STATE OF TENNESSEE v. SHANYNTHIA GARDNER - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. SHANYNTHIA GARDNER

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Aug 4, 2023

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Craig V. Morton (at trial and on appeal) and Lauren Pasley (at trial), Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Shanynthia Gardner.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Katharine K. Decker, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Amy P. Weirich, District Attorney General; and Eric Christensen and Dru Carpenter, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): HOLLOWAY

Following a bench trial, Shanynthia Gardner (“Defendant”) was convicted of four counts each of first degree premeditated murder, first degree felony murder in perpetration of aggravated child abuse, first degree felony murder in perpetration of aggravated child neglect, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated child neglect, for which she received an effective sentence of life. In this direct appeal, Defendant contends that: (1) the trial court used an incorrect legal standard in determining that she failed to carry her burden of establishing her insanity at the time of the offenses; (2) the evidence is insufficient to support her convictions; and (3) the trial court erred when it denied Defendant’s request to make an offer of proof of the entirety of a witness’s audio recorded statement to police. Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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