Opinions
Kejuan King v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Kejuan King, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, claiming the post-conviction court erred in concluding that he received the effective assistance of trial counsel related to his conviction for second degree murder and his resulting twenty-five-year sentence. Petitioner argues that trial counsel failed to adequately investigate Petitioner’s self-defense claim, failed to effectively present a self-defense theory at trial, and failed to advocate against certain jury instructions. Petitioner further argues that the cumulative effect of trial counsel’s failures amounts to a Sixth Amendment violation. After review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Beverly Jean Cullins Pickett v. Garry Lynn Pickett
In this divorce action, a husband challenges the trial court’s finding that the parties’ jointly owned real property transmuted into marital property during a nine-year marriage. The husband also asserts that the trial court erred in finding him in contempt of the final decree before the decree became a final order. Discerning no error, we affirm the trial court as to the finding that the parties’ home became marital property during the marriage. We reverse, however, the finding of contempt against the husband. |
Lincoln | Court of Appeals | |
In Re Isabella P.
In this case involving termination of the father’s parental rights to his child, the Cannon County Chancery Court (“trial court”) determined that clear and convincing evidence supported termination as to five statutory grounds: substantial non-compliance with a permanency plan, persistence of the conditions that led to the child’s removal from the parents’ custody, severe child abuse, incarceration of a parent for more than ten years when the child is under eight years of age, and failure to manifest an ability and willingness to assume legal and physical custody of or financial responsibility for the child. The trial court further determined that termination of the father’s and mother’s parental rights was in the child’s best interest. The father has appealed. Upon review, we vacate the trial court’s determination concerning the ground of substantial noncompliance with a permanency plan. In all other respects, we affirm. |
Cannon | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Arthur Davis Hicks, Jr.
Arthur Davis Hicks, Jr., (“Defendant”) appeals his convictions for reckless aggravated assault resulting in death and felon in possession of a weapon, for which he received a total effective sentence of twenty-eight years’ incarceration. Defendant contends that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions; (2) the trial court abused its discretion by admitting testimony from the State’s expert forensic scientist regarding gunshot residue analysis performed by her co-worker; (3) the trial court erred in excluding testimony regarding the victim’s prior history of carrying a weapon and his “violent tendencies”; and (4) the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. Upon review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Lincoln | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Gerald McDaniel, et al. v. Edwin Frazier, III, et al.
Appellants purchased a home without first personally viewing the property. Following the sale, Appellants discovered defects that they claim should have been disclosed to them prior to the sale. The trial court granted motions for summary judgment in favor of the sellers of the house and the licensed home inspector. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KORTNEY DALON BALL
The Appellant, Kortney Dalon Ball, is appealing his conviction and the sentence he |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Timothy Aaron Baxter
The petitioner, Timothy Aaron Baxter, appeals from the Madison County Circuit Court’s denial of his pro se motion to correct a clerical error pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36. Based on our review of the record, the parties’ briefs, and the applicable law, we affirm the decision of the trial court. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Caroline Brown Smithwick v. Fred Barksdale Smithwick, IV
Appellant/Mother appeals the trial court’s grant of Appellee/Father’s post-divorce petitions to modify the permanent parenting plan and for contempt. The trial court changed the children’s primary residential parent from Mother to Father. Although the trial court made a change in custody, it applied Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-6-101(a)(2)(C), which addresses modification of a residential schedule. Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-6-101(a)(2)(B), which addresses modifications of custody, is the applicable statute. The trial court also charged Mother with one child’s tuition. In doing so, the trial court failed to comply with the requirements of the Child Support Guidelines. As such, we vacate the order: (1) modifying the permanent parenting plan; (2) modifying the Child Support Worksheet, and (3) charging Mother with the child’s private school tuition. The trial court also charged Mother with retroactive child support, found her guilty of three counts of civil contempt for alleged violations of the permanent parenting plan, and ordered her to pay Father’s attorney’s fees as punishment for the contempt. Because the record does not support the trial court’s findings of contempt, we reverse the contempt holdings and the award of attorney’s fees to Father. Because there is no basis for an award of retroactive child support, we also reverse that holding. |
Shelby | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Destiny Sharina Williams
The State appeals the trial court’s dismissal of the indictment against the defendant, Destiny Sharina Williams, charging her with assault and abuse of a vulnerable adult. The State argues that dismissal was in error because the trial court based its decision on the State’s failure to object to a delayed dismissal of warrants against the defendant in city court. Upon our review of the record, the applicable law, and the parties’ briefs, we reverse the trial court’s order dismissing the indictment, reinstate the charges against the defendant, and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Tarvis Weatherly v. State of Tennessee
The petitioner, Tarvis Weatherly, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received the effective assistance of counsel. After our review of the record, briefs, and applicable law, we affirm the denial of the petition. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
THE EDWARD JACKSON YOUNGER FAMILY IRREVOCABLE TRUST, BY AND THROUGH ANGELA TRACY YOUNGER, TRUSTEE, ET AL. V. EVELYN W. ROSS, PERSONALLY AND INDIVIDUALLY AND AS SETTLOR OF THE EVELYN W. ROSS IRREVOCABLE LIFE INSURANCE TRUST, ET AL.
In this case involving the sale of a life insurance policy, the trial court conducted a hearing on the same day regarding the four defendants’ various motions to dismiss and the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. The court denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss. Concerning three defendants, including the appellant, the court partially granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment as to liability upon finding that those defendants had failed to respond to the summary judgment motion. Following a subsequent bench trial, the trial court found that the defendants had breached an agreement with the plaintiffs to sell the life insurance policy directly to the plaintiffs, selling it to a separate trust instead, and that the defendants had done so through a “scheme to defraud” the plaintiffs. Upon the plaintiffs’ amended complaint, the trial court also found that the defendants had violated the Tennessee Viatical Settlement Act of 2009, codified at Tennessee Code Annotated § 56-50-101, et seq. Finding the defendants to be jointly and severally liable, the trial court awarded to the plaintiffs a judgment in the amount of $418,450.87 plus attorney’s fees in the amount of $252,867.19. One of the defendants has appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm the judgment with the correction of one mathematical error. Pursuant to the terms of the trust agreement, we grant the plaintiffs’ request for an award of reasonable attorney’s fees on appeal. We remand this case to the trial court for enforcement of the modified judgment and for a determination of the plaintiffs’ reasonable attorney’s fees incurred on appeal. |
Knox | Court of Appeals | |
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KORTNEY DALON BALL
The Appellant, Kortney Dalon Ball, is appealing his conviction and the sentence he |
Davidson | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Timothy D. Stanton
A Knox County jury convicted the Defendant, Timothy Stanton, of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, and domestic assault. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of twelve years’ incarceration. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal upon conclusion of the State’s case. He also asserts that his conviction for aggravated kidnapping cannot stand because the victim’s confinement was merely incidental to the accompanying assault under State v. White, 362 S.W.3d 559 (Tenn. 2012). Upon our review, we respectfully affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Knox | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Andrew Hayes v. State of Tennessee
In 2010, a Shelby County jury convicted the Petitioner, Andrew Hayes, of first degree felony murder and aggravated robbery, and the trial court imposed an effective sentence of life imprisonment. After unsuccessfully pursuing a variety of post-conviction remedies in state and federal court, the Petitioner filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis, wherein he included nine pieces of “new” evidence and argued that he was entitled to equitable tolling of the one-year statute of limitations. He then filed an amended petition for writ of error coram nobis, wherein he included a tenth piece of “new” evidence as well as some allegedly exculpatory evidence and argued that the statute of limitations should be tolled because this newly discovered evidence met the standard in Clardy v. State, 691 S.W.3d 390 (Tenn. 2024). The coram nobis court summarily dismissed the coram nobis petition, holding that it was untimely because the Petitioner was not entitled to equitable tolling. The Petitioner now appeals, arguing that the summary dismissal of his petition for writ of error coram nobis was in error. After review, we affirm the judgment of the coram nobis court. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
John F. Curran v. Only Motorsports, LLC
The trial court dismissed the appellant’s appeal from general sessions court on the basis that his notice of appeal was untimely. We affirm. |
Wilson | Court of Appeals | |
Quincy Collins v. State of Tennessee
The Petitioner, Quincy Collins, appeals from the Madison County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing he received the ineffective assistance of counsel due to trial counsel’s failure to challenge the sufficiency of the convicting evidence in the Petitioner’s direct appeal. Discerning no error, we affirm. |
Madison | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Rebecca M. Davis
Defendant, Rebecca M. Davis, appeals her convictions for one count of aggravated child abuse of a child eight years of age or less, one count of aggravated child neglect of a child eight years of age or less, and two counts of aggravated child endangerment of child eight years of age or less. After a sentencing hearing, Defendant received an effective sentence of fifteen years’ incarceration. On appeal, Defendant argues that (1) the trial court erred by denying her motion for judgments of acquittal for aggravated child endangerment and aggravated child neglect of a child eight years of age or less; (2) the trial court erred by not merging her convictions for aggravated child endangerment with her respective convictions for aggravated child abuse of a child eight years of age or less and aggravated child neglect of a child eight years of age or less; and (3) the trial court violated her due process rights by allowing the State to comment on and elicit testimony regarding her pre-arrest, post-Miranda silence. After review, we reverse the trial court’s denial of Defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal for her aggravated child neglect conviction but otherwise affirm the judgments of the trial court. |
Lauderdale | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dallas Wayne Tomes, Jr. - Concurring Opinion
I concur in the majority’s conclusions that the trial court did not err in denying the |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Harold Wayne Nichols v. State of Tennessee
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Hamilton | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Jordan Harp v. State of Tennessee
Petitioner, Jordan Harp, appeals the denial of his post-conviction relief petition. Petitioner was indicted by the Shelby County Grand Jury for first degree premeditated murder and especially aggravated kidnapping. Pursuant to a March 2022 negotiated plea agreement, Petitioner pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of second degree murder and to especially aggravated kidnapping and received an effective sentence of forty years.1 Petitioner timely sought post-conviction relief, alleging several instances of ineffective assistance of counsel and that his guilty pleas were unknowingly and involuntarily entered. After only hearing from Petitioner’s trial counsel, the post-conviction court stated, “I don’t need to hear anything from [Petitioner],” and denied Petitioner the opportunity to testify and present witnesses. The post-conviction court then denied relief. Because we conclude that Petitioner was not afforded a full and fair hearing on his post-conviction petition, we reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand this case for a new hearing on his post-conviction petition. |
Shelby | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Gary Sutton v. State of Tennessee
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Blount | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Nikolaus L. Johnson v. State of Tennessee
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Sullivan | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Dallas Wayne Tomes, Jr.
The Defendant, Dallas Wayne Tomes, Jr., was convicted in the Criminal Court of Bradley |
Bradley | Court of Criminal Appeals | |
Heather Piper DiDomenico v. James Andrew DiDomenico
Husband appeals the trial court’s judgment in his divorce action on the sole issue of whether the trial judge should have recused himself because the judge’s comments and conduct at the trial establish that his impartiality might reasonably be questioned. Applying the objective standard, we find no basis for the trial judge’s recusal and affirm the decision of the trial court. |
Williamson | Court of Appeals | |
State of Tennessee v. Tony S. Walker
The pro se Petitioner, Tony S. Walker, appeals the summary denial of his petition seeking various forms of relief from his first degree felony murder conviction and sentence of life imprisonment. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. |
Gibson | Court of Criminal Appeals |