Opinions
State of Tennessee v. Donavous Drennon
Defendant, Donavous Drennon, was indicted with one count of second degree murder in Count 1, one count of aggravated assault resulting in death in Count 2, one count of tampering with evidence in Count 3, two counts of possessing a handgun after being convicted of a felony drug offense in Counts 4 and 5, and two counts of employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony after being convicted of a dangerous felony in Counts 6 and 7. Prior to trial, the trial court merged Count 5 into Count 4 and bifurcated Counts 6 and 7. After trial, a jury acquitted Defendant on Counts 1 and 2 but convicted him on Counts 3 and 4, and the trial court dismissed Counts 6 and 7. On appeal, Defendant argues that (1) the trial court committed plain error by improperly implying to the jury that the defense of self-defense did not apply to Defendant’s charge of possessing a handgun after being convicted of a felony drug offense; (2) the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution prevents retrial upon reversal of his conviction for the same; and (3) the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for tampering with evidence. After review, we dismiss Defendant’s appeal. |
Rutherford | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Steve F. Mabe, Jr.
Defendant, Steve F. Mabe, Jr., appeals from his Smith County Criminal Court convictions for evading arrest, simple possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance with the intent to sell or deliver, and manufacture of a Schedule VI controlled substance, for which he received a total effective sentence of twenty-three years’ incarceration. Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his Motion to Suppress all evidence against him and that the indictment should have been dismissed based upon a violation of his right to a speedy trial. Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Smith | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
CCD Oldsmith Henry, LLC et al. v. Town of Nolensville
CCD Oldsmith Henry, LLC and Oldsmith Group LLC (collectively, “Oldsmith”) brought this civil action in the Williamson County Circuit Court alleging that the Town of Nolensville wrongfully refused to issue building permits that it promised to provide as part of a development project. The Town answered the complaint and asserted counterclaims alleging that Oldsmith failed to fulfill its promise to help pay for intersection improvements needed to support the project. |
Williamson | Supreme Court | |
William Kenneth Wade v. Robert Crosslin
This is an appeal from a will contest wherein the decedent executed the will at the hospital where he was a patient. Two hospital employees signed the will as attesting witnesses, and their signatures were then notarized by another staff member. After the decedent died, his son contested the validity of the will, and the matter was set for a hearing. The proponent of the will attempted to serve subpoenas on the two attesting witnesses at the hospital where they signed the will, one by process server and the other by certified mail. Neither attempt at service was successful, and consequently, neither of the attesting witnesses appeared at the will contest hearing. The notary did appear and testified as to the identity and presence of the attesting witnesses at the will’s execution. The proponent of the will sought to have both witnesses declared unavailable. The trial court declared unavailable the witness who was served using a process server but declined to do the same regarding the witness who was served by certified mail. Consequently, the court determined that the will was invalid. The proponent of the will appealed, asserting that the trial court abused its discretion when it made a distinction between serving a subpoena using a process server and serving a subpoena by certified mail. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm. |
Marshall | Court of Appeals | |
Jamie Cunningham v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Jamie Cunningham, appeals the Grundy County Circuit Court’s summary dismissal of his untimely second amended petition for writ of error coram nobis. Based on our review, we affirm the judgment of the coram nobis court. |
Grundy | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
SANTORY ALEXANDER JOHNSON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
The Petitioner, Santory Alexander Johnson, appeals from the Hamilton County Criminal |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Margaret Bush (Wright) v. Ronald Stevens Wright, Jr.
This appeal arises from post-divorce petitions and counterpetitions for enforcement and modification of the parties’ marital dissolution agreement (the “MDA”), and permanent parenting plan (the “PPP”). The dispositive issue on appeal is whether either party is the prevailing party for the purpose of recovering his or her attorney’s fees. Because the final decree of divorce incorporated a mandatory dispute resolution provision, we must first determine whether either party qualifies as the prevailing party concerning claims “to procure enforcement” of the MDA or PPP. We then consider whether either party qualifies as the prevailing party pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-5-103(c), (the “Statute”), which has a broader application but is discretionary. During the pendency of the action, the defendant/father delivered two checks to the plaintiff/mother, one in satisfaction of the mother’s claim for past due child support and a second check in satisfaction of her claim for past due alimony. Thereafter, the remaining claims went to mediation, after which the parties approved an agreed order resolving all remaining claims except attorney’s fees, reserving the fee issue for the trial court. Each party, claiming to be the prevailing party, sought to recover their respective attorney’s fees. The trial court ruled that “[s]ince both parties were awarded their beneficial, judicial relief that materially altered the other party’s behavior, the court cannot consider either party the sole ‘prevailing party.’” Thus, neither was awarded any attorney’s fees. This appeal followed. Because the father paid the child support and alimony arrearages after the mother filed her petition and motion to enforce the MDA and PPP, we find that the mother is the prevailing party on the enforcement claims, for which she is contractually entitled to recover her reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to the dispute resolution clause in the MDA. As for the respective claims and defenses related to modification of the MDA and PPP, for which the Statute applies, we affirm the trial court’s decision to not award attorney’s fees based on the finding that neither party can be considered the prevailing party. Thus, we reverse in part, affirm in part, and remand with instructions for the trial court to award the mother a judgment for the reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees and costs she incurred to enforce the father’s obligations to pay child support and alimony pursuant to the MDA 03/13/2026 - 2 - and PPP. Because neither party can be considered the sole prevailing party on appeal, we deny both parties’ requests to recover their attorney’s fees incurred on appeal. |
Williamson | Court of Appeals | |
Stockton Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a AccuWorks v. Lamont Bell et al.
Defendants appeal from a final judgment in a dispute over a construction contract. Because the defendants did not file their notice of appeal within thirty days after entry of the final judgment as required by Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a), we dismiss the appeal. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Elijah S.
Mother/Appellant appeals the trial court’s termination of her parental rights on the ground of severe child abuse, Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-113(g)(4), and on its finding that termination of Mother’s parental rights is in the child’s best interest. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
Monsieur Shawnellias Burgess v. Bradford Hills HOA et al.
This is a dispute between a neighborhood homeowners’ association (“HOA”) and a homeowner in the HOA’s neighborhood. On remand after a prior appeal, the trial court entered a declaratory judgment in favor of the homeowner. The homeowner appealed the declaratory judgment and then filed multiple motions in the trial court seeking inherent authority sanctions and costs against certain attorneys who had been involved in the case. The trial court denied the motions, and the homeowner appealed those determinations. We affirm the trial court’s decisions in all respects. |
Davidson | Court of Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOMO KENYATTA BERRY
A Knox County jury convicted the defendant, Jomo Kenyatta Berry, of one count of |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TODD LEE WHITE
A Knox County grand jury convicted the defendant, Todd Lee White, of unlawful |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. LAMAR DENSON
The defendant, Lamar Lanair Denson, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
William Woodall v. Robert D. Cooper et al.
This is an action to enforce an oral agreement for the transfer of stock in a corporation formed to purchase a parcel of commercial real estate. The plaintiff alleged that he helped obtain financing for the purchase in exchange for 50% of the company. The defendants alleged that the plaintiff had only an option to buy a 50% interest within one year of closing. The trial court credited the plaintiff’s testimony and awarded him a judgment for his share of the company’s profits. This appeal followed. We affirm. |
Wilson | Court of Appeals | |
Eugene Moxley v. AMISUB (SFH), Inc. d/b/a Saint Francis Hospital, et al.
The trial court granted Appellees’ joint motion to dismiss Appellant’s healthcare liability action based on its finding that Appellant failed to substantially comply with the pre-suit notice requirements of Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-26-121(a)(2)(E). Appellant appeals. We affirm. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
DEWAINE LOVE v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
The pro se petitioner, Dewaine Love, appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Justin Lloyd
This matter is before the Court upon motion of the Defendant, Justin Lloyd, for review of the trial court’s order granting the State’s motion to revoke his pretrial bond. See Tenn. R. App. P. 8; Tenn. Code. Ann. § 40-11-144. The State opposes. For the reasons stated below, the Defendant’s motion is denied. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Demontrey Monquisze Logsdon
Defendant, Demontrey Monquisze Logsdon, was indicted by the Davidson County Grand Jury, along with two co-defendants, for two counts of first degree premeditated murder and first degree felony murder, along with several other charges. Defendant was convicted by a jury on all counts as charged, and Defendant was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. In this appeal as of right, Defendant asserts that he is entitled to plain error relief based on the admission of testimony by a detective who did not conduct the cell phone data extraction about which he testified. Defendant asserts he was denied his right to confront the witness who conducted the extraction. Because Defendant did not establish plain error, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dale Maurice Teague
The Carroll County Grand Jury indicted the Defendant, Dale Maurice Teague, with unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (Count 1), possession of marijuana (Count 2), possession with the intent to use drug paraphernalia (Count 3), and possession of a prohibited weapon, to wit, knuckles (Count 4). After the trial court granted a motion for judgment of acquittal on the marijuana count, the jury convicted the Defendant of the remaining offenses, and the trial court imposed an effective eighteen-year sentence. On appeal, the Defendant argues: (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions for the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a prohibited weapon, knuckles; (2) the State violated two pretrial orders that resulted in the improper admission of hearsay and prior bad act evidence; and (3) the trial court erred in denying his initial motion to suppress and in denying his motion to reconsider the motion to suppress. After review, we affirm. |
Carroll | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
In Re Eden B. et al.
The trial court terminated a mother’s parental rights to two minor children after finding that the mother abandoned the children through failure to support and subjected the children to severe abuse. The mother appeals to this Court, and, discerning no error, we affirm. |
Marshall | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tommy Lynn Hollingsworth - Dissent
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusion that the Defendant’s right to a speedy trial in probation revocation proceedings attached on December 26, 2024, which is when the July 8, 2002 violation of probation warrant was served and the Defendant was arrested. In Allen, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that “a probation revocation proceeding is a continuation of the criminal prosecution, and as such, the defendant . . . has a constitutional right to a speedy trial on ‘the offense of violation of the terms of probation.’” Allen v. State, 505 S.W.2d 715, 719 (Tenn. 1974). The Allen court then concluded that the “two year, eight month delay” between the issuance of the probation violation warrant and the revocation hearing violated the defendant’s right to a trial. Id. at 716-19. |
Henderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. EARL DAVID MANEY
The Defendant was charged with first degree premeditated murder after shooting and |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. George Harris Patterson, III
Defendant, George Harris Patterson, III, who was described at oral argument as a First Amendment Auditor, was indicted for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and assault on a first responder after an incident at a Davidson County Post Office. A jury found Defendant not guilty of resisting arrest but guilty of disorderly conduct and assault. Defendant appeals, raising several issues. He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, the constitutionality of the disorderly conduct statute under the First Amendment as applied to him, the trial court’s failure to give a special jury instruction, the trial court’s admission of a piece of evidence and testimony from a postal employee, and the trial court’s failure to grant a mistrial. He also insists he is entitled to cumulative error relief. After a review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tommy Lynn Hollingsworth
The defendant, Tommy Lynn Hollingsworth, appeals the order of the trial court revoking his probation and ordering him to serve the remainder of his six-year sentence in confinement. Upon our review of the record, the parties’ briefs, and oral arguments, we affirm the judgment of the trial court as to the denial of the defendant’s motion to dismiss and the revocation of the defendant’s probation. As to the disposition of the defendant’s probation, while we affirm the judgment of the trial court to order confinement in case number 96-195, the trial court erred in imposing that disposition in case number 96-193, which had expired. |
Henderson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
KENNETH GEORGE ARNOLD v. STATE OF TENNESSEE
The Petitioner, Kenneth George Arnold, appeals from the Hamilton County Criminal |
Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals |