State of Tennessee v. Keith Howard
Defendant, Keith Howard, appeals the trial court’s revocation of his probation sentence. Defendant pled guilty to selling more than .5 grams of cocaine with an agreed ten-year sentence, which was suspended except for ninety days, with credit for time served. The remainder of the ninety days was to be served on weekends. Subsequently, a probation violation warrant was filed, which alleged that Defendant had failed to follow his probation officer’s instruction that he submit to a drug test and that he absconded during his drug screen. Following the hearing the trial court revoked Defendant’s probation and entered a judgment placing Defendant’s original sentence into effect. We conclude that the evidence does not preponderate against the trial court’s finding of a violation, and that the trial court did not err by placing the original sentence into effect by ordering service in confinement. We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Vivian Yvonne Armstrong v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Vivian Armstrong, appeals the dismissal of her petition for post-conviction relief in which she alleged that her guilty plea was unknowingly and involuntarily entered due to the ineffective assistance of trial counsel. More specifically she contends that (1) trial counsel “scared” her into pleading guilty; (2) counsel failed to adequately meet with her and was unprepared to go to trial; and (3) counsel used the “safety valve” as an incentive to induce her into pleading guilty. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that Petitioner has failed to show that her trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel, and we accordingly affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jerome Sidney Barrett
The Defendant, Jerome Sidney Barrett, was found guilty by a Davidson County Criminal Court jury of first degree murder for the 1975 homicide of S.D. See T.C.A. § 39-2402 (1975) (amended 1977, 1979, 1988) (renumbered at § 39-2-202) (repealed 1989). He was sentenced to life in prison. On appeal, he contends that: (1) the evidence was not sufficient to support the conviction; (2) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence; (3) the trial court erred in denying the motion to dismiss the indictment pursuant to State v. Ferguson, 2 S.W.3d 912 (Tenn. 1999), and alternatively, in failing to instruct the jury regarding the lack of an autopsy report; (4) the trial court erred in admitting evidence for which the chain of custody was not sufficiently shown; (5) the trial court erred in admitting an inmate’s testimony about the Defendant’s prior statements and improperly redacting the statements; (6) the trial court erred in admitting altered photographs; (7) the trial court limited the Defendant’s ability to present a defense by failing to rule definitively that evidence of the Defendant’s other crimes was inadmissible; (8) the trial court erred in denying the defense motion for expert services to assist in the motion for new trial; and (9) the Defendant’s due process rights were violated by the cumulative effect of the errors. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Michael W. Hunter
Defendant, Michael W. Hunter, was indicted by the Dickson County Grand Jury for aggravated robbery. Following a jury trial, Defendant was convicted as charged and sentenced by the trial court to 10 years’ incarceration. Defendant appeals his conviction and assigns the following errors: 1) the trial court abused its discretion by admitting into evidence a garbage bag found in Defendant’s vehicle after the robbery; and 2) the prosecutor committed prosecutorial misconduct during closing arguments by improperly arguing facts not in evidence. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Dickson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Marcus Deangelo Lee aka Marcus Deangelo Jones
In 1995, the Defendant, Marcus Deangelo Lee a/k/a Marcus Deangelo Jones, pled guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to sell, unlawful possession of a deadly weapon with intent to commit a crime, and sale of cocaine, and the trial court sentenced him to three years in the county workhouse. Between 2006 and present, the Petitioner has filed several pleadings challenging his convictions, including a petition for a writ of error coram nobis, a postconviction petition, a motion for delayed appeal, and a motion to reopen his post-conviction proceedings. All of these motions were denied or dismissed, and this Court affirmed their denial or dismissal. In 2011, the Petitioner filed a “Motion For Clarification and Correction of Clerical Error in Judgment . . . [,]” alleging that the 1995 handwritten judgments were obscured and illegible. The trial court reviewed the judgments, found them legible and without error, and denied the Defendant’s motion. It is from this judgment that the Defendant now appeals. Finding that the Defendant has no right of appeal from the denial of a Motion to Correct a Clerical Error, the Defendant’s appeal is dismissed. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Taurus Merriweather v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Taurus Merriweather, appeals the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his conviction for second degree murder and effective twenty-five-year sentence. On appeal, he contends that the trial court erred by finding that counsel provided the effective assistance of counsel. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jeffrey O. Short aka Jeffery O'Neal Short
The Defendant-Appellant, Jeffrey O. Short a.k.a. Jeffery O’Neal Short a.k.a. Jeffrey Oneal Short, pleaded guilty in the Hamilton County Criminal Court to two counts of burglary of a business, a Class D felony. The sole issue presented for our review is whether the trial court erred in ordering Short to serve the sentences consecutively. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joseph Alfonso Sigala
Joseph Alfonso Sigala (“the Defendant”) pleaded guiltyto two counts of aggravated burglary and two counts of theft between $1,000 and $10,000, but the plea left open the issue of sentencing. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered the Defendant to serve an effective five-and-a-half-year sentence in confinement. The Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by: (1) admitting the Defendant’s social networking web page as an exhibit; (2) denying judicial diversion; (3) improperly applying the statutory enhancing and mitigating factors; (4) finding that the Defendant lacked credibility; and (5) denying the Defendant probation. Upon a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Rhonda Medley v.State of Tennessee
