APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

A Hamilton County jury convicted the defendant, Alfonzo Thomas Peck, of two counts of aggravated rape (a Class A felony), and the trial court sentenced him as a repeat violent offender to concurrent sentences of life without the possibility of release. On direct appeal, the defendant raises multiple issues for our review, including the sufficiency of the evidence, challenges to the admission of a prior conviction, a limiting instruction, and sentencing. Upon review, we conclude that the trial court erred in allowing the defendant to be cross-examined regarding his prior conviction of aggravated rape. However, given the overwhelming proof of the defendant's guilt notwithstanding the conviction, we further conclude that the error was harmless. Moreover, we find no error in the balance of the issues presented. Therefore, we affirm.

The defendant was convicted of attempted second degree murder and sentenced as a Range II, multiple offender to confinement for nineteen years to be served consecutively to two prior sentences. In his appeal, he argues that the trial court erred in allowing hearsay testimony as to the desire of one of the witnesses, prior to the incident, to leave the house where the offense occurred, and that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the conviction. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Rahim Al Zarkani, appeals the trial court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The State’s motion is granted. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

A Hamblen County Criminal Court jury convicted the defendant, William G. Arterburn, of driving under the influence, second offense ("DUI"), a Class A misdemeanor, and driving on a revoked license, a Class B misdemeanor, and the trial court sentenced him to eleven months and twenty-nine days for the DUI and six months for the driving on a revoked license, ordering the defendant to serve fifty percent of his sentence in incarceration. The defendant appeals, claiming that the evidence is insufficient and that a rebuttal witness violated Rule 615 of the Tennessee Rules of Evidence, thereby denying him a fair trial. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Appellant, Norman Kyle Lewis, was convicted by a Washington County jury of attempted first degree murder and was sentenced as a Range I standard offender to twenty-five years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, Lewis argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. After review of the record, we conclude that the convicting evidence was legally sufficient. Accordingly, the judgment of conviction is affirmed.

The Appellant, Tim Holt, appeals the judgment of the Hancock County Criminal Court denying post-conviction relief. Holt was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, Holt argues that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel. After review, the judgment of the post-conviction court is affirmed.

The Petitioner Gregory Hedges appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief.  The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Petitioner has failed to allege any ground that would render the judgment of conviction void. Accordingly, we grant the State's motion and affirm the judgment of the lower court.

The petitioner, Wayford Demonbreun, Jr., appeals the trial court's dismissal of his petition for habeas corpus relief. In this appeal, he alleges that his judgment of conviction for aggravated assault is void because the indictment was defective in that it failed to inform him of the essential elements of the offense for which he was convicted. The judgment of the trial court is reversed. The conviction at issue is vacated, habeas corpus relief is warranted as to that offense, and the cause is remanded for appropriate remedial action. Because the petitioner is also imprisoned for second degree murder, he is not entitled to release by virtue of this opinion.

The Petitioner, Charles Hall, appeals the trial court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief.  The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The State’s motion is granted. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

The defendant, Corey Moten, was convicted of second degree murder, a Class A felony, and sentenced as a violent offender to twenty years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction and that the trial court erred in giving a sequential jury instruction. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Eric Glover, appeals the lower court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner is procedurally barred from pursuing appellate review of the lower court’s denial of post-conviction relief. Accordingly, the above-captioned appeal is dismissed.

The Petitioner, Jessie Hodges, appeals the lower court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner is procedurally barred from pursuing appellate review of the lower court’s denial of post-conviction relief. Accordingly, the above-captioned appeal is dismissed.

The Petitioner, Ronald Dennis Crafton, appeals the trial court's denial of his motion to reopen his petition for post-conviction petition. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court dismiss the above-captioned appeal, or in the alternative, affirm the trial court's denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Because Petitioner has failed to properly invoke this Court’s jurisdiction, the above-captioned appeal is dismissed.

The appellant, Jarrod Johnston Slaughter, was convicted by a jury in the Madison County Circuit Court of driving under the influence (DUI), third offense. He received a sentence of eleven months, and twenty-nine days, with 208 days to be served in confinement. On appeal, the appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction and the length of confinement imposed by the trial court. Upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant, Jamie Emerson New, was convicted of aggravated sexual battery and sentenced to eight years of incarceration. On appeal, he contends that; (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction, and (2) the two child witnesses who testified against him were not competent to testify. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

On April 15, 1998, the Putnam County Grand Jury indicted Defendant, James Thomas Manning, on one count of aggravated burglary, two counts of aggravated rape, one count of attempted aggravated sexual battery, and one count of aggravated robbery. Following a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of aggravated rape, a Class A felony, and one count of aggravated burglary, a Class C felony. The jury acquitted Defendant of attempted aggravated sexual battery and could not reach a verdict on the aggravated robbery charge. Defendant received concurrent twenty-five year sentences for each of the aggravated rape convictions, and a consecutive six year sentence for the aggravated burglary conviction, for an effective thirty-one year sentence. These sentences were ordered to be served consecutively to a prior sentence out of Sumner County being served by Defendant at the time of trial and sentencing. In his appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court erred by (1) denying his motion to strike expert testimony for failure to lay a proper foundation; (2) excluding evidence that the victim had pending charges for aggravated assault; (3) violating double jeopardy principles in allowing Defendant to be convicted of two counts of aggravated rape; and (4) imposing consecutive sentences. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

On appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict and the denial of alternative sentencing. Following our review, we conclude that the evidence presented was sufficient to support the jury's verdicts and that the denial of alternative sentencing was justified given the defendant's lengthy history of criminal activity and the inability of probation to deter him from such conduct. Therefore, we affirm the convictions and sentences.

The Defendant, Willie J. Simmons, was convicted of rape and sexual battery. The Defendant received an effective eight year sentence in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying alternative sentencing. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The petitioner, Cedric Davis aka Cedric Booker, appeals from the post-conviction court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. On appeal, he argues that the post-conviction court erred in finding that he received the effective assistance of counsel. Following our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, including the petitioner’s reply brief, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Petitioner, Erika Louise Bunkley Patrick, appeals the post-conviction court’s dismissal of her petition for post-conviction relief in which she alleged that her pleas of guilty were not voluntarily and knowingly entered into and that her trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in the negotiation and entry of her pleas. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

A Sevier County Circuit Court jury convicted the defendant, Bruce E. Olson, of rape of a child, a class A felony, and the trial court sentenced him to serve twenty years at one hundred percent in the Department of Correction. On appeal, the defendant claims that the evidence was insufficient, that the trial court erred in not excluding the defendant's statement to police based upon the state's delay in providing him a redacted copy, and that the state violated his right to due process by withholding exculpatory evidence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This is an appeal as of right from the summary dismissal of a petition for post-conviction relief. The trial court dismissed the amended post-conviction petition because the court found the petition was not verified under oath and failed to include the factual basis upon which relief was sought. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The petitioner, Thomas Alvin Carter, appeals from the Monroe County Criminal Court's dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief from his guilty plea to theft over $500 but less than $1000, a Class E felony. He contends that his guilty plea was unknowing and involuntary and that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The defendant, Efrain Murillo Ramirez, who is serving an eight-year Department of Correction sentence for a Greene County Criminal Court jury conviction of possession of one-half or more grams of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver, appeals and challenges the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress the cocaine seized from his automobile. Because the suppression issue has been waived by the failure to file a timely motion for new trial, the judgment is affirmed.

The petitioner, Mark Griffin, appeals from the Anderson County Criminal Court's dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief, through which he had challenged his conviction of first degree felony murder. On appeal, the petitioner claims that ineffective assistance of trial counsel and certain due process violations invalidate his convictions. We disagree and affirm.