The Defendant, Jarvis Miller, appeals his twenty-five-year sentence at 100 percent in the Tennessee Department of Correction (“TDOC”) for his second degree murder conviction. Specifically, he challenges the length and manner of his sentence as excessive because the trial court (1) failed to mitigate the Defendant’s sentence based on “mistakenly recollected” facts from trial; (2) misapplied and gave improper weight to two enhancement factors; and (3) failed to give meaningful consideration to imposing an alternative sentence. After review, we affirm.

The Appellant, Gardtrella Marie Day-Knowles, was convicted by a Davidson County jury of neglect of an impaired adult, for which she received a sentence of seven years’ supervised probation. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 71-6-117 (2017) (amended 2019, repealed 2020). On appeal, the Appellant argues that the trial court erred by: (1) allowing witnesses to describe conditions of animal neglect in her home; (2) refusing to redact an unfairly prejudicial comment from the victim’s medical records; and (3) allowing a witness to testify about her memory of the contents of a report under the public records hearsay exception. After review, we conclude there was no reversible error and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Brandon Marquell Brown, appeals the Robertson County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, challenging his guilty-pleaded convictions for two counts of coercion of a witness and one count of aggravated assault. The Petitioner argues that the post-conviction court erred in denying his petition for post-conviction relief. Specifically, the Petitioner alleges that (1) his guilty pleas were not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary and (2) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and prepare the Petitioner’s cases by interviewing pertinent witnesses and for failing to meet with the Petitioner and review discovery with him. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

In a termination of parental rights matter, the respondent mother appeals the denial of her motion to recuse. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm.

Gov. Bill Lee has signed a bill eliminating two Shelby County judicial seats: Criminal Court Division 9 as of July 1, and Circuit Court Division 7 as of Sept. 1. Cases pending in those courts will transfer to the courts’ remaining judges, reports the Daily Memphian. Local attorneys, judges and the Memphis City Council all have voiced strong opposition to the move, saying it could cause backlogs in both courts, given the increased workload that the remaining judges will now have. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said, “This is an acutely bad time right now to be taking away 10% of our judicial capacity for criminal cases in Shelby County. To simultaneously complain about the backlog and then take away 10% of our ability makes no sense to me.”

The Trial Court Vacancy Commission is currently accepting applications for judicial positions in the 4th, 19th and 23rd Judicial Districts. The new positions will be effective Sept. 1. The deadline to apply is June 11 at noon CDT. Applicants must be licensed Tennessee attorneys who are at least 30 years of age, residents of the state for five years and residents of the relevant judicial districts. The new position in the 4th Judicial District, which includes Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson and Sevier counties, is for a circuit court judge. The new position in the 19th Judicial District, which includes Montgomery and Robertson counties, is for a chancellor. The new position in the 23rd Judicial District, which includes Cheatham, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys and Stewart counties, is for a circuit court judge. The commission will hold a public hearing with applicants for the 4th Judicial District on July 11, with applicants for the 19th Judicial District on July 18, and with applicants for the 23rd Judicial District on July 17. Visit the Administrative Office of the Courts' website for more information.

President Joe Biden has announced he will nominate Nashville attorney Karla Campbell to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. A vacancy will be created on the court when Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch transitions to senior status later this year. The Nashville Post reports that Campbell currently practices at Stranch, Jennings & Garvey specializing in employee rights and labor law. She previously served as legal advisor for local workers’ rights nonprofit Workers’ Dignity and represented the family of Gustavo Ramirez, a 16-year-old who fell to his death during construction of the La Quinta Hotel near Nashville's Nissan Stadium. She received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2008. If she is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Campbell will be the fourth judge Biden has added to the 6th Circuit in the past two years.

Gov. Bill Lee this week signed a bill into law which will increase penalties for those convicted of illegal street racing. WSMV reports that along with the increase in prison time from one year to six years, the new law raises the penalty from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony, accompanied by a fine of $3,000. The new law will take effect July 1.

U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles' campaign finance reports have been under scrutiny and were the basis of an ethics complaint filed against him in January by the Campaign Legal Center, a campaign finance watchdog group. According to the Nashville Banner, Ogles amended nearly a dozen past campaign finance reports this week, acknowledging that a reported $320,000 personal loan he made to his campaign never happened and was a "pledge if needed." Axios Nashville reports that in April, Ogles filed a disclosure showing he had about $449,000 cash on hand, including the $320,000. On his amended form, the outstanding obligation was reduced to $20,000.

Nashville Metro Council on Tuesday voted 30-3 not to allow TC Restaurant Group to install signage for country singer Morgan Wallen's bar over a Metro right-of-way. The council cited Wallen’s reputation, past use of racial slurs and recent arrest for throwing a chair off a six-story building, nearly hitting police officers, as the reason for not approving the sign. The decision was not based on code violations or safety of the sign, which has sparked some First Amendment concerns among local experts. Ronald G. Harris, chief administrator at Neal & Harwell PLC, told the Nashville Business Journal, “When you get into the regulation of commercial speech, the government has a burden to show that there’s some substantial government interest in the regulation of commercial speech ... It’s not about the sign size or location, it’s regulating what’s on the sign itself. That’s always problematic for the government — you’re objecting to who the speaker is and what’s on the sign.”