Opinion FlashDecember 31, 2001Volume 7 — Number 238 What follows is the case style or name, first paragraph, author's name, and the names of attorneys for the parties of each opinion released eletronically today to TBALink.
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Howard H. Vogel
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CHIANTI FULLER Court:TCCA Attorneys: Andrew Jackson Dearing, III, Shelbyville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Chianti Fuller. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Kathy Aslinger, Assistant Attorney General; Mike McCown, Assistant District Attorney General; and Michael Randles, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WELLES First Paragraph: The Defendant, Chianti Fuller was indicted for four offenses: (1) possession with intent to sell 0.6 grams of cocaine, a schedule II controlled substance, (2) possession with intent to deliver 0.6 grams of cocaine, a schedule II controlled substance, (3) simple possession of marijuana, a schedule VI controlled substance, and (4) possession of drug paraphernalia. The Defendant was convicted by a jury of counts (1) and (2), and pled guilty to counts (3) and (4). The trial court merged count two into count one and sentenced the Defendant to nine years and six months for possession of cocaine with intent to sell. The Defendant was also sentenced to nine months to be served concurrently with his other sentence for each of the two misdemeanor convictions. On appeal, the Defendant contends that (1) the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the jury verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and (2) the sentence was excessive. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/fullerc.wpd MICHAEL DOUGLAS HUGHES v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: R. Kirkland Moser, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Michael Douglas Hughes. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, District Attorney General; and Roger Moore, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WELLES First Paragraph: The Defendant, Michael Douglas Hughes, entered a plea of no contest to one count of aggravated rape, and a plea of guilty to ten counts of aggravated rape, on November 30, 1992. On March 4, 1993, a sentencing hearing was held and the Defendant was sentenced for these crimes to an aggregate term of eighty years. The Defendant's trial counsel failed to timely perfect the Defendant's appeal, and on June 30, 1995, the Defendant filed a petition for post-conviction relief, seeking a delayed appeal. The delayed appeal was granted and this Court affirmed the Defendant's sentence. See State v. Michael Douglas Hughes, No. 01C01-9701-CR-00021, 1998 WL 301730, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., Nashville, June 10, 1998). The Tennessee Supreme Court denied the Defendant's application for permission to appeal on February 22, 1999. The Defendant filed the present petition for post-conviction relief on August 25, 1999, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel at his plea, sentencing, and on appeal; that his guilty plea is invalid because it was not made voluntarily, understandingly, and knowingly; and that the length of his sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The trial court dismissed the present petition on the grounds that it was not timely filed, that the grounds for relief have been waived, and that it does not contain grounds sufficient to constitute a motion to reopen the previous petition. The Defendant now appeals as of right. We reverse the trial court's ruling and remand this matter for an evidentiary hearing. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/hughesmd.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. COURTNEY L. JOHNSON Court:TCCA Attorneys: Gregory D. Smith and Roger Nell, District Public Defender, for the Appellant, Courtney Johnson. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Peter M. Coughlin, Assistant Attorney General; John Wesley Carney, Jr., District Attorney General; and Lance Baker, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WITT First Paragraph: The defendant, Courtney L. Johnson, appeals the revocation of her probation by the Montgomery County Circuit Court. On appeal, she challenges the trial court's decision, after revocation, to order her to serve the balance of her effective sentence of approximately ten years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Because we find no abuse of discretion, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/johnsonc.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RONALD PRENTICE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Craig Myrick, Nashville, Tennessee (at trial), and Bruce Poag, Nashville, Tennessee (on appeal), for the appellant, Ronald Prentice. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General; and Carrie Daughtrey and Christopher Buford, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, the State of Tennessee. Judge: WADE First Paragraph: The defendant, Ronald Prentice, was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault. The trial court imposed a sentence of four years on each count, with a concurrent one year sentence of incarceration and consecutive sentences of three years probation. In this appeal of right, he argues that the trial court erred (1) by improperly joining the offenses, (2) by excluding testimony regarding his divorce from the victim, and (3) by prohibiting a hypothetical question to an expert witness for the state. The judgment of the trial court in case number 98-D-2523 is affirmed. The judgment of the trial court in case number 99-A-13 is reversed and remanded for a new trial. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/prenticeronald.wpd LARRY N. WILSON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Mike Anderson, Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Larry N. Wilson. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; J. Ross Dyer, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Roger Moore, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WITT First Paragraph: The post-conviction petitioner, Larry N. Wilson, seeks to set aside his four Davidson County Criminal Court convictions of aggravated robbery and his effective 24-year sentence. The convictions were based on guilty pleas. In his post-conviction proceeding, he posited that the pleas were involuntarily or unknowingly made and that they were the result of the ineffective assistance of counsel. After an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief. Concluding that the record supports that determination, we affirm. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/wilsonlarryn.wpd PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL! 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