State of Tennessee v. Randall A. Myers
The Appellant, Randall A. Myers, appeals the revocation of his community correction sentences by the Blount County Circuit Court. Myers pled guilty to seven counts of deceptive business practices and eight counts of theft, and he received an effective four-year sentence. As a result of these convictions, he was placed on intensive probation but, following violations of his release, he was re-sentenced to community corrections. Myers then proceeded to violate his community corrections agreement, and the trial court ordered him to serve the remainder of his sentences in the Department of Correction. On appeal, Myers asserts that the evidence was insufficient to establish that the violations occurred. After review of the record before us, we find no error. Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Cortland Keshira Cates
The defendant, Cortland Keshira Cates, pled guilty to two counts of rape. The trial court sentenced him to eight years' incarceration for each count, to be served concurrently. On appeal, the defendant contends the trial court erred in denying probation. We affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Brigitte Pauli
A Williamson County jury convicted the defendant, Brigitte Pauli, of three counts of theft of property over $60,000, one count of theft of property over $1,000, and one count of forgery. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of ten years and ordered the defendant to pay $4,458,203 as restitution. In this appeal, the defendant contends (1) the evidence was insufficient to support her convictions; (2) the trial court erred in prohibiting the defendant from questioning a witness regarding an alleged prior bad act by another witness; (3) the trial court erred in admitting evidence of the values and costs of producing various products; (4) the state made an untimely and improper election of offenses; (5) the trial court erred in allowing the state to present the testimony of a rebuttal witness; (6) the trial court erred in instructing the jury on flight; and (7) the trial court erred in sentencing the defendant. Upon our review, we merge the three counts of theft over $60,000 into one conviction and remand for a redetermination of restitution. Otherwise, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Phillip Francis Morales
A Blount County grand jury indicted the defendant on one count of simple possession or casual exchange of Lorazepam, a schedule IV controlled substance, and on one count of possession with intent to sell or deliver an E felony amount of marijuana, a schedule VI controlled substance. After unsuccessfully seeking suppression of the items seized in the search involved in this case, the defendant waived his right to a trial by jury. At the conclusion of a bench trial, the lower court found the defendant guilty as charged. The trial court later sentenced the defendant to concurrent terms of eleven months and twenty-nine days for the simple possession offense and eighteen months for the possession with intent to sell or deliver offense. Though otherwise placed on supervised probation, the trial court ordered the defendant to serve sixteen days of these sentences on eight consecutive weekends. The defendant subsequently filed a new trial motion alleging that the trial court erred in not suppressing the aforementioned evidence and that the proof is insufficient to support the E felony conviction. The trial court denied this motion, and the defendant appeals the denial to this Court raising the same issues. After a review of the record and relevant authorities, we find that the defendant's suppression claim has merit though the sufficiency allegation does not. Because of our finding regarding the suppression matter, we must reverse and remand the defendant's convictions. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jamie H. Jones
The appellant, Jamie H. Jones, was convicted by a jury in the Davidson County Criminal Court of five counts of forgery and received a total effective sentence of eight years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the appellant raises several issues for our review, including the sufficiency of the evidence, the correctness of the trial court's rulings, the propriety of the sentences imposed, and the denial of the appellant's motion for new trial. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Nora Faye Young v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner appeals after being denied post-conviction relief. She originally pled guilty to three counts of facilitation of first degree murder and received a forty-five-year sentence. She alleges that her guilty plea was not knowingly, voluntarily, or intelligently entered. She further alleges that her trial counsel knew that her co-defendant made exonerating statements, and she would not have pled guilty if she had known of her co-defendant's exonerating statements. After careful review, we conclude that the evidence does not preponderate against the post-conviction court's findings. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Betsy F. Speer
The appellant, Betsy F. Speer, was convicted by a jury in the Shelby County Criminal Court of driving under the influence. The appellant subsequently acknowledged that she was guilty of driving under the influence, second offense. The trial court sentenced the appellant to the mandatory forty-five days in jail, followed by a probationary period of ten months and fourteen days. The trial court also revoked the appellant's driver's license for a period of two years and imposed a seven hundred fifty dollar ($750) fine. On appeal, the appellant contends that the State failed to comply with her Rule 16 motion for discovery. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Debra Foster
The appellant, Debra Foster, pled guilty to seven counts of attempt to obtain possession of a controlled substance by fraud, Class D felonies. She received an effective sentence of eight years as a Range II, multiple offender. The trial court denied alternative sentencing and the appellant timely appealed. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dexter Lee Spence
The defendant, Dexter Lee Spence, entered a guilty plea to second degree murder. The trial court imposed a twenty-five-year sentence. In this appeal of right, the defendant argues that the sentence was excessive. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Sevier | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Robin A. Conner
The defendant, Robin A. Conner, pled guilty to robbery, and the Blount County trial court sentenced her to three years' incarceration as a Range I standard offender. The defendant appeals the trial court's denial of alternative sentencing. Upon review of the record and the applicable law, we reverse the judgment of the trial court. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Thurman L. Whitsey and Charlie Mae Whitsey - Amended Judgement
Came the appellants, THURMAN L. WHITSEY and CHARLIE MAE WHITSEY, by counsel, and the state, by the Attorney General, and this case was heard on the record on appeal from the Criminal Court of Davidson County; and upon consideration thereof, this court is of the opinion that our original judgment entered April 23, 2003, should be vacated; that there is reversible error in the judgments of the trial court relating only to the weapons offense under Count 5; and the case should be remanded for a re-sentencing determination relating to appellant, Charlie Mae Whitsey. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jeffrey Whitaker v. State of Tennessee
Aggrieved that the lower court denied post-conviction relief following an evidentiary hearing, the petitioner, Jeffrey Whitaker, appeals and claims that his convictions resulted from the ineffective assistance of counsel and involuntary guilty pleas. We affirm the denial of post-conviction relief. |
Roane | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Christopher Alan White
The defendant, Christopher Alan White, appeals as of right his conviction by a Blount County Circuit Court jury for aggravated assault and the resulting ten-year sentence as a Range II, multiple offender. He contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction, (2) prosecutorial misconduct during closing argument required a mistrial, and (3) his sentence is excessive. We affirm the trial court's judgment of conviction. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Debiasi Sirnard King
The defendant was convicted by a jury of second degree murder and was sentenced to twenty-two years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The defendant brings this appeal and contends the following: (1) The participation of a special prosecutor, hired by the victim's family, is a violation of the defendant's constitutional rights; (2) The trial court erroneously denied defense counsel the opportunity to cross-examine the driver of the vehicle containing the victim, Fernando Hawkins; (3) The trial court failed to give a curative instruction after Detective Hawkins stated that he obtained a warrant for first degree murder of the defendant; (4) The trial court failed to charge the jury on the lesser included offense of facilitation of second degree murder; and (5) The trial court erroneously sentenced the defendant to twenty-two years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. We conclude the trial court did not err and affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Romey Stone
The Appellant, Romey Stone, appeals the decision of the Grainger County Circuit Court revoking his placement in the community corrections program and ordering service of his original sentences in the Department of Correction. On appeal, Stone argues that: (1) the trial court abused its discretion by relying on unreliable evidence in revoking his community corrections sentences, and (2) he was denied due process based upon the lack of a "neutral and detached" fact-finder. After review, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Grainger | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Steve E. Todd v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Steve E. Todd, pled guilty in 1994 to two counts of rape of a child, receiving concurrent twenty-three-year sentences as a Range I offender. He filed a post-conviction petition in 1995 alleging, inter alia, that at the time of his pleas of guilty he had not understood that his sentences would be served without the possibility of parole. Counsel, appointed to represent him, filed an amended petition, which the post-conviction court dismissed following an evidentiary hearing. This court reversed the dismissal and remanded the matter for additional findings to be made. Following the remand, the post-conviction court granted the petition, concluding that the guilty pleas had not been knowing. The State appealed and, following our review, we reverse the order of the post-conviction court and remand this matter for another evidentiary hearing. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Stephen Massey, a/k/a Stephania
The appellant, Stephen Massey, was convicted by a jury in the Giles County Circuit Court of two counts of selling less than .5 grams of crack cocaine, Class C felonies, and three counts of selling .5 grams or more of crack cocaine, Class B felonies. The trial court sentenced the appellant as a Range II multiple offender to an effective sentence of eighteen years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the appellant contends that (1) the trial court erred in denying the appellant's motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds, (2) the trial court erred in denying the appellant's motion to sever, (3) the trial court erred in allowing the State to exclude two African-Americans from the jury based on their race, and (4) the sentences imposed by the trial court were excessive. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Giles | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Brandon Ronald Crabtree
Following a jury trial, Defendant, Brandon Ronald Crabtree, was found guilty of (1) selling marijuana, a Schedule VI controlled substance in an amount of not less than one-half ounce nor more than ten pounds, a Class E felony, and (2) selling a counterfeit controlled substance, a Class E felony. After a sentencing hearing, Defendant was sentenced to two years for each conviction, and the trial court ordered the sentences to be served consecutively. The trial court also determined at the sentencing hearing that Defendant was then (or at that time) on probation for a prior conviction and that Defendant was in violation of that probation. The trial court revoked Defendant's probation and ordered the original sentence of eighteen months to run consecutively to the sentences imposed for the two felony convictions for an effective sentence of five and one-half years. In his appeal, Defendant does not contest his conviction for selling a Schedule VI controlled substance. However, Defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for the sale of a counterfeit controlled substance. Defendant also challenges the length of his sentences arguing that the trial court failed to follow the principles of the Tennessee Criminal Sentencing Reform Act of 1989 and failed to properly weigh mitigating and enhancing factors. After a careful review of the record, we affirm Defendant's conviction for the sale of a counterfeit controlled substance and affirm the trial court's judgments as to Defendant's sentences. |
Wilson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
William Andrew Dixon v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, William Andrew Dixon, was convicted in 1981 of kidnapping for ransom and sentenced by the jury to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Subsequently, he filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, and our supreme court determined that his sentence was void, remanding for resentencing and concluding that he should have been sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. On remand, the trial court sentenced the petitioner to life with parole, and he appealed the resentencing, arguing that only a jury could impose the sentence. We conclude that the directive of our supreme court was that the punishment should be life with the possibility of parole and that the court could set this punishment. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Dickson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Bobby Blackmon
The appellant, Bobby Blackmon, appeals from the lower court's denial of his motion to modify and correct an illegal sentence or in the alternative petition for the writ of habeas corpus. Finding no error in the summary dismissal of the appellant's motion or petition, the judgment of the lower court is affirmed. |
Sumner | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Clorie L. Jackson
The Defendant, Clorie L. Jackson, was convicted by a jury of forgery and money laundering. The trial court subsequently merged the forgery conviction into the money laundering conviction,1 and sentenced the Defendant to nineteen years in the Department of Correction. In this direct appeal, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence in support of the money laundering conviction, as well as the trial court’s jury instructions on that offense. Because we find the evidence insufficient to support the money laundering conviction, we reverse that conviction and dismiss the charge. The conviction for forgery is reinstated. The case is remanded to the trial court for sentencing on the forgery conviction. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Charles Roy Cole v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Charles Roy Cole, filed a petition for post-conviction relief in the Circuit Court of Madison County. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court dismissed the petition. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jamie Lou Haneline
The Defendant, Jamie Lou Haneline, was convicted by a jury of one count of rape of a child. Following a sentencing hearing, he was sentenced to thirty-eight years in the Department of Correction. In this direct appeal, the Defendant raises three issues: (1) whether the evidence is sufficient to support his conviction; (2) whether the trial court erred by admitting the testimony of a police officer regarding a statement made by the Defendant; and (3) whether the trial court erred by enhancing the Defendant’s sentence based upon the offense having been committed to gratify the Defendant’s desire for pleasure or excitement. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Decatur | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Katherine White Byrd
The Defendant, Kathryn L. Byrd, was convicted by a jury of one count of theft over $1,000. The trial court subsequently sentenced the Defendant to four years in the Department of Correction, to be served consecutively to a previous sentence. The Defendant now appeals, contesting the sufficiency of the evidence; claiming reversible error because the State was not required to elect the offense for which it was seeking a conviction; and contesting the trial judge's order of consecutive sentencing. We affirm the Defendant's conviction. We reverse the imposition of consecutive sentences and order the Defendant's sentences to run concurrently. |
Washington | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tim William Strickland
The Defendant was indicted for one count of rape of a child and for two counts of child abuse and neglect. A jury convicted the Defendant of all three counts. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to twenty-five years for rape of a child and to four years for each count of child abuse. The trial court ordered that the sentences run concurrently for an effective sentence of twenty-five years. The Defendant now appeals, arguing the following: (1) that insufficient evidence was presented to convict him of the charged offenses, (2) that the trial court erred by admitting a note found at the scene and attributing it to the Defendant, and (3) that the trial court erred in sentencing the Defendant. Finding no error, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Sevier | Court of Criminal Appeals |
