Matthew Sweet v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Matthew Lee Sweet, was convicted by a Greene County jury of two counts of aggravated child abuse. State v. Matthew Lee Sweet, No. E2007-00202-CCA-R3-PC, 2008 WL 1723431, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Knoxville, Apr. 15, 2008). He received an effective sentence of twenty-five years. Id.Petitioner’s convictions were affirmed in a delayed appeal. Id. Subsequently, Petitioner sought post-conviction relief on the basis of ineffective assistance of counsel. After a hearing on the petition, the post-conviction court denied post-conviction relief and dismissed the petition. After a thorough review, we determine that Petitioner has failed to show clear and convincing evidence that he is entitled to post-conviction relief. Accordingly, the judgment of the post-conviction court is affirmed. |
Greene | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
James W. Vanover v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, James W. Vanover, was convicted following a jury trial, for one count of rape of a child, a Class A felony, and two counts of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony. He was given an effective sentence of 36 years. On appeal, this Court affirmed the convictions but remanded for sentencing. State v. James Vanover, No. E2005- 1192-CCA-R3-CD, 2006 WL 521496 (Tenn. Crim. App. March 2, 2006). Upon resentencing, he was again sentenced to serve 36 years. On appeal, this Court held that the trial court properly ordered consecutive sentencing at the second sentencing hearing. State v. James Vanover, No. E2006-01342- CCA-R3-CD, 2007 WL 2323386 (Tenn. Crim. App. August 15, 2007) perm. app. denied (Tenn. July 7, 2008). Petitioner timely filed a petition for post- onviction relief, alleging that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Following an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief, and Petitioner appeals. After review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kenneth Hayes
A Shelby County jury convicted the Defendant, Kenneth Hayes, of reckless aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit the intentional killing of an animal worth over $1000, theft of property over $1000, and evading arrest. The trial court ordered the Defendant to serve an effective sentence of forty years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court imposed an excessive sentence and that it erred when it denied him alternative sentencing. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Guy Alvin Williamson
The defendant, Guy Alvin Williamson, was convicted by a Tipton County Circuit Court jury of being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun and possession of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. He was sentenced to an effective term of three years, suspended to probation. On appeal, he argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence and dismiss the indictment and that the evidence was not sufficient to support his conviction for convicted felon in possession of a handgun. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Tipton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kristen A. Wilson
The defendant, Kristen A. Wilson, presents for our review a certified question of law pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 37(b)(2). The defendant pleaded guilty to driving under the influence, per se. As a condition of her guilty plea, the defendant reserved a certified question of law challenging the admissibility of her blood sample based on the two-hour admissibility limit. Following our review, we reverse the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Montreal Lyons v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Montreal Lyons, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of four counts of aggravated robbery and one count of especially aggravated kidnapping. State v. Montreal Lyons, No. W2006-02445-CCA-R3-CD, 2008 WL 2699657, at *3 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, July 9, 2008), |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Roderick Moore
A Davidson County jury convicted the Defendant, Roderick Moore, of first-degree murder in the perpetration of a robbery, reckless homicide, and especially aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to concurrent sentences of life imprisonment for the first-degree murder, two years for the reckless homicide, and eighteen years for the especially aggravated robbery. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred by limiting the cross-examination of the investigating police officer and that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for first-degree murder in the perpetration of a robbery. Following our review, we affirm the Defendant’s convictions for first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery. We remand for entry of a judgment reflecting that the reckless homicide conviction merged into the first-degree murder conviction. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. David Enrique Leon
A Dickson County Circuit Court jury convicted the appellant, David Enrique Leon, of first degree felony murder and aggravated robbery, and the trial court sentenced him to consecutive sentences of life and ten years, respectively. On appeal, the appellant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Dickson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Sentoryia Lawand Young v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Sentoryia Lawand Young, appeals from the Davidson County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his jury conviction of second degree murder and two convictions of aggravated assault. Following our review, we affirm the order of the post-conviction court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Lamont Hogan
The Defendant, Lamont Hogan, pled guilty as indicted by the Dickson County Grand Jury for sale of less than .5 grams of cocaine, a Class C felony, and sale of a counterfeit controlled substance, a Class E felony, with the length and manner of service for the sentences left to the discretion of the trial court. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant as Range III, persistent offender to ten years for the Class C felony conviction and a concurrent four years for the Class E felony conviction. The trial court ordered the Defendant to serve his total effective sentence of ten years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying alternatively sentencing. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Dickson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jarvis Harris v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Jarvis Harris, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, which challenged his convictions of first degree premeditated murder and attempted first degree murder. In this appeal, the petitioner challenges the trial court’s denial of his pretrial motion to suppress the evidence, the sufficiency of the convicting evidence, and the performance of his attorneys at trial and on appeal. Because the first two issues are either waived or previously determined, see T.C.A. § 40-30-106(g)-(h) (2006), and because the petitioner failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. James Johnson
The appellant, James Johnson, pled guilty in the Shelby County Criminal Court to vehicular homicide by intoxication, a Class B felony, and received a ten-year sentence with the manner of service to be determined by the trial court. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered the appellant to serve the sentence in confinement. On appeal, the appellant contends that the trial court erred by denying his request for alternative sentencing. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Brandon Mobley v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Brandon Mobley, appeals from the Knox County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief challenging his 2005 convictions of two counts of premeditated first degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, and setting fire to personal property for which he is now serving two consecutive life sentences plus 19 years in the custody of the Department of Correction. On appeal, the petitioner contends that the postconviction court erred by denying his petition for post-conviction relief based upon allegations that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel and other constitutional deprivations. Because we determine that the petitioner is entitled to relief on the issue of the ineffective assistance of counsel concerning the use of expert testimony, we reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Brandon Mobley v. State of Tennessee - Concurring/Dissenting
I concur in the holding of the majority that the allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel save for the failure to ask the expert witness whether Petitioner could premeditate do not have merit. However, I dissent from the holding that counsel was ineffective in failing to ask the defense’s expert the ultimate question of whether Petitioner could have “premeditated” the murders for which he was convicted. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Darrel Watson
Defendant-Appellant, Darrel Watson, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of first degree premeditated murder and was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. The sole issue presented for our review is whether the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Christopher Bankston
A Shelby County jury convicted the Defendant-Appellant, Christopher Bankston, of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony. He was sentenced to a twelve year term of imprisonment in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The sole issue presented for our review is whether the evidence is sufficient to support his conviction. Upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. George Tucker
A Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the appellant, George Tucker, of theft of property valued one thousand dollars or more but less than ten thousand dollars, a Class D felony, and the trial court sentenced him as a Range III, career offender to twelve years in confinement. On appeal, the appellant claims that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Willie Hampton
A Shelby County jury convicted the Defendant-Appellant, Willie Hampton, of theft of property in excess of $10,000, a Class C felony. The Defendant-Appellant was sentenced as a Range III, persistent offender, to a term of fifteen years imprisonment in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal, the sole issue presented for our review is whether the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support the Defendant-Appellant’s conviction of theft over $10,000. Upon our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Quincy Bryan Banks
The Defendant, Quincy Bryan Banks, was convicted by a Davidson County Criminal Court jury of two counts of aggravated rape and one count of especially aggravated kidnapping, class A felonies. He was sentenced as a violent offender to twenty years’ confinement for each conviction. The kidnapping conviction was ordered to be served consecutively to the rape convictions, for an effective forty-year sentence. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred by ordering consecutive sentences. We affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Michael D. O'Guin v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Michael D. O’Guin, appeals as of right from the Wayne County Circuit Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The Petitioner contends (1) that his sentence is illegal because it is in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-523(b) and (2) that his sentence has expired because he has served 85 percent of it. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court |
Wayne | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Issac Eugene Jones, III v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Isaac Eugene Jones, III, appeals as of right from the Hamilton County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to 25 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal as of right, the Petitioner contends that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to ensure that he was given the opportunity to testify at trial and for failing to object to his statement in which he said that he had molested his cousin. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Stephen Anthony Scott v. State of Tennessee
The defendant, Stephen Anthony Scott, appeals the sentencing decision of the Montgomery CountyCircuit Court. The defendantwas convicted of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony; attempted aggravated robbery, a Class C felony; especially aggravated kidnapping, a Class A felony; aggravated kidnapping, a Class B felony; and attempted robbery, a Class D felony. The defendant was originally sentenced to an effective term of thirty-seven years in the Department of Correction. After multiple appeals and new filings in both state and federal courts, the defendant’s case was eventually sent back to the trial court for re-sentencing in accordance with Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004). A resentencing hearing was held, and the trial court determined that one enhancement factor was applicable, that being that the defendant had juvenile adjudications which would have been felony convictions if they had occurred when the defendant was an adult. As such, the trial court, applying partial consecutive sentencing, resentenced the defendant to an effective sentence of thirty-four years and six months. On appeal, the defendant raises multiple sentencing issues for our review: (1) whether the imposed sentences are still in violation of Blakely, based upon the application of the single enhancement; (2) whether the imposed sentences are illegal as the State failed to file notice of intent to seek enhancement factors; (3) whether the court erred in imposing consecutive sentencing; (4) whether the court erred in treating a juvenile adjudication as a felony conviction for enhancement purposes; and (5) whether the court erred in failing to offer the defendant the right to waive his ex post facto rights and be sentenced pursuant to the 2005 amendments to the Sentencing Act. Following review of the record, we conclude that the trial court erred in applying the enhancement factor to the defendant’s sentences. Accordingly, we conclude that the presumptive minimum sentences for each conviction must be imposed in this case, and we remand to the trial court for entry of corrected judgments to so reflect. Additionally, we conclude that the defendant’s others issues are not meritorious and that no relief is warranted. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
James C. Osborne, IV v. State of Tennessee
|
Wilson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Maurice Johnson
A Bradley County jury convicted the Defendant, Maurice Johnson, of one count of especially aggravated robbery and three counts of first degree murder in the perpetration of an especially aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for each of the felony murder convictions and to twenty-five years for the especially aggravated robbery conviction. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions, that the district attorney engaged in repeated instances of misconduct substantially prejudicing the jury against him, and that the lead detective’s wrongdoing warrants a new trial. Following our review, we affirm the Defendant’s convictions and sentences for first degree murder during the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate an especially aggravated robbery. The Defendant’s conviction for especially aggravated robbery is reversed and dismissed. |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Donald A. Jahr, Jr.
The Defendant, Donald A. Jahr, Jr., appeals as of right from the Blount County Circuit Court’s revocation of his probation and order of incarceration. The Defendant contends that the trial court erred by ordering the previously imposed sentence to be served in confinement. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals |