Defendant, Stevie Michael Irwin, Jr., was found guilty of two counts of rape of a child, two counts of attempted rape of a child, one count of aggravated sexual battery, and one count of incest. On appeal, Defendant challenges the failure of the State to properly elect offenses; the sufficiency of the evidence for the rape and attempted rape convictions; dual convictions for rape of a child in Counts One and Three as violating his right to due process; and his sentence as excessive. After a review of the record, and in light of the recent supreme court holding in State v.

Embattled Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is blaming a small-town drag queen as the reason he’s at risk at losing his job. Moore is currently suspended after sending an order to state probate judges in January that said state laws against gay marriage remained in place months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ban on same-sex marriage. Ambrosia Starling, a man who dresses as a woman to perform drag shows, led the charge five months ago as more than 40 complaints were filed against Moore. "If it takes a drag queen to remind you that liberty and justice is for all, here I am," Starling said. Read more from the Associated Press. 

The TBA will host seven live CLE programs in the coming weeks in Knoxville and Nashville. Course topics include animal law, real estate and criminal law. Search the full course catalog.

The Defendant, Stacey Green, appeals from his convictions for aggravated robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, and three counts of facilitation of aggravated robbery. The Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence relating to a victim?s pretrial identification of the Defendant in a photographic lineup and that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions. Following a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The defendant, Charles Edward Phillips, III, was convicted by a Benton County Circuit Court jury of aggravated kidnapping, a Class B felony; aggravated assault, a Class C felony; interference with emergency communications, a Class A misdemeanor; and driving while license suspended, revoked, or cancelled, a Class B misdemeanor. The trial court reduced the aggravated assault conviction to simple assault, a Class A misdemeanor, and sentenced the defendant as a Range I offender to an effective term of twelve years at 100% in the Department of Correction.

The Appellant, Joseph B. Thompson, appeals as of right from the Sullivan County Criminal Court?s summary denial of his Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1 motion to correct an illegal sentence. The Appellant contends that his motion stated a colorable claim for relief and that, therefore, the trial court erred in summarily denying the motion. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Aaron T. James, appeals as of right from the Morgan County Criminal Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that his judgment is void because his guilty plea to second degree murder was unknowing and involuntary. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court.

The defendant, David Anderson Hatcher, appeals the revocation of the probationary sentence imposed for his Blount County Circuit Court conviction of aggravated burglary. Discerning no error, we affirm.

The Tennessean reports the American Counseling Association canceled its Nashville conference next year, citing concerns about a new state law that allows licensed counselors or therapists to deny service based on counselor’s “sincerely held principles.” Also citing concerns over the new law, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney yesterday announced a ban on publicly funded, non-essential travel by city workers to Tennessee. Read more from the Associated Press.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today unanimously upheld a White County man’s DUI conviction and held that the community caretaking doctrine is an exception to the federal and state constitutional warrant requirement. The decision follows an appeal from Kenneth McCormick, who was arrested for DUI in 2012 after an officer found him in his parked car, and he failed three field sobriety tests. McCormick attempted before trial to suppress any evidence obtained by the officer who approached his car during the wellness check, arguing that the officer should not have seized him without either a warrant or a basis for believing a warrantless seizure was appropriate. The trial court denied McCormick’s motion and a jury found him guilty. A Court of Criminal Appeals had upheld the trial court’s ruling. Read the opinion in State of Tennessee v. Kenneth McCormick, authored by Justice Cornelia A. Clark.