Pro se petitioner, Harold McDuffie, appeals from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s summary dismissal of his motion to correct an illegal sentence pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20 of the Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

In 1994, a Henry County jury convicted the Petitioner, Teresa Deion Smith Harris, of first degree felony murder, and she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Petitioner appealed, and this Court affirmed the Petitioner?s conviction and sentence. State v. Teresa Deion Smith Harris, No W2012-00540-CCA-R3-CD, 1996 WL 654335, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, Nov. 12, 1996), perm. app. granted (Tenn. June 8, 1998). The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the Petitioner?s conviction and sentence but found that there existed some harmless error in sentencing.

A Madison County jury convicted the Petitioner, Jerry Crawford, Jr., of aggravated robbery, and the trial court sentenced him to thirty years in prison. The Petitioner appealed his conviction and sentence, and this Court affirmed the trial court?s judgments. See State v. Jerry Crawford, Jr., No. W2012-02729-CCA-R3-CD, 2014 WL 296014, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Knoxville, Jan. 28, 2014), no Tenn. R. App. P. 11 application filed. In 2015, the Petitioner filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief.

Eddie Williams, Jr., the Defendant, appeals the summary denial of his Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 36.1 motion to correct an illegal sentence. He claims that the trial court improperly used his prior petit larceny conviction to enhance his sentence. Because this claim has previously been rejected by this court on multiple occasions and because the Defendant’s motion failed to state a colorable claim, we affirm the trial court’s summary denial of the motion.

The Associated Press reports a Ruby Tuesday server filed a federal lawsuit against the Tennessee-based restaurant chain, claiming she is required to do “excessive untipped side work.” The national minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 per hour.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today appointed Shelby County Attorney J. Ross Dyer to the Court of Criminal Appeals, Western Section. His appointment will require confirmation by the Tennessee General Assembly. Dyer has been the chief counsel for Shelby County since 2014. He previously served as senior counsel and managing attorney for the Memphis office of the Tennessee Attorney General from 2004-2014. Dyer would replace Roger Page, who is now a Tennessee Supreme Court Justice. 

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday ruled the government cannot, before trial, freeze assets needed to pay criminal defense lawyers if the assets are not linked to a crime. NPR reports the 5-3 ruling came in a Miami case where prosecutors received a court order to freeze assets of a woman who had fraudulently obtained $45 million. The woman challenged the asset-seizure order on grounds that she needed the untainted assets to hire a lawyer for trial.

Connor Schilling, the Memphis police officer who fatally shot 19-year-old Darrius Stewart last year, will receive line-of-duty disability payments of $1,138.19 twice a month beginning April 1. The Memphis Pension Board today approved the amount, along with 70 percent subsidy of his monthly health care premiums, after Schilling claimed he has post-traumatic stress disorder following the July 2015 incident. The case is now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Read more from The Commercial Appeal.

U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger this week denied the University of Tennessee’s request to move the Title IX lawsuit to Knoxville. "The entire state has an interest in the resolution of this case that has lodged serious allegations against the state’s premier higher education institution," Trauger said in the ruling. The eight plaintiffs in the suit argued it would be “traumatic” for the case to be considered in Knoxville. Read more from The Tennessean.

Women in Numbers will honor Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Holly Kirby at its Annual Spring Membership Reception on April 27, 6-8 p.m., at the The Cordelle, 45 Lindsley Avenue in Nashville. WIN is a non-partisan organization dedicated to endorsing and supporting qualified women to run for public office and educating voters about the political process. Various sponsorship levels are available for the event.