STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DEVAUNTE LOUIS HILL - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DEVAUNTE LOUIS HILL

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Feb 19, 2026

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Martesha Johnson Moore, District Public Defender; and Emma Rae Tennent (on appeal), Ellison M. Berryhill (on appeal), Jason Chaffin (at trial), Georgia Sims (at trial), and Allison Capp (at trial), Assistant District Public Defenders, for the appellant, Devaunte Louis Hill.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Ronald L. Coleman, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Glenn R. Funk, District Attorney General; Roger D. Moore, Deputy District Attorney General; and Janice Norman and Kristen L. Taylor, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): HOLLOWAY

Defendant, Devaunte Louis Hill, appeals his Davidson County Criminal Court conviction for second degree murder, for which he received a sentence of twenty-five years in confinement. Defendant asserts that: (1) the trial court erred in excluding the testimony of Defendant’s proffered expert; (2) the trial court improperly limited Defendant’s cross- examination of a witness; (3) the trial court abused its discretion by finding that Defendant opened the door to cross-examination about delinquent behavior he committed as a juvenile; (4) the trial court abused its discretion by allowing the State to present evidence of Defendant’s gang membership in its case-in-chief; (5) the trial court improperly admitted part of a recorded jail conversation between Defendant and other parties; (6) the State engaged in improper argument during closing; (7) he is entitled to relief via cumulative error; and (8) the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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