APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

Following an evidentiary hearing, the Criminal Court of Sumner County entered an order finding the Defendant, Ronnie Jerome Russell, to be in violation of the conditions of his supervised probation and ordered him to serve his sentence in the Department of Correction. The Defendant appealed arguing that the trial court failed to exercise a "conscientious and intelligent judgment" in finding that he had violated the terms and conditions of probation and in revoking his probation. After a review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

A Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Clemmie Rhyan, of second degree murder, a Class A felony, and the trial court sentenced him as a Range I, violent offender to twenty-two years in the Department of Correction (DOC). The defendant appeals, claiming (1) that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction; (2) that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on self-defense; and (3) that his sentence is excessive. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

A Shelby County jury convicted the defendant, Donald Johnson, Jr., of first degree murder in perpetration of robbery, and the trial court sentenced him to life. On appeal, this court vacated the judgment of the trial court and remanded for findings relating to the motion to suppress the defendant's statements to police officers. Upon remand, the trial court made additional findings and again denied the motion. Upon reviewing the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Defendant, Devon Lee Ramsey, pled guilty to one count of Class D felony theft and three counts of Class E felony forgery. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced Defendant to serve three and one-half years for the theft conviction, and one and one-half years for each of the forgery convictions. The trial court further ordered the sentences for the forgery convictions to be served concurrently with each other, but consecutively to the sentence for theft, for an effective sentence of five years on these convictions. These sentences were further ordered to be served consecutively to an effective sentence of two years for ten forgery convictions in Coffee County. Defendant has appealed arguing that the trial court erred by imposing excessive sentences and by ordering consecutive sentencing. After a review of the entire record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Defendant, Dennis Cedric Woodard, Jr., was convicted by a jury of first degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant argues that the evidence presented at trial is not sufficient to sustain his conviction. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Appellant, Robert Wayne Herron, was convicted by a Putnam County jury of felony possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, simple possession of cocaine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.  In this appeal, Herron contends that (1) the trial court erred in admitting evidence of his prior drug activity in violation of Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(b) and (2) the evidence is legally insufficient to support these convictions. After review, we find these contentions are without merit. Although not raised as error, we find Herron’s multiple convictions for simple possession and felony possession, stemming from a single cocaine possession, violate principles of double jeopardy. The misdemeanor cocaine conviction is, therefore, merged with the felony cocaine conviction. We remand for entry of judgments of conviction consistent with this holding. Herron’s convictions for felony possession with intent to deliver and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia are affirmed.

The Defendant, Lester E. Elliott, was convicted by a jury of driving in violation of the Motor Vehicle Habitual Offenders Act. He was sentenced to two years in the Department of Correction for this offense. The Defendant now appeals as of right, arguing that the evidence is not sufficient to sustain his conviction. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The appellant, Mark A. Griffin, was convicted by a jury in the Anderson County Criminal Court of first degree murder committed in the perpetration of an aggravated robbery and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On appeal, the appellant raises several evidentiary questions, contests the jury charge, and challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant, Maurice Lamont Davidson, was convicted by a jury of one count of second degree murder, one count of voluntary manslaughter, and one count of attempted voluntary manslaughter. The trial court subsequently sentenced the Defendant to twenty-two years for the second degree murder, three years for the voluntary manslaughter, and two years for the attempted voluntary manslaughter, with the first two sentences to be served concurrently and the third sentence to be served consecutively, all to be served in the Department of Correction. In this direct appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred in excluding certain expert testimony; that the evidence is not sufficient to support his convictions; and that the sentences are excessive. We affirm the Defendant's convictions, reduce his sentence for the second degree murder to twenty years, and order that his sentence for attempted voluntary manslaughter be served concurrently.

The petitioner, Allen Dale Cutshaw, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. In this appeal, the petitioner asserts that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.