APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

The Defendant, Ginny Elizabeth Parker, was convicted following a bench trial of five counts of forgery, for which she received an effective six-year sentence to serve. On appeal, the Defendant argues that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support her forgery convictions, specifically regarding whether she acted without authorization; (2) the trial court shifted the burden of service of medical records pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 24-7-122(c) from the State to the Defendant; (3) the trial court erroneously admitted proof of a PayPal account that was linked to the victims’ bank account; (4) she is entitled to relief based on cumulative error; and (5) her sentence is grossly disproportionate to her offenses, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 16 of the Tennessee Constitution. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Omari Davis, pled guilty to possessing heroin with intent to sell or deliver. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Petitioner as a Range II, multiple offender to serve a term of eighteen years. Thereafter, the Petitioner sought post-conviction relief, alleging that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel when his trial counsel failed to seek a competency evaluation. At the hearing, the Petitioner also argued that trial counsel was ineffective when he failed to seek a continuance of the sentencing hearing. The post-conviction court denied relief as to the competency evaluation but did not address the continuance issue. On our review, we respectfully affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Petitioner, Ahmed G. Mohd Alkhatib, appeals from the Davidson County Criminal Court’s dismissal of his motion to vacate his 2006 guilty-pleaded convictions for two counts of facilitation of the delivery of marijuana, for which he received an effective eleven-month, twenty-nine-day sentence.  The post-conviction court treated the motion as a petition for post-conviction relief.  On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the court erred by dismissing the petition after determining it was untimely.  We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

A Shelby County Jury convicted William Heath, Petitioner, of especially aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment. On direct appeal, we affirmed the judgments of the trial court, and the Tennessee Supreme Court declined discretionary review. Petitioner then petitioned for post-conviction relief alleging trial counsel was ineffective. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and we affirmed the post-conviction court’s judgment. While Petitioner’s post-conviction petition was pending, he moved for DNA analysis and post-conviction relief. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and Petitioner now appeals. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant, Bobby Marable II, was convicted by a Gibson County Circuit Court jury
of aggravated kidnapping involving bodily injury, a Class B felony, and aggravated assault
by strangulation, a Class C felony, for which he is serving an effective thirty-five year
sentence. See T.C.A. §§ 39-13-304(a)(4) (2018) (aggravated kidnapping involving bodily
injury), 39-13-102(a)(1)(A)(iv) (Supp. 2015) (subsequently amended) (aggravated assault
involving strangulation or attempted strangulation), -(e)(1)(A)(ii) (classifying aggravated
assault involving strangulation as a Class C felony). On appeal, he contends that: (1) the
evidence is insufficient to support his aggravated kidnapping conviction, (2) the trial court
erred in its jury instructions on aggravated kidnapping, (3) the court erred in allowing the
State to impeach the Defendant with his prior convictions under Tennessee Rule of
Evidence 609, (4) he is entitled to relief due to the cumulative effect of the court’s errors,
and (5) the court erred in classifying him as a Range III, persistent offender for his
aggravated assault conviction. We affirm the Defendant’s convictions and the trial court’s
judgment for aggravated kidnapping, and we remand the case with instructions for the trial
court to correct the Defendant’s aggravated assault judgment to reflect a ten-year sentence
as a Range II, multiple offender.

Defendant, Jennifer May Mahaffey, pled guilty to alternate counts of sale of
methamphetamine “over 0.5 grams” and delivery of methamphetamine “over 0.5 grams”1
in three cases, 20-027-2, 20-028-2, and 20-029-2. The trial court sentenced Defendant to
ten years imprisonment on each count, merged the alternate counts in each case, and ran
the ten-year sentences in two of the cases concurrently with each other, and the ten-year
sentence in the third case consecutively to the first two, for a total effective sentence of
twenty years confinement. The trial court also imposed fines totaling $6,100, and ordered
restitution in the amount of $563. On appeal, Defendant contends the trial court erred in
ordering restitution to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department, in imposing fines and
restitution without determining her present and future ability to pay, and in imposing partial
consecutive sentences. After reviewing the record, the briefs of the parties, and the
applicable law, we discern no reversible error in the trial court’s imposition of partial
consecutive sentences, but we determine the order of restitution was in error. Therefore,
we affirm the sentences imposed by the trial court, vacate the orders of restitution, and
remand for entry of corrected judgments.

Defendant, Shundarius Turner, was convicted by a jury of reckless homicide, especially
aggravated robbery, aggravated criminal trespass, aggravated assault, and reckless
endangerment. He received a total effective sentence of thirty-seven years, eleven months,
and twenty-nine days. On appeal, he claims the trial court erred in excluding a
photographic lineup where he was not identified by one of the victims, the evidence was
insufficient to support his felony convictions, the trial court’s sentencing decision violated
his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights, the trial court erred in excluding a witness from
testifying on his behalf, the trial court erred in denying his right to strike a juror for cause,
and the cumulative effect of these errors denied him a fair trial. Following our review of
the entire record, the briefs, and oral arguments of the parties, we affirm the judgments of
the trial court.

Defendant, Kinney Louis Spears, was indicted by the Houston County Grand Jury for the first degree murder of his wife, Mia Donnita Spears. The Houston County Circuit Court granted Defendant’s motion for a change of venue and transferred the case to the Dickson County Circuit Court. A Dickson County jury found Defendant guilty of the lesser-included offense of second degree murder, and the trial court sentenced Defendant to serve 25 years’ confinement. In this appeal as of right, Defendant asserts that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction, that several improper comments by the prosecutor during closing argument constitute plain error, and that his sentence is excessive. Having reviewed the entire record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

In 2000, the Scott County Grand Jury indicted the Defendant, Hubert Glenn Sexton, Jr.,
for two counts of first degree premeditated murder, and the Defendant was convicted of
both counts and was sentenced to death for each offense. State v. Sexton, 368 S.W.3d
371, 378 (Tenn. 2012). Thereafter, this court granted the Defendant post-conviction
relief from these convictions and remanded his case for a new trial. Sexton v. State, No.
E2018-01864-CCA-R3-PC, 2019 WL 6320518, at *26 (Tenn. Crim. App. Nov. 25,
2019). On retrial, the Defendant was again convicted of two counts of first degree
premeditated murder and was sentenced to consecutive sentences of life without parole.
In this appeal, the Defendant argues the trial court erred (1) by denying his constitutional
right to self-representation under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution
and article I, section 9 of the Tennessee State Constitution, and (2) by allowing several
witnesses to testify about allegations that the Defendant had sexually abused his stepdaughter
prior to the killings in this case. After review, we affirm the judgments of the
trial court.

The Petitioner, Douglas Edward Christian, appeals from the Coffee County Circuit Court’s
denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his drug-related convictions and his
effective twenty-year sentence. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction
court erred when it denied his ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim. We affirm the
judgment of the post-conviction court.

In 2013, the Defendant, Jordan Isaiah Mosby, pleaded guilty to attempted second degree
murder, and the trial court imposed a ten-year sentence suspended to supervised probation.
In 2019, the trial court issued a probation violation warrant, alleging that the Defendant
had absconded. After a hearing, the trial court found that the Defendant had violated his
probation by absconding to Florida. The trial court ordered him to serve his ten-year
sentence in confinement. The Defendant then filed a Rule 35 motion seeking to modify
the revocation order. After a hearing, the trial court denied the Defendant’s motion. On
appeal, the Defendant asserts that the trial court erred by ordering him to serve his sentence
in confinement, by not granting him credit for time he successfully served on probation,
and by ruling that the Defendant’s custody in the Tennessee Department of Correction
prevented the court from modifying the sentence. After a thorough review, we affirm the
trial court’s judgment.

A Giles County jury convicted the Defendant, Robert James Houston, of aggravated assault and simple assault, and the trial court sentenced him to a total effective sentence of ten years of incarceration. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments.

A Maury County Circuit Court jury convicted the defendant, Denny Kentra Reynolds, of possession of 26 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to sell, possession of one-half ounce to 10 pounds of marijuana with the intent to sell, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The trial court imposed an effective 12-year sentence. On appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions, the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress, and the length of his sentence. Upon review, we affirm.

The defendant, Steven Ray Crockett, appeals his Rutherford County Circuit Court jury conviction of aggravated robbery. On appeal, the defendant asserts that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction and that the trial court erred by imposing a 12-year sentence, by ordering the sentence to run consecutively to his prior felony conviction from Virginia, and by accrediting only a portion of his pretrial time served in incarceration. Because the trial court’s imposition of consecutive sentencing was superfluous and because it failed to properly accredit the defendant’s pretrial jail credits, we reverse and remand for entry of a corrected judgment on these issues. We affirm the trial court’s judgment in all other respects.

Defendant, Danny R. Weld-Ebanks, appeals the Davidson County Criminal Court’s revocation of judicial diversion.  He argues that the trial court relied on unnoticed grounds and abused its discretion in revoking his diversion.  The State concedes on both issues.  We agree that the trial court abused its discretion in revoking Defendant’s diversion and therefore vacate the judgment of the trial court and remand for a new revocation hearing.

