Tiffany Michelle Taylor v. State Of Tennessee
Petitioner, Tiffany Michelle Taylor, was convicted by a Putnam County jury of first degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life in the Tennessee Department of Correction. More than a year after this court affirmed her conviction, Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging that her juvenile life sentence violated the Eighth Amendment as interpreted in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012) and Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718 (2016). The post-conviction court subsequently denied the petition on its merits. Following our review of the record and relevant law, we conclude that the post-conviction court should have dismissed the petition because it was not timely filed. The judgment dismissing the petition is affirmed. |
Putnam | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State Of Tennessee v. Margle Otis Ward
Margle Otis Ward, Defendant, admitted to violating the conditions of his probation. The trial court revoked Defendant’s probation and ordered the execution of the judgments as originally entered. Defendant claims that the trial court erred by fully revoking his probation “without considering alternative sanctions or tailoring a sanction to address Defendant’s drug use.” We determine that the trial court properly exercised its discretion in both revoking probation and in ordering the execution of the judgments as originally entered. |
Warren | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State Of Tennessee v. Matthew Howard Norris
In this multiple indictment case, the Defendant, Matthew Norris, pleaded guilty to one count of burglary and two counts of theft over $2,500, in exchange for a total effective sentence of eight years. The parties agreed to allow the trial court to determine the manner of service of the sentence. After a hearing, the trial court ordered that the Defendant serve his sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred when it denied his request for judicial diversion and his request for an alternative sentence. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Putnam | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Demarcus Stevenson
A Shelby County jury convicted Defendant, Demarcus Stevenson, of second degree murder, attempted second degree murder, and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, for which Defendant received an effective sentence of forty-three years’ incarceration. On appeal, Defendant contends that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence the prior written statement of a witness, in its entirety, as a prior inconsistent statement under Tennessee Rule of Evidence 803(26) and by admitting testimony under Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(b) regarding Defendant’s prior act of violence against the murder victim. Defendant also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Patrick Wadri v. State Of Tennessee
Petitioner, Patrick Wadri, entered an open plea in the General Sessions Court of Williamson County to two counts of driving on a suspended license, one count of use of a stolen license plate, and one count of failure to appear. The General Sessions Judge imposed an effective sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days, suspended to probation after the service of thirty days in incarceration. Petitioner subsequently sought post-conviction relief on the basis that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that his guilty plea was unknowing and involuntary. After a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Cody D. Marks v. State Of Tennessee
A Giles County jury convicted the Petitioner, Cody D. Marks, of the sale of more than 0.5 grams of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public park, and the trial court sentenced him as a Range II offender to fifteen years of incarceration, twelve years of which was to be served at 100%. This court affirmed his convictions and sentence on appeal. State v. Cody D. Marks, No. M2018-00020-CCA-R-CD, 2018 WL 6992553, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Nashville, Nov. 13, 2018), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Mar. 28, 2019). The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that he had received the ineffective assistance of counsel. After a hearing, the post-conviction court denied the petition. After review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment. |
Giles | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. David Oeser
A Rutherford County jury convicted the Defendant, David Oeser, as charged of first degree premediated murder, first degree felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and tampering with evidence. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-202(a)(1), (a)(2), 39-13-403, 39-14-403, 39-16-503. The trial court imposed life sentences for the Defendant’s first degree murder convictions before merging them. It then sentenced the Defendant to twenty years at one hundred percent for the especially aggravated robbery conviction, five years at thirty percent for the aggravated burglary conviction, and five years at thirty percent for the tampering with evidence conviction, with these sentences served concurrently with one another but consecutively to the life sentence, for an effective sentence of life plus twenty years. On appeal, the Defendant argues: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction for first degree premediated murder; and (2) the trial court abused its discretion in ordering the sentences for the especially aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and tampering with evidence convictions served consecutively to his life sentence. After carefully reviewing the record and the applicable law, we remand the case for entry of corrected judgment forms in Counts 1 and 3 as specified in this opinion. In all other respects, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. LAWRENCE EUGENE ALLEN
The primary issue in this case involves the State’s delayed disclosure of obviously exculpatory evidence. On June 18, 2015, Lawrence Eugene Allen, Defendant, was arrested for aggravated rape and domestic assault of his wife, Kimberly Allen. The charges were based primarily on Ms. Allen’s statement to Detective Dustin Fait that Defendant struck her and penetrated her with his hand. On June 22, 2015, the day before the original setting of the preliminary hearing, Ms. Allen sent two emails to Detective Fait. In the first email, Ms. Allen stated that Defendant did not rape her. She claimed that she had a consensual sexual encounter with an unknown man in his vehicle outside a bar in Nashville during the early morning hours of June 18, 2015. After numerous continuances, a preliminary hearing was finally held on March 18, 2016. The State did not disclose the emails to Defendant before the preliminary hearing. Both Ms. Allen and Detective Fait testified at the preliminary hearing and were cross-examined by defense counsel. Neither witness mentioned Ms. Allen’s emails or her recantation of the rape allegation. A few days after the preliminary hearing, Ms. Allen was murdered. The murder was unrelated to this case or to Defendant. The emails were finally disclosed to Defendant when the State provided discovery on December 21, 2017. Prior to trial, Defendant moved to exclude Ms. Allen’s preliminary hearing testimony based on Tennessee Rule of Evidence 804 and the Confrontation Clause of the United States Constitution and the Tennessee Constitution. Following a hearing, the trial court declared Ms. Allen unavailable and denied Defendant’s motion, finding that Defendant had both an opportunity and a similar motive to develop Ms. Allen’s testimony at the preliminary hearing through cross-examination. At trial, the State played the audio recording of Ms. Allen’s preliminary hearing testimony for the jury and introduced the emailsas substantive evidence. The jury convicted Defendant of one count of aggravated rape and one count of domestic assault, and the trial court imposed an effective sentence of twenty years to be served at one hundred percent. We hold that the State’s failure to disclose the obviously exculpatory first email before Ms. Allen testified at the preliminary hearing, coupled with her death before trial, deprived Defendant of the opportunity to cross-examine Ms. Allen about the veracity of the emails, violated Brady 12/10/2020 -2 v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), and deprived Defendant of his constitutional right to due process of law. We reverse Defendant’s convictions and remand for a new trial. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jamie Crowell v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Jamey Crowell, appeals the post-conviction court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his 2017 Chester County convictions for aggravated kidnapping, facilitation of aggravated assault, and three drug-related convictions, arguing that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Chester | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
JACK LOUIS JANES v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Petitioner, Jack Louis Janes, appeals from the trial court’s summary dismissal of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea or, in the alternative, petition for writ of habeas corpus relief. Having reviewed the record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Putnam | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DONALD HOLLON RUNIONS
The Defendant, Donald Hollon Runions, was convicted of two counts of violation of the Child Protection Act, Class A felonies; four counts of rape of a child, Class A felonies; and two counts of aggravated sexual battery, Class B felonies, and he was sentenced to an effective term of fifty years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant argues that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions; (2) the Child Protection Act, Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-518,is unconstitutional; and (3) case law applied in his case to allow certain credibility evidence should be overturned. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Lewis | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Michael E. Stewart v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Michael E. Stewart, filed a petition for a writ of error coram nobis in the Polk County Criminal Court, claiming that newly discovered evidence revealed the investigating officer in his case participated in the bystander jury selection process used at his trial and that the statute of limitations should be tolled. After an evidentiary hearing, the coram nobis court denied the petition. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that our supreme court’s rules prevented him from receiving a fair coram nobis hearing by depriving him of an investigator; that the coram nobis court erred by inquiring into the Petitioner’s relationship with his “main” witness at the hearing; and that the coram nobis court should have granted his petition. Based upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we find no reversible error and affirm the judgment of the coram nobis court. |
Polk | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Nicholas Brooks
A Shelby County jury convicted the Defendant, Nicholas Brooks, of first degree felony murder in perpetration of a robbery, first degree felony murder in perpetration of a burglary, especially aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. The trial court sentenced him to an effective sentence of life plus twelve years. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the trial court erred when it admitted the Defendant’s mother’s statement into evidence; (2) the trial court improperly instructed the jury; and (3) the evidence at trial was insufficient to support his convictions. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Arlene T. Pugh aka Arlene McFadden
A Madison County jury convicted the Defendant, Arlene T. Pugh aka Arlene McFadden, of disorderly conduct, assault, and resisting arrest, and the trial court imposed an elevenmonth, twenty-nine day probation sentence, with a seven-day jail sentence. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the evidence is insufficient to support her convictions because of conflicting testimony of the witnesses. Because credibility determinations regarding witness testimony are within the province of the jury, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Robert Doll
A Williamson County jury convicted the Defendant, Robert A. Doll, III, of two counts of suborning aggravated perjury and one count of criminal simulation, and the trial court sentenced him to two years of probation. The Defendant filed a motion for new trial, alleging that the indictment against him was untimely. The trial court denied the Defendant’s motion, and the Defendant now appeals. On appeal, he contends that the trial court erred when it failed to dismiss the indictment as time-barred. After review, we affirm the circuit court’s judgment. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Dedrick Wiggins v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Dedrick Wiggins, appeals the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief in which he challenged his convictions for two counts of second degree murder and three counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. On appeal, the Petitioner challenges the post-conviction court’s dismissal of the petition as filed outside the one-year statute of limitations. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Ercil K. Gates-Rayford v. Hilton Hall, et al
The Appellant, Ercil K. Gates-Rayford, appeals the trial court’s summary denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The State has filed a motion asking this Court to affirm the judgment of the trial court pursuant to Court of Criminal Appeals Rule 20. Said motion is hereby granted. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dawn Michlitsch
The defendant, Dawn Michlitsch, pled guilty to two counts of possession of .5 grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to sell or deliver and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia for which she received an effective sentence of twelve years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant contends the trial court erred in enhancing her sentence and in denying any form of alternative sentencing. Upon our review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Henderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Elijah Williams
A Carroll County jury convicted the Defendant, Elijah Paul Williams, of intentionally or knowingly failing to pay child support, and the trial court sentenced him to six months, ninety days of which the Defendant was to serve in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and that he was denied due process of law. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Carroll | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Demetrice A. Smith v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Demetrice A. Smith, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, which petition challenged his 2017 |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
MICHAEL F. MARASCHIELLO v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Petitioner, Michael F. Maraschiello, was convicted of first degree murder, arson, possession of a shotgun with an altered serial number, and theft after a jury trial in 1997. He was sentenced to life plus five years for the convictions. Petitioner appealed and this Court affirmed the conviction. State v. Maraschiello, 88 S.W.3d 586, 590 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2000). Over 19 years ago, Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging various grounds for relief including ineffective assistance of counsel. Petitioner sought funding for a medical and psychological expert in 2005, and the post-conviction court denied the request. The post-conviction court granted Petitioner permission for an interlocutory appeal. This Court denied the application for permission to appeal. State v. Michael F. Maraschiello, M2007-01968-CCA-R9-CO, at *2 (Tenn. Crim. App. Sept. 26, 2007) (order). After multiple amended petitions that included dozens of claims, the postconviction court denied relief to Petitioner in 2019. On appeal, Petitioner argues that the evidence weighs against the post-conviction’s court finding that Petitioner was not a credible witness, that he has a constitutional or statutory right to state funded experts and investigators, that the post-conviction court erred by denying Petitioner the ability to prove his claims by refusing to allow Petitioner to call sixty-nine witnesses, that the postconviction court erred when it rejected Petitioner’s claim that he clearly accepted a plea offer, and that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to call or impeach witnesses. After a thorough review of the very lengthy record, we affirm the decision of the post-conviction court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jordana Jenyane Wright
The Defendant, Jordana Jenyane Wright, pled guilty to Class E felony theft of property with an agreed-upon sentence of one year and six months of probation. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the Defendant’s request for diversion. The Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court, in its decision to deny diversion, failed to properly account for the Defendant’s lack of a criminal record and improperly weighed irrelevant facts, such as the Defendant’s failure to implicate any potential co-defendants and the criminal history of the Defendant’s fiancé. After our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Anderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Thomas C. McLaughlin v. State of Tenessee
The petitioner, Thomas McLaughlin, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, which petition alleged that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel at a revocation hearing .Discerning no error, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Armin Lars Begtrup
Defendant, Armin Lars Begtrup, was found guilty after a jury trial of two counts of aggravated perjury. He was sentenced to three and one-half years of supervised probation. The trial court granted judicial diversion. Defendant timely filed a motion for new trial which the trial court denied. On appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court violated his right to a unanimous verdict and that the evidence is not sufficient to sustain his convictions. After a thorough review, we dismiss the appeal because we lack jurisdiction to consider the issues. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Armin Lars Begtrup - Concurring
I agree that the majority opinion is correctly decided based upon the current relevant rules and case law. I write separately because I also agree with the statement in the Defendant’s supplemental brief that The denial of access to the appellate courts where the defendant enters a plea of not guilty, is convicted at trial, and is sentenced under judicial diversion is wrong. That is the Appellant’s rubric. The defendant who maintains his innocence has no appellate recourse to correct trial errors that may have resulted in a wrongful conviction if sentenced under judicial diversion. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals |
