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Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 9, 2021

NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. After pleading guilty in 2018 to federal drug and firearms charges, John Tomes Jr. was sentenced to twenty years in prison. Now, just a few years later, he asks for a reduced sentence and immediate release. His vehicle is a motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). After reviewing Tomes’s motion and briefing, the district court denied his motion. Tomes appeals, and we AFFIRM.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 9, 2021

THAPAR, Circuit Judge. Derrick Taylor robbed a bank at gunpoint. And when police tried to arrest him, he led them on a high-speed chase, killed an innocent driver sharing the road, shot another driver, and abducted a woman and her child. Almost three decades later, he challenged one of the resulting convictions and applied for a writ of habeas corpus. See 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The district court denied Taylor’s application. But Taylor never cleared the jurisdictional bar necessary for a court to adjudicate his claim. See id. § 2255(e). So we vacate the district court’s order and remand with instructions to dismiss the application for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 9, 2021

A jury convicted the Defendant, John Christopher Schubert, of aggravated robbery, robbery, theft, tampering with evidence, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. The Defendant received an effective eighteen-year sentence. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the State presented insufficient proof regarding his identity, that his convictions for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct violate the prohibition against double jeopardy, that the trial court improperly admitted hearsay evidence, and that the trial court erroneously gave an instruction on flight. After a thorough review of the record, we discern no error and affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 9, 2021

The trial court terminated a father’s parental rights on the ground of severe child abuse. The father argues that the trial court erred in finding that he committed severe child abuse and in finding termination to be in the child’s best interest. He asserts that there was no evidence that he knew or should have known about the child’s injuries. In light of all of the facts, including the nature of the child’s injuries, the medical evidence, and the trial court’s finding concerning the father’s credibility, we conclude that the trial court did not err in terminating the father’s parental rights.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 9, 2021

This appeal concerns the trial court’s entry of judgment on an appeal bond for attorney fees. We affirm the trial court in all respects.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 9, 2021

This is an appeal of a suit for divorce. Because the notice of appeal was not timely filed, this Court lacks jurisdiction to consider this appeal.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 8, 2021

This appeal arises from the summary dismissal of an inmate’s petition for declaratory judgment pertaining to the calculation of his release eligibility date. The inmate was convicted of two felonies and ordered to serve a life sentence for the first felony and a 15- year sentence for the second, with the sentences to be served consecutively. When calculating his release eligibility date, the Tennessee Department of Correction (“TDOC”) applied the inmate’s pretrial jail credits to the life sentence but not to the 15-year sentence. The inmate claimed that TDOC erred by failing to apply the credit to both sentences because the criminal court included the credit on both sentencing orders. While the inmate’s petition was pending, the criminal court issued a corrected sentencing order for the 15-year sentence, in accordance with Rule 36 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, removing the pretrial jail credits. Thereafter, TDOC filed a motion for summary judgment, and the trial court granted the motion, determining that TDOC complied with the criminal court’s judgment and the applicable law. We affirm.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 8, 2021

Plaintiff Jessica Meeks Conine brought this products liability action against Medtronic Sofamor Danek USA, Inc. (“Defendant”) on July 24, 2019, alleging that titanium screws implanted in her back during surgery on November 4, 2014, were defective. Plaintiff had filed and nonsuited two prior actions based on the same allegations, once in federal district court and once in Davidson County Circuit Court. The trial court granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss on the grounds that this action was time-barred by the one-year statute of limitations, Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-104, and not saved by the saving statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-1-105(a). We affirm.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 8, 2021

This appeal arises from a post-divorce Petition to Modify Child Support and Declare Child to be Severely Disabled. After an evidentiary hearing, the court determined the parties’ daughter had a severe disability and ordered the father to continue paying child support beyond the age of 21. The father raises three issues on appeal: (1) Did the trial court err in determining that the parties’ daughter had a severe disability; (2) Did the trial court err in awarding child support beyond the age of 21 without making specific factual findings that the daughter was living under the care and supervision of the mother and it was in the daughter’s best interest to remain in the mother’s care; and (3) Did the trial court err in determining the amount of child support the father owed? We find the preponderance of the evidence supports the trial court’s determination that the daughter has a severe disability, and it is in the daughter’s best interest to remain in her mother’s care. As for the amount of the child support award, the father primarily argues the daughter is underemployed; therefore, the court should have imputed additional income to her. We have determined that the trial court correctly identified and applied the relevant legal principles, the evidence supports the trial court’s determination regarding the daughter’s ability to earn income, and the award of child support is within the range of acceptable alternatives. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s decision in all respects.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 8, 2021

The Petitioner, Zachary Pence, was convicted of aggravated rape of a child, aggravated child abuse, and child abuse.1 See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-531, -15-401, -15-402. He was subsequently sentenced to sixty years. Following denial of his direct appeal, the Petitioner filed a petition seeking post-conviction relief, alleging that trial counsel was ineffective based on the following grounds: (1) failing to prepare for trial and to prepare the Petitioner to testify at trial; (2) failing to investigate; and (3) failing to provide the Petitioner with audio recordings until the day prior to trial. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.


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