William Casey v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, William Casey, appeals the post-conviction court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief in which he challenged his convictions for first degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of aggravated rape for offenses that occurred in 1979 and 1980. The Petitioner raised numerous issues in his petition, alleging errors at trial, prosecutorial misconduct, and ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal. The post-conviction court entered a preliminary order dismissing all of the Petitioner’s claims of errors at trial, prosecutorial misconduct, and ineffective assistance of appellate counsel and the majority of his claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Following an evidentiary hearing on the Petitioner’s remaining claims, the postconviction court entered an order denying the Petitioner relief. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred in dismissing the majority of his claims before the evidentiary hearing and in finding that the Petitioner failed to establish during the evidentiary hearing that he is entitled to relief as to his remaining claims. We conclude that the post-conviction court properly dismissed the Petitioner’s claims of errors during the trial and prosecutorial misconduct and properly denied the Petitioner relief as to his claims presented during an evidentiary hearing. We also conclude the post-conviction court erred in dismissing the Petitioner’s claims of ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal without conducting an evidentiary hearing. Accordingly, the post-conviction court’s judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and we remand the case to the post-conviction court for an evidentiary hearing on the issues of ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and on appeal that were dismissed by the court in its preliminary order and properly preserved by the Petitioner on appeal. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kenneth Michael McIntosh
The defendant, Kenneth Michael McIntosh, pled guilty to sixteen counts of aggravated child abuse and a single count of child abuse. The trial court sentenced the defendant to eight years for each aggravated child abuse conviction and eleven months and twentynine days for the single child abuse conviction and ordered two of the sentences for aggravated child abuse to be served consecutively for an effective sentence of sixteen years. On appeal, the defendant argues the trial court erred in ordering two of his eightyear sentences to be served consecutively. Upon review, we affirm the findings of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Chris Jones v. State of Tennessee
Pro se Petitioner, Chris Jones, appeals the Shelby County Criminal Court’s dismissal of his petition for writ of error coram nobis. The Petitioner concedes that his petition was filed nearly seven years beyond the one-year statute of limitations and argues that due process consideration warrants tolling of the limitations period. Upon review, we affirm the dismissal of the petition. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. William Zachary Weatherly
In this appeal, we address the constitutionality of police officers’ search of trash located within the curtilage of the home of the Defendant, Williams Zachary Weatherly. The police officers utilized evidence obtained from the Defendant’s trash to secure a search warrant for the Defendant’s home and vehicle. As a result of evidence seized from the Defendant’s trash and during the execution of the search warrant, the Defendant was charged with possession with the intent to sell or deliver more than one-half ounce of marijuana and possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. The Defendant filed a motion to suppress. Following a hearing, the trial court granted the motion, finding that the warrantless search of the Defendant’s trash was unconstitutional and that the search warrant failed to establish probable cause. The State appealed. Upon reviewing the record and the applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s granting of the motion to suppress. |
Dyer | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Tina Nelson v. State of Tennessee
A jury convicted the Petitioner, Tina Nelson, of first degree felony murder committed during the perpetration of aggravated child abuse and of the underlying felony of aggravated child abuse. She petitioned for post-conviction relief, asserting ineffective assistance of counsel, and her petition was denied. On appeal, the Petitioner alleges that she is entitled to post-conviction relief because her trial counsel failed to properly investigate her case or present witnesses, failed to move for a severance, failed to properly challenge testimony that she showed no emotion, and failed to establish that her mental impairment prevented her from assisting in her own defense. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief. |
Lauderdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Daniel Lee Mooneyhan
The Defendant, Daniel Lee Mooneyhan, appeals his Bedford County convictions for Count 1: aggravated burglary, and Counts 2 and 4: theft of property between the value of $1,000 and $10,000, for which he received an effective sentence of five years with a 30% release eligibility, to serve in the Department of Correction. The Defendant contends that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions in Counts 1, 2, and 4 because the State offered no independent evidence to corroborate an accomplice’s testimony about the Defendant’s involvement in the offenses. The Defendant does not appeal his conviction in Count 3, felon in possession of a handgun. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the convictions, but remand for merger of Counts 2 and 4. |
Bedford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Andrew McMurray, Jr.
The Defendant, Andrew McMurray, Jr., appeals the revocation of his community corrections sentence and the trial court’s order that he serve the remainder of his sentence in prison. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we discern no abuse of discretion, and we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Samuel Panzarella v. Amazon.com, Inc.
An employee filed a claim for workers’ compensation, alleging he injured his left knee in the course and scope of his employment. The Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims denied the claim, finding the employee had failed to prove that his knee injury arose primarily out of his employment. The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board affirmed. The employee appealed, contending that the evidence preponderated against the judgment of the Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims. After careful review, we affirm the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. |
Hamilton | Workers Compensation Panel | |
John Edwards v. Paula Renee Herman
In this personal injury action arising from an automobile-motorcycle accident, the trial court granted the plaintiff’s motion to enlarge the time allowed to obtain service of process on the defendant upon finding that the plaintiff’s failure to timely obtain service of process had been due to excusable neglect. Consequently, the trial court in the same order denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint for lack of service. Upon the defendant’s subsequent motion, the trial court granted permission for an interlocutory appeal, as did this Court. Upon review of the issues certified by the trial court, we affirm the trial court’s utilization of Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 6.02 as a method of enlarging the timeframe for issuance and service of process, pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 3, when the complaint was timely filed and when excusable neglect can be demonstrated. However, having concluded that the trial court made insufficient findings and conclusions regarding excusable neglect in this matter, we vacate the trial court’s determination on that issue and remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We also vacate the trial court’s determination that the defendant would be estopped from asserting a defense based on the statute of limitations because the parties had no express agreement waiving service of process in this matter. |
Campbell | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Steven O. Summers, II
A Lewis County jury convicted the Defendant, Steven O. Summers, II, of theft of more than $1,000, and the trial court sentenced him to four years on probation and ordered him to pay restitution to the victim. In this appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the trial court erred when it failed to excuse certain members of the jury pool for cause; (2) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction; and (3) the trial court ordered the Defendant to pay an incorrect amount of restitution and failed to follow the proper procedure when it determined restitution. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Lewis | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Dana Looper v. City of Algood
Former police officer appeals the denial of her petition for a writ of certiorari and the denial of her motion for relief from a final judgment related to the termination of her employment. Here, the evidence was undisputed that the former police officer neglected her duties, failed to follow the directive of a “superior” and was repeatedly informed about various instances of misconduct. As such, the city administrator’s decision to uphold Appellant’s dismissal was supported by material evidence and was neither arbitrary, illegal, nor capricious. |
Putnam | Court of Appeals | |
Fredrick Sledge v. Tennessee Department of Corrections, et al
Fredrick Sledge (“Petitioner”) appeals the June 16, 2017 order of the Chancery Court for Nashville and Davidson County (“the Trial Court”) dismissing Petitioner’s October 2016 petition for declaratory judgment (“2016 Petition”) based upon the prior suit pending doctrine. We find and hold that the prior suit pending doctrine applies as Petitioner had a prior suit pending involving the same parties and the same subject matter in a court that had both personal and subject matter jurisdiction. We, therefore, affirm the Trial Court’s June 16, 2017 order dismissing Petitioner’s petition. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Robert A. Hanks, et al v. First American Title Insurance Company
Robert A. Hanks and Lee E. Hanks (“Plaintiffs”) sued First American Title Insurance Co. (“First American”) for breach of contract with regard to an owner’s title insurance policy (“Title Policy”). First American filed a motion for summary judgment. After a hearing, the Chancery Court for Sumner County (“the Trial Court”) granted summary judgment to First American after finding and holding, inter alia, that the Title Policy excluded any claim pursuant to either federal bankruptcy code or Tennessee law for an alleged fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer, or preferential transfer. Plaintiffs appeal the grant of summary judgment to this Court. We find and hold that First American made a properly supported motion for summary judgment demonstrating that Plaintiffs’ evidence is insufficient to establish an essential element of their claim and that Plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that there are genuine disputed issues of material fact with regard to the claims for fraudulent conveyance or fraudulent transfer. We further find and hold that the claim for post-petition transfer is not excluded from coverage pursuant to exclusion 4 of the Title Policy, and, therefore, summary judgment on the post-petition claim was improper. We, therefore, affirm the grant of summary judgment, in part, and reverse it, in part, and remand this case to the Trial Court for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion. |
Sumner | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Steven Davis
The Petitioner, Steven Davis, appeals the post-conviction court’s dismissal of his petition as time-barred, arguing that he delivered his petition to the designated employee in the prison mail room in a timely manner. Following our review, we affirm the summary dismissal of the petition. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Sandra Buttram v. Kenneth Ramsey
Kenneth Ramsey (“Defendant”), pro se, appeals the April 18, 2017 order of the Circuit Court for Hamilton County (“the Circuit Court”) granting Plaintiff’s motion to dismiss Defendant’s appeal from General Sessions Court to the Circuit Court. Defendant’s brief on appeal severely fails to comply with Tenn. R. App. P. 27. We, therefore, find that Defendant has waived his issues on appeal. We affirm the Trial Court’s April 18, 2017 order. |
Hamilton | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Moses A. Ballard, Jr.
The Defendant, Moses A. Ballard, Jr., was indicted for unlawful possession of a firearm and first degree premeditated murder. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-202, -17-1307. The unlawful possession of a firearm charge was ultimately dismissed upon the State’s request. Following a jury trial, the Defendant was convicted of the lesser-included offense of second degree murder, a Class A felony. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-210. The trial court subsequently imposed a sentence of thirty-eight years. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends (1) that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction; (2) that the trial court erred in allowing an expert witness to testify beyond the scope of her expertise; (3) that the trial court erred by not allowing recorded jail phone calls between the Defendant and two of the State’s witnesses to be introduced at trial; (4) that the trial court erred by not allowing “evidence regarding the gang affiliation of various involved parties” to be introduced at trial; (5) that the State committed a discovery violation by withholding evidence; (6) that the withheld evidence “amount[ed] to newly discovered evidence” requiring a new trial; and (7) that the trial court was unable to perform its duty as the thirteenth juror “due to the withheld evidence.” Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Washington | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Ronnie Bradfield
The petitioner, Ronnie Bradfield, appeals from the summary dismissal of his pro se pleading, in which pleading the petitioner asked for relief via the writ of error coram nobis, the writ of habeas corpus, and Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1. Because the record supports the dismissal, we affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Scott L. Bishop v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Scott L. Bishop, was convicted of four counts of aggravated sexual battery and sentenced to serve eleven years in prison. The Petitioner filed a postconviction petition asserting that his trial counsel did not provide effective assistance, and the post-conviction court denied the petition after a hearing. On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that trial counsel was deficient in failing to present character witnesses, failing to object to leading questions asked by the prosecutor, and preventing him from viewing the victim’s recorded forensic interview. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that the Petitioner is not entitled to relief, and we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Alando Deshaun Brown
On April 1, 2016, the Obion County Grand Jury indicted the Defendant, Alando Deshaun Brown, on two counts of rape. A jury convicted the Defendant of both counts at trial. At the sentencing hearing, the trial court merged Count 2 into Count 1 and sentenced the Defendant to eight years in the Department of Correction, with release eligibility after service of 100% of the sentence for Count 1. The Defendant filed a timely motion for a new trial, which the trial court denied. The Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal, claiming insufficient evidence to support the verdict. Based on the evidence in the record, we affirm the trial court’s judgments. |
Obion | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Carlos Prather v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Carlos Prather, appeals the denial of post-conviction relief from his 2015 Shelby County Criminal Court guilty-pleaded convictions of vandalism of property valued at $1,000 or more but less than $10,000, for which he received an effective sentence of 10 years. In this appeal, the petitioner contends that his guilty pleas were not knowingly and voluntarily entered and that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Nikolaus Johnson v. State of Tennessee
In this interlocutory appeal, the petitioner, Nikolaus Johnson, appeals the ruling of the post-conviction court ordering that he provide discovery materials to the State. The rules governing post-conviction proceedings impose upon the State an automatic and mandatory obligation to provide discovery materials to the petitioner as part of the postconviction proceeding even in the absence of a request for such materials. Although Rule 28 of the Rules of the Tennessee Supreme Court does not include a similar provision requiring automatic and mandatory reciprocal discovery from the petitioner to the State, the Post-Conviction Procedure Act provides that Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 governs discovery in a post-conviction proceeding. Nothing in Rule 28 specifically exempts a post-conviction petitioner from complying with the discovery requirements of Rule 16. Accordingly, we reverse that part of the post-conviction court’s ruling that held that the filing of a pro se petition for post-conviction relief, without more, triggers in the post-conviction petitioner a duty to provide reciprocal discovery to the State. Instead, we hold that a post-conviction petitioner’s duty to provide reciprocal discovery to the State arises when the State has fully complied with its own mandatory discovery obligation and has requested reciprocal discovery under the terms of Rule 16. Because the State has not yet satisfied its duty to disclose in this post-conviction proceeding, the post-conviction court erred by ordering the petitioner to provide reciprocal discovery to the State. Regarding the post-conviction court’s order that the petitioner disclose prior to the evidentiary hearing the underlying facts and data for those expert witnesses the petitioner intended to present at the evidentiary hearing, we conclude that Tennessee Rule of Evidence 705 authorizes the court’s order and, therefore, affirm. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Millard Ellis Spurgeon
The defendant, Millard Ellis Spurgeon, appeals his Sevier County Circuit Court jury convictions of burglary, theft of property valued at $1,000 or more, vandalism of property valued at $1,000 or more, and possession of burglary tools, challenging the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress certain evidence and the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Sevier | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Jerry Reginald Burkes
The defendant, Jerry Reginald Burkes, appeals his convictions of money laundering, theft, and sales tax evasion and the accompanying 18-year effective sentence that included five years of confinement. The defendant argues that (1) the trial court erred by permitting the State to introduce certain evidence in violation of Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(b); (2) the trial court erred by concluding that certain of the defendant’s convictions would be admissible for purposes of Tennessee Rule of Evidence 609; (3) the trial court violated his constitutional privilege against self-incrimination; (4) the State failed to discover and disclose exculpatory evidence; (5) the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction of money laundering; (6) the trial court erred by imposing a Range II sentence; and (7) the sentence imposed by the trial court is illegal. Because the fiveyear term of confinement imposed by the trial court is not authorized, we vacate the sentencing decision of the trial court and remand the case for resentencing. Additionally, because the amount of restitution ordered by the trial court cannot be satisfied under the terms ordered by the trial court, we vacate the restitution order and remand the case for the trial court to impose restitution in a manner that complies with Code section 40-35- 304. We affirm the judgments of the trial court in all other respects. |
Greene | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
In Re: Samuel R., et al.
This appeal involves the termination of a father’s parental rights to his two children. The father suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. The trial court terminated his parental rights on the grounds of mental incompetence and abandonment by willful failure to visit and/or support. We reverse the trial court’s findings regarding abandonment but otherwise affirm the termination of parental rights. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Anne Marie Kent v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Anne Marie Kent, was convicted by a Lewis County jury of two counts of aggravated child neglect or endangerment and two counts of child abuse and received an effective sentence of twenty-two years. The Petitioner filed a post-conviction petition alleging that she received ineffective assistance of counsel, which was subsequently denied by the post-conviction court. On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that trial counsel was ineffective by (1) failing to file a motion to change venue; (2) advising the Petitioner not to testify at trial; (3) failing to call a witness; and (4) failing to properly crossexamine a witness. Upon thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Lewis | Court of Criminal Appeals |