State of Tennessee v. Lia Bonds

Following a jury trial, Defendant, Lia Bonds, was convicted of second degree murder, and the trial court sentenced her as a Range I, standard offender, to twenty years. Defendant’s conviction was affirmed on appeal. State v. Lia Bonds, No. W2006-01943-CCA-R3-CD, 2007 WL 3254711 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, Nov. 2, 2007). This Court, however, vacated Defendant’s sentence because she was improperly sentenced under the 2005 amendments to the 1989 Sentencing Act. On remand, Defendant waived her ex post facto rights to be sentenced under the 1989 Sentencing Act, and the trial court sentenced Defendant under the 2005 amendments to twenty years. On appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court erred in determining the length of her sentence. After a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.