially aggravated kidnapping count, and that there was a fatal variance between the proof and the allegations in the indictment. Following a thorough review, we reverse the judgments and remand for a new trial. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Stephano Lee Weilacker - concurring in part and dissenting in part
I agree with majority’s conclusion that after plenary review, Defendant is not entitled to relief on the suppression issues regarding his detention and arrest. I further agree with the majority’s conclusion that Defendant is not entitled to plain error relief on the indictment issue. However, I respectfully disagree that Defendant is entitled to a new trial for statements made by the prosecutor during closing argument. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
James Rich v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, James Rich, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition. Petitioner argues that his guilty plea was unknowingly and involuntarily entered due to ineffective assistance of counsel. Following a review of the briefs of the parties and the entire record, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Campbell | Court of Criminal Appeals |
