State of Tennessee v. Toni Yvonne Hunt
The defendant appeals her sentence of confinement after pleading guilty to theft under $500.00, a Class A misdemeanor, in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-14-103. The trial court sentenced the defendant to 11 months, 29 days at 75% release eligibility, with 150 days of shock incarceration. The defendant argues that the trial court erred in not granting her full probation. However, the defendant did not meet her burden necessary to prove the impropriety of her sentence. Our supreme court acknowledges that trial courts have more flexibility in misdemeanor sentencing than in felony sentencing. Given the defendant's prior criminal history and the flexibility granted to trial courts in misdemeanor sentencing, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael Cammon
The appellant, Michael Cammon, was convicted in a jury trial of robbery, aggravated assault and possession of over 300 grams of cocaine with the intent to sell or deliver. He was also convicted of felony possession of a weapon. For these offenses the appellant received sentences of three years, three years, twenty-two years, and two years, respectively. All sentences were set to run concurrently with each other, but consecutively to any previous sentences the appellant might have to serve. In this appeal he raises three issues for our consideration. First, he claims the evidence is insufficient to corroborate the testimony of his accomplice. Secondly, he alleges that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury with respect to the amount of controlled substance required for the offense charged. Finally, the appellant complains that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of simple assault. We find no reversible error with respect to the narcotics offense or with respect to the conviction for aggravated robbery. Those convictions are affirmed. However, we must reverse the conviction for aggravated assault and remand this case for a new trial. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Romania Ann Gadson
The defendant, Romania Ann Gadson, pled guilty in the Montgomery County Circuit Court to seven felonies. While she was on probation for those crimes, the defendant committed and was convicted of three additional felonies and one misdemeanor. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court revoked the defendant's probation, determined that her effective sentence for the "old" convictions was twelve years, and ordered that she serve the twelve-year sentence in incarceration. The trial court also sentenced the defendant to an effective sentence of five years in confinement for the "new" convictions and ordered that she serve the five-year sentence consecutively to the twelve-year sentence. The defendant appeals, claiming (1) that the trial court incorrectly calculated the effective sentence for her old convictions to be twelve years; (2) that the trial court erred in sentencing her to the maximum punishment in the range for one of her new convictions; and (3) that she should have received a community corrections sentence for her new convictions. As to the defendant's claim that the trial court incorrectly calculated her twelve-year sentence, we remand the judgments of conviction to the trial court. As to the defendant's new convictions, we conclude that the trial court properly sentenced the defendant and affirm those judgments of conviction. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v.Aaron Lembar Smith
Following a jury trial, Defendant, Aaron Lembar Smith, was found guilty of two counts of Class D felony burglary (a building other than a habitation), one count of Class E felony vandalism, two counts of Class D felony theft, and one count of Class D felony vandalism. One of the burglaries, the Class D felony vandalism, and one of the Class D felony thefts, involved an incident which occurred at Centennial Elementary School in Dickson. The other charges involved an incident at Buckner City Park, which is located on property adjoining Centennial Elementary School. In this appeal, Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his convictions for the burglary, vandalism, and theft convictions arising from the incident at Centennial Elementary School. He does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, or raise any other issues, regarding the remaining charges. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the convictions for burglary, vandalism, and theft regarding the incident at Centennial Elementary School. However, our review of the record indicates errors in the judgments; as the sentencing hearing is not a part of the record, but the judgments on their face are erroneous, we remand these cases to the Circuit Court of Dickson County for amended judgments to be entered or for a new sentencing hearing, if necessary. |
Dickson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Rebecca Dawn Perkins
The Blount County Grand Jury indicted the Defendant for second degree murder, and following a trial, a Blount County jury convicted the Defendant of reckless homicide. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range I, standard offender to four years for the crime and ordered that she serve her entire sentence in confinement. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant argues that she was improperly sentenced. Specifically, she contests the length of her sentence, and she contends that she should have been granted some form of alternative sentencing. Having reviewed the record, we conclude that the trial court did not err in sentencing the Defendant, and we therefore affirm the sentence imposed. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jason Fisher
The defendant pleaded guilty to six counts of forgery and was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to an effective term of two years, which was suspended and ordered to be served on probation. Various probation violation warrants were filed, alleging that the defendant had failed to comply with the conditions of probation and, in general, was uncooperative with those in charge of supervising his sentence. Following a hearing on the fourth such warrant, the trial court revoked the defendant's probation and ordered him to serve the sentence originally imposed. The defendant appealed. Upon review of the record, we detect no abuse of the trial court's discretion and affirm the judgment. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kim Hickerson
On December 15, 1997, a Coffee County jury convicted Appellant Kim Hickerson of selling less than 0.5 grams of cocaine, a class C felony. After a sentencing hearing on January 23, 1998, the trial court sentenced Appellant as a career offender to a term of fifteen years imprisonment. Appellant challenges both his conviction and his sentence, raising the following issues: 1) whether the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction; 2) whether the State established a proper chain of custody for the cocaine that was introduced into evidence; and 3) whether the Appellant was properly sentenced as a career offender. After a review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Coffee | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Kelvin Lee Young, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner was convicted by jury of one count of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. Petitioner filed for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Petitioner now appeals from the denial of relief from the post-conviction court. We affirm the denial of relief. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Corrie J. Johnson
The Defendant, Corrie J. Johnson, was convicted by a jury of selling cocaine, a Class C felony. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range II multiple offender to eight years, to be served consecutively to two other sentences, for which the Defendant was on probation. The trial court also revoked the Defendant's probation on the two prior convictions. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant presents three issues: whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain his conviction, whether the trial court erred in its application of enhancing and mitigating factors when deciding the Defendant's sentence, and whether the trial court erred by revoking the Defendant's probation. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Hardin | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James M. Powers
The Defendant, James M. Powers, appeals as of right from his convictions by a jury of four counts of rape of a child, a Class A felony. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed a sentence of twenty years on each of the four counts and ordered that three of the sentences run consecutively, for an effective sentence of sixty years to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Defendant argues two issues on appeal: (1) that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his four convictions of child rape, and (2) that the trial court erred by imposing consecutive sentences. We affirm the Defendant's convictions. We reverse the trial court's order that the sentences be served consecutively and remand for the entry of an order reflecting concurrent sentences. |
Campbell | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tony Dean Morgan
The Defendant pled "no contest" to aggravated assault and assault. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the Defendant received concurrent sentences of three years for the aggravated assault conviction and eleven months and twenty-nine days for the assault conviction, for an effective sentence of three years. The manner of service of the sentence was to be determined by the trial court. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered that the Defendant serve his entire sentence in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Defendant now appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by ordering him to serve his sentence in confinement. Finding no error, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Randall Vertis Grainger
Defendant appeals his conviction in the Williamson County Circuit Court for one count of aggravated sexual battery. Defendant raises the following issues for our review: 1) whether the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction; 2) whether the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on attempted aggravated sexual battery, sexual battery, attempted sexual battery, or attempted assault; 3) whether the trial court erred in approving and adopting the jury imposed fine of $10,000; and 4) whether the trial court erred in imposing a ten-year sentence. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Andre Mays and Cortez Bennett
The Appellants, Andre Mays and Cortez Bennett, were convicted by a Davidson County Jury of first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and two counts of especially aggravated robbery. Mays and Bennett were sentenced to life imprisonment plus fifty years. On appeal, Mays argues that the trial court erred in allowing a juror to remain on the panel after reading a prejudicial newspaper article during the trial. Bennett raises the following issues for review: (1) whether the trial court erred in not suppressing the photographic line-up; (2) whether the evidence was sufficient to support the verdicts; and (3) whether his sentence was proper. After a review of the record, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Richard Russell Brandt
The Appellant, Richard Russell Brandt, was convicted by a Bedford County jury of voluntary manslaughter and received a fifteen-year sentence, as a persistent offender. On appeal, Brandt raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's verdict, and (2) whether his sentence was proper. After review, we find that Brandt's issues are without merit. Accordingly, the judgment of the Bedford County Circuit Court is affirmed. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Keith Leranso Wells
The Defendant, Keith Leranso Wells, was indicted on four counts of especially aggravated robbery, one count of aggravated robbery, and one count of aggravated assault. The Defendant pled guilty to two counts of especially aggravated robbery; the remaining counts were held in abeyance pending resolution of the charges against the Defendant's co-defendants. The Defendant agreed that his sentencing would be delayed until those charges were resolved. Subsequent to entry of the judgments of conviction against the Defendant, but prior to his sentencing, the Defendant requested to withdraw his guilty plea. The trial court denied the Defendant's request and this appeal followed. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Bobby L. Marshall
Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Bobby L. Marshall, of sexual battery, a Class E felony. The defendant was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to sixteen months in the workhouse and fined two thousand dollars. The defendant appeals his conviction, claiming that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on consent. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Donald R. Mobbley
A Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Donald R. Mobbley, of burglary, a Class D felony, and the trial court sentenced him as a Range I, standard offender to two years in the workhouse. The defendant appeals, claiming that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction and that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on theft of property as a lesser included offense. We hold that the evidence is sufficient and that theft is not a lesser included offense of burglary. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kevin Island
