STATE OF TENNESSEE v. SAMANTHA LOUISE BLEDSOE - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. SAMANTHA LOUISE BLEDSOE

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Aug 28, 2025

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Richard A. Spivey and J. Matthew King, Kingsport, Tennessee, for the appellant, Samantha Louise Bledsoe.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Benjamin L. Barker, Assistant Attorney General; Barry P. Staubus, District Attorney General; and Louis D. Torch and Alexander C. Griffith, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): EASTER

Defendant, Samantha Louise Bledsoe, was indicted by the Sullivan County Grand Jury for one count of driving under the influence ("DUI"), one count of DUI per se, one count of driving on a revoked license, and one count of DUI sixth offense. At the close of the State's proof, the trial court granted Defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal as to the charge of driving on a revoked license. A jury found Defendant guilty of the alternate DUI counts, and after a bifurcated proceeding, the DUI sixth offense count. The trial court merged the other offenses into the DUI sixth offense count and imposed an agreed upon four-year sentence. Defendant appeals her conviction and challenges the sufficiency of the evidence of her identity as the driver of the vehicle. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the criminal court.

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