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Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Nov 18, 2020

SUTTON, Circuit Judge. Deshaun Tisdale, Dangelo Davis, and Winston Hill were active members of the Playboy Gangster Crips, a street gang in Detroit that allegedly sold drugs, robbed homes, and committed carjackings. Federal prosecutors indicted them, along with eleven other gang members, in 2017. A jury convicted Tisdale, Davis, and Hill of a variety of racketeering-related offenses. We affirm.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Nov 18, 2020

PER CURIAM. Nosoud Alemarah sued her former employer, General Motors, in both state and federal court, claiming employment discrimination based upon identical factual allegations. The state suit asserted state claims, the federal suit, federal ones. The state court dismissed that case after the parties settled those claims; the federal district court granted summary judgment in favor of GM. Alemarah now challenges the court’s grant of summary judgment, its order denying her motion to recuse the district judge, and an order awarding costs to GM. We affirm, albeit with some concerns as to the recusal motion.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Nov 18, 2020

The Petitioner, Terrance Milam, entered a best interest plea to two counts of rape of a child, involving two separate victims, and the trial court sentenced him to serve forty years, at 100%. The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief in which he alleged that he had received the ineffective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to inform him of his right to appeal and to request that the trial court appoint appellate counsel. Following a hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed his petition, and the Petitioner timely appealed. After review, we reverse the post-conviction court’s judgment and remand the case for the appointment of counsel, entry of a certified question of law, and grant of a delayed appeal.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Nov 18, 2020

The Petitioner, Audrey Downs, entered “best interest” pleas to felony murder and aggravated rape pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970), and received concurrent sentences of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole and twentyfive years. In 2002, the Petitioner successfully petitioned for DNA testing of a condom collected from the scene where the victim’s body was discovered, and the results excluded the Petitioner as a contributor to the DNA. Because the State subsequently introduced evidence that the condom was unrelated to the crime, the Petitioner was denied permission to reopen his post-conviction petition. The Petitioner sought further testing of the condom to determine whether the victim’s DNA could be recovered, in an attempt to link it to the crime. The trial court summarily denied further testing, and this court remanded for the trial court to conduct the required analysis of the statutory factors. State v. Audrey Downs, No. W2018-00391-CCA-R3-CD, 2018 WL 6650597, at *2 (Tenn. Crim. App. Dec. 18, 2018), no perm. app. filed. On remand, the petition was again summarily dismissed, and the Petitioner appeals. We conclude that the petition did not allege a prima facie case for DNA testing under the statute, and we accordingly affirm the dismissal.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Nov 18, 2020

The Defendant, Jeremy Lee Carter, pleaded guilty to evading arrest, reckless endangerment, and promotion of methamphetamine manufacture; and he received an effective sentence of eight years on probation. A revocation warrant was issued, and following a hearing, the trial court found that the Defendant violated the terms of his probation, revoked his probation, and ordered him to serve his sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred in ordering him to serve his sentence in confinement. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Nov 18, 2020

Defendant, Kenneth Lamar Bugg, appeals the order of the Giles County Circuit Court revoking his probation and ordering him to serve his sentence in confinement. Defendant argues that the trial court erred by considering evidence of “non-adjudicated charges” that were pending against him, as a basis to revoke his probation. He further contends that the trial court’s decision to fully revoke his probation was “too great a punishment for a first violation of probation.” Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Nov 18, 2020

This case presents an appeal as of right from the post-conviction court’s denial of relief. The Petitioner is serving an eight-year sentence for a jury conviction of theft of property valued at $1,000 or more but less than $10,000. The Petitioner asserts that Counsel’s failure to properly investigate or prepare for trial constitutes the ineffective assistance of counsel. The Petitioner, however, failed to provide clear and convincing proof at the post-conviction hearing to support his allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel. Therefore, we affirm the post-conviction court’s denial of relief.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Nov 18, 2020

Appellant appeals the trial court’s dismissal of his Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 60.02 motion for relief from a judgment entered against him in the Knox County General Sessions Court. Appellant’s Rule 60.02 motion was filed approximately 8 years after the judgment was entered, and the trial court held that it lacked jurisdiction based on the expiration of the 10-day time period set out in Tennessee Code Annotated Section 16-15- 727(b). Appellant’s motion was premised on his contention that he was never served with process in the general sessions court and, as such, the judgment was void ab initio. We conclude that the 10-day statutory time period does not preclude the trial court’s jurisdiction to address Rule 60.02 motions based on a void judgment. However, we do not reach the ultimate question of whether Appellant is entitled to such relief because there is a dispute of fact regarding whether proper service was achieved. This dispute must be resolved by the trial court in order to determine whether Rule 60.02(3) relief is warranted. Vacated and remanded.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Nov 18, 2020

In this divorce appeal, Husband challenges the court’s failure to grant a continuance, the child support and alimony obligation imposed, and certain provisions of the parenting plan prohibiting contact with his children and revoking the parental rights set forth in Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-6-101(a)(3)(B). This proceeding also involved allegations of a conspiracy to defraud Wife of funds resulting from a sale of marital property in Gaza during the pendency of the divorce by Husband, his brother, and his brother’s wife; those nonspousal parties challenge the court’s jurisdiction over them and over the property in Gaza, as well as the court’s valuation of that property. They also challenge the court’s rulings that they engaged in a civil conspiracy and whether the judgment imposed against them is supported by the pleadings and the evidence. Upon our review of the issues raised, we discern no reversible error in the rulings of the court and accordingly affirm it in all respects.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Nov 18, 2020

Appellant appeals the trial court’s order setting aside his transfer of real property as a fraudulent conveyance. We do not reach the substantive issue because Appellant’s notice of appeal is untimely, thus depriving this Court of jurisdiction over the appeal. Dismissed.


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