State of Tennessee v. Mario A. Johnson
The defendant, Mario A. Johnson, was convicted of facilitation to commit first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery. The trial court imposed a Range I sentence of 20 years for facilitation of first degree murder and a concurrent sentence of 23 years for especially aggravated robbery. In this appeal of right, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. The judgments are affirmed. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kenneth L. Boggs
The defendant, Kenneth L. Boggs, appeals his Davidson County Criminal Court conviction of unlawful possession of a handgun, a Class E felony. He complains on appeal that the trial court erred in not addressing the prosecutor's exploitation of the defendant's exercise of his right to remain silent following his arrest. Finding no error requiring reversal, we affirm the conviction. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Troy D. Ryan
The defendant appeals from a conviction of theft of property over one thousand dollars. The sole issue presented for review is the sufficiency of the evidence to establish the value element of the offense. We conclude that the testimony by the owner of the stolen property was sufficient for the jury to find that the fair market value of the property was over one thousand dollars. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Charles David Vanderford
The appellant, Charles David Vanderford, appeals the order of the Circuit Court of Hardin County revoking the community corrections sentences that he received following his convictions by a jury of two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. The appellant challenges the trial court's reliance upon his commission of crimes during the pendency of his appeal from his convictions of felony drug possession and prior to the commencement of his community corrections sentences. Following a review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Hardin | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Waldo Wiggins, Jr.
Following transfer to circuit court for trial as an adult, the juvenile defendant, Waldo Wiggins, Jr., was convicted of first degree murder. On appeal, Defendant challenges (1) whether the denial of bail by the juvenile court and subsequent bond of $ 250,000 set by the circuit court violated his right to due process of law, and (2) whether the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction. After a review of the record, we affirm. |
Tipton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dale Godwin
In 1995, the Defendant pled guilty to four felony drug charges for which he received three concurrent eight-year sentences and one concurrent five-year sentence, to be served on Community Corrections. Subsequently, the trial court revoked the Defendant's Community Corrections sentences and ordered him to serve twelve years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Defendant now appeals, alleging that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to re-sentence the Defendant and that the twelve year sentence was improperly imposed. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Obion | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Charles William Jones
The Defendant, Charles William Jones, was convicted of second degree murder in the Criminal Court of Davidson County. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to twenty-two years in the Department of Correction. In this appeal, the Defendant contends that (1) the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and (2) the trial court improperly applied two enhancement factors in sentencing the Defendant. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jerry Damon Williams
On September 25, 2000, the Defendant, Jerry Damon Williams, entered a plea of guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-10-401. Pursuant to Rule 37 (b)(1)(i) of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Defendant sought to reserve a certified question of law to be reviewed by this Court. In this appeal, the Defendant contends that (1) he properly reserved the certified question of the validity of the police's initial investigatory stop and (2) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence discovered as a result of the investigatory stop. We vacate the Defendant's conviction and dismiss the case. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Perry Saleem Lee v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Perry Saleem Lee, appeals the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief by the Williamson County Circuit Court, which held that the petitioner's claims for relief had been either previously determined or waived. The petitioner complains about his appointed counsel and the state's purported shortcomings in the post-conviction process. He also complains about the trial court not allowing an amendment to the petition, not allowing an evidentiary hearing, and not setting forth findings of fact and conclusions of law as to each ground he raised. We affirm the trial court. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jared M. Barnes
The defendant, Jared M. Barnes, was convicted upon his guilty plea for vehicular homicide by recklessness, a Class C felony. The trial court sentenced him as a Range I, standard offender to five years, with ten months, day for day, to be served in the county jail and the remainder of the sentence to be served on probation. In addition, the trial court suspended the defendant's driving privileges for five years and ordered that he complete five hundred hours of community service. The defendant appeals his sentence, contending that the trial court erred in denying him judicial diversion or full probation. We affirm the trial court's denial of judicial diversion and full probation, but hold that the order that the defendant serve his ten-month incarceration day for day does not preclude use of applicable conduct credits. |
