Following a bench trial, the Maury County Circuit Court convicted the Defendant of patronizing prostitution from a minor, a Class B felony, in count one and solicitation of a minor to commit patronizing prostitution, a Class C felony, in count two. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to eight and three years, respectively, and merged the convictions. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence is sufficient to support only a conviction of patronizing prostitution from a law enforcement officer posing as a minor, a Class A misdemeanor, in count one and that the evidence is insufficient to support any conviction in count two. The State concedes that the Defendant committed a Class A misdemeanor in count one and, therefore, that both convictions must be modified to misdemeanors. We agree with the State; modify the judgment in count one to reflect a Class A misdemeanor conviction of patronizing prostitution from a law enforcement officer posing as a minor; modify the judgment in count two to reflect a Class B misdemeanor conviction of solicitation of a law enforcement officer posing as a minor to commit patronizing prostitution; and remand the case to the trial court for resentencing.

The Tennessee Claims Commission dismissed appellant’s complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Discerning no error, we affirm.

In this interlocutory appeal, the employer asserts the trial court erred in concluding it failed to comply with a scheduling order and in excluding its vocational expert. The employee suffered a compensable injury to his back in 2019 and settled his initial claim for benefits. Thereafter, when his initial compensation period expired, the employee filed a petition for additional disability benefits. After a scheduling hearing, the trial court issued a scheduling order that included one deadline for the disclosure of expert witnesses and a later deadline for the identification of testifying witnesses. There was no deadline listed in the scheduling order for the exchange of expert reports. After the scheduling hearing, the employer’s counsel e-mailed counsel for the employee to schedule a vocational evaluation with the employer’s vocational expert, whom it identified in the e-mail. The employee attended the requested expert vocational evaluation, and the employer sent a copy of the expert’s completed report after the deadline for the disclosure of expert witnesses but before the deadlines for expert depositions and the identification of testifying witnesses. The employee filed a motion to exclude the testimony of the vocational expert, and the court granted the motion, concluding that the employer had not complied with the scheduling order. The employer has appealed. Upon careful consideration of the record and arguments of counsel, we reverse the trial court’s order excluding the employer’s vocational expert and remand the case.

For the week of October 23, 2023 - October 27, 2023

The Petitioner, Quintavious Montez Patton, appeals the denial of his petition for postconviction relief, arguing that the post-conviction court erred in finding that he received effective assistance of trial counsel. Based on our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court denying the petition.

The defendant, Juan De Paz Mondragon, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of two counts of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, and the trial court imposed an effective sentence of thirty-eight years’ incarceration. On appeal, the defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions for seconddegree murder and attempted second-degree murder, and the trial court abused its discretion in imposing consecutive sentences. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. Furthermore, we remand to the trial court entry of corrected judgment forms in counts one and two reflecting the merger of the defendant’s convictions for seconddegree murder into a single conviction.

The defendant, Eric Dewayne Milton, appeals from the trial court’s revocation of his community corrections sentence and order directing the defendant to serve the remainder of his eight-year sentence in confinement. On appeal, the defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion by failing to treat the defendant’s violation as a violation of probation and impose a thirty-day sentence of confinement. After a thorough review of the record, the applicable law, and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The defendant, Chauncy Black, was found guilty by a Shelby County jury of reckless endangerment of Kaleb Wakefield and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon of Isabella Edwards for discharging a firearm into an occupied habitation. The trial court imposed a six-and-a-half-year sentence. On appeal, the defendant contends the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon of Isabella Edwards. The defendant also argues the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury as to a presumption of reasonableness in the use of deadly force within his residence. Following our review, we affirm the defendant’s convictions.

A Shelby County jury convicted the defendant, Frederick Peat, of aggravated rape, for which he received a sentence of twenty-five years in confinement. On appeal, the defendant contends the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction. The defendant also argues the trial court erred in preventing him from impeaching the victim with evidence of the victim’s prior convictions and in imposing an excessive sentence. After reviewing the record and considering the applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The petitioner, Edward Dean, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received the effective assistance of counsel. After our review of the record, briefs, and applicable law, we affirm the denial of the petition.