Rhonda Medley (“the petitioner” or “the defendant”) was convicted by a jury of five counts of rape of a child. Her convictions were affirmed on appeal. She filed the instant petition for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. The post-conviction court denied relief following an evidentiary hearing. On appeal, she asserts that her trial counsel performed ineffectively by failing to advise her properly regarding her right to testify at trial and by failing to call certain witnesses. After a careful review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Gary Allen Carlton
Gary Allen Carlton (“the Defendant”) was convicted after a bench trial of one count of impersonating a licenced professional and one count of violating the Home Improvement Contractors Licensing Act. After a hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective term of two years, with 120 days to be served and the remainder on probation. The Defendant has appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and his sentence. Upon our thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Ray Jerome Odom
Defendant, Ray Jerome Odom, was indicted by the Davidson County Grand Jury for first degree premeditated murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault. The trial court granted Defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal as to felony murder and aggravated assault. Defendant was convicted by a jury of the lesser included offense of second degree murder and sentenced by the trial court to 18 years confinement, to be served at 100 percent. In this appeal as of right, Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. After a careful review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Alan Ray Hall v. Howard Carlton, Warden
The petitioner, Alan Ray Hall, filed a petition for habeas corpus relief from his conviction of first degree murder, contending that the trial court erroneously advised him during the plea proceedings that he was potentially eligible for release after service of twenty- five years of his life sentence. The habeas corpus court dismissed the petition, finding that the issue was previously determined, that the judgment was not void, and that the sentence had not expired. The petitioner appeals this ruling. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court. |
Johnson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Randy Boxley
Following a jury trial, the defendant, Randy Boxley, was convicted of robbery, a Class C felony, and sentenced as a multiple offender to eight years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he argues that the identification evidence was faulty, and without this, the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Billy McFarland
The Defendant, Billy McFarland, pled guilty to one count of failure to timely report as a violent sexual offender, a Class E felony. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 40-39-204(b), -208. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed a two-year sentence to be served in confinement. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred by denying his request for an alternative sentence. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Franklin | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Dwayne Jabbar Seales v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Dwayne Jabbar Seales,appeals from the summary dismissal of his March 30, 2011 petition for post-conviction relief as time-barred. On December 19, 2002, the Petitioner pled guilty to aggravated assault and domestic assault, and following his 2011 arrest on an unrelated charge, immigration removal proceedings have been initiated against the Petitioner based upon his 2002 guilty plea convictions. On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that due process requires tolling of the post-conviction limitations period because of trial counsel’s failure to inform him of the deportation consequences of his plea. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable authorities, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James W. Rembert
The Defendant, James W. Rembert, entered an open plea to offenses alleged in two separate indictments: a four-count indictment for burglary, theft, vandalism, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and an additional indictment for aggravated perjury.On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court’s imposition of consecutive sentencing was error because the trial court “erroneously presumed” that the Defendant was on bond for offenses in the four-count indictment when the offense of aggravated perjury was committed. Because no error of law requiring a reversal of the judgment is apparent on the record, and the evidence in the record does not preponderate against the findings of the trial court, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee. |
Stewart | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Brandon Ackerman
A Davidson County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Brandon Ackerman, of four counts of soliciting sexual exploitation of a minor,see T.C.A. § 39-13-529(b)(1) (2006); two counts of child abuse, see id. § 39-15-401; and one count of rape of a child, see id. § 39-13-522, and the trial court imposed a total effective sentence of 27 and one half years’ incarceration, 20 years of which was to be served at 100 percent by operation of law, see id. § 39-13-523(b). In this appeal, the defendant asserts that the trial court erred by excluding the testimony of his expert witness, by admitting into evidence a video recording of the victim’s forensic interview, by permitting three State’s witnesses to testify regarding the hearsay statements of the victim, and by denying his motion to suppress his pretrial statements to his ex-wife and to police. Because the trial court erroneously admitted into evidence the video recording of the forensic interview and the victim’s hearsay statements to three witnesses and because those errors cannot be classified as harmless, the judgments of the trial court are reversed, and the case is remanded for a new trial. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jerome Sidney Barrett
The Defendant, Jerome Sidney Barrett, was found guilty by a Davidson County Criminal Court jury of second degree murder, a Class A felony, for a 1975 homicide. See T.C.A. § 39-2403 (1975) (amended 1979, 1985) (renumbered at § 39-2-211) (repealed 1989). He was sentenced to forty-four years, to be served consecutively to a life sentence for a previous conviction. On appeal, he contends that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction; (2) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress; (3) the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the prosecution due to excessive pre-indictment delay; (4) the trial court erred in admitting evidence that the Defendant stated he “had killed before”; (5) the trial court erred in allowing the State to ask a defense witness whether he was arrested, suspended, and had resigned from the police force in 1978; (6) the trial court erred in allowing the forensic pathologist who performed the victim’s autopsy to testify as an expert in DNA analysis; (7) the trial court erred in permitting impeachment of a defense witness with evidence of a misdemeanor conviction; (8) the trial court erred in imposing a forty-four year sentence; and (9) the trial court erred in ordering the sentence to be served consecutively to the Defendant’s life sentence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
James W. Gann, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, James W. Gann, Jr., was convicted of first degree murder, arson, and setting fire to personal property, and he received an effective sentence of life imprisonment plus eight years. Subsequently, the petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging the ineffective assistance of counsel. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and the petitioner now appeals. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Coffee | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jerry Rommell Gray
A Knox County Criminal Court jury found the appellant, Jerry Rommell Gray, guilty of first degree felony murder, attempted especially aggravated robbery, and attempted aggravated robbery. The trial court imposed a total effective sentence of imprisonment for life plus fifteen years. On appeal, the appellant argues that the trial court erroneously allowed the State to present fingerprint evidence in violation of Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004). The appellant also argues that the trial court erred in allowing the State to take additional fingerprints of the appellant during trial. Finally, the appellant contends that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury regarding accomplice testimony. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. David Wayne Phillips
David Wayne Phillips (“the Defendant”) pleaded guilty to twenty-six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after a computer that he gave someone was discovered to contain child pornography. Nineteen of the counts were for possessing in excess of one hundred images of a minor, all Class B felonies, and the remaining seven counts were for possessing images of a minor, all Class D felonies. The guilty plea agreement did not include an agreement with the State as to sentencing. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered the Defendant to serve an effective thirty-five year sentence and ordered the sentence to run consecutively to the Defendant’s prior twenty-five year sentence. The Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by: (1) failing to merge the Defendant’s twenty-six convictions into a single Class B felony; and (2) imposing an excessive sentence. After a careful review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Lawrence Brown
Lawrence Brown (“the Defendant”) was convicted of two counts of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range I standard offender to twelve years’ incarceration. In doing so, the trial court enhanced the Defendant’s sentence based upon the following factors: (1) the Defendant has a previous history of criminal convictions or criminal behavior; (2) the offense involved more than one victim; and (3) the Defendant had no hesitation about committing a crime when the risk to human life was high. The Defendant argues on appeal that the trial court erred when it enhanced his sentence based upon his prior convictions, which were misdemeanor traffic offenses. Because we are not permitted to assess the weight given by the trial court to enhancement factors, we conclude that the Defendant is not entitled to relief on this issue. However, because we also determine that the trial court erred in its application of the other two enhancement factors, under the particular facts of this case, we conclude that it is necessary to vacate the judgments of the trial court and remand for resentencing. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. David M. Jones
David M. Jones (“the Defendant”) pled guilty to one count of attempted second degree murder, with no agreement as to sentence. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to twelve years’ incarceration, consecutive to a prior conviction. The Defendant has appealed the length of his sentence. Upon our thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Nicholas Larsen
The Defendant-Appellant, Nicholas Larsen, entered a guilty plea to driving under the influence of an intoxicant (DUI), a Class A misdemeanor, after the trial court denied his motion to dismiss the indictment. The transcript from the guilty plea hearing indicates that Larsen attempted to reserve a certified question of law on appeal pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 37. Although the judgment form references an attachment setting out Larsen’s certified question of law, no such attachment appears in the appellate record. Moreover, the record contains no corrective order filed prior to the filing of the notice of appeal in this case. Because Larsen failed to properly reserve a certified question, the appeal is dismissed. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Anthony Laren Tweedy III
Anthony Laren Tweedy, II (“the Defendant”) was convicted of initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine, manufacture of methamphetamine, felony possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana. On appeal, the Defendant requests that this Court, under a plain error review, dismiss his conviction for manufacture of methamphetamine. He also asserts that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions for initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine, manufacture of methamphetamine, and felony possession of drug paraphernalia. The Defendant does not appeal his conviction for possession of marijuana. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the Defendant’s conviction for initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine. We also reduce his conviction from felony to misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia and affirm as modified. However, we reverse and dismiss the Defendant’s conviction for manufacture of methamphetamine. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals |
