APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

A Hamblen County Criminal Court Jury convicted the defendant, Miguel Garcia, of possession of more than three hundred grams of cocaine with the intent to deliver, a Class A felony, and the trial court sentenced him as a Range I, standard offender to twenty-two years in the Department of Correction. The defendant appeals, claiming that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress and that his sentence is excessive. We affirm the defendant's judgment of conviction, but we modify his sentence under the rule announced in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. __, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004), from twenty-two years to twenty years.

Following a jury trial, Defendant, Charles O. Emesibe, was convicted in count one of first degree felony murder during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of the kidnapping of Ibiene A. Emesibe; in count two of first degree felony murder during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of the kidnapping of Letitia Abili; in count three of first degree felony murder of Ms. Emesibe during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a burglary; in count four of first degree felony murder of Ms. Abili during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a burglary; in count five of first degree premeditated murder of Ms. Emesibe; and in count six of first degree premeditated murder of Ms. Abili. The trial court merged counts one and five with count three, and counts two and six with count four. The trial court imposed life sentences for each felony murder conviction and ordered Defendant's two life sentences to be served consecutively. On appeal, Defendant argues (1) that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions; (2) that the trial court erred in admitting certain photographs into evidence; (3) that the trial court erred in ruling certain statements admissible; (4) that the trial court erred in admitting court documents pertaining to Defendant's divorce into evidence; (5) that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of Ms. Emesibe's attorney concerning Defendant's divorce proceedings; and (6) that the trial court erred in ordering Defendant's two life sentences to be served consecutively. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the trial court's judgments.

In 1986, Petitioner, James William Taylor, a/k/a Lutfi Shafq Talal, was convicted, following a jury trial, of receiving stolen property over the value of $200.00 and concealing stolen property under the value of $200.00. The convictions were in docket number S86300 in the Circuit Court of Williamson County. No appeal was taken from these convictions. In 1987, he was sentenced to three years for receiving stolen property and one year for concealing stolen property, with the sentences ordered to be served concurrently. However, the sentences were suspended and he was immediately placed on supervised probation for five years. In December, 1987, following the filing of a probation violation warrant, he was found to be in violation of his conditions of probation and ordered to serve thirty days in the Williamson County Workhouse, following which he would be released from custody and his probation reinstated. In June of 1991, the Circuit Court of Williamson County entered an order again finding Petitioner in violation of his probation due to convictions for burglary, robbery, and first degree murder, and revoked probation and ordered him to serve the three-year sentence consecutively to the new convictions. On April 15, 2004, he filed a petition for post-conviction relief attacking the convictions for receiving stolen property and concealing stolen property in case number S86300. On September 14, 2004, the Circuit Court of Williamson County dismissed the petition for post-conviction relief because the three-year statute of limitations, which existed at the time of his convictions, had long since expired. Petitioner appealed from this order, and the State has filed a motion for this Court to affirm the dismissal pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. Finding merit in the motion, we grant same and affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The petitioner, Thomas M. McCormick, appeals as of right the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief by the Bedford County Circuit Court. He seeks relief from his conviction for aggravated assault and sentence of twelve years as a Range III, persistent offender. The petitioner contends that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel which caused him to enter an unknowing and involuntary guilty plea. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Appellant, Danny Worthington, appeals the judgment of the Scott County Criminal Court denying post-conviction relief. On appeal, Worthington argues that trial counsel was ineffective for providing erroneous advice and, as a result, his guilty plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered. After review, the judgment of the post-conviction court is affirmed.

The Appellant, Frankie Donald Releford, appeals the judgment of the Sullivan County Criminal Court denying his petition for post-conviction relief. On appeal, Releford argues that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial and that the post-conviction court erred in allowing trial counsel to remain in the courtroom during the post-conviction proceeding. After review of the record, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief.

The petitioner, Robert Ledford, appeals the trial court's denial of post-conviction relief. The single issue presented for review is whether the petitioner was denied the effective assistance of counsel incident to his guilty pleas for second degree murder, aggravated robbery, especially aggravated kidnaping and theft. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Following a jury trial, Defendant, Steven Nelorn Hampton, Jr., was found guilty in count one of especially aggravated robbery, a Class A felony, and in count two of burglary of an automobile, a Class E felony. The trial court sentenced Defendant to concurrent sentences of twenty years for the especially aggravated robbery conviction and one year for the burglary conviction. Following a hearing on Defendant's motion for new trial, the trial court, acting in its capacity as thirteenth juror, found that the jury's verdict of guilty on the automobile burglary charge was contrary to the weight of the evidence and set aside Defendant's conviction for this offense. The trial court denied Defendant's motion for a new trial on the especially aggravated robbery conviction. On appeal, Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction of especially aggravated robbery and the length of his sentence. After a review of the record in this matter, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The appellants, Kevin Dewitt Ford and Clifford Sylvester Wright, each pled guilty in the Davidson County Criminal Court to multiple counts of aggravated robbery. Appellant Ford received a total effective sentence of fifty years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Appellant Wright received a total effective sentence of forty-five years incarceration. As a condition of their pleas, the appellants attempted to reserve certified questions of law concerning the trial court's ruling on their motions to suppress. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we conclude that Appellant Wright failed to properly reserve a certified question of law. Additionally, we conclude that the trial court properly denied Appellant Ford's motions to suppress. Therefore, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

This appeal arises from the post-conviction court’s dismissal of the Petitioner’s petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner, Edward Beard, pled guilty to one count of rape, and the trial court sentenced him to eight years in prison, to be served at 100%. The Petitioner filed a pro se petition
for post-conviction relief. The trial court summarily dismissed the Petitioner’s petition because the Petitioner failed to submit any facts in support of his claims for relief. Finding no error in the judgment of the post-conviction court, we affirm the dismissal of the Petitioner’s petition for post-conviction relief.

The State appeals the trial court’s decision to dismiss the indictment against the defendant, Casey Austin, without prejudice. For reasons discussed below, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The petitioner appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. Specifically, he contends that the trial court erred (1) in failing to find ineffective assistance of trial counsel, and (2) in denying the petitioner’s motion for a continuance. Following our review, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief.

The Petitioner James Beasley appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for habeas corpus ad testificandum. 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. An appeal as of right does not exist from a denial of a petition for habeas corpus ad testificandum. Accordingly, the above-captioned appeal is dismissed.

The defendant, Dennis Watson, pled guilty to possession with the intent to sell or deliver a controlled substance, Schedule II, cocaine, in an amount over .5 grams, a Class B felony, in exchange for a sentence of twelve years as a standard Range I offender in the Department of Correction. The defendant reserved two certified questions of law for this appeal: (1) whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss based upon the right to a speedy trial; and (2) whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. After reviewing the issues, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The defendant, Doyle Arnel Whitlock, appeals from actions of the Washington County Criminal Court in the aftermath of his multiple, guilty-pleaded convictions, the denial of his motion to reduce his sentences, and his filing of a document titled "Appeal of Conviction," which despite the title raised issues of guilty plea validity and ineffective assistance of counsel. Upon our review, we dismiss the appeal in part and remand for further proceedings in the trial court.

The appellant, Philander T. Fleming, was convicted by a jury in the Shelby County Criminal Court of voluntary manslaughter. The trial court sentenced the appellant to nine years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the appellant challenges the trial court’s ruling on his motion to suppress and the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction. Upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The petitioner, Luther E. Fowler, appeals from the Johnson County Criminal Court's summary dismissal of his petition for habeas corpus relief. We affirm.

This is a state appeal from the Cumberland County Criminal Court's suppression of a handgun seized pursuant to a warrantless search of the defendant's vehicle. Because a "good faith" exception to the exclusionary rule has not been adopted as a facet of the state constitution, we affirm.

Petitioner, Clarence Washington, appeals the trial court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the legality of his sentence for his conviction of the offense of escape from a penitentiary. After a review of the record, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of Petitioner’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.

The defendant, Doreen Jones, was convicted of second degree murder. The trial court imposed a Range I sentence of twenty-one years. In this appeal, the defendant asserts (1) that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction; (2) that the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury; (3) that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence certain photographs of the victim; (4) that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury regarding expert testimony provided by a defense witness; (5) that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence a videotape recording; (6) that the trial court erred by permitting the medical examiner to testify that the victim's death resulted from abuse and neglect and by refusing to redact this statement from the autopsy report; (7) that the trial court erred by permitting the state to read certain Social Security regulations; and (8) that the trial court erred by refusing to grant a change of venue. The defendant has also asked this court to review the propriety of the sentence in light of Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. ___, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Petitioner, Terrance Dupree Woods, appeals the post-conviction court’s dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. Following a review of the record in this matter, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The appellant, Frazier Fashun Perry, was indicted for: (1) possession of cocaine over .5 grams with the intent to sell or deliver; (2) possession of marijuana over one-half ounce with the intent to sell or deliver; and (3) being a drug felon in possession of a handgun. The appellant filed a motion to suppress the items seized as a result of the execution of a “no knock” search warrant. The trial court denied the motion to suppress and the appellant entered a guilty plea to possession of more than .5 grams of cocaine with the intent to resell, a Class B felony. As part of the plea agreement, the appellant reserved a certified question of law to determine whether exigent circumstances existed to justify execution of the “no knock” search warrant in violation of Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure 41(e). The appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. We determine that the trial court did not err in denying the motion to suppress as the State proved that exigent circumstances existed which justified the issuance of a “no knock” search warrant. Therefore, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The defendant appeals the sentence he received after a violation and revocation of his community corrections sentence. On appeal, the defendant contends that the sentence issued was illegal. Following our review, we affirm the sentence imposed by the trial court.

The defendant, Ronald Allen, was convicted of rape of a child. The trial court imposed a sentence of twenty-five years. In this appeal, he asserts (1) that the evidence is insufficient; (2) that the trial court erred by permitting the state to ask leading questions of the minor victim; (3) that the sentence is excessive under the terms of the 1989 Sentencing Act; and (4) that the sentence must be modified under the terms of Blakely v. Washington, 524 U.S. ___, 124 S. Ct. 2351 (2004). The sentence is modified to twenty-three years. Otherwise, the judgment is affirmed.

A Hardeman County jury found the defendant, Stephen Lynn Hugueley, guilty of first degree premeditated murder. Following a separate penalty phase, the jury found the presence of four statutory aggravating circumstances and that these aggravators outweighed any mitigating factors.  The jury subsequently imposed a sentence of death. On appeal, the defendant seeks review by this Court of both his conviction for first degree murder and his sentence of death. He presents the following issues for review: (1) whether the trial court erred in denying the defendant an individual and sequestered voir dire; (2) whether the trial court erred in denying the defendant’s objection to the State’s use of peremptory challenges based upon race and gender; (3) whether the trial court erred in denying the defendant’s motion to excuse a potential juror for cause; (4) whether the indictment failed to charge a capital offense; and (5) whether the trial court failed to apply meaningful standards to ensure constitutionally adequate proportionality review.  Finding no error, we affirm the defendant’s conviction of first degree murder and sentence of death.