COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OPINIONS

State of Tennessee v. Rodney Welch
W2004-00789-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge J. C. McLin
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood

The defendant, Rodney Welch, pled guilty to unlawful possession of .5 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to sell, a Class B felony, and was sentenced to eight (8) years, as a Range I standard offender, with six (6) months to be served in confinement and the balance to be served in the Community Corrections Program. The trial court subsequently revoked the defendant’s community corrections sentence and re-sentenced the defendant to eleven (11) years in the Tennessee Department of Correction.  On appeal, the defendant challenges the trial court’s revocation of his community corrections sentence and re-sentence of eleven (11) years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Gibson Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Kelsey Darwin Treece
W2004-01131-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge J. C. McLin
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood

Following a jury trial, the defendant, Kelsey Darwin Treece, was convicted of one count of delivery of a Schedule II controlled substance (hydromorphone) and was sentenced to serve fifty months as a Range I offender in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. Upon review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

McNairy Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Robert Lewis Carpenter, Jr.
W2004-01483-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood

The Defendant, Robert Lewis Carpenter, Jr., filed for post-conviction relief from his convictions for first degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping and especially aggravated robbery. The trial court dismissed the Defendant’s petition as barred by the statute of limitations. This appeal followed. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Fayette Court of Criminal Appeals

Kevin M. Radley v. State of Tennessee
M2004-01816-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Judge Steve R. Dozier

The Defendant, Kevin M. Radley, appeals from the summary dismissal of his petition seeking post- conviction relief. The trial court determined that the petition was time-barred and dismissed the petition without an evidentiary hearing. We affirm the judgment of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Davidson Court of Criminal Appeals

Earl David Crawford v. Ricky Bell, Warden
M2004-02440-CCA-R3-HC
Authoring Judge: Judge David H. Welles
Trial Court Judge: Judge J. Randall Wyatt, Jr.

The Defendant, Earl David Crawford, appeals from the trial court's dismissal of his petition seeking habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of relief, pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The State's motion is granted. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Davidson Court of Criminal Appeals

Timothy Tyrone Sanders v. State of Tennessee
M2003-02416-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge W. Charles Lee

The Petitioner, Timothy Tyrone Sanders, was convicted of possession of over 0.5 grams of cocaine with the intent to sell. This Court affirmed his conviction and sentence on direct appeal. The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, claiming that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when, during jury selection at trial, his trial counsel failed to object to a racially motivated peremptory challenge by the State. The post-conviction court dismissed the petition, and we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Bedford Court of Criminal Appeals

Michael Blackburn v. State of Tennessee
M2003-02549-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge J. Curtis Smith

The Petitioner, Michael Blackburn, was convicted of first degree premeditated murder, first degree felony murder, and aggravated robbery, and the trial court sentenced him to life plus twenty years. This Court affirmed the convictions and sentences on appeal. The Petitioner subsequently filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which the post-conviction court dismissed after a hearing. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred because he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the post-conviction court's judgment.

Franklin Court of Criminal Appeals

Cecil Moss v. State of Tennessee
M2004-00787-CCA-R3-HC
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge Michael R. Jones

The Petitioner, Cecil Moss, filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking relief from an allegedly void judgment, which the trial court summarily dismissed. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the habeas corpus court erred by not holding an evidentiary hearing and that it erred when it dismissed his petition. Finding no error in the judgment of the habeas corpus court, we affirm its dismissal of the Petitioner's petition for habeas corpus relief.

Montgomery Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. James Kenneth Carroll
E2003-02278-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge E. Eugene Eblen

The appellant, James Kenneth Carroll, was convicted in the Roane County Criminal Court of driving under the influence (DUI), child endangerment, and a violation of the implied consent law. The trial court imposed consecutive sentences of eleven months and twenty-nine days in the Roane County Jail for the DUI and child endangerment convictions. For his violation of the implied consent law, the appellant's license was suspended for one year. On appeal, the appellant challenges the trial court's actions as thirteenth juror. Upon our review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Roane Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Preston Williams
W2004-00072-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge James Curwood Witt, Jr.
Trial Court Judge: Judge Carolyn Wade Blackett

Preston Williams pleaded guilty to six crimes, for which he was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender and received an effective eight-year sentence. Aggrieved of the trial court’s refusal to suspend his sentence, the defendant now appeals his sentence. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the decision of the lower court.

Shelby Court of Criminal Appeals

Jerry D. Carney v. State of Tennessee
M2002-02416-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Jerry L. Smith
Trial Court Judge: Judge Cheryl A. Blackburn

On November 19, 1998, the petitioner was convicted by a jury of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. The petitioner appealed to this Court, and we affirmed the judgment of the trial court. State v. Jerry D. Carney, M1999-01139-CCA-R3-CD, 2000 WL 1335770, at *1-2 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Nashville, Sept. 15, 2000) perm. to appeal denied (Tenn. 2001). The petitioner then filed a petition for post-conviction relief. The post-conviction court denied this petition. The petitioner appeals the post-conviction court’s decision. We affirm the decision of the post-conviction court.

Davidson Court of Criminal Appeals

Willie Claybrook v. State of Tennessee
W2003-02462-CCA-R3-HC
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Judge Clayburn L. Peeples

The Petitioner, Willie Claybrook, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner has not responded to the State’s motion. It appears from the record before us that the notice of appeal was not timely filed and this Court cannot conclude that justice requires that this Court waive the timely filing requirement. Accordingly, the State’s motion is granted and the above-captioned appeal is dismissed.

Gibson Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Robert Sanford Barnes
W2003-02967-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Robert W. Wedemeyer
Trial Court Judge: Judge Joseph H. Walker, III

A Lauderdale County jury convicted the Defendant, Robert Sanford Barnes, of reckless endangerment, attempted rape, robbery, aggravated burglary, and assault. The trial court sentenced the Defendant, as a career offender, to an effective sentence of forty-five years for the felony convictions, plus consecutive sentences of eleven months and twenty-nine days for each of the two misdemeanor convictions. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain any of his five convictions; (2) the trial court improperly classified the Defendant as a career offender; and (3) the trial court erred when it ordered that the Defendant’s sentences run consecutively. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Lauderdale Court of Criminal Appeals

Michael K. Kennedy v. State of Tennessee
W2004-00178-CCA-R3-HC
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Trial Court Judge: Judge Roy B. Morgan, Jr.

The Petitioner, Michael K. Kennedy, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. It appears from the record before us that the notice of appeal was not timely filed and this Court cannot conclude that justice requires that this Court waive the timely filing requirement. Accordingly, the State’s motion is granted and the above-captioned appeal is dismissed.

Chester Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Lemar J. White
W2004-00276-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Judge Carolyn Wade Blackett

The Appellant, Lemar J. White, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of first degree premeditated murder and sentenced to a term of life imprisonment. On appeal, White raises the single issue of sufficiency of the evidence. Specifically, he challenges the proof with regard to the element of premeditation. After review of the record, we find the evidence sufficient to support the verdict and affirm the judgment of conviction.

Shelby Court of Criminal Appeals

Darvell S. Owens v. State of Tennessee
W2004-01176-CCA-R3-HC
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Trial Court Judge: Judge Joseph B. Dailey

The Petitioner, Darvell S. Owens, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Because Petitioner has failed to satisfy the procedural requirements of the habeas corpus statutes, we grant the State's motion and affirm the judgment of the lower court.

Shelby Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. James Gary Turner
M2003-03002-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Trial Court Judge: Judge Lee Russell

The defendant, James Gary Turner, was indicted for reckless endangerment, felony evading arrest with risk of death or injury, and driving on a revoked license, fourth offense. The State subsequently dismissed the reckless endangerment charge, and the defendant pled guilty to driving on a revoked license, fourth offense, a Class A misdemeanor, and was convicted by a Bedford County Circuit Court jury of felony evading arrest with risk of death or injury, a Class D felony. At the conclusion of the sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the defendant as a Range II, multiple offender to concurrent terms of eight years for the felony evading arrest conviction and one year for the driving on a revoked license conviction, to be served consecutively to his federal sentence for a prior conviction. On appeal, the defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his Class D felony evading arrest conviction; the trial court erred in sentencing him to one year for the misdemeanor conviction; and the trial court imposed an excessive sentence for the felony evading arrest conviction. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Bedford Court of Criminal Appeals

William T. Yelton v. State of Tennessee
E2004-00383-CCA-R3-HC
Authoring Judge: Judge Jerry L. Smith
Trial Court Judge: Judge E. Eugene Eblen

In 1992, the petitioner, William T. Yelton, was found guilty by a jury of theft of property, two counts of coercion of a witness, fabricating evidence and harassment. As a result, he was sentenced to an effective twenty-one-year sentence. After his convictions in Tennessee, the petitioner was sent to Alabama presumably to serve time on a life sentence from which he had previously been paroled in that state. Six years later, the petitioner was returned to prison in Tennessee. In 2001, he filed a pro se petition for habeas corpus relief alleging that he was unlawfully detained on an expired/pardoned sentence. The petitioner filed a second petition in January of 2004. The trial court denied the second petition after an evidentiary hearing. On appeal, the petitioner challenges the trial court's denial of the petition for habeas corpus relief.

Morgan Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Jessica Trotter-Lawson and Andrew Sheriff
W2004-00656-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Jerry L. Smith
Trial Court Judge: Judge Arthur T. Bennett

The appellants, Jessica Trotter-Lawson and Andrew Sheriff, pled guilty to theft of property over sixty thousand dollars. As a result of the plea agreement, each appellant received an eight-year sentence. Both appellants applied to the trial court for alternative sentencing. After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied alternative sentencing and ordered the appellants to serve the entire sentence in incarceration. Both appellants filed timely notices of appeal, challenging the trial court’s denial of alternative sentencing. After a review, we determine that a sentence of split confinement would best serve the interests of the public and the appellants. Accordingly, the judgments of the trial court are reversed and remanded for entry of sentences of split confinement reflecting a period of twelve months of incarceration in the Shelby County Correctional Facility with the remainder of the eight-year sentence to be served on supervised probation.

