Opinion Flash

TBA members can get the full-text versions of these opinions three ways detailed below. All methods require a TBA username and password. If you have forgotten your password, you can look it up on-line at http://www.tba.org/getpassword.mgi . If you are a TBA member, but do not have a username and password, you can receive one online at http://www.tba.org/signup.mgi. Here's how you can obtain full-text version.

Click the URL at end of each Opinion paragraph below. This option will allow you to download the original document.

Do a key word search in the Search Link area of TBALink. This option will allow you to view and save a plain-text version of the opinion.

Browse the Opinion List area of TBALink. This option will allow you to download the original version of the opinion.

Howard H. Vogel
Knoxville, Tennessee
Editor-in-Chief, TBALink

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ALLEN PRENTICE BLYE

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:  

Julie A. Rice, Knoxville, Tennessee and Terry Jordan, Assistant Public
Defender, Blountville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Allen Prentice
Blye.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Mark A. Fulks,
Assistant Attorney General;Greeley Wells, District Attorney General;
and Joseph E. Perrin, Assistant District Attorney General, for the
appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge: WELLES

First Paragraph:

The Defendant, Allen Prentice Blye, was convicted by a jury of
aggravated burglary and aggravated rape.  The trial court sentenced
the Defendant as a Range III, persistent offender to fifteen years for
the aggravated burglary, and as a Range II, violent offender to forty
years for the aggravated rape.  The sentences were ordered to be
served consecutively in the Department of Correction, for an effective
sentence of fifty-five years.  The Defendant now appeals as of right,
alleging that the trial court erred in refusing to suppress evidence;
erred in admitting certain testimony at trial concerning DNA evidence;
that the evidence is not sufficient to support his convictions; that
the trial court erred in refusing to grant him the services of a
psychological expert for sentencing purposes; and that the trial court
erred in its application of enhancement and mitigating factors in
setting the length of his sentences.  We affirm the judgment of the
trial court.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/blyeap_opn.wpd

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ALLEN PRENTICE BLYE

Court:TCCA

RILEY CONCURRING

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/blyeap_con.wpd

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMES A. MELLON

Court:TCCA

Attorneys:  

Gerald L. Gulley, Jr., Knoxville, Tennessee, and Tim S. Moore,
Newport, Tennessee (on appeal); Brandt Davis and Leslie M. Jeffress,
Knoxville, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant, James A. Mellon.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore,
Solicitor General; Marvin S. Blair, Jr., Assistant Attorney General;
Randall E. Nichols, District Attorney General; and Robert L. Jolley,
Jr., Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of
Tennessee.                        

Judge: GLENN

First Paragraph:

The defendant, James A. Mellon, pled guilty to first degree felony
murder and especially aggravated robbery and waived his right to a
trial by jury.  As part of the plea agreement, the State agreed to
recommend concurrent sentences on these charges of life imprisonment
with the possibility of parole and twenty-five years imprisonment,
respectively, in exchange for the defendant's agreement to testify
truthfully and consistent with his previous statement at the trials of
his codefendants.  Thereafter, the defendant refused to testify as
required by his plea agreement, instead, moving to withdraw his guilty
pleas.  That motion was denied, the State withdrew its sentencing
recommendation, and a sentencing hearing was held.  The jury, at the
sentencing hearing, found the statutory aggravating circumstance that
the defendant had previously been convicted of a felony involving
violence to the person and sentenced the defendant to death.  For the
conviction of especially aggravated robbery, the defendant was
sentenced to a consecutive term of twenty-five years imprisonment.  He
then filed a timely appeal.  Following our review, we affirm the
judgments of the trial court and the imposition of the death penalty.

http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/mellonjamesa.wpd

PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL!
Feel free to forward this Opinion Flash on to anyone you know of with an e-mail address.

GET A FULL-TEXT COPY OF AN OPINION!
See the intrsuctions at the beginning of this edition of Opinion Flash.

JOIN THE TENNESSEE BAR ASSOCIATION!
While Opinion Flash is a free service of the Tennessee Bar Association, you must be a member of the Tennessee Bar Association in order to access the full text of the opinions or enjoy the many other features of TBALink.

To join the TBA go to: http://www.tba.org/join_bar.mgi

SUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH!
Would you like to receive the TBALink Opinion Flash free each day by e-mail? Anyone, whether a TBA member or not, is welcome to subscribe ... it's free! Sign up for text or HTML version.

Visit the TBALink web site at: http://www.tba.org/op-flash.mgi

UNSUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH? ... SURELY NOT!

But if you must, visit the TBALink web site at: http://www.tba.org/op-flash.mgi