State of Tennessee v. Delinquent Taxpayers of Benton County, Tennessee
After a delinquent tax sale of land owned by a limited liability corporation, the managing member filed a motion to redeem the property pro se, signing only his own name. The trial court deemed admitted requests for admission propounded on purported redeemer individually after only the entity responded. Relying in part on the admissions, the trial court granted the tax sale purchaser’s motion to strike the attempt at redemption for lack of standing. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm. |
Benton | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tony Lee Light
The Defendant, Tony Lee Light, was convicted in the Blount County Circuit Court of first degree felony murder committed during the perpetration of aggravated child abuse and second degree murder. The trial court merged the conviction of second degree murder into the conviction of first degree murder, and the jury chose to sentence him to life without parole. On appeal, the Defendant claims that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions and that the trial court committed reversible error by allowing the State to impeach his character. Based on our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Anthony Perry v. Tennessee Department of Corrections
An inmate convicted of first-degree murder in 1999 filed this declaratory judgment action challenging the Tennessee Department of Correction’s calculation of his release eligibility date. The trial court granted the Tennessee Department of Correction’s motion for summary judgment dismissing the petition. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.
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Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Raymond Watison v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Raymond Watison, appeals from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his conviction for first degree premeditated murder. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred by denying relief on his claims alleging that he received the ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The Petitioner argues that counsel was ineffective by (1) failing to keep out hearsay evidence at the suppression hearing regarding how the Petitioner was established as the suspect, (2) insufficiently challenging the probable cause determination in this case, (3) not calling necessary witnesses at the suppression hearing, and (4) failing to make contemporaneous objections at the trial. Additionally, the Petitioner argues that the post-conviction court erred by entering a written order that contained no findings of fact or conclusions of law. We reverse the post-conviction court’s judgment and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Deborah Russell v. HSBC, Inc. et al.
A pro se plaintiff filed a 543-page complaint containing improper allegations and claims. The trial court struck the complaint and ordered the plaintiff to refile. The plaintiff then filed an amended complaint of less than half the length, but containing many of the same deficiencies as the original complaint. The court again struck the offensive portions and ordered the plaintiff to refile. The court also dismissed several of the defendants because the amended complaint failed to state a claim against them for which the court could grant relief. Rather than file a second amended complaint, the plaintiff moved several times to recuse the trial judge. Having failed to file a proper complaint within the time specified, the court dismissed the case. We affirm.
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Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Andre Bowen v. State of Tennessee
Andre Bowen, Petitioner, claims that the trial court erred by summarily dismissing his Petition for Writ of Error Coram Nobis. Discerning no error, we affirm the dismissal. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Roberto Digma
The defendant, Roberto Digma, appeals the Knox County Criminal Court’s order revoking his probation and ordering him to serve the balance of his eight-year sentence for possession of .5 grams or more of methamphetamine with the intent to sell or deliver in confinement. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Gary Wood
The defendant, Gary Wood, appeals his Knox County Criminal Court jury conviction of theft of property valued at $2,500 or more but less than $10,000, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. Discerning no error, we affirm.
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Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Roger Scott Austermiller v. Penny Smith Austermiller
This is an accelerated interlocutory appeal as of right pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B § 2.02 from the trial court’s denial of a motion for recusal in a pending divorce action. The husband moved for recusal based on comments the presiding judge made after the husband failed a court-ordered drug test. The judge stated from the bench, “If I could put [the husband] in drug court, I would. It’s a two-year program. I would certainly love for him to be in that. Unfortunately, he doesn’t qualify because it’s not for domestic. It’s for criminal.” In the order denying the husband’s motion, the judge stated: “the Court made these suggestions only to help [the husband] get well and beat his addiction so he can be a father to his two children.” The court also found that the husband filed his motion “for an improper purpose, i.e., to delay the litigation.” We have concluded that the motion was not filed for an improper purpose; however, we find the evidence is insufficient to prompt a reasonable, disinterested person to believe that the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court denying the motion for recusal is affirmed.
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Williamson | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Sterling White
The Defendant, Sterling White, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court jury of two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, a Class B felony; unlawful possession of a handgun, a Class E felony; and simple possession of cocaine, a Class A misdemeanor. After merging the unlawful possession of a handgun/firearm counts into a single conviction of unlawful possession of a firearm having been previously convicted of a crime involving violence, the trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range II, multiple offender to concurrent terms of twelve years for the firearm conviction and eleven months, twenty-nine days for the cocaine conviction, for a total effective sentence of twelve years in the Department of Correction, to be served consecutively to the Defendant’s sentence in a case for which the Defendant was on bond at the time of the instant offenses. The sole issue the Defendant raises on appeal is whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain his convictions. Based on our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Wayne Haddix d/b/a 385 Ventures, Inc. v. Jayton Stinson, et al.
This is an accelerated interlocutory appeal as of right filed pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 10B. Due to numerous deficiencies in the petition, the appeal is hereby dismissed. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Brandon Copeland v. Tennessee Department of Correction
The appellant, a former Tennessee Department of Correction (“TDOC”) employee, challenges the Tennessee Board of Appeals’ decision upholding his dismissal as an employee due to actions allegedly constituting official misconduct and tampering with evidence. The appellant requests that this Court overrule or modify the Tennessee Supreme Court’s holding in Tenn. Dep’t of Corr. v. Pressley, 528 S.W.3d 506 (Tenn. 2017), which this Court lacks authority to do. Although we conclude that the appellant has waived his remaining two issues on appeal by failing to provide legal authority or argument, we further conclude that the Tennessee Board of Appeals’ decision was supported by substantial and material evidence. We therefore affirm the Davidson County Chancery Court’s final judgment dismissing the appellant’s petition for judicial review with prejudice. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Jeremy R. Durham v. Tennessee Registry of Election Finance
This case involves the imposition of a civil penalty by the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance as the result of multiple violations of the Campaign Financial Disclosure Act and the Campaign Contribution Limits Act. An appeal of the Registry’s decision was decided by an Administrative Law Judge who generally affirmed the decision of the Registry but significantly reduced the civil penalty. After further review by the Registry, the penalty was largely reinstated. Upon further appeal, the Chancery Court affirmed the decision of the Registry. We affirm.
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Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee, ex rel., Kimberly Krepela Hoard v. Richard Lane Barrom
In this Title IV-D child support case, the juvenile court modified a father’s child support obligation pursuant to the Child Support Guidelines after the child had reached the age of majority and had graduated high school. We vacate and remand. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jacob Sarkissian
The Defendant, Jacob Sarkissian, appeals the trial court’s revocation of his three-year probationary sentence for aggravated assault. The trial court revoked the Defendant’s probation after determining that he materially violated his probation sentence by testing positive for marijuana, methamphetamine, and amphetamine, and by having contact with the victim. The Defendant asserts that the trial court’s revocation of his probation sentence was an abuse of discretion because the trial court improperly relied on allegations of physical abuse that were not alleged in the probation violation warrant. The record supports the trial court’s finding that the Defendant violated the terms of his probation sentence and the trial court’s decision that the Defendant must serve his sentence in prison. We conclude that no abuse of discretion occurred and affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Molly Leann Green v. Michael Wayne Green
This is an interlocutory appeal as of right, pursuant to Rule 10B of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, filed by Molly Leann Green (“Mother”), seeking to recuse the judge in this case involving parenting issues. Having reviewed the petition for recusal appeal filed by Mother and the answer filed by Michael Wayne Green (“Father”) pursuant to this Court’s order, and finding no error, we affirm. |
Fentress | Court of Appeals | |
Benjamin McCurry v. Agness McCurry
Appellant/Mother filed a post-divorce petition for contempt against Appellee/Father for alleged violations of the parenting plan. Mother also moved to change the child’s primary residential parent from Father to her. The trial court held that there was no contempt and further held that there was not a material change in circumstances to warrant a change in the child’s primary residential parent. Mother appeals. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Washington | Court of Appeals | |
Jeffrey Lee Self v. Jennifer Dawn Self
In this divorce action the husband raises multiple issues on appeal concerning, inter alia, the factual accuracy of the trial court’s judgment; the trial court’s grant of divorce to the wife on the ground of inappropriate marital conduct; the trial court’s equitable distribution of the marital property, including the trial court’s one-time award to the wife of $50,000 as part of the distribution; the trial court’s findings concerning the husband’s income, expenses, and ability to work; and the trial court’s award to the wife of $3,000 in attorney’s fees as alimony in solido. The husband has not directly raised an issue regarding the trial court’s award to the wife of $850 monthly as alimony in futuro. We determine that with the exception of one issue related to the trial court’s miscalculation of the marriage’s duration, which we deem to have been harmless error, the husband has waived all issues by failing to comply with Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 24(b)-(c) and Tennessee Court of Appeals Rule 7. We accordingly affirm the trial court’s judgment. Deeming this to be a frivolous appeal, we grant the wife’s request for reasonable attorney’s fees on appeal and post-judgment interest on the trial court’s alimony awards. |
Bradley | Court of Appeals | |
Genevieve Thomas v. Cass Clay Thomas
This is an appeal of a divorce case involving the awarding of alimony and the division of marital property. The trial court entered an order summarily denying the wife’s various motions, including a motion to alter or amend the judgment. Upon our review of the record, we vacate the trial court’s order and remand for a review pursuant to Rule 63 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Malique Nicolas Gray
The State filed a petition seeking to transfer seventeen-year-old Defendant-Appellant, Malique Nicolas Gray, for prosecution as an adult in criminal court. Prior to the transfer hearing, the Bradley County Juvenile Court Judge signed an order appointing the juvenile magistrate judge to hear the matter. The juvenile magistrate judge presided over the Defendant’s transfer hearing and found probable cause to transfer the Defendant to the Bradley County Criminal Court to be tried as an adult. At the close of the transfer hearing, the juvenile magistrate judge advised defense counsel that she was sitting as a “substitute judge.” Following a trial, the Defendant was convicted by a Bradley County Criminal Court jury of aggravated robbery, felony theft of property, misdemeanor theft of property, and burglary of an automobile. The Defendant received a concurrent term of eleven years for the aggravated robbery and three years for the felony theft of property, which was aligned consecutively to a concurrent term of two years for burglary of an automobile and eleven months and twenty-nine days for the misdemeanor theft of property, for an effective sentence of thirteen years’ imprisonment. The Defendant’s principal complaint on appeal is that the juvenile transfer hearing was “marred by procedural defects” because (1) the order by the juvenile court judge appointing the juvenile magistrate judge was “silent regarding any necessity or good cause [for the juvenile judge] to be absent;” and (2) the transfer hearing was conducted by a judge who did not identify herself as a “substitute judge” until the end of the hearing, depriving the Defendant of an opportunity to object and appeal to the elected juvenile court judge The Defendant also argues that the trial court erred in denying alternative sentencing under Tennessee Code Annotated Section 40-35- 122, which prohibits continuous confinement for non-violent property offenses, and in imposing partial consecutive sentencing. Upon our review, we affirm. |
Monroe | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Trevor Adamson v. Sarah E. Grove, et al.
In this case, the plaintiff filed a complaint alleging defamation and related causes of action. Before the defendants filed an answer or any other pleading, the plaintiff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal, and the trial court entered an order of voluntary dismissal without prejudice. Within thirty days, the defendants filed a combined motion to alter or amend and petition to dismiss the complaint with prejudice pursuant to the Tennessee Public Participation Act (TPPA), Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-17-101, et seq., seeking an award of attorney fees and sanctions. The trial court ultimately entered an order altering or amending the order of voluntary dismissal without prejudice, granting the defendants’ petition to dismiss with prejudice under the TPPA, and ordering the plaintiff to pay $15,000 in attorney fees in addition to $24,000 in sanctions. The plaintiff has appealed and raised numerous issues, including a challenge to the trial court’s subject matter jurisdiction after the nonsuit. For the following reasons, we reverse the trial court’s order granting the motion to alter or amend, vacate the trial court’s order granting the appellees’ petition to dismiss with prejudice and awarding attorney fees and sanctions, and remand.
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Sumner | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Adam O'Brian McDaniel
The Defendant, Adam O’Brian McDaniel, was convicted by a Monroe County Criminal Court jury of three counts of rape of a child, a Class A felony, for which he received concurrent twenty-eight-year sentences to be served at 100%. See T.C.A. § 39-13-522 (2018) (subsequently amended). On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the trial court erred in determining that he was competent to stand trial, (2) the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress his pretrial statement, (3) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions, (4) the State made an improper election of offenses, (5) the trial court erred in admitting the victim’s great-grandmother’s testimony regarding her reaction to the victim’s revelation of sexual abuse, (6) the trial court erred in denying his motion for a mistrial, (7) the trial court erred in giving a jury instruction pursuant to State v. Ferguson, 2 S.W.3d 912 (Tenn. 1999), rather than granting his motion to dismiss based upon the State’s loss or destruction of evidence, and (8) the State engaged in improper closing argument. We affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Monroe | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Gregory Sean Robinson
Following two convictions for aggravated assault, the Defendant, Gregory Sean Robinson, was sentenced to an effective term of ten years and placed on probation. Thereafter, the Defendant absconded from supervision and committed new criminal offenses. As a consequence, the trial court revoked the suspended sentences and ordered that the Defendant serve the balance of the effective sentence in custody. On appeal, the Defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion by revoking his suspended sentences in full instead of allowing him to participate in a substance-use treatment program through a furlough. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Olivia May Marcel v. Brad Joseph Marcel
This appeal arises from a divorce proceeding. The Coffee County Chancery Court (“Trial Court”) ordered the husband to pay the wife alimony in futuro of $1,500 per month. The Trial Court further ordered that the husband’s child support obligation would be calculated by using his previous four pay stubs, each of which reflected a pay period of one week. Upon our determination that a period of four weeks is not a reasonable period of time to calculate child support when the parent has regularly received variable income, we vacate the Trial Court’s award of child support and remand for recalculation based on the husband’s income for a reasonable period of time. We affirm the Trial Court’s determination that alimony in futuro was appropriate in this case but vacate the Trial Court’s determination of the amount of alimony for reconsideration after its calculation of the husband’s child support obligation.
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Coffee | Court of Appeals | |
Christopher Russell v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Christopher Russell, appeals from the denial of his petition for postconviction relief from his convictions for second degree murder and aggravated child abuse, for which he is serving an effective twenty-five-year sentence. On appeal, he contends that the post-conviction court erred in denying relief on his ineffective assistance of counsel and cumulative error claims. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
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Marion | Court of Criminal Appeals |