APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

Petitioner, Kenneth Smith, appeals pro se the trial court's dismissal of his Petition for Post-Conviction Relief, which he also filed pro se. The record on appeal does not contain the transcript of the proceedings below. There is nothing in the record to indicate that Petitioner's court-appointed counsel was allowed to withdraw or that Petitioner waived the assistance of counsel on appeal. Pursuant to our holding in Drummer v. State, 6 S.W.3d 520 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1999), the judgment of the trial court is vacated and this case is remanded for the trial court to reinstate the order dismissing the Petition for Post-Conviction Relief. If Petitioner is still indigent, counsel appointed to represent Petitioner at the post-conviction hearing shall continue to represent Petitioner on appeal and the case shall proceed pursuant to the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Defendant, Opal Gause, entered a guilty plea to two counts of aggravated assault. The trial court sentenced Defendant to two consecutive three-year terms, for an effective sentence of six years. The sentences were suspended, and Defendant was placed on probation for the length of his original sentences. A violation warrant was subsequently issued alleging Defendant had failed to meet the conditions of his probation. Following a hearing, Defendant's probation was revoked, and he was ordered to serve his original sentence with credit for time served pre-trial. Defendant now challenges the revocation of his probation. Following a review of the record, we affirm the decision of the trial court.

Petitioner, Kevin Wilkins, filed his petition for post-conviction relief in the Shelby County Criminal Court on December 6, 2001. The State filed a response moving the trial court to dismiss the petition because it was filed after the statute of limitations had expired. Without a hearing, the trial court entered an order granting the State's request and dismissed the petition on the basis that it was filed past the one-year limitation set forth in Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-30-202. Petitioner filed a timely notice of appeal. We reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand this case for a hearing.

The appellant, John Briggs, a pharmacist, pled guilty in the Sullivan County Criminal Court to sixteen counts of unlawfully dispensing a controlled substance. The trial court sentenced the appellant to a total effective sentence of twenty years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction, with all but eight years to be served on probation. On appeal, the appellant argues that the trial court erred in denying full probation. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The petitioner appeals the denial of his post-conviction relief petition, arguing his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to locate an alibi witness for his aggravated burglary trial. We affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court, which found trial counsel made reasonable efforts to locate the potential witness, and the petitioner was not prejudiced by the inability to present the witness's testimony at trial.

Venita Michelle Burchell appeals from her aggravated child abuse and criminally negligent homicide convictions. Her convictions result from a jury trial in the Davidson County Criminal Court pertaining to fatal injuries inflicted upon Nicholas Boyd Cotton, who was sixteen months old at the time of his death. Ms. Burchell urges us to find error in the lower court's acceptance of the verdict, the admission of prior bad act evidence, and the limiting of defense expert testimony. Because no harmful error occurred, we affirm.

A Sullivan County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Howard Duty, Jr., of stalking, a Class A misdemeanor, and the trial court sentenced him to eleven months, twenty-nine days at seventy-five percent and imposed a one thousand dollar fine. The defendant appeals, claiming (1) that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction, (2) that his sentence is excessive, and (3) that he should have received an alternative sentence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Petitioner, Lon Walker, filed a petition for post-conviction relief from his conviction for second degree murder, alleging that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. Following an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief. In his appeal to this court, Petitioner raises the issue of whether the trial court erred in finding that Petitioner received effective assistance of counsel at trial. After a careful review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The defendant, William Jerry Neal, also known as William Jay Neal, appeals his jury convictions for especially aggravated burglary, a Class B felony, and vandalism under $500, a Class A misdemeanor, resulting in concurrent sentences of eleven years, three months and eleven months, twenty-nine days, respectively. On appeal, the defendant argues: (1) the evidence was insufficient to establish serious bodily injury, as required for a conviction for especially aggravated burglary; and (2) the trial court erred by failing to grant a new trial after learning that one of the jurors had once been incarcerated with the defendant. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.