State of Tennessee v. Robert David Morse
A Cumberland County jury convicted the Defendant, Robert David Morse, of first degree premeditated murder, and the trial court sentenced him to life in prison. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction and that the trial court committed two evidentiary errors: (1) admitting multiple autopsy photographs depicting the victim's body; and (2) limiting his cross-examination of Agent Davenport about the Defendant's statement to the police. After review, we affirm the trial court's judgment. |
Court of Criminal Appeals | ||
State of Tennessee v. Paul Michael Cheairs
Defendant, Paul Michael Cheairs, was convicted by a Madison County jury of two counts of possession of marijuana with intent to sell and or deliver, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, one count of misdemeanor unlawful possession of a firearm, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of seventeen years. Defendant appeals, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions and that the trial court erred in admitting a rap video made after the arrest, by allowing expert testimony from a lieutenant, and in sentencing. Upon our review of the entire record, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. David Kaiser
The Defendant, David Kaiser, appeals from his guilty pleaded convictions for two counts |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael Richard Penley
The Defendant, Michael Richard Penley, appeals from the Hamilton County Criminal |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Torsaunt Lamont Shanklin v. State of Tennessee
After being convicted by a jury of multiple drug charges, possession of a firearm during the commission of or attempt to commit a dangerous felony, and three alternative counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, Torsaunt Lamont Shanklin, Petitioner, was sentenced to an effective sentence of thirty-five years in incarceration. His direct appeal challenging the denial of a motion to suppress was unsuccessful. State v. Shanklin, No. M2019-01896-CCA-R3-CD, 2021 WL 1082043, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Mar. 22, 2021), perm. app. denied (Tenn. May 12, 2021). Petitioner sought post-conviction relief primarily based on ineffective assistance of counsel. After a hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tony Stafford
Defendant, Tony Stafford, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of aggravated rape. The trial court sentenced Defendant as a Range I offender to twenty-five years. On appeal, Defendant claims that the State’s pre-indictment delay constituted a due process violation and that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. Defendant filed a motion requesting waiver of his untimely notice of appeal; however, he failed to file a timely motion for new trial before the trial court. We elect to waive the untimely notice of appeal in the interest of justice. However, because Defendant’s motion for new trial was not timely filed, we address only Defendant’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Upon review of the record, legal authority, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Edwin Reeves
The Defendant, Edwin Reeves, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court jury of |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Donald K. Moore, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Donald K. Moore, Jr., appeals the summary dismissal of his petitions seeking post-conviction relief from his 1996 convictions for first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery in case number 96-C-1428 and second degree murder in case number 96-C-1423, for which he was sentenced to life, twenty years, and twenty-one years’ incarceration, respectively. The post-conviction court concluded that, even if Petitioner’s allegations were taken as true, he would not be entitled to relief and summarily dismissed the petitions. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Grover Beverly
The Defendant, Grover Beverly, was convicted by a Sevier County jury of two counts of rape of a child, for which he received an effective sentence of eighty years' incarceration. On appeal, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. Following our review of the record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Court of Criminal Appeals | ||
State of Tennessee v. David Edward Seickendick
Defendant, David Edward Seickendick, appeals the judgment of the Cumberland County Criminal Court revoking his probation and ordering him to serve the balance of his previously ordered probationary sentence in confinement. On appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to consider Defendant’s medical conditions in revoking his probation and ordering him to serve his original sentence. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Cumberland | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James R. Holley
The Defendant, James R. Holley, appeals the Henderson County Circuit Court’s denial of his request for alternative sentencing after his guilty pleas to eight counts involving drugs, weapons, and traffic offenses. Based on our review, we conclude that the Defendant failed to provide this court with an adequate appellate record. Accordingly, his appeal is dismissed. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Darrell E. Nance
The pro se Defendant, Darrell E. Nance,1 appeals from the trial court’s summary dismissal |
Hamblen | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Roger Bridges
The Defendant, Roger Bridges, 1 was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of three counts of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony; sexual battery, a Class E felony; rape, a Class B felony; and rape of a child, a Class A felony, and was sentenced by the trial court to an effective term of fifty-one years at 100% in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The four victims involved were three sisters and their female first cousin, and the offenses occurred over a two-month period that culminated on June 12, 2018, when one of the three sisters divulged the abuse to her father, who called the police. On appeal, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence and argues that the State violated Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S 83 (1973), “by failing to produce information concerning the pending investigation of a male family member for sexual abuse crimes against some of the same family group.”2 Based on our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Nathan David Bassett
The Defendant, Nathan David Bassett, pled guilty in the Madison County Circuit Court to theft of property valued $10,000 or more. Pursuant to the plea agreement, he received a five-year sentence as a Range I, standard offender with the trial court to determine the manner of service of the sentence. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered that the Defendant serve the sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion by denying a sentence alternative to confinement. Based on our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Forrest Scott Evans
The Defendant, Forrest Scott Evans, pled guilty to the offense of aggravated assault, and the trial court sentenced him to a term of seven years and six months. The court suspended the sentence and placed the Defendant on probation. Thereafter, the Defendant committed new crimes in Virginia. When the Defendant was returned to Tennessee, the trial court revoked the suspended sentence and ordered him to serve it in full. The Defendant appeals, arguing that a full revocation was an abuse of discretion. Upon our review, we respectfully disagree and affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Rickius Grant v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Rickius Grant, appeals the Madison County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions for two counts of attempting to traffic a person for a commercial sex act and resulting concurrent six-year sentences. On appeal, he contends that the post-conviction court erred by finding that his petition was barred by the statute of limitations because due process required that the statute of limitations be tolled. Based upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Alvin Dean Shaver v. Sean Phillips, Warden
In 1996, the Petitioner, Alvin Dean Shaver, pled guilty to two counts of first degree murder and was sentenced to concurrent terms of life without the possibility of parole. In 2024, the Petitioner applied for a writ of habeas corpus. He alleged that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear and adjudicate the charges because the statute pursuant to which he was convicted did not have the constitutionally required style, “Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee.” The habeas corpus court summarily dismissed the application for the writ, and the Petitioner appealed. Upon our review, we respectfully affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court. |
Morgan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Detarus Brown
Defendant, Detarus Brown, appeals from the Maury County Circuit Court’s order partially denying his motion to correct his sentence, and Defendant contends that the trial court should have treated his motion as a petition for post-conviction relief. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Maury | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kurt Franklin Luna
Defendant, Kurt Franklin Luna, was convicted after a jury trial of driving without a license, driving an unregistered vehicle, and violation of the financial responsibility law. The trial court sentenced him to serve forty-eight hours in the county jail. On appeal, Defendant raises a variety of claims. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that Defendant has waived his issues for failure to create an adequate record and failure to comply with the Rules of Appellate Procedure. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Daniel McCaig
A Dyer County jury found the Defendant, Daniel McCaig, guilty of unlawfully possessing methamphetamine and a firearm. The trial court imposed a total effective sentence of twenty-six years to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the evidence is legally insufficient to support his convictions. He also argues that the trial court erred by denying his right to represent himself and imposing consecutive sentences. Upon our review, we respectfully disagree and affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Dyer | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Damon Cordell Parson
A Davidson County jury convicted the Defendant, Damon Cordell Parson, of three counts of selling .5 grams or more of cocaine, and the trial court sentenced him to a total effective sentence of twelve years, to be served consecutively to a previous sentence. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred when it admitted audio recordings of the drug transactions and that, without the recordings, the evidence is insufficient to convict him. He further contends that the trial court erred when it sentenced him because it improperly sentenced him to the maximum sentence within his applicable sentencing range and did not make proper considerations with regard to alternative sentencing. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Marlos LeKeith Tipton
The Defendant, Marlos LeKeith Tipton, appeals from his convictions for vehicular homicide and speeding following a bench trial. Specifically, the Defendant contends that he was deprived of a fair trial based on the trial court’s denial of funding for a defense expert in vehicle collisions. He further argues that the proof was insufficient to support his conviction of vehicular homicide based upon reckless conduct predicated on excessive speed alone. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Henderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. D'tearius Carvell Southern
A Knox County jury convicted Defendant, D’tearius Carvell Southern, of second degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Defendant received an effective sentence of twenty-three years to be served in confinement. On appeal, Defendant contends that the evidence was not sufficient to support his conviction for second degree murder and that the trial court erred by declining to instruct the jury that Defendant had no duty to retreat before using deadly force as part of the self-defense instruction. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Zion Houston v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Zion Houston, appeals from the Madison County Circuit Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions for aggravated robbery and misdemeanor theft. On appeal, the State contends that the post-conviction court properly dismissed the petition as untimely because it was filed more than one year after the Petitioner’s judgments were entered. The Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred when it determined the petition was untimely because the judgments in question did not become final until thirty days after they were entered, and the petition was filed one year after the judgments became final. We reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand the case for preliminary consideration of the post-conviction petition consistent with this opinion and pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-30-106. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Zion Houston v. State of Tennessee - Dissent
In accordance with the reasoning set forth in this court’s recent opinion in Jarrett v. State, I would dismiss Petitioner’s appeal due to his failure to file a timely notice of appeal and his failure to acknowledge that his notice of appeal is untimely or otherwise request that this court accept his late-filed notice of appeal. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals |
