After a Shelby County jury trial, Defendant, Matthew Smith, was convicted of aggravated rape, aggravated burglary, robbery, and theft of property valued at $10,000 or more but less than $60,000. The trial court sentenced him to an effective term of thirty years in the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC). On appeal, Defendant argues the evidence produced at trial was insufficient to sustain his convictions and that his dual convictions for robbery and theft violate his protections against double jeopardy. We conclude the evidence was sufficient to sustain Defendant’s convictions, but we also conclude the trial court should have merged Defendant’s convictions for robbery and theft. We, therefore, remand the case to the trial court to merge the appropriate counts but affirm the judgments of the trial court in all other respects.

Three opinions in today's issue of TBA Today are corrected versions of opinions that ran earlier this week and last week. A correction in the case of Jimmiko Driskell v. State of Tennessee, issued by the Court of Criminal Appeals on Feb. 29, included the wrong case summary in that day's issue of TBA Today. An opinion from the Court of Criminal Appeals in the case of State of Tennessee v. Matthew Smith ran in the wrong section of the Feb. 29 issue of TBA Today. And, an opinion from the Tennessee Supreme Court on March 7 in the case of State of Tennessee v. Tony Thomas and Laronda Turner omitted an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part by Justice Sharon Lee. The court also today issued a corrected version of an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part to that case by Justice Sarah Campbell.

The TBA Women in the Profession Committee will host a free webcast on March 21 on the topic “The Nuts & Bolts of TLAP: Who We Are, Who We Help and How We Do It.” The event will feature Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) clinical staff Erin Lynch and Lauren Castor, who will discuss how the program can be a valuable resource to women attorneys. The event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT. Registration is required. One hour of dual CLE credit will is available to attorneys who certify attendance for and watch this webinar live.

The Petitioner, Jimmiko Driskell, appeals the denial of her petition for post-conviction relief from her second degree murder conviction, arguing that she received ineffective assistance of trial counsel and was denied due process of law because she lacked the knowledge to enter a knowing, intelligent and voluntary guilty plea. Based on our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Over the past week, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined with fellow state attorneys general to urge action at the federal level. Efforts included an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold citizens’ constitutional rights to make laws through their elected officials rather than laws being made through administrative actions; and a letter calling on three federal entities to respond to an inspector general report that tens of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children were released into unsafe situations, including human trafficking operations. Skrmetti’s office also published a reminder of the free IRS-approved tax filing options available for Tennesseans.

Today is International Women’s Day and American Bar Association (ABA) President Mary Smith is honoring the women who make up more than 50% of law firm associates and the majority of U.S. law school students. In a statement released today, she notes that this year’s theme, “Inspire Inclusion,” serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing journey to ensure women’s full and equal participation in every sector, including the legal field. However, Smith says there is work still to be done, citing data that women remain significantly underrepresented in senior leadership positions at U.S. law firms. Read more about the ABA's efforts to advance the status of women and girls at home and abroad. On March 1, Smith issued this statement in support of Women's History Month.

The legal services sector added 2,700 jobs in February, resuming an upward trajectory after dipping slightly in January, Reuters reports. The count includes a range of legal workers, including paralegals and assistants, though the majority are lawyers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the broader economy, job growth accelerated last month, but downward revisions to employment gains in the prior two months and an increase in the unemployment rate to a two-year high of 3.9% suggest that the labor market is slowing.

Make plans now to log in for a May 2 webcast produced by the TBA Tax Law Section to learn more about the state's franchise and excise tax. Join Nashville lawyer Jeffrey Foster with the Tennessee Department of Revenue for this one-hour program beginning at noon CDT and offering one hour of general CLE credit.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is back for another week with attorney and TBA lobbyist Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorneys and TBA lobbyists Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin. Special guest TBA Executive Director Sheree Wright also joined the episode to promote TBA’s upcoming Day on the Hill and Big Shrimp Reception on March 20 and talk a little about her background. The group discusses the Administrative Office of the Courts’ (AOC) budget presentation before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which included significant discussion of the reimbursement rate for indigent representation and impromptu testimony by Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Rob Philyaw about how the low rate is impacting his courtroom. Lampley says it was the “best conversation on this issue ever … in this public of a setting.” Watch the AOC testimony here beginning at 54:56. The vote to advance the governor’s proposed AOC budget to the Senate Finance Committee happens at 1:32:21.

Also in this week's episode, the group recaps the two school voucher bills moving through the House and Senate and provides an update on three TBA-supported bills: HB2710/SB2254 (conservatorship bill), HB2645/SB2632 (adoption birth certificate bill) and HB2644/SB2633 (adoption clean-up bill). Legislative Updates airs each week on the TBA’s Facebook page. It is also released as a podcast on the same day and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The Tennessee House yesterday passed a bill that would block local governments from reforming their traffic stop policies, the Commercial Appeal reports. HB1931/SB2572, sponsored by Memphis Republican Rep. John Gillespie, has faced opposition from Memphis' local elected officials, activists and the family of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was fatally beaten by Memphis police officers following a traffic stop in January 2023. Gillespie amended the bill on the floor in an attempt to narrow its focus so it would not apply to the "pretextual" stop ordinance passed by the Memphis City Council last year, but opponents say the change will not have the intended effect. That ordinance directed police to not make traffic stops solely for low-level offenses like improperly placed license plates or a single broken brake light.