State of Tennessee v. Raffell M. Griffin, Jr.

The Defendant, Raffell M. Griffin, Jr., was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to possess
with the intent to sell or deliver more than twenty-six grams of cocaine in a drug-free
zone, a Class B felony, and first degree premeditated murder. See T.C.A. §§ 39-17-
417(c) (2018) (subsequently amended) (possession of a controlled substance), 39-12-103
(2018) (conspiracy), 39-13-202(a)(2) (2018) (subsequently amended) (first degree
murder). The jury found that the Defendant committed a criminal gang offense,
enhancing by one level the felony classification of the convictions. See id. § 40-35-121
(2019) (subsequently amended) (gang enhancement). The trial court imposed a twentyfive
year sentence for the conspiracy conviction, to be served consecutively with a life
sentence for the murder conviction. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the
evidence is insufficient to support the Defendant’s conviction for first degree murder; (2)
the trial court erred in admitting hearsay evidence; (3) the trial court erred by allowing
Investigator Philip Jinks to testify as an expert in gang investigations; (4) the trial court
failed to conduct an adequate investigation of alleged juror misconduct; and (5) the trial
court failed to apply mitigating factors in sentencing. We affirm the judgments of the
trial court.