Sevier | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Cory L. Milliken
The Defendant, Corey L. Milliken, pled guilty to two counts of first degree premeditated murder and one count of aggravated robbery. His agreed sentence was two concurrent life sentences for the murders and a consecutive twelve year term for the aggravated robbery, for an effective sentence of life plus twelve years. The Defendant timely filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that his guilty plea was not entered knowingly and voluntarily. After a hearing the trial court denied relief and the Defendant appealed as of right. Finding no error in the trial court's ruling on the Defendant's petition, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Timothy L. Robertson
The defendant, Timothy L. Robertson, was indicted on two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell; one count of felony possession of a weapon; and one count of driving on a revoked or suspended license. Following the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress, he pled guilty to one count of possession of more than .5 grams of cocaine with the intent to resell, a Class B felony, and one count of felony possession of a weapon, a Class E felony. In accordance with the terms of his plea bargain agreement, the remaining counts of the indictment were dismissed. Pursuant to Rule 37(b)(2)(1) of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, the defendant reserved the right to appeal as a dispositive question of law the issue of whether his custodial arrest and the subsequent search of his vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution, and Tennessee Code Annotated Section 40-7-118(b)(1)(c). We conclude that the officers were required to make a custodial arrest of the defendant to prevent his continued violation of the driver's license law, and that the subsequent search of his vehicle was valid as incident to that arrest. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Chauncey E. Gray
The defendant, Chauncey E. Gray, appeals as of right from his convictions by a jury in the Chester County Circuit Court of forgery, a Class E felony, and theft of property valued at $500 or less, a Class A misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced him as a Range II, multiple offender to a four-year sentence for the forgery to be served in the Department of Correction, imposed a $1,500 fine, and ordered $400 in restitution. It imposed a sentence of eleven months, twenty-nine days at seventy-five percent for the theft to be served concurrently and a $1,250 fine. The defendant contends that his effective four-year sentence is excessive and that he should have received a sentencing alternative to confinement. We affirm the sentences imposed by the trial court. |
Chester | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
James Thomas Page v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, James Thomas Page, appeals as of right from the Chester County Circuit Court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The petitioner pled guilty to second degree murder, a Class A felony, and received the agreed, forty-year sentence as a 100% violent offender. He contends that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel and that he did not understand what was happening at the guilty plea hearing. We affirm the trial court's denial of the petition. |
Chester | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael Joseph Arbuckle
A Sumner County jury convicted the Defendant, Michael Joseph Arbuckle, of one count of driving under the influence, one count of driving under the influence, per se, and one count of driving under |
Sumner | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Melvin Waters
The defendant appeals from his convictions for facilitation of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, resisting arrest and criminal impersonation. The only issue raised by the defendant is whether the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction for aggravated assault. Based on our review of the evidence, we conclude that the co-defendant's conduct amounted to aggravated assault and that the defendant, as a party to the offense, was criminally responsible for that conduct. The judgments of the trial court are affirmed. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jesse C. Minor by and through counsel, Hal Hardin v. State of Tennessee
We accepted this extraordinary appeal, see Tenn. R. App. P. 10, to review certain pre-hearing actions of the Davidson County Criminal Court in this post-conviction case. Our grant of review extends to these issues: (1) whether a "next friend" may file a post-conviction petition on behalf of an incompetent prisoner; (2) if so, may the post-conviction court, sua sponte, order a mental evaluation of the prisoner or conduct other inquiries into the matter to determine whether the "next friend" petition was properly filed on the prisoner's behalf; and (3) whether the court below properly denied the petitioner's motion for recusal. We conclude that we improvidently granted extraordinary review in part, but we otherwise affirm the rulings of the lower court and remand for further proceedings. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Donald R. Eady, Jr.
The Defendant was convicted by a Bradley County jury of second degree murder. The trial court sentenced him as a Range I standard offender to twenty-five years' incarceration. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant argues (1) that insufficient evidence was presented at trial to support his conviction; (2) that the trial court erred by failing to suppress his statement to police; (3) that the trial court erred by allowing into evidence autopsy photographs of the victim; (4) that the jury considered extraneous facts during deliberation and that the trial court erred in the manner in which it conducted a post-trial voir dire of the jury concerning this matter; and (5) that he was improperly sentenced. Having reviewed the record, we conclude (1) that sufficient evidence was presented to support the Defendant's conviction for second degree murder; (2) that the trial court did not err by allowing the Defendant's statement into evidence; (3) that the trial court did not err by admitting into evidence autopsy photographs of the victim; (4) that the record does not support the Defendant's allegation that jurors in his case were influenced by extraneous information and that the manner in which the trial court conducted a post-trial voir dire of the jurors concerning this matter was not improper; and (5) that the Defendant was properly sentenced. We thus affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Garland Godsey
The defendant was tried and convicted of second degree murder in the Cumberland County Criminal Court in connection with an aggravated assault of a bar patron who died approximately one month later. The trial court sentenced the defendant as a violent offender to 25 years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant takes issue with the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on "diminished capacity" and with the length of the sentence he received. Based upon our review, we affirm the judgment below. |
Cumberland | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Tommy Wayne Simpson v. State of Tennessee
Defendant appeals from the dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. We conclude that the State of Tennessee never surrendered jurisdiction over defendant and that defendant's sentence did not expire. We accordingly affirm the judgment from the trial court. |
Morgan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John D. Pass
The defendant appeals from his conviction for aggravated assault and his sentence. We conclude that there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction for aggravated assault. The imposition of a six (6)-month jail term pursuant to a sentence of five (5) years in split confinement is appropriate. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Roger M. Gardner v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Roger M. Gardner, appeals the order of the Sullivan County Criminal Court denying his petition for post-conviction relief. A Sullivan County jury found the petitioner guilty of attempted aggravated kidnapping, and the trial court subsequently sentenced him to serve eight years as a Range II multiple offender. The petitioner challenged his conviction on direct appeal, and this Court affirmed his conviction. State v. Roger Morris Gardner, No. 03C01-9712-CR-00524, 1999 WL 486847, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Knoxville July 13, 1999). Subsequently, the petitioner filed for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, judicial misconduct, the trial court's lack of jurisdiction, and denial of statutory rights. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and the petitioner now brings this appeal alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. For the following reasons, we find that none of these allegations merit relief and therefore affirm the decision of the post-conviction court. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Steven Lloyd Givens
The Defendant, Steven Lloyd Givens, was convicted of attempted especially aggravated kidnapping in the Criminal Court of Davidson County. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed a sentence of twelve years as a Range I offender to be served in the Department of Correction. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred in (1) denying the Defendant's motion to suppress the evidence seized during the Defendant's arrest, (2) denying the Defendant's motion to suppress the results of a show-up identification of the Defendant by the victim, (3) denying the Defendant's motion to amend the indictment, and (4) in sentencing the Defendant to the maximum sentence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Galgalo B. Halake
A Davidson County grand jury indicted the defendant, Galgalo B. Halake, for first-degree murder. The petit jury convicted him of that offense. The defendant filed a motion for new trial and a motion for judgment of acquittal. The trial court denied the defendant's motion for new trial, but granted the defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal by reducing the defendant's conviction to second-degree murder. Subsequently, the trial court sentenced the defendant to serve twenty-two years of incarceration. The state appeals the trial court's reduction of the conviction to second-degree murder. The defendant appeals his conviction, challenging the admission of certain testimony, the trial court's failure to charge the jury with the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter, the sufficiency of the evidence, and the propriety of his sentence. We find that there is sufficient evidence to support a jury finding of guilt of first degree murder. However, because the trial court erred in allowing lay opinion testimony concerning blood spatters, we reverse the decision of the lower court and remand this case for a new trial. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. A Tract of Land Known as 141 Belle Forest Circle, et al.
The appellant, Westminster Realty Company, appeals an order entered by the Davidson County Criminal Court denying its claim to an interest in the proceeds from the sale of property pursuant to forfeiture proceedings. Following a thorough review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals |
