State of Tennessee v. Todd Joseph Sweet a/k/a Jamie Lee Turpin

A Monroe County jury convicted the Defendant, Todd Joseph Sweet, of two counts of forgery and two counts of criminal simulation, and the trial court sentenced him to sixteen years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant contends: (1) the trial court improperly denied his motion to dismiss for failing to try him within 180 days of his transfer, as proscribed by the Interstate Compact on Detainers; (2) the trial court improperly denied his request for severance; (3) the trial court improperly denied his motion for a mistrial based on the State’s introduction of evidence of the Defendant’s other crimes; (4) the trial court improperly refused to strike the State’s “Notice of Intent to Seek Enhanced Punishment and/or Notice of Impeaching Convictions”; (5) the trial court improperly refused to excuse six jurors who had media knowledge of other crimes the Defendant allegedly committed; (6) the trial court improperly allowed the State to re-call witness A.J. Smith in order to prove venue; (7) the State failed to prove venue; (8) the trial court failed to properly instruct the jury; (9) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions; (10) the State failed to comply with Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 when it failed to provide the Defendant’s trial counsel with letters written by the Defendant and intercepted by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department; and (11) the trial court erred when it sentenced him. After a  thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgments.