State of Tennessee v. Crystal Renae McCroskey
Defendant-Appellant, Crystal Renae McCroskey, was indicted by a Knox County grand jury for one count of especially aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated assault, and one count of domestic assault in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated sections 39-13-305, 39-13-304, 39-13-102, and 39-13-111. Pursuant to a plea agreement, the Defendant pled guilty to one count of aggravated assault as a Range II, Multiple Offender for an agreed sentence of eight years, with the manner of service to be determined by the trial court. As part of the agreement, the State dismissed the five remaining counts. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered the Defendant’s sentence to be served in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying her an alternative sentence. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James Andrew Weidekamp
The Petitioner, James Andrew Weidekamp, appeals the summary denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, asserting that due process considerations should toll the statute of limitations. After review, we affirm the denial of the petition as time-barred. |
Putnam | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. William Henry Smith, Jr.
Petitioner, William Henry Smith Jr., was convicted of conspiracy to sell and deliver .5 grams or more of cocaine and received a fifteen-year sentence of imprisonment. The Petitioner filed a Rule 36.1 motion to correct an illegal sentence, which was summarily dismissed by the trial court. Petitioner raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether Petitioner’s allegation that he was erroneously classified as a career offender fails to state a colorable claim that his sentence is illegal; and (2) whether Petitioner’s right to due process of law was violated by the imposition of a sentence longer than what is required for a persistent offender. Upon review, we affirm the summary dismissal by the trial court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Johnvya T. Smith
The Defendant, Johnvya T. Smith, appeals from the trial court’s judgment granting him partial relief based on his 36.1 motion to correct an illegal sentence, arguing that the trial court should have allowed him to withdraw the guilty plea that resulted in the illegal sentence rather than merely amending the sentence. The State disagrees, arguing that the trial court appropriately denied the Defendant’s request to withdraw his guilty plea because the illegal aspect of his sentence was not a material component of the Defendant’s plea agreement. We agree with the State. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Grandon P. Day v. Kevin Genovese
In a procedurally complex case, the Petitioner, Grandon P. Day, pleaded guilty in Davidson County Criminal Court in July 2004 to two sets of offenses that occurred on April 3, 2003, and July 9, 2003. The trial court sentenced the Petitioner to a total effective sentence of sixteen years of incarceration for these offenses. In December 2005, a Williamson County Circuit Court jury convicted the Petitioner of twenty additional offenses, all of which occurred in July 2003. The trial court sentenced the Petitioner to a total effective sentence of 84 years of incarceration, to be served consecutively to his other offenses. Fourteen years later, the Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, in which he alleged that the trial court erred when it ordered that his sentences run concurrently when consecutive sentences were statutorily required. The habeas corpus court summarily dismissed the petition, and we affirm its judgment. |
Hickman | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
David Sanders v. State of Tennesse
The Petitioner, David Sanders, appeals the Rutherford County Circuit Court’s denial of post-conviction relief from his conviction of rape, for which he received a ten-year sentence of imprisonment. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-503. In his appeal, the Petitioner argues that his guilty plea was unknowingly and involuntarily entered based on the ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction court. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. McKinnley McGee
Defendant-Appellant, McKinnley McGee, was indicted by an Anderson County grand jury of attempted second degree murder in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39- 13-210 and 39-12-101, a Class B felony, and two counts of aggravated assault in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-102, a Class C felony. Following a jury trial, the Defendant was convicted as charged. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range II, Multiple Offender to an effective sentence of twenty-years’ imprisonment. The sole issue presented for our review is whether the evidence was sufficient to support the Defendant’s conviction for attempted second degree murder. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Anderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joshua Hurt
The Defendant-Appellant, Joshua Hurt, was convicted by a Knox County jury of attempted voluntary manslaughter (Count 1), in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39- 13-211, as a lesser included offense of attempted first-degree murder, employment of a firearm during the commission of or attempt to commit a dangerous felony (Count 2), possession of a firearm with the intent to go armed during the commission of or attempt to commit a dangerous felony (Count 3), in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-17-1324, and two counts of especially aggravated robbery (Counts 4 and 5), in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-403. The trial court merged Counts 4 and 5 and sentenced the Defendant to seventeen years’ imprisonment for these counts, merged Count 3 into Count 1 and sentenced the Defendant to four years’ imprisonment for these counts to run concurrently to Count 4, and six years’ imprisonment for Count 2 to run consecutively to Count 1, for a total effective sentence of seventeen years’ imprisonment. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain the Defendant’s convictions for especially aggravated robbery, and (2) whether the trial court erred in (a) not giving the appropriate definition of serious bodily injury and (b) instructing the jury on flight. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Victor Valle
A jury convicted the Defendant, Victor Valle, of rape of a child, and he received a sentence of twenty-two years of incarceration. On appeal, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and the trial court’s ruling admitting the victim’s testimony that the Defendant had abused her outside of the time period specified in the indictment. We conclude that the evidence is sufficient and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence of prior bad acts, and we affirm the judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jamauri Ransom
The Defendant, Jamauri Ransom, was convicted by a jury of aggravated robbery and first-degree felony murder, and he received an effective sentence of life imprisonment. On appeal, the Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his felony murder conviction, asserting that this court should apply to the present case our supreme court’s rejection of the “continuous offense theory” for robbery as discussed in State v. Owens, 20 S.W.3d 634 (Tenn. 2000); that the aggravated robbery and felony murder were separated by intervening circumstances; and that the State failed to negate his theory of self-defense. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Erick Eugene Jones, Jr.
The Defendant, Erick Eugene Jones, Jr., was convicted by a Greene County Criminal Court jury of two counts each of facilitation of felony murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse, facilitation of felony murder in the perpetration of aggravated child neglect, Class B felonies; aggravated child neglect, a Class A felony; one count of aggravated assault, a Class C felony; and one count of facilitation of aggravated assault, a Class D felony. See T.C.A. §§ 39-11-403 (2018) (facilitation of a felony); 39-13-102 (2014) (subsequently amended) (aggravated assault); 39-13-202 (2018) (felony murder); 39-15- 402 (2014) (subsequently amended) (aggravated child abuse and child neglect). He received an effective sentence of fifty years. On appeal, the Defendant contends that (1) the evidence does not support his convictions, (2) the trial court erred by allowing autopsy photographs of the victims into evidence, and (3) the trial court erred by sentencing the Defendant to serve his sentences consecutively. We affirm the Defendant’s convictions related to the victim T.T.1 for facilitation of felony murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse, facilitation of aggravated assault, and aggravated child neglect. We reverse the Defendant’s convictions related to K.E. for facilitation of felony murder during the perpetration of aggravated child abuse, facilitation of felony murder during the perpetration of aggravated child neglect, aggravated assault, and aggravated child neglect. We reverse the Defendant’s conviction related to the victim T.T. for facilitation of felony murder during the perpetration of aggravated child neglect. |
Greene | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Quantavious Williams
A Knox County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Quantavious Williams, of first degree murder, attempted especially aggravated robbery, carjacking, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, aggravated robbery, and aggravated kidnapping. In this appeal, the defendant challenges those convictions on grounds that the trial court erred by excluding expert testimony regarding the defendant’s mental state at the time of the alleged offenses and that the evidence was insufficient to establish his guilt. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Larry Michael Berkley v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Larry Michael Berkley, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, which petition challenged his multiple convictions of rape, aggravated statutory rape, sexual battery by an authority figure, and statutory rape by an authority figure, alleging that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel. Discerning no error, we affirm the post-conviction court’s denial of post-conviction relief. |
Lauderdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Larry Thomas Cochran v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Larry Thomas Cochran, appeals from the Sevier County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his 2010 convictions for attempted first degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of attempted aggravated robbery, resisting arrest, and criminal impersonation, for which he is serving an eighteen-year sentence. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred by finding that his petition for relief was untimely and by denying relief on his allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel and due process violations. Although we conclude that the post-conviction court erred by determining that the petition for relief was untimely, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Sevier | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Juan LaSean Perry v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Juan LaSean Perry, appeals the dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. He asserts on appeal, as he did in his petition, that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter a judgment for second degree murder. He also asserts for the first time that the trial court erred in applying certain enhancement factors during sentencing. Following careful review, we affirm the denial of the habeas corpus petition. |
Trousdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennesse v. Jamie P. Dennis
The Defendant, Jamie Paul Dennis, was convicted by a Stewart County Circuit Court jury of attempted rape of a child, a Class B felony, and attempted incest, a Class D felony. He was sentenced to respective terms of twenty-eight years and twelve years, to be served consecutively in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions and that the trial court erred in failing to provide a modified unanimity jury instruction where the State did not make an election of offenses. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Stewart | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Buddy Ray Small v. State of Tennessee
Buddy Ray Small, Petitioner, was indicted for first degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and arson. He pled guilty to a reduced charge of second degree murder in addition to the other charges as listed in the indictment in exchange for an effective sentence of thirty-five years at 100%. Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, in which he alleged that his guilty plea was unknowing and involuntary and that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. After a hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief. In this appeal, Petitioner challenges the denial of post-conviction relief. After a review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. However, because there are clerical errors in the judgment forms, we remand to the post-conviction court for correction of the judgment forms. |
Henderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennesse v. Ronnie Lucas Wilson
The Defendant, Ronnie Lucas Wilson, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court jury of four counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm; attempted first degree murder; two counts of employing a firearm with the intent to go armed during the commission of a dangerous felony; driving while the privilege to do so was canceled, suspended, or revoked; evading arrest in a motor vehicle and creating a risk of death or injury; two counts of initiating or making a false report to a law enforcement officer; and employing a firearm by a convicted felon during the commission of a dangerous felony. See T.C.A. §§ 39-17-1307(b)(1) (Supp. 2017) (subsequently amended) (firearm possession by a convicted felon), 39-13-202 (2018) (subsequently amended) (first degree murder), 39- 12-101 (2018) (criminal attempt), 39-17-1324(b) (2018) (subsequently amended) (employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony), 55-50-504(a)(1) (2017) driving while privilege canceled, suspended, or revoked), 39-16-603(b)(1), (b)(3)(B) (2018) (evading arrest); 39-16-502 (2018) (a)(1), (a)(2) (false report). The jury found that the Defendant was a member of a criminal gang, and the trial court enhanced his sentences for being a felon in possession of a firearm and attempted first degree murder, which qualified as Criminal Gang Offenses pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-121. The court merged the convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm into a single count, merged the convictions for employing a firearm into a single count, and merged the convictions for initiating or making a false report into a single count. The court imposed an effective fifty-eight-year sentence. On appeal, the Defendant contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction for attempted first degree murder and the criminal gang enhanced verdicts, (2) the gang enhancement counts violate the Defendant’s constitutional rights to due process and expressive association, (3) the court erred in denying his motion to continue after severing the codefendant’s case on the morning of the trial, and (4) he is entitled to a new trial on the basis of cumulative trial error. We affirm the Defendant’s convictions, but we vacate the jury’s findings regarding the Criminal Gang Offenses Statute, and we modify the Defendant’s sentences for being a felon in possession of a firearm and remand for entry of corrected judgments for attempted first degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Donald L. Elliott
A Weakley County jury convicted the defendant, Donald L. Elliott, of resisting arrest for which he received a sentence of six months with all but seven days suspended to supervised probation. On appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the jury’s verdict. |
Weakley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Linda Holmes
A Madison County jury convicted the defendant, Linda Holmes, of theft of property valued at $1000 or less for which the trial court imposed a sentence of 11 months and 29 days to be served in the county jail. On appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting her conviction. After reviewing the record and considering the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John Dennis Green
A Rutherford County jury convicted Defendant, John Dennis Green, of aggravated assault and domestic assault, for which the trial court imposed an effective three-year sentence. On appeal, Defendant contends that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on self-defense and that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Termaine York
A jury convicted the Defendant, Termaine York, of first degree premeditated murder for a shooting he committed at his former workplace. The Defendant appeals his conviction, arguing that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to convict him of first degree premeditated murder because the State failed to establish premeditation. After a review of the record, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Robert Echols v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Robert Echols, appeals from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner argues that trial counsel was ineffective for advising the Petitioner not to testify at trial and for failing to timely file a motion for new trial. However, because the Petitioner filed an untimely notice of appeal document and the interest of justice does not favor waiver of the timely filing requirement in this case, this appeal is dismissed. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Marcus Johnson v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Marcus Johnson, appeals from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for relief from his convictions for felony murder and aggravated assault and his effective life sentence. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred in denying relief on his Rule 36.1 illegal sentence, habeas corpus, and post-conviction claims. We reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand this case in order for the trial court to enter an order reflecting findings of fact and conclusions of law as to each claim for relief. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
DeShawn McClenton v. Grady Perry, Warden
The Petitioner, DeShawn McClenton, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Shelby County Criminal Court, alleging that the trial court used four judgments of conviction from a prior case that were void on their face to sentence him as a career offender in the present case, which rendered the judgments of conviction in the present case void. The habeas corpus court summarily denied the petition, and the Petitioner appeals the denial. Based upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we conclude that the appeal should be dismissed. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals |
