The Petitioner, Stanley Blair Hill, filed for post-conviction relief from his conviction of first degree murder, alleging that his trial counsel were ineffective. The post-conviction court denied relief, and the Petitioner appeals, contending that counsel were ineffective by failing “to obtain adequate expert and investigative assistance and/or to present such testimony at trial”; by failing “to object to the introduction of improper, irrelevant, inflammatory and prejudicial evidence”; and by failing to adequately advise the Petitioner whether to accept or reject the State’s plea offer. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

A Williamson County jury convicted the Defendant, Dwayne Edward Harris, of joyriding (Count 1), carjacking (Count 2), and aggravated robbery (Count 3). In response to a motion for judgment of acquittal, the trial court reduced Count 3 from aggravated robbery to robbery. The trial court then merged Count 1 and Count 3 into Count 2, and sentenced the Defendant to an effective sentence of thirty years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Defendant appeals, asserting: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions; (2) the trial court improperly admitted evidence; and (3) a Bruton violation. The State appeals the trial court’s reducing the jury’s conviction for aggravated robbery in Count 3 to robbery and the trial court’s merging Count 3 into Count 2. This court consolidated the Defendant’s and the State’s appeals. After review of the Defendant’s issues, we discern no error. As to the State’s issues on appeal, we vacate the trial court’s judgment in Count 3, reinstate the jury’s verdict of guilty of aggravated robbery, and remand for sentencing on Count 3. The trial court’s judgment in Count 2 is remanded for corrections consistent with this opinion.

Week of February 15, 2021 - February 19, 2021

MURPHY, Circuit Judge. Our court has long interpreted the drug-conspiracy statute, 21 U.S.C. § 846, to prohibit two individuals from knowingly reaching an agreement to distribute drugs. See, e.g., United States v. Potter, 927 F.3d 446, 453 (6th Cir. 2019). This conspiracy test could be read to cover every drug transaction between a willing seller and a willing buyer, even those for the buyer’s personal use. After all, the seller has agreed with the buyer to “distribute” drugs between them. Yet we have also long held that a buyer-seller agreement alone does not establish a “conspiracy” under § 846. See, e.g., United States v. Grunsfeld, 558 F.2d 1231, 1235 (6th Cir. 1977). This case requires us to consider the justification for and scope of this “buyer-seller” exception to our otherwise broad reading of the drug-conspiracy statute.

The government presented overwhelming evidence that Aaron Reels operated a drug-distribution scheme. The problem? Reels was not on trial. William Wheat was. And the evidence against Wheat showed essentially that he once gave Reels a .3-gram free “sample” of heroin—a sample that led to no further exchanges between them. The government alleged that Wheat agreed with Reels to distribute heroin, and a jury convicted him of a drug conspiracy. We conclude, however, that insufficient evidence supports this conviction. The logic underlying our buyer-seller exception extends to Wheat’s agreement to distribute a sample to Reels. And the government did not present enough additional evidence of a broader agreement between Wheat and Reels to distribute heroin to third parties. At the same time, Wheat used his phone to arrange the exchange of the sample. So the government more than sufficiently proved that he used a “communication facility” to facilitate a drug felony. 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). We thus reverse Wheat’s conspiracy conviction, affirm his communication-facility conviction, and remand for resentencing.

A Hickman County jury convicted the Defendant, Frederick John Schmitz, Jr., of evading arrest while operating a motor vehicle, reckless driving, and speeding. The trial court sentenced him to an effective eighteen-month sentence, suspended to supervised probation. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence at trial was insufficient to support his convictions for evading arrest and reckless driving. After a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgments.

A Coffee County jury convicted William Eugene Moon, Defendant, of attempted second degree murder and unlawful employment of a firearm during the commission of or attempt to commit a dangerous felony. On appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court erred by allowing the improper impeachment of a defense witness, that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions, and that he was denied the right to a speedy trial. After a thorough review of the record and applicable case law, the judgments of the circuit court are affirmed.

