State of Tennessee v. Lonta Montrell Burress, Jr. and Darius Jerel Gustus

The Defendant-Appellant, Lonta Montrell Burress, Jr., was convicted as charged by a Hamilton County jury of three counts of aggravated assault, one count of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of an offense not defined as a dangerous offense, one count of theft of property, one count of felony evading arrest, and one count of misdemeanor evading arrest. The trial court sentenced Burress to an effective sentence 1 of six years. The other Defendant-Appellant, Darius Jerel Gustus, who was tried jointly with Burress, was convicted as harged of three counts of aggravated assault, one count of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of an offense not defined as a dangerous offense, one count of felony reckless endangerment, and one count of misdemeanor evading arrest. The trial court also sentenced Gustus to an effective sentence of six years. On appeal, Burress argues: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his aggravated assault convictions and his theft conviction; (2) the trial court erred in denying a mistrial based on the admission of gang testimony; (3) the trial court erred in denying a mistrial based on a Bruton violation; and (4) the trial court erred in determining that LaJuana Woods was an unavailable witness pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Evidence 804 and erred in allowing the State to have Woods read her testimony from the juvenile court transfer hearing transcript at trial. On appeal, Gustus contends: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his aggravated assault conviction regarding victim Frederick Jones, Jr.; (2) the trial court erred in denying a mistrial based on the admission of gang testimony; and (3) the trial court erred in admitting two bandanas because there was an improper chain of custody. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.