Defendant, Kenyale Pirtle, appeals from the trial court’s summary dismissal of his two motions filed pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1. One motion pertained to case numbers 5168 and 5277. Although appellant listed these case numbers in his notice of appeal, he has made no argument concerning the trial court’s summary dismissal of this motion. The other motion pertains to case numbers 4841, 4940, and 4996. Defendant argues that the trial court erred by summarily dismissing this motion. All challenged sentences have expired.

Michael Bailey (“the Defendant”) was convicted by a jury of one count of aggravated robbery in case number 09-02888. At a subsequent sentencing hearing for case number 09-02888 and six other case numbers, the Defendant was sentenced as a repeat, violent offender to seven sentences of life without the possibility of parole. The trial ordered the Defendant?s life without parole sentence in 09-02888 to run consecutively to one of the other life without parole sentences.

The Petitioner, Paul E. Isaac, appeals as of right from the Knox County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his guilty-pled convictions for two counts of aggravated assault, attempted aggravated robbery, and misdemeanor assault. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that trial counsel was ineffective because he was not adequately prepared for trial, and the Petitioner’s lack of confidence in trial counsel led him to plead guilty. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

This is a termination of parental rights case, focusing on Chelsia J. and Jared J., the minor children (“Children”) of Fleesha J. (“Mother”) and Mark F. (“Father”). The Children were taken into protective custody by the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (“DCS”) on April 28, 2011, upon investigation of the Children’s exposure to controlled substances in the parents’ home. On March 21, 2012, DCS filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of both parents.

The Defendant, Joseph Meadows, was indicted for initiating the process of the manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The Defendant filed a pretrial motion to suppress the evidence seized during the warrantless search of his home. The trial court denied the Defendant?s motion, and the Defendant pleaded guilty to initiating the process of the manufacture of methamphetamine, in return for the dismissal of the remaining counts and an eight-year sentence to be served on supervised probation.

A Lincoln County jury convicted the Defendant, Charles Allen McKinney, of second- degree murder, child abuse, and child neglect. The trial court merged the convictions for child abuse and child neglect and then sentenced the Defendant to serve twenty-four years for the second-degree murder conviction and a concurrent sentence of two years for the merged child abuse and child neglect conviction, for a total effective sentence of twenty-four years.

The Tennessean shares how YMCA employees saved the life of TBA Assistant Executive Director Barry Kolar in December after he collapsed, in cardiac arrest. “I looked up and saw all the people watching,” Jessica Nolan, a YMCA lifeguard, said. "I kind of lost it for a minute. I was crying giving compressions, putting my all into it and hoping it was going to turn out OK — and just not knowing.”  Kolar has returned to work and continues to recover.

Knoxville lawmakers have requested a special committee to investigate the University of Tennessee’s diversity office because of controversial memos it has issued, The Tennessean reports. One post encouraged students and professors to use gender-neutral pronouns; another post supported “inclusive holiday celebrations.” The group of officials, led by Rep. Eddie Smith, submitted letters today to Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville. A Harwell spokesperson said she would support formation of the committee. "The people of Tennessee deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent, especially in situations like this," Smith, R-Knoxville, said.

More than a hundred women in the legal profession who “have exercised their constitutional right to an abortion” filed a brief in support of petitioners in an upcoming abortion case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, Whole Women’s Health v. Cole, debates restrictions on clinics and physicians who provide abortions in Texas. “To the world, I am an attorney who had an abortion, and, to myself, I am an attorney because I had an abortion,” one of the women wrote. Read more from The Atlantic.