State of Tennessee v. Undray Luellen
The Defendant-Appellant, Undray Luellen, was indicted by the Shelby County Criminal Court for three counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated robbery, and one count of aggravated burglary. The aggravated robbery count was dismissed during trial, without opposition from the State, following the defense’s motion for judgment of acquittal. At the conclusion of the jury trial, Luellen was convicted of two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, a Class A felony; one count of aggravated kidnapping, a Class B felony, and one count of aggravated criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced as a Range I, violent offender to two consecutive sentences of twenty-two years for the especially aggravated kidnapping convictions and a concurrent ten-year sentence for the aggravated kidnapping conviction. He was also sentenced to a concurrent sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days for the aggravated criminal trespass conviction. The trial court merged the aggravated kidnapping conviction involving the child victim with the especially aggravated kidnapping conviction involving the child victim. The trial court then imposed an effective sentence of forty-four years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal, Luellen argues: (1) the trial court erred in admitting three items of testimony; (2) the trial court erred in refusing to consolidate his two indictments for especially aggravated kidnapping; (3) the trial court erred in ruling that his prior conviction for aggravated robbery was admissible for impeachment purposes; (4) the cumulative errors at trial required a reversal; and (5) his sentence was excessive. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand for entry of a corrected judgment to insert a service percentage of seventy-five percent for the aggravated criminal trespass conviction. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Gary Bohannon
A Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Gary Bohannon, of one count of premeditated first degree murder, see T.C.A. § 39-13-202(a)(1) (2006), for which he received a life sentence. In addition to challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, the defendant also contends that the trial court erroneously admitted as evidence at trial (1) a witness’s statement to law enforcement, (2) a crime scene photograph of the deceased victim, and (3) a tape recording of the 9-1-1 telephone call reporting the shooting. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
John Britt v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, John Britt, appeals the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. Following a jury trial, the petitioner was convicted of two counts of solicitation to commit first degree murder and is currently serving consecutive eight-year sentences. On appeal, the petitioner contends that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel, specifically arguing that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to use the entrapment defense at trial. Following review of the record, we conclude no error exists and affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jamar McField
The Defendant-Appellant, Jamar McField, was convicted by a Hamilton County jury of first degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse. He received a life sentence with the possibility of parole for felony murder and a concurrent sentence of twenty years for aggravated child abuse. On appeal, McField claims: (1) the trial court erred 1 in denying his motion to suppress; (2) the insufficiency of the evidence; (3) the trial court improperly ruled that an autopsy photograph was admissible; and (4) the trial court misapplied an enhancement factor during sentencing. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Richard Lowell Blanchard
A Bedford County Circuit Court jury convicted the defendant of one count of aggravated robbery, see T.C.A. 39-13-402(a)(1) (2006), for which he received a sentence of 11 years’ incarceration. In addition to challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, the defendant argues on appeal that the trial court erred by (1) denying his motion to suppress the photographic lineup identification, (2) denying his motion to suppress evidence, (3) allowing testimony concerning an officer’s identification of him as a suspect, (4) denying his motion to recuse the trial judge, (5) denying his motions for mistrial, and (6) ordering his sentence to be served consecutively to previously imposed sentences. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Willis Ayers v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Willis Ayers, appeals as of right from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner was convicted of second degree murder and facilitation of especially aggravated robbery and received an effective sentence of 36 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. He challenges the performance of trial counsel. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Doris Ann Whaley
A Washington County Criminal Court jury convicted the appellant, Doris Ann Whaley, of first degree premeditated murder, and the trial court sentenced her to life. On appeal, the appellant contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction, (2) the trial court violated Tennessee Rule of Evidence 611(a) by convincing her son to testify against her, (3) the trial court erred by admitting evidence regarding a telephone conversation the appellant had with a witness after the appellant’s son testified, and (4) the trial court erred by refusing to give the jury a flight instruction. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Washington | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Steven F. Smith
The Defendant, Steven F. Smith, appeals as of right from the Sullivan County Criminal Court’s revocation of probation and order of incarceration. The Defendant contends that the trial court erred in rejecting his defense of insanity. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Steven F. Smith - Concurring
I concur in the majority’s conclusion that the trial court properly revoked the Defendant’s probation. However, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the defense of insanity does not apply to probation violations. I believe the defense can apply in certain cases. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Richard T. Hanke, Sr. v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Richard T. Hanke, Sr., appeals the denial of post-conviction relief by the Circuit Court of Madison County. He pled guilty to simple robbery, aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon with intent to employ during the commission of a felony, retaliation for past action, and two counts of kidnapping. He received an effective sentence of fourteen years. In this appeal, he claims he received ineffective assistance of counsel and requests a delayed appeal in which to challenge his sentence. Upon review, we reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and grant a delayed appeal. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Albert Dorsey
The Defendant-Appellant, Albert Dorsey, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of first degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. On appeal, Dorsey claims: (1) his conviction was not supported by sufficient evidence; (2) the aggravating circumstance used to impose his sentence of life without the possibility of parole was not supported by sufficient evidence; and (3) the trial court erred by admitting several photographs of the victim. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tracy J. Brooks
The appellant, Tracy J. Brooks, pled guilty in the McMinn County Circuit court to driving under the influence (DUI) and received a sentence of eleven months, twenty-nine days to be served as forty-eight hours in jail and the remainder on probation. As a condition of her plea, the appellant reserved a certified question of law, namely whether the police officer had reasonable suspicion to initiate a traffic stop. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
McMinn | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Anthony Boyland
A Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, Anthony Boyland, of first degree murder committed in the perpetration of an aggravated burglary, see T.C.A. § 39-13-202(a)(2)(2006); aggravated assault by the use of a deadly weapon, see id. § 39-13-102(a)(1)(B); and aggravated burglary, see id. § 39-14-403(a), and the trial court imposed an effective life sentence in the custody of the Department of Correction. In addition to attacking the sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions, the defendant contends that the trial court erred by (1) determining that he was competent to stand trial, (2) excluding evidence of a mental disease or defect that would have negated mens rea, (3) excluding evidence of a victim’s pending criminal charges, (4) denying his special requests for jury instructions concerning imperfect self-defense and passion, and (5) instructing the jury concerning flight. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jawaskii Williams
The defendant, Jawaskii Williams, was convicted of second degree murder, a Class A felony, and aggravated assault, a Class C felony, by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury. He was sentenced to twenty-one years for the murder conviction and five years for theaggravated assault conviction, to be served concurrently in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, he challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence and the sentences imposed by the trial court. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. McArthur Bobo
The defendant, McArthur Bobo, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of second degree murder, a Class A felony, and sentenced by the trial court as a career offender to sixty years in the Department of Correction at 100%. On appeal, he raises the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred by allowing the State to impeach a defense witness’s testimony by introducing a tape-recorded conversation between himself and the witness that took place during his pretrial incarceration; (2) whether the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence of a pretrial photographic lineup by which two eyewitnesses identified him as the shooter; and (3) whether the trial court erred by allowing testimony by a witness that the victim’s children were at the victim’s home at the time the victim was killed. Based on our review, we conclude that the defendant has waived consideration of the suppression issue by his failure to include an adequate record on appeal. We further conclude that the defendant has waived the emaining two issues by his failure to raise them in his motion for new trial. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Calvin Austin
The Defendant, Calvin Austin, was indicted for aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and employment of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. The trial court dismissed the employment of a firearm charge. Following a jury trial, the trial court declared a mistrial as to the aggravated burglary charge because the jury had failed to reach a verdict on that count. The Defendant was convicted of the lesser-included offense of robbery, a Class C felony, and sentenced as a Range III, persistent offender to 14 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction of robbery. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John B. Alberts
The Williamson County Grand Jury indicted Appellant, John B. Alberts, for eight counts of rape of a child, one count of solicitation of a minor to commit rape of a child, and one count of solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor. Appellant filed a motion to suppress evidence recovered through the execution of a warrant to search Appellant’s car. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the trial court granted Appellant’s motion based upon the conclusion that the search warrant was invalid. At the hearing, before the trial court announced its decision, the State argued an alternative theory that the search was valid as a warrantless search through an exception to the warrant requirement i.e., probable cause with exigent circumstances. The trial court declined to rule on the validity of the search based upon this alternative theory. The State asked for and was granted an interlocutory appeal pursuant to Rule 9 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellant Procedure to determine if the trial court can consider the alternative theory to uphold the search. We have concluded that the trial court should consider an alternative theory to determine if the search was valid as a warrantless search based on probable cause and exigent circumstances. We remand the case back to the trial court for proceedings in accordance with this opinion. |
Williamson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kenneth Kisamore
Appellant, Kenneth D. Kisamore, was indicted by the Warren County Grand Jury for two counts of delivery of more than .5 grams of cocaine, in two separate cases, numbered F-11092 and F11093. The cases were consolidated prior to trial. After a jury trial, Appellant was found not guilty of the offense in case number F-11092 and guilty of the offense, as indicted, in case number F-11093. As a result of the conviction, Appellant was sentenced as a Range III, persistent offender to twenty-five years in incarceration. After the denial of a motion for new trial, Appellant has appealed, presenting the following questions for our review: (1) whether it was plain error for the trial court to allow the prosecutor to comment about the sentence received by a defendant charged along with Appellant thereby violating Appellant’s rights under Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-201(b); (2) whether the trial court erred by refusing to allow the testimony of jurors regarding extraneous prejudicial information; and (3) whether the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction. After a review of the record, we conclude that Appellant waived the issue regarding the alleged violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-201(b) for failure to object at trial. Further, we determine that Appellant waived the issue regarding juror testimony for failure to submit an adequate record for review. Finally, after a review of the evidence, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. |
Warren | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Christopher Carter v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Christopher Carter, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. In this appeal, he contends that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Devon M. Crawford v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Devon M. Crawford, pled guilty to first degree felony murder, and the trial court sentenced him to a life sentence in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief requesting DNA analysis of unspecified evidence collected by police in his case, which the post-conviction court denied. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that he is entitled to DNA testing under the Post-Conviction DNA Analysis Act of 2001 and that the post-conviction court erred when it dismissed his petition. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jason Paul Sherwood v. State of Tennessee
A jury convicted the petitioner, Jason Paul Sherwood, of two counts of premeditated first degree murder, two counts of felony murder, and attempted first degree murder. The trial court sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences plus twenty-five years. This court upheld his convictions and sentences. The petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, and the post-conviction court denied relief. The petitioner appeals the court’s denial of post-conviction relief. Following our review of the record, the parties’ briefs, and applicable law, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Misty Jane Brunelle v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Misty Jane Brunelle, appeals the post-conviction court’s denial of her petition for post-conviction relief from her convictions for three counts of aggravated child abuse and resulting effective sentence of twenty-five years to be served at one hundred percent. On appeal, she contends that (1) she received the ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal; (2) the post-conviction court erred by denying her motion for further genetic testing on the victim; and (3) the post-conviction court erred by determining that newly discovered evidence does not exist in this case. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the post-conviction court’s ruling that the petitioner did not receive the ineffective assistance of counsel and the post-conviction court’s denial of the motion for additional genetic testing. However, the court’s determination that newly discovered evidence does not exist in this case is reversed because that issue should have been raised in a petition for writ of error coram nobis. |
Greene | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Emmanuel S. Trotter v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Emmanuel S. Trotter, appeals from the Montgomery County Circuit Court’s dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. In this appeal as of right, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erroneously dismissed his petition as untimely when due process concerns necessitated tolling of the statute of limitations. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Saul Esteban Vasquez
A Davidson County grand jury indicted the Defendant, Saul Esteban Vasquez, for possession with intent to deliver not less than 70 pounds nor more than 100 pounds of marijuana, a Class B felony, possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, a Class D felony, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor. The Defendant pled guilty to the Class B felony, with the length and manner of service for the sentence left to the discretion of the trial court. The remaining counts were dismissed. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range I, standard offender to eight years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying all forms of alternative sentencing. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Deshawn McClenton v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Deshawn McClenton, appeals the Criminal Court of Shelby County’s dismissal of his pro se petition for post-conviction relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the post-conviction court’s order pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Following our review, we grant the State’s motion and affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals |
