Opinion FlashAugust 22, 2003Volume 9 — Number 153 Following this index are summaries of each case, including its name, first paragraph, author's name, and the names of attorneys for the parties of each opinion. This Issue (IN THIS ORDER):
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. Howard H. Vogel STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RONALD B. FINCH Court:TCCA Attorneys: John E. Rodgers, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Ronald B. Finch. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael Moore, Solicitor General; J. Ross Dyer, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. (Torry) Johnson III, District Attorney General; and Roger D. Moore, Assistant District Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: HAYES First Paragraph: The Appellant, Ronald B. Finch, was convicted by a Davidson County jury of aggravated robbery and attempted aggravated rape. As a result of these convictions, Finch was sentenced to concurrent thirty-year sentences in the Department of Correction. On appeal, Finch raises two issues for our review: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to support his convictions and (2) whether the sentences imposed were excessive. After review of the record, we find no error. Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/finchronaldb.wpd JAMES NICHOLS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Dwight E. Scott, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, James Nichols. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Helena Walton Yarbrough, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, District Attorney General; and Jon P. Seaborg, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: SMITH First Paragraph: A Davidson County trial jury convicted the petitioner of first degree murder, for which he received a life sentence. State v. Nichols, 24 S.W.3d 297, 300 (Tenn. 2000). Thereafter, the petitioner unsuccessfully sought appellate relief from both this Court and the Tennessee Supreme Court. See id. at 298; State v. James C. Nichols, No. 01C01-9704-CR-00158, 1998 WL 468638, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Nashville, Aug. 12, 1998). Through the present appeal the petitioner seeks post- conviction relief from his conviction, alleging that his trial attorneys did not provide effective assistance of counsel. More specifically, the petitioner asserts that counsel failed to interview and call needed witnesses and that counsel failed to object to inappropriate questioning of a witness by the trial court. We have reviewed these allegations and find that neither merit relief; therefore, we affirm the lower court's denial of post-conviction relief. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/nicholsjames.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CALVIN JEROME OLIVER Court:TCCA Attorneys: Larry F. Wallace, Jr., Shelbyville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Calvin Jerome Oliver. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Kathy D. Aslinger, Assistant Attorney General; William Michael McCown, District Attorney General; and Weakley E. Barnard, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: TIPTON First Paragraph: The defendant, Calvin Jerome Oliver, pled guilty in the Marshall County Circuit Court to aggravated robbery, a Class B felony; aggravated burglary, a Class C felony; two counts of attempted aggravated robbery, a Class C felony; and three counts of aggravated assault, a Class C felony. The trial court merged his attempted aggravated robbery convictions into his aggravated robbery conviction and sentenced him as a Range II, multiple offender to eighteen years in the Department of Correction (DOC). The trial court sentenced him to seven years for the aggravated burglary conviction and eight years for each aggravated assault conviction, all to be served concurrently to each other but consecutively to the eighteen-year sentence for an effective sentence of twenty-six years in the DOC. The defendant appeals, claiming the trial court erred by refusing to apply and give proper weight to mitigating factors. We affirm the judgments of the trial court, but we remand the case for correction of a clerical error regarding the aggravated burglary judgment. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/olivercalvinj.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMES ALAN SHEPPARD Court:TCCA Attorneys: David L. Raybin, Nashville, Tennessee (on appeal); and Edward M. Yarbrough, Nashville, Tennessee (on appeal and at trial), for the appellant, James Alan Sheppard. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Helena Walton Yarbrough, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; James D. Sledge and Tammy Haggard Mead, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: WEDEMEYER First Paragraph: A Davidson County jury convicted the Defendant for one felony count and one misdemeanor count of leaving the scene of an accident involving death or injury pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 55-10-101(b)(1)-(2). The trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective sentence of eighteen months with forty-five days to be served in the county jail and the remainder to be served on probation. The Defendant now appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by granting the State's motion to amend the indictment without the consent of the Defendant. After a review of the record, we conclude that the amendment was invalid. We therefore reverse the Defendant's felony conviction and remand the case to the trial court to enter the conviction as a misdemeanor. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/sheppardjamesa.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE V. KENNETH STRICKLAND Court:TCCA Attorneys: Brad W. Hornsby and Aaron S. Guin, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (on appeal); and G. Wayne Davis, Nashville, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant, Kenneth Strickland. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Peter M. Coughlan, Assistant Attorney General; William C. Whitesell, Jr., District Attorney General; and William A. Osborne, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: OGLE First Paragraph: The appellant, Kenneth Strickland, was convicted by a jury in the Rutherford County Circuit Court of possession of .5 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to deliver or sell. The trial court sentenced the appellant to twelve years incarceration in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the appellant argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/stricklandk.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOHNNY DARRYL WILLIAMS-BEY Court:TCCA Attorneys: William Jordan Steed, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Johnny Darryl Williams-Bey. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, 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, Johnny Darryl Williams-Bey, was convicted by a jury of carjacking, a Class B felony. See Tenn. Code Ann. S 39-13-404(b). Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range II offender to serve the maximum sentence of twenty years. The trial court ordered the sentence to be served consecutively to any sentence not yet served in the federal system. In this direct appeal, the Defendant raises the following six issues: (1) whether the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence of the victim's identification of the Defendant; (2) whether the trial court erred by not suppressing evidence found by the police during his arrest; (3) whether the evidence is sufficient to support his conviction for carjacking; (4) whether the trial court erred by ruling that, if the Defendant chose to testify, evidence of two prior convictions would be admissible to impeach his credibility; (5) whether the trial court effectively denied the Defendant the right to present a defense; and (6) whether the trial court erred by imposing the maximum sentence in the Defendant's range and by ordering the sentence to be served consecutively to a federal sentence. We modify the sentence to eighteen years and otherwise affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/williamsbeyjd.wpd PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL! 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