STATE OF TENNESSEE v. LAMAR DENSON

The defendant, Lamar Lanair Denson, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court
jury of the sale of fentanyl, a Class C felony; possession of heroin with intent to sell or
deliver, a Class B felony; possession of fentanyl with intent to sell or deliver, a Class C
felony; possession of a firearm by one with a prior conviction for a felony drug offense, a
Class C felony; maintaining a dwelling for the unlawful selling of controlled substances, a
Class D felony; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor. The trial
court imposed an effective sentence of fourteen years’ incarceration followed by five years
on supervised probation. On appeal, the defendant argues that the trial court abused its
discretion in: (1) denying his motion to dismiss Count 5 of the indictment, a charge related
to the sale of fentanyl, due to the loss of potentially exculpatory evidence; and (2) reopening
the proof to allow the State to enter into evidence a stipulation regarding the defendant’s
status as having a prior conviction that would disqualify him from possessing a firearm .
Following a thorough review of the record, the briefs, and oral arguments of the parties,
we affirm the judgments of the trial court.