State of Tennessee v. Jereco Tynes

Jereco Tynes (“the Defendant”) was convicted by a jury of one count of first degree felony murder; one count of attempted aggravated robbery; one count of aggravated robbery; and one count of theft of property between $10,000 and $60,000. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to life imprisonment for the murder and, after a hearing, to a consecutive term of five years for the attempted aggravated robbery; a consecutive term of eight years for the aggravated robbery; and a concurrent term of four years for the theft, for an effective sentence of life plus thirteen years. In this direct appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred by (1) admitting into evidence proof that the Defendant had been in a homosexual relationship; (2) prohibiting defense counsel from cross-examining two co-defendants about their sentence exposure; (3) instructing the jury that evidence of a confession had been admitted; (4) failing to instruct the jury as to certain lesser-included offenses; and (5) imposing consecutive sentences. The Defendant also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence as to all of his convictions. We have determined that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to instruct the jury on a lesser-included offense of theft of property over $10,000. Accordingly, we must reverse the Defendant’s conviction of theft over $10,000 and remand that charge for a new trial. As to the Defendant’s remaining issues, we find no reversible error. Accordingly, the trial court’s judgments are otherwise affirmed.