The Defendant, Kevin Island, was convicted by a jury of especially aggravated kidnapping, a class A felony, and aggravated robbery, a class B felony. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range II offender to concurrent sentences of twenty-five years and twelve years, respectively, to be served in the Department of Correction. In this appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence is not sufficient to sustain his convictions. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jason Hamilton
The defendant, Jason Hamilton, was convicted of first degree felony murder, second degree murder, and attempted aggravated robbery. The victim was named Thomas Spivey. The trial court merged the two murder convictions and sentenced the defendant to serve life in prison for the merged conviction. For his attempted aggravated robbery conviction, the trial court ordered the defendant to serve a four-year sentence concurrently with his life sentence. The defendant now appeals those convictions, arguing that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress his self-incriminating statement and that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions. After reviewing the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Clarence W. Carter
On March 29, 2000, a Davidson County jury convicted the defendant on one count of conspiracy to sell three hundred grams or more of a substance containing cocaine and one count of possession with intent to deliver twenty-six grams or more of a substance containing cocaine. For the conspiracy conviction the trial court sentenced him to thirty-six years as a multiple offender, and for the possession charge the defendant received a sixteen-year sentence also as a multiple offender. In addition, the trial court fined the defendant one hundred thousand dollars on each count. The court then determined that the possession conviction should run consecutively to the conspiracy conviction resulting in an effective sentence of fifty-two years. After unsuccessfully pursuing a motion for a judgment of acquittal and a new trial motion, the defendant brings this appeal raising a variety of issues. More specifically, the defendant alleges 1) that the trial court erred by not granting him a judgment of acquittal on the amended possession count; 2) that the charge of "possession of over 26 grams of cocaine fatally varied with the conviction of possession of over 26 grams of c[o]caine with intent to sell"; 3) that the conspiracy count is void for failing "to allege an overt act in pursuit of the conspiracy"; 4) that the evidence is insufficient to support both convictions; 5) that the trial court erred in failing to provide the lesser-included instruction regarding conspiracy to sell or deliver under three hundred grams of cocaine; 6) that the trial court erred in sentencing the defendant as a multiple offender; and 7) that the trial court excessively sentenced the defendant as a result of improperly ordering that the sentences arising from this case are to be served consecutively. After considering each of these, we find that none of them merit relief and, therefore, affirm the defendant's convictions. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Frederick J. Robinson v. State of Tennessee
In 1999, petitioner pled guilty to three counts of first degree pre-meditated murder and received three concurrent life sentences without possibility of parole. Petitioner now appeals from the denial of his post-conviction relief petition, contending that his plea was not made knowingly and voluntarily and that he had been denied the effective assistance of counsel. We affirm the post-conviction court’s denial of post-conviction relief. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Allen Lee Dotson, Sr.
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Marion | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James F. Massengale
The defendant, James F. Massengale, who had been charged with eight counts of theft of property valued at greater than $10,000, three counts of theft of property valued at more than $1,000, three counts of attempted theft of property with a value greater than $10,000, and one count of burglary of an automobile, was convicted of five counts of theft over $10,000, one count of attempted theft over $10,000, and one count of burglary of a vehicle. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of eighteen years, with ten years to be served in the Department of Correction and eight years to be served on probation. In this appeal, the defendant asserts that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions and that the trial court erred by ordering consecutive sentences. The judgments of the trial court are affirmed. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Christopher Lee Cooper
The Defendant, Christopher Lee Cooper, pled guilty to theft over $500, a class E felony. The length and manner of service of the sentence were to be determined by the trial court. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to two years in the Department of Correction as a Range I standard offender. The Defendant now appeals as of right the length and manner of service of his sentence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Willie Tome Ensley v. Howard Carlton, Warden and State of Tennessee
In 1986, a Davidson County jury convicted the Petitioner of first degree murder and aggravated rape. The trial court sentenced the Petitioner to an effective sentence of life plus twenty-seven and a half years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. This Court affirmed the Petitioner's convictions and sentences on direct appeal, and the Tennessee Supreme Court denied permission to appeal. The Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in 2000, alleging that he is entitled to habeas corpus relief because: (1) count one of the indictment, charging the Petitioner with felony murder, contains no reference to the applicable statute; (2) count two of the indictment, charging him with aggravated rape, fails to state an offense because it omits the required allegation of the appropriate mens rea for aggravated rape; and (3) count one of the indictment is not signed by the district attorney general. The trial court denied the Petitioner's request for habeas corpus relief, finding that the sufficiency of an indictment cannot be properly challenged in a habeas corpus proceeding and finding that the Petitioner failed to establish that the indictment was insufficient. After review, we conclude that the Petitioner has failed to establish a claim for habeas corpus relief, and we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Johnson | Court of Criminal Appeals |
