State of Tennessee v. Jamal P. Hicks
Defendant, Jamal P. Hicks, was convicted of sexual battery in 2004. As a result of that conviction, Defendant was declared a registered sex offender and required to comply with the Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification and Tracking Act of 2004. T.C.A. § 40-39-201. et seq. In 2016, Defendant was convicted by a jury of falsifying a registration form, failing to report a change in circumstance on a registration form, and perjury. As a result, he received an effective sentence of three years. On appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court improperly admitted three exhibits at trial and that the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions. After a thorough review, we conclude that the trial court improperly admitted several exhibits at trial and, as a result, the evidence is insufficient to support the judgments. Consequently, Defendant’s convictions are reversed and vacated. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Kaylecia Woodard
The defendant, Kaylecia Woodard, was convicted of two counts of aggravated robbery and received an effective sentence of fifteen years. The sentence was vacated on appeal and the case was remanded for re-sentencing. On remand, the defendant was sentenced to ten years’ incarceration. On appeal the defendant contends the trial court erred in applying enhancement factor (2) and in improperly weighing the enhancement factor. Upon our review of the record, arguments of the parties, and pertinent authorities, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Brandon Gillenwater
Defendant, Brandon Gillenwater, appeals from the Sullivan County Criminal Court’s judgment denying him alternative sentencing. Defendant’s counsel has filed a motion to withdraw from representation pursuant to Rule 22 of the Rules of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. We conclude that counsel’s motion is well-taken and, in accordance with Rule 22(F), affirm the trial court’s judgment pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. |
Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Larry Wade v. State of Tennessee - concurring in part and dissenting in part
I join the majority in affirming the post-conviction court’s denial of the petitioner’s petition for post-conviction relief. However, I write separately to dissent from the majority’s holding that a hearing on a motion to withdraw a guilty plea, which a defendant files after sentencing but before the judgment becomes final, does not constitute a “critical stage” of the proceedings and, therefore, does not provide the constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Oscar Armando Delgado v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Oscar Armando Delgado, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that trial counsel was ineffective for not fully advising him of the immigration consequences of his plea or providing him with a Spanish language interpreter, thereby rendering his guilty plea unknowing and involuntary. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Marion | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Richard Bryant Long v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Richard Bryant Long, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received effective assistance of counsel at trial. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Lawrence | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Joshua Cool
The Defendant, Joshua Cool, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court jury of two counts of first degree premeditated murder, first degree felony murder, two counts of second degree murder, and criminally negligent homicide. See T.C.A. §§ 39-13-202 (2014) (first degree murder); 39-13-210 (2014) (second degree murder); 39-13-212 (2014) (criminally negligent homicide). After the appropriate merger, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to concurrent sentences of life imprisonment for two first degree premeditated murder convictions and to two years’ confinement for criminally negligent homicide. On appeal, the Defendant contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his first degree murder convictions, (2) the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence recovered during a warrantless search and his subsequent police statement, and (3) the trial court erred by admitting various evidentiary items. We affirm the Defendant’s convictions, but we remand the case to the trial court for the entry of a corrected second degree murder judgment to reflect the offense as a Class A felony. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dinnie Merel Robertson
The Appellant, Dinnie Merel Robertson, was convicted in the Lawrence County Circuit Court in case number 31906 of two counts of felony vandalism, carrying a firearm with the intent to go armed, and misdemeanor reckless endangerment. Subsequently, he pled guilty in the Lawrence County Circuit Court in case number 33049 to two counts of retaliation for past action. The Appellant received an effective four-year sentence in case number 31906 and an effective two-year sentence in case number 33049 to be served consecutively as ten months in confinement followed by supervised probation. The Appellant then was convicted in the Lawrence County Circuit Court in case number 33414 of selling one-half gram or more of methamphetamine and selling Clonazepam and received an effective ten-year sentence to be served in confinement and consecutively to the effective six-year sentence. The trial court also revoked the Appellant’s probation in case numbers 31906 and 33049 and ordered that he serve his sentences in those cases in confinement. In this consolidated appeal, the Appellant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions in case number 33414, that the trial court erred by ordering that he serve his effective ten-year sentence in that case consecutively to his prior sentences, and that the trial court erred by denying his request for probation. He also contends that the trial court erred by revoking his probation in case numbers 31906 and 33049 and ordering that he serve those sentences in confinement. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand the case for correction of the judgments. |
Lawrence | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Thiermo Mamadou Diallo v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Thiermo Mamadou Diallo, filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis, seeking relief from his conviction of statutory rape, which was the result of a guilty plea, based upon the victim’s recantation of her allegations against him. The Petitioner acknowledged that the petition was untimely but alleged that due process justified tolling the statute of limitations. After a brief hearing on the issue, the coram nobis court dismissed the petition. On appeal, the Petitioner challenges this ruling. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the coram nobis court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Willie Mitchell
Following a trial, a Shelby County jury found Defendant, Willie Mitchell, guilty of aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. The trial court sentenced Defendant, as a career offender, to a total effective sentence of forty-five years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, Defendant challenges both the sufficiency of the evidence as it relates to his conviction for aggravated robbery and the sentence imposed by the trial court. Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgments of conviction. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Derrick Chambers v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Derrick Chambers, appeals from the denial of his petition for postconviction relief, wherein he challenged the validity of his guilty plea to attempted first degree murder. On appeal, the Petitioner alleges that he received ineffective assistance from his trial counsel because trial counsel (1) “failed to adequately investigate, or prepare for trial, develop defenses, speak to witnesses, file motions, or meet with the [Petitioner] to prepare for trial”; (2) “failed to object to raise a statutory claim with respect to charging him with attempted murder by using a firearm and employing a firearm in the commission of the same offense”; and (3) coerced him into pleading guilty by providing incorrect advice. The Petitioner further contends that, but for trial “counsel’s ineffective representation,” he “would have received a greatly reduced sentence.” After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Larry Wade v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Larry Wade, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received effective assistance of counsel upon the entry of his guilty plea and during the subsequent hearing on the motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition and further conclude the petitioner does not have a constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel during a hearing on a motion to withdraw a guilty plea after sentence has been imposed. |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Christopher Creech, et al. v. RMRTN Chatt, LLC
This is a premises liability case. Appellants sued Appellee, building owner, for negligence alleging that his injuries from a fall were due to an unsafe ladder on which he was standing to access Appellee’s HVAC units. Appellee denied all allegations and asserted comparative fault by one of the Appellants, Christopher Creech. After various pre-trial motions, the case proceeded to trial. At the close of trial, the trial court denied both motions for directed verdict. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Appellee. Appellants appeal. Discerning no error, we affirm and remand. |
Dyer | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Estate of Bobby Frank Fletcher
This appeal arises out of a petition to construe a will. The petitioner has appealed from an order requiring him to obtain an attorney within thirty days or else the matter would be dismissed. Because the order does not dismiss the petition or otherwise dispose of all the claims between the parties, we dismiss the appeal for lack of a final judgment. |
Rutherford | Court of Appeals | |
Thomas Sutherland v. MP & T Hotels, LLC, Et Al.
This appeal arises from a personal injury lawsuit. Thomas Sutherland (“Plaintiff”) sued MP & T Hotels, LLC (“the Hotel”) in the Circuit Court for Wilson County (“the Trial Court”) for personal injuries after encountering noxious fumes in his hotel room. The Hotel raised the affirmative defense of comparative fault against Charles Stewart d/b/a Stewart and Son Termite and Pest Control (“Stewart”), who days before Plaintiff’s stay had sprayed insecticides in several of the Hotel’s rooms in keeping with a contract with the Hotel. Plaintiff thereafter sued Stewart as well. Plaintiff died during this case, and his son (“Substitute Plaintiff”) was substituted.1 For having to defend himself in this action, Stewart contends he is entitled to attorney’s fees and expenses from the Hotel under a theory of implied indemnity. The Trial Court denied the parties’ competing motions for summary judgment. Stewart appeals. Because the order appealed from is not a final judgment, this Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction, and this appeal must be dismissed. We, therefore, dismiss this appeal. |
Wilson | Court of Appeals | |
Capital Partners Network OT, Inc. v. TNG Contractors, LLC, Et Al.
Plaintiff in this action, which recovered a judgment against the Tennessee Defendants in a New York court, sought to enroll and enforce the judgment in accordance with the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, Tennessee Code Annotated sections 26-6-101 to -108, in Davidson County Circuit Court. Defendants moved to dismiss the proceeding and to deny the New York judgment full faith and credit on the ground, inter alia, that it was void under Tennessee law. The court denied the motion, held that the judgment was entitled to full faith and credit, and enrolled the judgment. Defendants appeal; we reverse and remand the case for further proceedings. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
Florence Collier Hall v. Shelby County Retirement Board, Chairperson Mark Luttrell, et al.
This appeal arises from the dismissal of a complaint filed against the Shelby County Retirement Board and a labor union for breach of contract for an administrative decision by the Shelby County Retirement Board, which denied the plaintiff’s request for a pension benefit as a former employee of the Shelby County Health Department. The retirement board and the union filed separate motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 12.02(6). The chancery court granted both motions for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, determining that the plaintiff’s complaint was a petition for writ of certiorari, which the plaintiff did not file within the sixty-day statute of limitation. We affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. John Sears
Defendant, John Sears, was convicted at trial of theft of property over the value of $60,000 for his theft of ownership interest in three real properties owned by family members. On appeal, Defendant argues that: (1) the evidence was insufficient for a rational juror to have found him guilty of theft of property over the value of $60,000 beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the trial court erred in admitting lay witness testimony regarding the value of the stolen real property; and (3) cumulative error warrants the grant of a new trial. After a thorough review of the facts and applicable case law, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Xcaliber International LTD., LLC v. Tennessee Department Of Revenue
This case involves an interlocutory appeal to the Davidson County Chancery Court (“trial court”) of an administrative decision denying a motion to compel discovery. The petitioner, Xcaliber International Ltd., LLC (“Xcaliber”), is a tobacco manufacturer. In December 2016, Xcaliber filed a petition for an administrative contested case hearing concerning a decision pending by the Tennessee Department of Revenue (“the Department”) to remove Xcaliber’s two cigarette brand families distributed in Tennessee from the Tennessee Directory of Approved Tobacco Product Manufacturers (“the Directory”). Within this administrative proceeding, Xcaliber filed a motion to compel discovery in May 2017, expressing its dissatisfaction with the Department’s responses to two sets of interrogatories, requests for admissions, and requests for production of documents. Based on the pleadings, the administrative law judge denied Xcaliber’s motion to compel. On June 20, 2017, Xcaliber filed a petition in the trial court, seeking interlocutory review of the administrative order pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 4-5-322(a)(1) (Supp. 2017). The Department subsequently filed a motion to dismiss the petition for judicial review, purportedly asserting both a facial challenge and a factual challenge to the trial court’s subject matter jurisdiction over the interlocutory administrative order. Following a hearing, the trial court entered an order on August 24, 2017, granting the Department’s motion based on what the court treated as a factual challenge to subject matter jurisdiction and dismissing Xcaliber’s petition for judicial review with prejudice. Xcaliber has appealed. Having determined that the trial court has subject matter jurisdiction, we reverse and remand for review on the merits of the administrative order denying Xcaliber’s motion to compel discovery. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Anita H. Lane
The Appellant, Anita H. Lane, pled guilty to theft of property valued $60,000 or more but less than $250,000, a Class B felony, with the trial court to determine the length and manner of service of the sentence. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced her as a Range I, standard offender to eleven years in confinement and ordered that she pay restitution to the victim in the amount of $255,033.05. On appeal, the Appellant contends that the trial court erred by ordering that she pay $255,033.05 in restitution when she had no ability to pay that amount and that the trial court erred by finding that she had made no effort to pay restitution to the victim when she paid the victim’s insurance carrier $100,000. The State concedes that the trial court erred by ordering restitution without making findings on the Appellant’s ability to pay but argues that the trial court properly rejected her $100,000 payment to the insurance company as a basis for mitigation. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties’ briefs, we agree that the trial court failed to make findings regarding the Appellant’s ability to pay restitution. Therefore, we reverse the trial court’s ordering that the Appellant pay $255,033.05 and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed in all other respects. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Susan Hembree Schumacher v. Kerry James Schumaucher
Because the order appealed is not a final judgment, we dismiss this appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Troy Anthony Lozano
The defendant, Troy Anthony Lozano, appeals his Montgomery County Circuit Court jury convictions of simple possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, operating a motor vehicle without two operable tail lights, and violation of the registration law. In this appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence and the denial of his motion to suppress. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Montgomery | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Christopher Lewis v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Christopher Lewis, appeals from the Putnam County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner contends that he received ineffective assistance from his trial counsel because trial counsel (1) failed to call several witnesses at trial; and (2) failed to introduce evidence “of the weather during the weekend” of the victim’s death and “additional evidence . . . regarding . . . a large hole” in the backyard of the Petitioner and victim’s home. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post conviction court. |
Putnam | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Darrin M. Dixon, Et Al. v. Alan Wayne Chrisco, Et Al.
Purchasers of real property brought this action against the sellers alleging intentional misrepresentation, a violation under the Tennessee Residential Property Disclosure Act (“TRPDA”), and fraudulent concealment. The alleged misrepresentation and violation of the TRPDA concerned a right-of-way in favor of CSX for a railroad and the amount of purchaser’s property the right-of-way covered. Purchasers further argued that the sellers fraudulently concealed the planned construction of a second track of the railroad. The trial court dismissed the claims for intentional misrepresentation, the violation of the TRPDA, and negligent misrepresentation but granted judgment in favor of the purchaser regarding the fraudulent concealment. We affirm in part, as modified, and reverse in part. |
Franklin | Court of Appeals | |
Duracap Asphalt Paving Co. Inc. v. City of Oak Ridge et al.
The unsuccessful bidder on a contract for a street resurfacing project brought suit against the City of Oak Ridge, alleging that the city had not followed the competitive bidding process mandated by its municipal code. Plaintiff’s complaint sought declaratory relief, equitable relief and damages, as well as review under a writ of certiorari. The trial court determined that the lawsuit presented a proper case for review under the common law writ of certiorari and dismissed the pleaded original causes of action, finding their joinder to be inappropriate. The certiorari action was later dismissed after the trial court determined that it was not supported by a proper oath or affirmation. On appeal, plaintiff challenges the trial court’s conclusion that this case was proper for certiorari review. We affirm. |
Anderson | Court of Appeals |