The Defendant, William Moquann Smith, was convicted by a Williamson County Circuit Court jury of two counts of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony, and one count of theft of property valued at $10,000 or more but less than $60,000, a Class C felony, for which he is serving an effective eleven-year sentence in confinement and three years of probation. See T.C.A. §§ 39-13-403 (2018) (especially aggravated robbery), 39-14-103 (2018) (theft of property), 39-14-105(a)(4) (2018) (grading of theft). On appeal, he contends that the trial court erred in admitting a video recording and several photographs depicting him with a handgun. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Defendant, Wayne Daryl Potee, pleaded guilty in case numbers 2015-CR-185 and 2015- CR-186 to one count of selling 0.5 grams or more of methamphetamine in a Drug-Free School Zone (“DFSZ”) and one count of selling less than 0.5 grams of methamphetamine in a DFSZ. Defendant received an effective 15-year sentence to serve at 100 percent for his convictions. Defendant subsequently filed a motion for resentencing pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-17-432(h)(1), which the trial court denied following two evidentiary hearings. Defendant appealed the trial court’s decision. In his brief to this Court, Defendant acknowledges that he has no right of appeal under Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 3, see State v. Bobo, 672 S.W.3d 299, 302 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2023). He nonetheless asserts that the trial court’s ruling was fundamentally illegal and asks this Court to grant a writ of certiorari. Following a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we deny Defendant’s request for a writ of certiorari and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The petitioner, Jaquan Gathing, 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.

A Dyer County Circuit Court jury convicted the Defendant, Robert Bevis, Jr., of two counts of attempted first degree premeditated murder and one count of employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, and the trial court imposed concurrent sentences of thirty-five years at eighty-five percent for the attempted murder convictions and a consecutive ten-year sentence at one hundred percent for the firearm conviction. On appeal, the Defendant argues: (1) the trial court failed to declare a mistrial in response to numerous outbursts by the victims’ families; (2) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions; (3) the trial court erred in overruling the defense’s objection when the prosecutor misrepresented evidence during closing argument; and (4) the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on voluntary intoxication and attempted first degree murder without serious bodily injury. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand the case for entry of a corrected judgment in Count 4 to reflect the accurate conviction offense of employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.

The Defendant, Ralph Lee Atkins, Jr., was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court jury of second degree murder, a Class A felony. See T.C.A. § 39-13-210 (2018). The Defendant was sentenced to twenty-two years’ incarceration. On appeal, he contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Federalist Society’s Knoxville Lawyers Chapter will host a conversation with former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Foundry, 747 Worlds Fair Park Drive Knoxville, 37902 on March 5 at 5:30 p.m. CST. Go here for registration and ticket information.

Robert. L. Bakeris, a Florida licensed attorney, today received a Public Censure from the Supreme Court of Tennessee and was ordered to pay the costs and fees of the Board of Professional Responsibility. While appearing in a Tennessee matter pro hac vice, Bakeris failed to pay the required registration fees for a two (2) year period. Upon learning of the missed payments, Bakeris made full payment of the unpaid fees and asserted that it was an inadvertent oversight which was confirmed by his office manager in charge of making the payments.

Appellees, a married couple at the time, purchased two properties. Appellants, Husband’s adult daughters from a previous relationship, sought imposition of resulting trusts on the respective properties. Appellants, each of whom lived in one of the properties, maintained that they had agreements with their father whereby they would own the properties so long as they paid all expenses thereon. Appellee/Wife disputed such arrangement and maintained that the disputed properties were marital properties. Because of the suspect circumstances surrounding the purchases of the properties and the disputed testimony regarding any agreements by and between Husband and Appellants, Wife argued that the properties were not subject to the imposition of the equitable remedy of resulting trusts. The trial court denied Appellants’ respective petitions to establish resulting trusts, and they appeal. Because Appellants failed to meet the burden of proof to establish resulting trusts, we affirm the trial court’s decision.

A general contractor sued two business entities and their sole owner for breach of contract. The defendants denied liability and filed a counter-complaint. Four years later, the contractor moved for sanctions under Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 16.06. The trial court entered a default judgment against the defendants and dismissed their counterclaims with prejudice due to their repeated failure to comply with pretrial orders. The defendants moved to set aside the final judgment. The trial court granted the owner relief from the judgment. But it refused to set aside the judgment against his two companies. And it granted the contractor summary judgment against the owner on the remaining claims. We affirm.

Eastern District of Tennessee Judge Clifton Corker today granted a preliminary injunction suspending NCAA rules regarding name, image and likeness (NIL) benefits, finding the rules likely violate federal antitrust law and caused irreparable damage to athletes. Knox News reports that while the federal case is not directly connected to an NCAA investigation into University of Tennessee, the injunction makes it more difficult to pursue. The decision could have a significant impact on college sports, as the NCAA's rules banning NIL recruiting inducements are suspended for more than 523,000 athletes at 1,088 institutions. College recruits and transfers can now negotiate and sign NIL contracts before enrolling at a university. Attorneys general in Tennessee and Virginia argued that the rules should be suspended immediately because recruits are losing leverage without the ability to negotiate their fair market value.