Shelby Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Timothy Maurice Reynolds
M2003-02551-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jim T. Hamilton

The defendant was convicted of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony, and sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to eight years in the Tennessee Department of Correction ("TDOC"). On appeal, he asserts the trial court should have given him pretrial jail credit for time served in federal prison on an unrelated federal conviction. Following our review, we affirm the sentence but remand for entry of a corrected judgment.

Giles Court of Criminal Appeals

Darrell Jones, Jr. v. State of Tennessee
E2004-00835-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge David G. Hayes
Trial Court Judge: Judge Stephen M. Bevil

The Appellant, Darrell Jones, Jr., appeals the Hamilton County Criminal Court's dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. Jones was indicted for first degree murder; however, the plea agreement permitted Jones to enter a guilty plea to the reduced charge of second degree murder. As part of the agreement, he accepted a forty-five year sentence as a Range III offender despite only meeting the statutory criteria for a Range I offender. On appeal, Jones raises the issue of whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to inform Jones of the ramifications of pleading outside his range. Following review of the record, we affirm the dismissal of the petition.

Hamilton Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Leonard J. Young
W2002-03012-CCA-R3-DD
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood

The appellant, Leonard J. Young, appeals as of right his conviction and sentence resulting from the 1999 murder of Hillary Johnson. On  August 23, 2002, a Shelby County jury convicted the appellant of one count of premeditated first degree murder, one count of especially aggravated kidnapping, and one count of theft of property over $1,000.00. Following a separate sentencing hearing on August 24, 2002, the jury unanimously found the presence of three statutory aggravating circumstances: the appellant had previously been convicted of a violent felony offense, the murder was committed to avoid prosecution, and the murder was committed during the perpetration of a theft. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(2), (6), (7) (Supp. 2002). The jury further determined that these aggravating circumstances outweighed any mitigating circumstances and imposed a sentence of death. The trial court approved the sentencing verdict. On November 8, 2002, the trial court entered judgments of
conviction sentencing the appellant to death for the murder, sixty years  as a violent offender for the especially aggravated kidnapping, and twelve years as a career offender for the theft. The sentences were ordered to be served consecutively. The appellant now appeals as of right, presenting for our review the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred by denying the appellant’s motion to suppress; (2) whether the trial court erred by failing to declare a mistrial when as a result of a death in his immediate family he was unable to continue to preside over the trial; (3) whether the evidence was sufficient to establish venue of the murder in Shelby County; (4) whether the evidence was sufficient to support the appellant’s conviction of premeditated first degree murder; (5) whether the trial court erred by permitting the State to introduce various photographs of the victim; (6) whether the trial court erred by admitting certain victim impact evidence; (7) whether the trial court’s instruction to the jury that the appellant’s prior offenses were offenses in which the statutory elements involved the use of violence violated the United States Constitution; (8) whether the evidence was sufficient to support the finding of the (i)(6) aggravating circumstance; and (9) whether Tennessee’s death penalty statutory scheme is unconstitutional.  Finding no reversible error, we affirm the appellant’s convictions and sentence of death.

Shelby Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Darren Price
W2003-01447-CCA-MR3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge John Everett Williams
Trial Court Judge: Judge Joseph B. Dailey

The defendant was found guilty of attempted first degree murder, attempted especially aggravated kidnapping, and two counts of aggravated robbery. He contends on appeal that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions, that the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentencing, and that the defendant was sentenced in violation of Blakely. We affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand for entry of corrected judgment forms to reflect that the two convictions for aggravated robbery merge.

Shelby Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. David Sever Watkins
M2003-01488-CCA-R3-CD
Authoring Judge: Judge Alan E. Glenn
Trial Court Judge: Judge Leon C. Burns, Jr.

The defendant, David Sever Watkins 1, was convicted by a White County jury of sale of .5 grams or more of a Schedule II controlled substance, cocaine, and was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to ten years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he asserts: (1) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction; and (2) the trial court erred in imposing a ten-year sentence. Following our review, we affirm the conviction and the sentence.

White Court of Criminal Appeals

Vinson D. Mason v. State of Tennessee
M2004-00084-CCA-R3-PC
Authoring Judge: Judge Norma McGee Ogle
Trial Court Judge: Judge Steve R. Dozier

The petitioner, Vinson D. Mason, pled guilty in the Davidson County Criminal Court to second degree murder and received a sentence of eighteen years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Subsequently, the petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and the petitioner now appeals. Upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Davidson Court of Criminal Appeals