State of Tennessee v. Benjamin Monroe
Appellant pled guilty in the Wilson County Criminal Court to one count of vehicular homicide, one count of vehicular assault, and one count of leaving the scene of the accident. In exchange for the guilty pleas, Appellant received sentences of three years, two years, and one year, respectively. The trial court held a sentencing hearing to determine the manner of service of the sentence. The trial court ordered Appellant to serve eight months of the sentence day-for-day, followed by ten years of probation. Appellant seeks review of the sentence on appeal. We determine that the trial court erroneously deprived Appellant of good conduct credits by ordering him to serve eight months of the sentence day-for-day. Consequently, we reverse that portion of the sentence and remand to the trial court for entry of an order deleting the requirement that the sentence be served day-for-day. The remainder of the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Wilson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
R.L. Williams v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, R. L. Williams, appeals from the denial of his 2007 petition for post-conviction relief, which challenged his 2003 rape convictions. He asserts that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial because trial counsel failed to effectively challenge the DNA evidence, which he posits was the only convicting evidence because the testimony of the victim was unreliable. Holding that he has failed to establish that his counsel was ineffective, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Mickey Jeffries v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Mickey Jeffries, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by his failure to adequately communicate a plea agreement to him. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
David Cantrell v. Howard Carlton, Warden, and the State of Tennessee
Petitioner, David Cantrell, appeals from the Morgan County Criminal Court’s dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Because the petitioner failed to comply with the procedure defined in Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-21-107, we affirm the habeas corpus court’s dismissal of the petition. |
Morgan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Randall A. Myers
The defendant, Randall A. Myers, appeals the sentence imposed by the Blount County Circuit Court following his open guilty plea to two counts of filing a false report, Class D felonies, and one count of theft of property under $500, a Class A misdemeanor. After hearing the evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed consecutive sentences of four years, three years, and eleven months and twenty-nine days. The court further ordered the sentences to be served in confinement. On appeal, the defendant asserts that: (1) the two felony sentences are excessive; (2) the court erred in denying an alternative sentence; and (3) the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentences. Following review of the record, we affirm the sentences as imposed. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Eddrick Devon Pewitte
The Defendant, Eddrick Devon Pewitte,1 was convicted by a Gibson County jury of one count of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony. He was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to twelve years in the Department of Correction. In this direct appeal, he argues that (1) the State presented evidence insufficient to convict him; (2) the trial court erred by allowing the admission of certain statements he made to police; (3) the State violated a discovery order; and (4) the trial court misapplied enhancement factors in sentencing him. We conclude that the Defendant’s first three points of error lack merit. We also conclude, however, that the trial court erred in the application of certain enhancement factors. We remand for resentencing. |
Gibson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Darrell Franklin
The Defendant, Darrell Franklin, was convicted of one count of robbery, a Class C felony, and sentenced as a Range III, persistent offender to twelve years in the Department of Correction. In this direct appeal, he argues that (1) the trial court erred in admitting certain testimony over his hearsay objection and in violation of his rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution; (2) the State presented evidence insufficient to support the Defendant’s conviction; (3) he received an excessive sentence; and (4) the cumulative effect of the trial court’s errors deprived him of his constitutional rights to due process and trial by jury. We conclude that the State presented evidence sufficient to support the Defendant’s conviction and that the trial court did not err in sentencing him. We also conclude, however, that the trial committed plain error by admitting certain testimony in violation of the Defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him. We accordingly vacate his conviction and remand this case for a new trial. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Bobby Joe Rollins
Following a jury trial, the Defendant, Bobby Joe Rollins, was convicted of aggravated robbery. For this Class D felony, he was sentenced to twenty-eight years in the Department of Correction as a Range III, persistent offender. In this appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence presented at trial is insufficient to support his conviction and that his sentence is excessive. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Marshall | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Timothy E. Higgs v. State of Tennessee
This case is before this court upon the petitioner’s, Timothy E. Higgs, motion to late-file his notice of appeal. Upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we dismiss the appeal. |
Weakley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Von Arlen McKinney
The defendant, Von Arlen McKinney, was convicted of driving under the influence (DUI), third offense; driving on a revoked license, fourth offense; possession of drug paraphernalia; and violation of the implied consent law. He was sentenced to eleven months and twenty-nine days at seventy-five percent for his DUI offense; eleven months and twenty-nine days for driving on a revoked license, to run concurrent to the DUI; eleven months and twenty-nine days for possession of drug paraphernalia, to run concurrent to the other sentences; and eleven months and twenty-nine days for violation of the implied consent law, with five days to run consecutive to his other sentences, for a total effective sentence of eleven months and thirty-four days. On appeal, the defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient and that the sentence imposed was excessive. After careful review, we affirm the judgments from the trial court. |
Hamblen | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kenneth Paul Vanderpool
Defendant pled guilty to three counts of forgery, one count of theft of less than $500, and two counts of failure to appear. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced Defendant as a career offender to six years on each count of forgery to be served concurrently with each other and six years on each count of failure to appear to be served concurrently with each other, but consecutively to the sentence for the forgery convictions. Defendant was sentenced to eleven months, twenty-nine days for the theft under $500 to be served concurrently to the other sentences. These sentences were then run consecutively to the nine year sentence Defendant was already serving. On appeal, Defendant argues that the sentence is excessive and contrary to law. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Britt Alan Ferguson
The defendant, Britt Alan Ferguson, was convicted by an Obion County jury of facilitation of the initiation of a process intended to result in the manufacture of methamphetamine, a Class C felony; two counts of promotion of the manufacture of methamphetamine, a Class D felony; unlawful drug paraphernalia use and activities, a Class A misdemeanor; and two counts of possession of a controlled substance, a Class E felony;1 and was sentenced by the trial court as a multiple offender to an effective sentence of six years in the Department of Correction. Following the denial of his untimely motion for new trial, he filed an untimely notice of appeal to this court, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence in support of his methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia convictions and arguing that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence. The State responded with a motion to dismiss on the basis that both the motion for new trial and notice of appeal were untimely. This court granted the motion in part, ruling that the defendant had waived the suppression issue by his untimely motion for new trial but that we would waive the untimely notice of appeal in order to consider the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. Following our review, we conclude that the evidence is sufficient to sustain the convictions. Accordingly, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Obion | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Michael S. Powell v. State of Tennessee
A Hamilton County jury convicted the petitioner, Michael S. Powell, of count one, first degree felony murder, with the underlying felony being aggravated child abuse, and of count two, aggravated child abuse. The trial court sentenced him to concurrent sentences of life in prison for the murder conviction and twenty years for the aggravated child abuse conviction. The petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief claiming that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. After a hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed the petition. The petitioner appeals that dismissal, contending that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request that a mental evaluation be conducted on the petitioner. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Katrina M. Everhart
Following her guilty plea to facilitation of robbery and a sentencing hearing in the Sullivan County Criminal Court, the defendant, Katrina M. Everhart, appeals that court’s decision to order her three year sentence to be served in the Department of Correction. She claims on appeal that the criminal court erroneously denied her alternative sentencing. We affirm the judgment of the criminal court. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Doyle Winslow Smith
The defendant, Doyle Winslow Smith, was convicted of three counts of rape of a child, all Class A felonies, and one count of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony. He was sentenced to twenty-two years on each Class A felony conviction and ten years on the Class B felony conviction. The sentences ran concurrently for a total effective sentence of twenty-two years. The defendant presents eight issues on appeal. He contends that: the evidence was insufficient; he was denied access to certain exculpatory evidence; the trial court had proper authority to appoint a special master to review evidence; the State failed to provide him with constitutionally sufficient particularization prior to trial as to the time of the alleged offenses; he received ineffective assistance of counsel; the trial court erred in instructing the jury; he was sentenced improperly; and the cumulative errors committed warrant reversal. After careful review, we reverse and remand for a new trial. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Bobby Gene Walker, Jr.
The defendant, Bobby Gene Walker, Jr., appeals his conviction for second offense DUI. The defendant claims there was insufficient evidence presented to the jury to sustain a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. After complete review, we affirm the judgment from the trial court. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Melvin L. Taylor
A Davidson County jury convicted the defendant, Melvin L. Taylor, of one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of attempted aggravated rape, both Class B felonies, and one count of aggravated assault, a Class C felony. The defendant received a total effective sentence of 30 years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant asserts that the evidence produced at trial was insufficient to sustain his aggravated kidnapping conviction. After reviewing the record, we affirm the judgments of trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Henry Ford Williams, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Henry Ford Williams, Jr., appeals from the denial of his 2006 petition for post-conviction relief, which challenged his 2002 convictions of possession with the intent to sell .5 grams or more of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school zone and of simple possession of cocaine. He asserts that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial and that he was denied due process because the jury pool was racially imbalanced. Finding that the petitioner has failed to show by clear and convincing evidence that counsel was ineffective and that the petitioner has waived his due process claim, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Robertson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Maurice Currie
The Defendant, Maurice Currie, was convicted of possession of .5 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to deliver and received an eight-and-one-half-year sentence. In this appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court erred by failing to suppress the drugs discovered during the search of his residence and car. He contends that the search warrant that the officers executed at his residence was invalid because the reliability of the informant was based upon information received from another officer, not named in the warrant. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Lauderdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John Willis Webb
The defendant, John Willis Webb, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court for Rutherford County for driving on a revoked license, a Class B misdemeanor. He was sentenced to six months in the county workhouse, the suspension of his driving privileges for one year, and a fine of $200. On appeal, he claims the evidence was insufficient to convict him of driving on a revoked license. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Darwin Bible
A Williamson County jury found the Defendant, Darwin L. Bible, guilty of theft of property valued at less than $500; subsequently, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to eleven months, twenty-nine days, with 120 days to be served in jail and the balance to be served on probation. The Defendant appeals, claiming: (1) the State presented insufficient evidence that he committed theft of property valued at less than $500; and (2) the trial court erroneously sentenced him. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the conviction but modify the jail sentence to sixty days of periodic confinement. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jason L. Hoback
The defendant, Jason L. Hoback, was convicted in the Franklin County Circuit Court of driving on a revoked license, third offense, a Class A misdemeanor, and a violation of the seatbelt law, a Class C misdemeanor. He was subsequently sentenced to eleven months and twenty-nine days, with five months to be served in the county jail, for the driving on a revoked license conviction and was fined for the seatbelt violation. On appeal, the defendant raises the single issue of sufficiency of the evidence. Following review, the judgments of conviction are affirmed. |
Franklin | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Leroy Brimmer v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Leroy Brimmer, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his conviction for first degree premeditated murder, arguing that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Bobby Johnson v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Bobby Johnson, appeals the denial of post-conviction relief by the Circuit Court for Madison County from his convictions for (1) attempted first degree murder, a Class A felony; (2) aggravated burglary, a Class C felony; (3) aggravated assault, a Class C felony; (4) burglary of a vehicle, a Class E felony; (5) theft of property valued less than $500, a Class A misdemeanor; and (6) harassment, a Class A misdemeanor. He received a sentence of fifteen years for attempted first degree murder, two six-year sentences for aggravated burglary and aggravated assault, a sentence of two years for burglary of a vehicle, and two eleven-month-twenty-nine-day sentences for the misdemeanors. The sentences were imposed concurrently for an effective sentence of fifteen years, and all sentences run consecutively to a prior out-of-state felony sentence. He contends that (1) he received the ineffective assistance of counsel when (a) trial counsel did not obtain the victim’s medical records before the petitioner pleaded guilty and (b) trial counsel did not interview two potential alibi witnesses, and (2) trial counsel’s deficient performance induced the petitioner to enter involuntary guilty pleas. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Richard Lee Nickens
Appellant, Richard Lee Nickens, pled guilty to four counts of theft of property valued at $500 or less, three counts of theft of property valued at over $500, possession of drug paraphernalia, trespass, three counts of burglary of a building, and two counts of theft of property valued at over $1,000 in exchange for an effective sentence of fourteen years. The trial court denied any form of alternative sentencing. Appellant appeals this denial. We determine that the trial court properly denied alternative sentencing. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals |
