Justia Tennessee Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. Defendant appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. The court of criminal appeals affirmed the convictions and sentences, holding (1) the evidence of identification was sufficient as to both convictions; and (2) as to the aggravated burglary, the victim had not given his “effective consent” to the entry of the residence. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed the aggravated robbery conviction, holding that the identification evidence was sufficient as to both offenses; but (2) reversed the aggravated burglary conviction, holding that the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to support the conviction because no reasonable factfinder could conclude that Defendant’s entry of the residence was without the victim’s “effective consent.” Remanded for a new trial on the lesser included offenses of aggravated criminal trespass and criminal trespass. View "State v. Pope" on Justia Law

Petitioner pled guilty to the felony charge of child neglect and to the misdemeanor charge of child abuse. About six months later, Petitioner for a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that he received ineffective assistance of counsel based on trial counsel's failure to advise him of the immigration consequences of his plea and that his plea was unknowing and involuntary because the trial court failed to comply with Tenn. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(1)(J). The post-conviction trial court denied relief. The court of criminal appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) trial counsel did not perform deficiently; and (2) the trial court's failure to comply with Rule 11(b)(1)(J) was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. View "Garcia v. State" on Justia Law

At issue in this case was a law providing that citizens who appear in person to vote must present photographic proof of their identity. The statute authorized a photographic identification card issued by the State as a valid form of identification. Plaintiffs were two residents who attempted to vote in the primary election using photographic identification cards issued by the City of Memphis Public Library. The residents and City filed a declaratory judgment action arguing (1) the photographic identification requirement violated constitutional protections, and (2) the City qualified as an entity of the State authorized to issue valid photographic identification cards through its public library. The trial court denied relief. The court of appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) the photographic identification requirement did not violate constitutional principles, and (2) the photographic identification cards issued by the library complied with the statute for voting purposes. On appeal, the Supreme Court held (1) the issue pertaining to the library cards as photographic identification was moot because a change in the law precluded the use of photographic identification cards issued by municipalities or their libraries for voting purposes; and (2) the photographic identification requirement met constitutional scrutiny. View "City of Memphis v. Hargett" on Justia Law

After a bench trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of attempted first degree murder and one count each of especially aggravated burglary, attempted aggravated robbery, and aggravated assault. In sentencing Defendant, the trial judge sentenced Defendant to consecutive twenty-five year sentences for each attempted first degree murder conviction. The court of criminal appeals (1) reduced one count of attempted first degree murder to attempted second degree murder, concluding that insufficient evidence supported the convictions, and modified the conviction of especially aggravated burglary to aggravated burglary; and (2) affirmed the other convictions. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) there was sufficient evidence to support Defendant's convictions of two counts of attempted first degree murder; and (2) the trial judge did not err in imposing consecutive sentencing for the two attempted first degree murder convictions. View "State v. Dickson" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first degree felony murder. The jury imposed a sentence of death based on three aggravating circumstances. The court of criminal appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's finding of guilt of first degree felony murder beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the sentence of death was not excessive, disproportionate, or imposed arbitrarily; (3) the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's finding of the statutory aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt; and (4) the evidence supported the jury's finding that the aggravating circumstances outweighed any mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt. View "State v. Pruitt" on Justia Law

Defendant was indicted on one count each of driving under the influence, reckless driving, reckless endangerment with a motor vehicle, and violation of the implied consent law. The video recording of the arresting officer's pursuit and stop of Defendant's vehicle was lost before trial. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the indictment due to the State's alleged failure to preserve potentially exculpatory evidence. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court dismissed several of the charges. The court of criminal appeals affirmed. After applying a de novo standard of review, the Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) based on the record, the trial court did not err by finding it would be fundamentally unfair to require Defendant to go to trial without the video recording; and (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in choosing dismissal of several charges as a remedy for the State's loss of the video recording. View "State v. Merriman" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of false imprisonment and assault and sentenced to concurrent sentences of six months. While Defendant's case was pending on appeal, the Supreme Court filed its opinion in State v. White, which requires trial courts to provide a more specific instruction on kidnapping charges as to whether the removal or confinement of a victim is essentially incidental to any accompanying offense. On appeal, the court of appeals affirmed, holding that although the White instruction was not given at trial, the jury was correctly instructed and the evidence was sufficient to support both convictions. The Supreme Court reversed the conviction for false imprisonment, holding that the omission of the White instruction was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Remanded for a new trial. View "State v. Cecil" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of aggravated statutory rape and sentenced to four years incarceration. Defendant appealed, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction because the testimony of the victim, a consenting accomplice in the crime, was not adequately corroborated by other proof. The court of appeals affirmed, holding that the victim qualified as an accomplice to the crime but that her testimony was sufficiently corroborated by the evidence. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the testimony of a victim of statutory rape does not require corroboration; and (2) the evidence presented at trial, including the victim's testimony, was sufficient to sustain Defendant's conviction. View "State v. Collier" on Justia Law

Defendant was arrested on federal and state charges and taken into federal custody. After a trial in federal court, Defendant was convicted. Defendant was subsequently indicted by a Gibson County grand jury on the related state charges. After he was sentenced in federal court, Defendant was transported to Gibson County for an arraignment. Defendant was arraigned and then transferred back into federal custody. Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the state indictment for violations of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD), articles III and IV. Under article IV, an official of one jurisdiction may seek custody of a prison serving a term of imprisonment in another jurisdiction, but the prisoner must be tried within 120 days of arrival in that jurisdiction and cannot be shuttled back to the original place of imprisonment before the trial. The trial court denied the motion, and Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea. The court of criminal appeals affirmed the trial court's denial of Defendant's motion to dismiss. The Supreme Court reversed, vacated Defendant's conviction, and dismissed the indictment against Defendant with prejudice, holding that article IV of the IAD was violated when Defendant was transferred back to the federal detention center before being tried for the state charges. View "State v. Springer" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. The court of criminal appeals upheld Defendant's convictions and sentences. Defendant appealed, arguing (1) the trial court erred in declining his request for a jury instruction on defense of a third person, and (2) his abandonment of the murder weapon did not amount to tampering with physical evidence. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed Defendant's conviction for first degree murder, holding that the trial court properly denied Defendant's request for an instruction on defense of a third person; and (2) reversed Defendant's conviction for tampering with physical evidence, holding that Defendant did not "conceal" the murder weapon within the meaning of the relevant statute by tossing the murder weapon over a fence where it could be easily observed and recovered. View "State v. Hawkins" on Justia Law