Opinion FlashAugust 9, 2004Volume 10 — Number 152 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 SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT DISCRETIONARY APPEALS Court:TSC - Rules http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TSC_Rules/certlist_0809.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. PHILLIP LOWELL BLEDSOE Court:TCCA Attorneys: Jeffrey A. Smith, Trenton, Tennessee, for the appellant, Phillip Lowell Bledsoe. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michelle Chapman McIntire, Assistant Attorney General; Garry Brown, District Attorney General; and Jerald Campbell, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: OGLE First Paragraph: The appellant, Phillip Lowell Bledsoe, was convicted by a jury in the Circuit Court of Gibson County of first degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, the appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction of first degree murder. Upon review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/bledsoep.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. BILLY HARRIS Court:TCCA Attorneys: Lance R. Chism, Memphis, Tennessee (on appeal); Robert Wilson Jones, District Public Defender, Robert C. Felkner, and William C. Moore, Jr., Assistant Public Defenders, and Samuel L. Perkins, Memphis, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant Billy Harris. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Thomas E. Williams, III, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and David Michael Zak, Jr., Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: TIPTON First Paragraph: The defendant, Billy Harris, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of rape and three counts of aggravated kidnapping, Class B felonies. The trial court sentenced him as a Range I offender to ten years for each conviction and ordered that the sentences for the aggravated kidnapping convictions be served concurrently to each other but consecutively to the rape sentence for an effective sentence of twenty years in the Department of Correction. In this appeal, the defendant raises many issues, including that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions, that the trial court should have merged his aggravated kidnapping convictions, and that his sentences are excessive. We conclude that the evidence is sufficient but that the trial court should have merged the aggravated kidnapping convictions. In addition, we hold that the trial court incorrectly applied at least one enhancement factor and believed that the presumptive sentence for a Class B felony was the midpoint in the range rather than the minimum in the range. See T.C.A.S 40-35- 210(c). Regarding the defendant's remaining issues, we hold that they have been waived because the defendant failed to file a timely motion for new trial and that no plain error exists. We remand the case for entry of an appropriate judgment for aggravated kidnapping and for resentencing. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/harrisbilly.wpd STATE OF TENNESSEE v. QUINCY ALEXANDER NORMAN Court:TCCA Attorneys: Benjamin S. Dempsey, Huntingdon, Tennessee, for the appellant, Quincy Alexander Norman. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Thomas E. Williams, III, Assistant Attorney General; Robert Radford, District Attorney General; and Eleanor Cahill, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. Judge: SMITH First Paragraph: The appellant, Quincy Alexander Norman, Jr., pled guilty to one count of driving under the influence with two prior driving under the influence convictions and one count of driving on a revoked license with his sentence to be determined by the trial court. For the DUI conviction, the trial court sentenced the appellant to an 11-month-and-29-day sentence to be served on probation following 150 days in the county jail and fined the appellant $1,100. The trial court also imposed a concurrent sentence of six months to be served on probation following 30 days of incarceration for the driving on a revoked license conviction. In this direct appeal, the appellant challenges the trial court's use of two prior DUI convictions for enhancement of his sentence, the trial court's failure to order full probation after service of the mandatory minimum sentence, and his sentence as excessive. Because the appellant pled guilty to DUI third offense, he waived all non- jurisdictional defects and constitutional irregularities which may have existed with respect to his two prior DUI convictions prior to the plea. Further, we determine that the trial court sentenced the appellant appropriately. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed. http://www.tba.org/tba_files/TCCA/normanquincy.wpd PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL! GET A FULL-TEXT COPY OF AN OPINION! JOIN THE TENNESSEE BAR ASSOCIATION! SUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH! UNSUBSCRIBE TO OPINION FLASH? ... 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