Following a dispute that spanned several years, the parties, David Manor and Brett Woodroof, filed countervailing petitions for orders of protection in the Metropolitan General Sessions Court for Nashville and Davidson County (“general sessions court”). After separate hearings, the general sessions court granted each petitioner an order of protection. In turn, each party appealed the order of protection entered against him to the Davidson County Circuit Court (“trial court”). Following a hearing with a special master presiding, the trial court entered orders continuing the cases. During a subsequent hearing, the special master announced from the bench that both petitions were being dismissed and that each party would be responsible for his respective attorney’s fees. The trial court entered separate written orders dismissing each petition. Mr. Manor subsequently filed an objection to the dismissal of his petition, averring that the trial court had made an oral finding that Mr. Woodroof had stalked Mr. Manor, which, according to Mr. Manor, led to the continuation of his order of protection against Mr. Woodroof. Mr. Manor argued that the court’s action constituted an “extension” of the order of protection, pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-3-617 (2017), thereby entitling him to an award of attorney’s fees. Thereafter, the trial court confirmed the findings of the special master and declined to award attorney’s fees. Upon its consideration of several motions, the trial court conducted a hearing and remanded the matter to the special master for “a finding and Order” concerning the issue of attorney’s fees. Upon remand, the special master denied an award of attorney’s fees to Mr. Manor, and the trial court subsequently confirmed the order. Mr. Manor timely appealed. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.

In this divorce action, Sarah K. Ferguson (“Mother”) appeals the trial court’s decisions to grant Donald R. Ferguson (“Father”) an absolute divorce and designate him as the primary residential parent for their two minor children. She also challenges the trial court’s award of alimony. Finding no error, we affirm.

The employee alleged she injured her right leg at work and filed a petition for benefits. The Tennessee Subsequent Injury and Vocational Recovery Fund (“SIF”) was added as a party. Following the employee’s filing of a request for additional temporary disability and medical benefits, the trial court set a status conference to select the dates for an expedited hearing and the parties’ filing deadlines. The employer and SIF subsequently filed a joint motion for summary judgment asserting they had negated causation, an essential element of the employee’s claim. In their reply to the employee’s response, they additionally asserted the employee’s evidence was insufficient to establish causation. The trial court heard arguments on the summary judgment motion on the day set for the status conference and granted the motion, concluding the employer and SIF had negated causation and demonstrated that the employee’s evidence was insufficient to establish causation. The employee has appealed. We conclude the employer and SIF did not meet their summary judgment burdens, and we reverse the trial court’s grant of summary judgment and remand the case.

KAREN NELSON MOORE, Circuit Judge. This case arises from a phone-a-friend gone awry. In 2015, Ricky and Katrina Lanier were prosecuted for allegedly committing fraud against the federal government. As the jury deliberated the Laniers’ fate, Juror 11 called her friend, a state prosecutor who was not involved with the federal government’s case against the Laniers. The friend immediately reported the call to the district court. Although the juror told her friend that there was a “problem with the deliberations,” the district court rejected the Laniers’ request to investigate jury bias. Following our 2017 decision that the Laniers must be guaranteed a “meaningful opportunity” to establish jury bias, the district court summoned the jurors and the friend to attend a Remmer hearing and ordered them not to discuss or research the case. Defying the district court, Juror 11 texted the same friend four days before the Remmer hearing; the juror’s messages solicited the friend’s input about the Laniers’ case and suggested that the juror had looked the case up online. True to form, the friend reported the texts to the district court. The district judge failed to notify the Laniers of these texts, and the Laniers first learned of the messages from the friend’s testimony at the Remmer hearing.

The district court denied the Laniers’ motions for a new trial, presenting us with the fourth occasion to review this quinquennial saga. We conclude that the Laniers were deprived of a “meaningful opportunity” to demonstrate juror bias and that the Laniers are entitled to a new trial to be held before another district judge. Accordingly, we REVERSE the judgment and REMAND for further proceedings in accordance with this decision.