Terrance Reese,[1] Petitioner, appeals from the denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief, in which he alleged that he received an illegal sentence, that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, and that one of his convictions was void.  The habeas corpus court summarily dismissed the petition because the judgments were valid on their face and the trial court had jurisdiction over the offenses.  Petitioner appeals the dismissal of the petition.  We affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court.

The Petitioner, Billy Taylor, IV, appeals the Knox County Criminal Court’s denial of his
petition for post-conviction relief challenging his guilty-pleaded convictions for two counts
of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possession of
methamphetamine over one-half gram with the intent to sell. The Petitioner argues that
the post-conviction court erred by finding that he entered his guilty pleas knowingly and
voluntarily. Specifically, the Petitioner alleges that: (1) trial counsel was ineffective by
failing to explain that the plea agreement did not guarantee the Petitioner probation and
treatment at a substance abuse program and (2) he was under the influence of narcotics at
the time he pleaded guilty. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction
court.

The Petitioner, Brandon Vandenburg, appeals from the Davidson County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions for four counts of aggravated rape, one count of attempted aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, and one count of unlawful photography of the victim. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred by denying relief on his claims alleging that he received ineffective assistance of counsel by (1) lead counsel’s failure to have a witness qualified as an expert psychiatrist at trial, (2) lead counsel’s failure to introduce prior bad act evidence regarding the Petitioner’s codefendants at trial, and (3) lead counsel’s failure to have the Petitioner’s voicemail to Mr. Quinzio admitted as an exhibit at trial. The Petitioner also raises freestanding post-conviction claims, arguing that the trial court violated the Petitioner’s protection against double jeopardy by (1) allowing him to be retried on amended charges after jeopardy had attached and (2) allowing the State to proceed with a superseding indictment without disposing of the original indictment. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Petitioner, Mickey Edwards, appeals from the denial of his petition for post-conviction
relief for his jury trial convictions for four counts of aggravated burglary, four counts of
theft of property, identity theft, and fraudulent use of a credit card, for which he is serving
an effective sixty-year sentence. On appeal, he contends that the post-conviction court
erred in denying relief on his ineffective assistance of counsel claim related to trial
counsel’s lack of objections to instances of alleged prosecutorial misconduct. He also
alleges a free-standing claim that he was denied a fair trial due to the alleged prosecutorial
misconduct. We affirm.

The Defendant, Eric Bledsoe, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of
aggravated rape, aggravated burglary, and felony theft, for which he is serving an effective
sixty-five-year sentence. He filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to
Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1, which the trial court summarily dismissed for
the failure to state a colorable claim. On appeal, he contends that the trial court erred in
denying relief. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Attorney Russell E. Edwards seeks review of the trial court’s order granting his motion to be relieved as counsel for Sergio Bermudez, the defendant in the underlying case, and prohibiting Attorney Edwards from practicing in the Criminal Court for Sumner County. Upon review, we conclude that the trial court exceeded its authority by ordering Attorney Edwards be barred from practicing law in the Criminal Court for Sumner County. We therefore issue a writ of certiorari and order that the trial court’s order prohibiting Attorney Edwards from practicing in the Sumner County Criminal Court is vacated.

The Lauderdale County Grand Jury indicted Defendant, Eric Pike, on one count of attempted second degree murder, one count of aggravated assault by strangulation, and one count of violating an order of protection. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to the count of aggravated assault by strangulation, and the remaining counts were dismissed. Per the parties’ agreement, the trial court classified Defendant as a Range III persistent offender and imposed a ten-year sentence. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered Defendant to serve this sentence in custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) and consecutively to an existing sentence for initiation of the process to manufacture methamphetamine. Defendant then filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, which the trial court denied. Defendant appeals, arguing: (1) the trial court erred in denying Defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea; and (2) the trial court abused its discretion by ordering Defendant to serve his sentence consecutively to his existing sentence. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant, Alexander Ruben Carino, filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1. He alleged that his consecutive sentences were illegal because the trial court made no findings that consecutive sentences were appropriate. The trial court denied the motion after finding that the sentences were imposed pursuant to the Defendant’s valid plea agreement. On our review, we respectfully affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Robert Winters, Defendant, appeals from the dismissal of a motion filed under Rule 36.1
of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure. In the motion, he challenged his sentence
for aggravated robbery, stemming from State v. Winters, 137 S.W.3d 641 (Tenn. Crim.
App. 2003), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Mar. 22, 2004). After a thorough review, we
determine that Defendant failed to state a colorable claim for relief, attempted to challenge
a sentence that was already expired, and raised claims that were previously determined.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Petitioner, Roger Terrell, appeals from the Madison County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. On appeal, Petitioner contends he received the ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. After review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.