APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

Over a span of several years, the Petitioner, Steve G. Hutton, was convicted of eight counts of passing worthless checks, one count of theft, one count of forgery, one additional count of passing a worthless check, and one count of reckless endangerment. The Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that his continued confinement is illegal. The trial court dismissed the petition, and we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The defendant, Darrell Phillips, appeals the revocation of his probation, arguing that the court had no authority to revoke his suspended sentences because the State did not seek this action until after the sentences had expired. We disagree and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant, Jordan Hill, was convicted of attempted aggravated robbery and of being a felon in the possession of a handgun. On appeal, he contends that the evidence is insufficient to sustain these convictions. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Petitioner, apparently aggrieved that his sentences were too lenient, now seeks to correct the error by the remedy of habeas corpus. Because the error complained of is non-jurisdictional, I would affirm dismissal of the petition.

Petitioner, James L. Moore, has appealed from the trial court's summary dismissal of the petition for writ of habeas corpus filed by Petitioner. The State has filed a motion, pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, for affirmance of the trial court's judgment. Petitioner opposes the motion. After a thorough review of the record, we grant the State's motion and accordingly affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Dwight K. Pritchard, appeals the summary dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The Petitioner contends that the guilty pleas he entered were not knowing and voluntary because the sentences imposed by the trial court are illegal. Following a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we reverse the judgment of the trial court summarily dismissing the petition. We remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings.

Petitioner, Scott Bradley Price, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief by the Knox County Criminal Court. Petitioner was convicted for rape of a child and sentenced as a Range I offender, to twenty-one years at one hundred percent, to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On direct appeal, Petitioner challenged only the length of his sentence. This Court affirmed that judgment on November 19, 2001. State v. Scott Bradley Price, No. E2000-00441-CCA-R3-CD, 2001 WL 1464555 (Tenn. Crim. App. Nov. 19, 2001). Petitioner filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief. The petition was subsequently amended by appointed counsel. In his appeal, Petitioner argues that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because (1) trial counsel did not investigate Petitioner's claims that his audio recorded confession was materially altered; (2) trial counsel did not advise Petitioner to testify in order to rebut the State's evidence; and (3) trial counsel did not use available medical records to challenge the accuser's testimony at trial. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Appellant, Brandon Jerome Johnson, appeals the sentencing decision of the Sullivan County Criminal Court. Johnson pled guilty to possession of less than .5 grams of cocaine for sale or delivery, tampering with evidence, vandalism, and resisting arrest. Pursuant to the plea agreement, he was sentenced as a Range I standard offender to an effective sentence of four years and six months in the Department of Correction. On appeal, Johnson argues that the trial court erred by denying his request for alternative sentencing. After review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The defendant appeals his sentence of three years confinement after entering a guilty plea to theft of property over $10,000. The defendant contends the trial judge erred in failing to sentence him to full probation or other alternative sentencing. Our review reveals that the trial judge complied with sentencing procedures, and we affirm the sentence.

The Defendant, Gary Timothy Lawler, pled guilty to one count of attempted aggravated sexual battery, a Class C felony; one count of attempted rape, a Class C felony; and one count of attempted sexual battery by an authority figure, a Class D felony. He received a sentence of seven years for each conviction. The sentence for the attempted aggravated sexual battery conviction was ordered to be served consecutively to the remaining two sentences, which were ordered to be served concurrently with each other. Thus, the total effective sentence is fourteen years. Defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying him alternative sentencing and requiring him to serve the entire sentence in the Tennessee Department of Correction. After reviewing the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The defendant, Nicholas Riendeau, pled guilty to theft over $1,000, forgery, identity theft, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, possession with intent to deliver less than .5 grams of cocaine, simple possession of cocaine, possession of a schedule IV drug (clonazepam), and theft over $10,000. The trial court imposed a Range I, effective sentence of five years in the Department of Correction. In this appeal, the defendant asserts that the trial court erred by denying full probation. The judgments of the trial court are affirmed.

A Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the appellant, Clarence Bunton, of attempted child rape, and the trial court sentenced him as a Range II, multiple offender to twelve years in confinement. The appellant appeals, claiming that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction. Upon review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The defendant, Clarence Edward Johnson, entered pleas of guilty to four counts of forgery, four counts of identity theft, speeding, failure to provide proof of financial responsibility, two counts of second offense driving on a revoked license, misdemeanor failure to appear, two counts of felony failure to appear, and theft under $500. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of six years of incarceration followed by three years of supervised probation. In this appeal, the defendant asserts that the trial court erred by denying an alternative sentence. The judgments of the trial court are affirmed.

The defendant, Ronald Lee Hamby, entered pleas of guilty to aggravated burglary, a Class C felony, and theft over $500, a Class E felony. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of seven years to be served in a community corrections program. Fifteen months later, the community corrections sentence was revoked and the defendant was ordered to serve the remainder of his term in the Department of Correction. In this appeal, the single issue presented for review is whether revocation was proper. The judgment is affirmed.

The petitioner, Darrell Braddock, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received effective assistance of counsel. Following our review, we affirm the post-conviction court.

The defendant, Corey C. Abernathy, was convicted after a bench trial of theft of property under $500, a Class A misdemeanor, and sentenced to eleven months, twenty-nine days, suspended to probation. On appeal, the defendant argues the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. We conclude that the defendant was not questioned, as required, before being allowed to represent himself. Accordingly, we reverse the conviction and remand for a new trial.

The petitioner, Michael W. Smith, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, raising as his sole issue whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to properly prepare and investigate his case. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the petition.

The appellant, Richard Gastineau, pled guilty in the Shelby County Criminal Court to reckless driving, and the trial court sentenced him to a six-month suspended sentence and fined him five hundred dollars. The trial court also sua sponte ruled that the appellant had violated the implied consent law and revoked his driver’s license for one year. In this appeal, the appellant claims that the trial court erred by finding that he violated the implied consent law and by revoking his driver’s license. Upon review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we conclude that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the implied consent law violation and reverse the judgment of the trial court. We also remand the case to the trial court in order for it to clarify on the record whether the appellant should receive judicial diversion for the reckless driving conviction.

The petitioner, Deangelo Demond Johnson, pled guilty in the Knox County Criminal Court to possession of more than .5 grams of cocaine with the intent to sell, felony evading arrest, and driving on a suspended license. He received a total effective sentence of ten years. Subsequently, the petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that his counsel was ineffective. The post-conviction court dismissed the petition, and the petitioner appeals. Upon our review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The defendant, Victor Powell, was convicted of two counts of vehicular homicide (by recklessness and by intoxication), three counts of vehicular assault, and two counts of driving under the influence.  The conviction for vehicular homicide by recklessness was merged into the conviction for vehicular homicide by intoxication. In addition, both convictions for driving under the influence were merged into the conviction for vehicular homicide by intoxication. The trial court imposed consecutive sentences of twelve years for vehicular homicide and four years for each vehicular assault conviction.  In this appeal, the defendant asserts that the evidence was insufficient and that the trial court erred by refusing to grant a second mental evaluation. The judgments of the trial court are affirmed.

The Petitioner, Sidney Porterfield, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The Petitioner has exhausted his direct appeals and has previously pursued post-conviction relief. The Petitioner filed the instant habeas corpus petition asserting several claims regarding the validity of his sentence. The trial court summarily denied the petition. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

A Marshall County jury convicted the Defendant of possession of .5 grams of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of .5 grams of cocaine with intent to deliver and possession of marijuana. The trial court merged the cocaine convictions into a single conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to sell and sentenced the Defendant to twelve years for that offense and to a concurrent sentence of eleven months, twenty-nine days for possession of marijuana. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions and that the trial court erred when it denied him alternative sentencing. We find no error, thus, we affirm the judgements of the trial court.

A Dickson County jury convicted the Petitioner, Carolyn Wooster, of aggravated child abuse and neglect and she was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. This court affirmed the conviction on direct appeal and the Tennessee Supreme Court denied review. The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, and the post-conviction court dismissed her petition. The Petitioner appeals, contending that her trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel at trial by failing to adequately investigate her case. After thoroughly reviewing the record and the applicable law, we conclude that there exists no reversible error. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

On January 27, 2004, the Shelby County Criminal Court accepted the guilty pleas of Jerry Faulkner, also known as Joseph Faulkner, the petitioner, on three counts of aggravated robbery and a single count of aggravated rape. The effective 20-year sentence was imposed to run concurrently with another state sentence and “all Federal convictions.”  On April 13, 2004, the petitioner, who was incarcerated in a federal facility in Memphis, filed a petition in the conviction court for a writ of habeas corpus. Because the petitioner was in federal custody, the habeas corpus court dismissed the petition, and the petitioner appealed. Following our review, we affirm the order of the habeas corpus court.

The appellee, Sherri Lynn Cox, was charged by presentment with theft of property valued between $1,000 and $10,000. The appellee moved to dismiss the presentment against her because a portion of the evidence against her had been lost. The trial court granted the motion, and the State appeals. Upon our review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.