Defendant, Shundarius Turner, was convicted by a jury of reckless homicide, especially aggravated robbery, aggravated criminal trespass, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment. He received a total effective sentence of thirty-seven years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days. On appeal, he claims the trial court erred in excluding a photographic lineup where he was not identified by one of the victims, the evidence was insufficient to support his felony convictions, the trial court’s sentencing decision violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights, the trial court erred in excluding a witness from testifying on his behalf, the trial court erred in denying his right to strike a juror for cause, and the cumulative effect of these errors denied him a fair trial. Following our review of the entire record, the briefs, and oral arguments of the parties, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Defendant, Bobby Marable II, was convicted by a Gibson County Circuit Court jury of aggravated kidnapping involving bodily injury, a Class B felony, and aggravated assault by strangulation, a Class C felony, for which he is serving an effective thirty-five year sentence. See T.C.A. §§ 39-13-304(a)(4) (2018) (aggravated kidnapping involving bodily injury), 39-13-102(a)(1)(A)(iv) (Supp. 2015) (subsequently amended) (aggravated assault involving strangulation or attempted strangulation), -(e)(1)(A)(ii) (classifying aggravated assault involving strangulation as a Class C felony). On appeal, he contends that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his aggravated kidnapping conviction, (2) the trial court erred in its jury instructions on aggravated kidnapping, (3) the court erred in allowing the State to impeach the Defendant with his prior convictions under Tennessee Rule of Evidence 609, (4) he is entitled to relief due to the cumulative effect of the court’s errors, and (5) the court erred in classifying him as a Range III, persistent offender for his aggravated assault conviction. We affirm the Defendant’s convictions and the trial court’s judgment for aggravated kidnapping, and we remand the case with instructions for the trial court to correct the Defendant’s aggravated assault judgment to reflect a ten-year sentence as a Range II, multiple offender.

Defendant, Jennifer May Mahaffey, pled guilty to alternate counts of sale of methamphetamine “over 0.5 grams” and delivery of methamphetamine “over 0.5 grams”1 in three cases, 20-027-2, 20-028-2, and 20-029-2. The trial court sentenced Defendant to ten years imprisonment on each count, merged the alternate counts in each case, and ran the ten-year sentences in two of the cases concurrently with each other, and the ten-year sentence in the third case consecutively to the first two, for a total effective sentence of twenty years confinement. The trial court also imposed fines totaling $6,100, and ordered restitution in the amount of $563. On appeal, Defendant contends the trial court erred in ordering restitution to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department, in imposing fines and restitution without determining her present and future ability to pay, and in imposing partial consecutive sentences. After reviewing the record, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, we discern no reversible error in the trial court’s imposition of partial consecutive sentences, but we determine the order of restitution was in error. Therefore, we affirm the sentences imposed by the trial court, vacate the orders of restitution, and remand for entry of corrected judgments.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is out with a new jobs report for January. For the legal sector, the bureau found that jobs dropped from an all-time high of 1,192,200 in December to 1,187,800 last month: a loss of 4,400 jobs. The count includes a range of legal workers at law firms, companies and other organizations of all sizes, including paralegals and assistants, but the majority are lawyers. The largest law firms in the United States appear to have slowed hiring amid relatively flat client demand, Reuters reports.

A Shelby County Jury convicted William Heath, Petitioner, of especially aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment. On direct appeal, we affirmed the judgments of the trial court, and the Tennessee Supreme Court declined discretionary review. Petitioner then petitioned for post-conviction relief alleging trial counsel was ineffective. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and we affirmed the post-conviction court’s judgment. While Petitioner’s post-conviction petition was pending, he moved for DNA analysis and post-conviction relief. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and Petitioner now appeals. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The law firm of Baker Donelson has tapped two Tennessee lawyers to chair its practice areas. Nashville attorney Martha Boyd has been named new chair of the Labor & Employment Group, while Memphis attorney Mary Ann Jackson has ben named chair of the Tax Group. Boyd, a shareholder in the Nashville office, has been vice chair of the labor group since 2022. She is a certified fraud examiner and is trained in conducting workplace investigations of harassment or other misconduct, conducting numerous investigations in her 25 years of practicing law. Jackson is a shareholder in the Memphis office, a member of the firm’s board directors and previous chair of the Corporate Group. Her practice has focused on structuring businesses, nonprofit organizations and physician practices, as well as securities offerings, venture capital fund formation and real estate.

February is Black History Month and to commemorate the recognition, ABA President Mary Smith says the association honors “the work of Black legal trailblazers who have played pivotal roles in the advancement of civil rights” while also recognizing the need to address “significant racial disparities in the legal profession.” She highlights the gap between the percentage of Black Americans in the U.S. population — 14% — and those in the legal profession — 5% — saying that difference means there is an “urgent need for systemic change.” She also calls on legal professionals to reaffirm their commitment to diversity and inclusion objectives to achieve a more inclusive profession. Read the full statement.

Father appeals the denial of his petition in opposition to a proposed relocation by Mother and his petition to change custody of the children. After considering the testimony of over ten witnesses, the trial court ruled that the children’s best interests were served by allowing Mother to relocate and by her remaining the children’s primary residential parent. The trial court also awarded Mother considerable attorney’s fees, including fees incurred in defending against a dependency and neglect action that had eventually been dismissed, with the related visitation and custody issues transferred to the trial court. Discerning no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s decisions, we affirm. We deny, however, Mother’s request for attorney’s fees incurred on appeal.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Jan. 30 issued an order referring Anderson County lawyer Matthew Allen Birdwell to the Board of Professional Responsibility for whatever action the board deems warranted. The court took the action after Birdwell pleaded guilty to possession of a handgun while under the influence, a Class A misdemeanor, in the Criminal/Circuit Court for Anderson County. He received judicial diversion.

For the week of January 29, 2024 - February 2, 2024