State of Tennessee v. John Edward Wilson, Jr.
The defendant, John Edward Wilson, Jr., pled guilty to aggravated burglary and indecent exposure for which he received an effective sentence of five years’ confinement. The defendant appeals the trial court’s denial of diversion and other forms of alternative sentencing, claiming the trial court erred in failing to properly analyze the diversion factors and failing to apply the correct legal standard when ordering confinement rather than probation. The State contends the defendant failed to show he was a favorable candidate for diversion, and the trial court properly exercised its discretion in ordering confinement. Upon our review of the applicable law, the record, and the arguments of the parties, we reverse the decision of the trial court and remand the matter for a new sentencing hearing consistent with this opinion. |
Weakley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CHRISTOPHER W. GADSDEN
Defendant, Christopher W. Gadsden, was indicted by the Davidson County Grand Jury for first degree premeditated murder, first degree felony murder, and theft of property valued between $1,000 and $10,000. Following a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of second degree murder and theft of property valued between $1,000 and $10,000. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed a total effective sentence of 24 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction with 100 percent release eligibility. In this appeal as of right, Defendant contends that: 1) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for second degree murder; 2) the trial court erred by admitting certain autopsy photographs into evidence; 3) the trial court erred by excluding evidence of a prior bad act by the victim; and 4) his sentence is excessive. Following our review of the entire record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Raymond Watison v. State of Tennessee
Raymond Watison, Petitioner, filed a Petition for Writ of Error Coram Nobis (“the Petition”), claiming newly discovered evidence. The State moved to dismiss the Petition. The trial court found that the Petition failed to state a colorable claim and that it was not timely filed and summarily dismissed the Petition. We affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
In Re Zane M.O.
This action involves a maternal grandmother’s objection to the denial of her petition for custody of her minor grandchild and his adoption by his foster parents. We affirm. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KENNETH LAMAR BUGG
Defendant, Kenneth Lamar Bugg, appeals the order of the Giles County Circuit Court revoking his probation and ordering him to serve his sentence in confinement. Defendant arguesthat the trial court erred by consideringevidenceof “non-adjudicated charges”that were pending against him,as a basis to revoke his probation. Hefurther contends that the trial court’s decision to fully revoke his probation was “too great a punishment for a first violation of probation.” Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Giles | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Angela Brewer v. State of Tennessee
A Tipton County jury convicted Petitioner, Angela Brewer, of first degree premeditated murder, and the trial court sentenced Petitioner to life. Petitioner appealed, and this court affirmed her conviction and sentence. Petitioner filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief, and after a hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief. On appeal, Petitioner argues that the post-conviction court erred in denying relief on her claim that she received ineffective assistance of counsel based on trial counsel’s failure to consult with Petitioner regarding the evidence and to secure a firearms expert to testify for the defense. Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Tipton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Demonica Gore
The Defendant-Appellant, Demonica Gore, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of aggravated robbery and received a sentence of twelve years’ imprisonment. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant presents the following issues for our review: (1) whether the trial court erred in sustaining the State’s objection to defense counsel’s question during voir dire concerning the juror’s views on police confessions; (2) whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction; and (3) whether the trial court erred in imposing the maximum sentence of twelve-years’ imprisonment. Upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JEREMY LEE CARTER
The Defendant, Jeremy Lee Carter, pleaded guilty to evading arrest, reckless endangerment, and promotion of methamphetamine manufacture; and he received an effective sentence of eight years on probation. A revocation warrant was issued, and following a hearing, the trial court found that the Defendant violated the terms of his probation, revoked his probation, and ordered him to serve his sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred in ordering him to serve his sentence in confinement. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20 of theRules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. |
Macon | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
George Campbell v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner was convicted of felony murder and aggravated assault for which he received an effective sentence of life in prison. Since his conviction in 1994, the petitioner has filed numerous post-judgment motions seeking relief. The petitioner now appeals from the denial of his most recent motion seeking relief pursuant to Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 60.02. Upon our review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the decision of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Lajuan Harbison v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Lajuan Harbison, appeals as of right from the Knox County Criminal Court’s denial of his petitions for post-conviction relief and writ of error coram nobis, wherein he challenged his conviction for attempted second degree murder. On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel because trial counsel failed to investigate and assert a claim of self-defense. Relative to the error coram nobis petition, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred by finding that new evidence from the victim, who recanted his trial testimony and averred that he was the primary aggressor rather than the Petitioner, was not credible. Following our review, we affirm. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Marvin Christopher Long v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Marvin Christopher Long, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, which petition challenged his convictions of possession with intent to deliver 300 grams or more of a substance containing cocaine in a drug-free school zone and conspiracy to commit the same, alleging that he was deprived of the effective assistance of trial counsel. Discerning no error, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Carl R. Greene
The Defendant, Carl R. Greene, was convicted upon his guilty plea of theft of property valued at $60,000 or more but less than $250,000, a Class B felony. See T.C.A. §§ 39-14-103(a) (2018); 39-14-105(a)(5) (2018) (subsequently amended) (grading of theft).The trial court sentenced the Defendant, a Range I offender, to split confinement consisting of one year in jail followed by eight years on community corrections. The court ordered the Defendant to pay restitution of $83,457.60. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the court erred by imposing a nine-year, split confinement sentence and by failing to consider the Defendant’s ability to pay the restitution amount. We reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand for resentencing. |
Hamblen | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Audrey Downs
The Petitioner, Audrey Downs, entered “best interest” pleas to felony murder and aggravated rape pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970), and received concurrent sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and twentyfive years. In 2002, the Petitioner successfully petitioned for DNA testing of a condom collected from the scene where the victim’s body was discovered, and the results excluded the Petitioner as a contributor to the DNA. Because the State subsequently introduced evidence that the condom was unrelated to the crime, the Petitioner was denied permission to reopen his post-conviction petition. The Petitioner sought further testing of the condom to determine whether the victim’s DNA could be recovered, in an attempt to link it to the crime. The trial court summarily denied further testing, and this court remanded for the trial court to conduct the required analysis of the statutory factors. State v. Audrey Downs, No. W2018-00391-CCA-R3-CD, 2018 WL 6650597, at *2 (Tenn. Crim. App. Dec. 18, 2018), no perm. app. filed. On remand, the petition was again summarily dismissed, and the Petitioner appeals. We conclude that the petition did not allege a prima facie case for DNA testing under the statute, and we accordingly affirm the dismissal. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Philemon Alexander v. State of Tennessee
This case presents an appeal as of right from the post-conviction court’s denial of relief. The Petitioner is serving an eight-year sentence for a jury conviction of theft of property valued at $1,000 or more but less than $10,000. The Petitioner asserts that Counsel’s failure to properly investigate or prepare for trial constitutes the ineffective assistance of counsel. The Petitioner, however, failed to provide clear and convincing proof at the post-conviction hearing to support his allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel. Therefore, we affirm the post-conviction court’s denial of relief. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Terrance Milam v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Terrance Milam, entered a best interest plea to two counts of rape of a child, involving two separate victims, and the trial court sentenced him to serve forty years, at 100%. The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief in which he alleged that he had received the ineffective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to inform him of his right to appeal and to request that the trial court appoint appellate counsel. Following a hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed his petition, and the Petitioner timely appealed. After review, we reverse the post-conviction court’s judgment and remand the case for the appointment of counsel, entry of a certified question of law, and grant of a delayed appeal. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Elvis L. Marsh v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Elvis Louis Marsh, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received the effective assistance of counsel at trial. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Marshall | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Austin Forkpa
After a bench trial, the Defendant, Austin Forkpa, was convicted of resisting arrest, for which he received a six-month sentence. On appeal, the Defendant argues that his conviction was not supported by sufficient evidence, specifically alleging that he did not intentionally use force to prevent or obstruct an arrest and, alternatively, that he was acting in self-defense based upon the officers’ use of excessive force. After our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Washington | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Brandon Luke Baron
The Defendant, Brandon Luke Baron, appeals from the Cumberland County Criminal Court’s denial of his request for judicial diversion following his guilty plea to child abuse, a Class D felony. See T.C.A. § 39-15-401 (2014) (subsequently amended). The court imposed the agreed-upon two-year sentence and ordered the Defendant to serve it in the Department of Correction. The Defendant contends that the court erred in denying judicial diversion. We conclude that the trial court failed to consider and weigh all of the relevant factors in accord with State v. Electroplating, 990 S.W.2d 211, 229 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1998), and State v. Parker, 932 S.W.2d 945, 958 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1996), but upon de novo review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court denying judicial diversion. |
Cumberland | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Martell Smith
The Defendant, Martell Smith, was convicted of the sale of 0.5 grams or more of cocaine and of the delivery of 0.5 grams or more of cocaine, both occurring in a drug-free school zone, and he received a sentence of thirty years in prison. On appeal, he asserts that his convictions should be reversed because the State did not prove that the transaction occurred within the requisite distance of the school or that the educational establishment at issue was a school under statute, because the prosecutor committed misconduct in his opening statements, and because the trial court refused to deliver his requested special instructions. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Putnam | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Glyn Terrance Dale, Sr.
The Appellant, Glyn Terrance Dale, Sr., appeals as of right from the Knox County Criminal Court's summary denial of his Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1 motion to correct an illegal sentence. The Appellant contends that: (1) the trial court erred by increasing the Appellant' s sentence at the resentencing hearing; (2) counsel abandoned him during his resentencing hearing; and (3) the trial court abused its discretion. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jeffrey Brian Gwaltney
The trial court revoked the community corrections sentence of the Defendant, Jeffrey Brian Gwaltney, and ordered that he serve the remainder of his sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that, while he did violate his alternative sentence, the trial court’s full revocation of his fifteen-year sentence was excessive and constituted an abuse of discretion. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Lauderdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Robert T. McLeod
Robert T. McLeod, Defendant, entered a best interest guilty plea to five counts of violating the sex offender registry, one count of violating community supervision, and one count of tampering with evidence with an effective sentence of three years. The trial court denied alternative sentencing and ordered Defendant to serve his sentence in incarceration. After a review, we determine that the trial court did not abuse its discretion. Accordingly, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Marvin Glynn Allen
Defendant, Marvin Glynn Allen, appeals his conviction for DUI, fourth offense, arguing that, based on the plain language of Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-10-405(a), his charge should have been DUI, third offense. After a thorough review of the record, applicable case law, and the legislative history, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Chester | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Rodriccus Funzie v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Rodriccus Funzie, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of first degree premeditated murder. Over a year after this court affirmed his conviction, the Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief. The post-conviction court subsequently denied the petition on its merits. Following our review of the record and relevant law, we conclude the petition was untimely, and, therefore, this court is without jurisdiction to consider this appeal. Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael Wilson
A Shelby County jury convicted the Defendant, Michael Wilson, of first degree felony murder, criminal attempt to commit second degree murder, aggravated robbery, and employing a firearm during the commission of a felony, and the trial court sentenced him to life in prison. In this appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals |
