APPELLATE COURT OPINIONS

The Petitioner, Ryan James Moran, pled guilty to multiple offenses that occurred in 1995, and the trial court sentenced him to an effective sentence of seventy-five years in prison. The Petitioner filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief, which the post-conviction court summarily dismissed because it was barred by the statute of limitations. The Petitioner appeals, contending that the post-conviction court erred. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the post-conviction court's judgment.

The petitioner, La Southaphanh, appeals from the Rutherford County Circuit Court's dismissal of his two petitions for post-conviction relief from his convictions for aggravated burglary, a Class C felony, aggravated assault, a Class C felony, and theft over one thousand dollars, a Class D felony. He contends that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel at his trial for aggravated burglary and theft over one thousand dollars because his attorney failed to move to suppress his confession, failed to move for a mistrial when his co-defendant stated that the petitioner was in a gang, failed to attack the credibility of one of the investigating officers, and failed to meet with him and prepare for trial adequately. He contends that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel at his trial for aggravated assault because his attorney failed to meet with him and prepare for trial adequately. We affirm the trial court.

The petitioner pled guilty to one count of second degree murder and one count of aggravated assault on February 7, 2003. The trial court sentenced him to twenty (20) years and five (5) years, respectively, for the above convictions. The petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief. The trial court held a hearing and stated upon the record that the petition was denied. However, a written order was never entered by the trial court. Because there is no final order from which the petitioner may appeal, we dismiss the appeal.

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.

In an opinion filed on January 7, 2005, this court affirmed the trial court's denial of probation but modified the defendant's sentence to comply with the requirements of Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. ____, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). On January 18, 2005, the state filed a petition to rehear pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 39. The state asserts that this court erred by modifying the sentence because the defendant waived any challenge under Blakely and because the record was incomplete.

A Montgomery County jury convicted the Defendant, Ronnell Jason Leberry, of aggravated assault, extortion, especially aggravated kidnapping, and two counts of facilitation to commit aggravated rape. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective sentence of thirty-two years and six months. On appeal, the Defendant contends that: (1) the trial court erred when it failed to instruct the jury on accomplice testimony; (2) he was denied a unanimous jury verdict; (3) the trial court erred by failing to recuse itself; (4) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions; (5) he was denied his right to an impartial jury because certain jurors considered evidence not admitted at trial; (6) the trial court erred by failing to recuse the Assistant District Attorney General at trial; (7) he was denied the right to a fair trial because he was required to wear leg-shackles during the trial; (8) he was denied a fair trial due to the racial composition of the jury; and (9) the trial court erred by enhancing the Defendant's sentences and ordering consecutive sentencing. After thoroughly reviewing the record, we affirm all of the Defendant's convictions. Further, we hold that the trial court improperly enhanced the Defendant's sentences in light of Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. __, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004), and we reduce the Defendant's sentences in accordance with this opinion to an effective sentence of twenty-eight years.

The defendant, Jones Everett Travis, was indicted for Adult Driving While Impaired. On January 15, 2004, the defendant was to enter a nolo contendere plea to that charge when the district attorney’s office served notice of an Implied Consent Law violation. The parties agreed to a continuance on the Implied Consent Law violation and the defendant’s nolo contendere plea was entered. On February 10, 2004, the trial court held a hearing on the Implied Consent Law violation. The trial court first denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss the proceeding due to insufficient notice at the conclusion of the hearing. The trial court suspended the defendant’s driver’s license. The defendant now appeals this decision arguing that he was given insufficient notice that the district attorney’s office was going to allege an Implied Consent Law violation. We affirm the decision of the trial court.

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.

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 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.

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

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 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.