A Shelby County Criminal Court jury convicted the Defendant, Derrick Johnson, of conspiracy to possess with the intent to sell 150 grams or more of heroin in Count 1 and conspiracy to possess with the intent to deliver 150 grams or more of heroin in Count 2, and the trial court imposed an effective sentence of eighteen years. On appeal, the Defendant argues (1) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions; (2) the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the State to present evidence of the November 19, 2017 phone conversations on redirect examination; (3) the trial court abused its discretion in failing to replay the October 25, 2017 phone recordings for the jury; (4) the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for a mistrial after the prosecutor, during its rebuttal closing argument, improperly commented on the Defendant’s constitutional right to remain silent; and (5) the trial court abused its discretion in imposing an effective eighteen-year sentence. After review, we remand the case for entry of corrected judgment forms in Counts 1 and 2 as specified in this opinion. In all other respects, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed.

The TBA Young Lawyers Division will host two in-person Essential Documents for Essential Workers clinics this Saturday. Volunteer attorneys are still needed for the clinic in Cookeville, which will be held at the Cookeville Police Department from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT. Volunteers will meet with clients and enter client information into software that creates wills, powers of attorney and advanced health care directives. No prior experience is needed and a training session will be offered. Contact YLD District Representative Amber Vargas to help.

Pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 37, the defendant, Casey DeWayne Hodge, appeals one certified question of law related to the trial court’s denial of his motion to dismiss in which he alleged a speedy trial violation and two certified questions of law related to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress in which he challenged the constitutionality of a traffic stop. Discerning no error, we affirm. We remand for entry of judgments on Counts 2 and 3 reflecting that the charges were dismissed in accordance with the plea agreement.

A group of Williamson County parents, represented by lawyer and state Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, is turning to the courts to try to remove five books from middle and high school libraries. The Tennessean reports that the group filed a petition in Williamson County Chancery Court, accusing the county's board of education of violating a state law passed in 2022 that requires school boards to review library materials and remove those deemed inappropriate for students. The board voted 8-2 during its June 19 meeting to keep the books. The parents argue that the board did not actually evaluate the five books or adopt an adequate procedure for reviewing library collections as required by the law.

Defendant, James Stephen Carder, was indicted by the Marshall County Grand Jury for 36 counts of theft of property in amounts ranging from less than $1,000 to $60,000 and two counts of aggregate theft in an amount greater than $60,000 but less than $250,000. Five of the theft counts were dismissed after the close of the State’s proof, and a petit jury convicted Defendant of 24 theft counts and both aggregate theft counts. The trial court merged those individual theft convictions involving the same victim and also merged the two counts of aggregate theft, and the court sentenced Defendant as a Range II offender to an effective 20 years’ incarceration and ordered him to pay $134,990 in restitution. In this appeal, Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions, that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, and that law enforcement improperly investigated the case and interfered with his contracts. Having reviewed the entire record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. However, we remand this case to the trial court for entry of amended judgment forms to reflect the merger of the 24 individual theft convictions into count 37, the one aggregate theft conviction.

The pro se Defendant, Marquette Benson, aka Marquette Mukes, appeals the summary denial of his September 6, 2022 Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure 36.1 motion to correct an illegal sentence. Because it is clear that the Defendant’s September 6, 2022 filing is merely a request for the trial court to reconsider its denial of the Defendant’s first Rule 36.1 motion, which was summarily denied on October 4, 2021 for failure to state a colorable claim, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

Following the denial of his motion to suppress, the defendant, Rodney Paul Beech, pled guilty to driving under the influence (“DUI”) and DUI per se and was sentenced to eleven months and twenty-nine days suspended to probation after service of forty-eight hours in jail. As a condition of his plea, the defendant reserved the right to appeal a certified question of law pursuant to Rule 37(b)(2) of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure, challenging the denial of his motion to suppress based on lack of reasonable suspicion for the stop of his vehicle. Upon our review, we conclude the defendant failed to properly certify the question of law pursuant to Rule 37(b)(2). Accordingly, this Court is without jurisdiction, and the appeal is dismissed.

The petitioner, Erick Bailey, appeals the post-conviction court’s denial of his petition for fingerprint analysis under the Post-Conviction Fingerprint Analysis Act of 2021. After review, we conclude the post-conviction court did not abuse its discretion in summarily dismissing the petition and affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment.

The plaintiffs, a prospective adoptive couple and six other Tennessee taxpayers, brought this declaratory judgment action challenging the constitutionality of Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-147, which allows private child-placing agencies that receive state funding to deny services to prospective foster or adoptive parents based upon the agencies’ religious beliefs. A three-judge panel concluded that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the statute. We have determined that the plaintiffs have standing and reverse the decision of the three-judge panel.

Longtime Metro official Raymond Lester "Ray" Barrett died Tuesday at the age of 88. Barrett worked 52 years for the Nashville government, including as clerk and master of the Davidson County Chancery Court and administrator of elections. He was president of the Tennessee County Officials Association and later worked for the Williamson County Circuit Court. Barrett earned his law degree in 1962 from the Nashville School of Law. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. CDT Saturday at First Presbyterian Church of Franklin, 101 Legends Club Ln., Franklin 37069. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Friday and one hour prior to service on Saturday at the church. Interment will be at Williamson Memorial Gardens. Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or Salvation Army.