Members of the TBA's 2025 Leadership Law (TBALL) class made their way to Columbia last month for a session focused on service and effective communication. Participants heard from Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, who discussed running for office as a lawyer, and Lawrenceburg lawyer Ryan Durham who provided a session on being a good advocate and overcoming disability. Nashville lawyer Donald Capparella and Tennessee Shakespeare Company’s Denice Hicks provided an interactive class on public speaking, with former Channel 5 Nashville news reporter and current Sherrard Roe member Amy Rao Mohan wrapping up the day with a session on media relations. View photos from the event.

ALBANDIAN, Circuit Judge. The government charged Malgum Whiteside, Jr. with being a felon in possession of firearms. The firearms were uncovered during a search of his residence while officers looked for evidence related to his stalking charges. He moved to suppress the firearms on the grounds that the warrant was invalid, and no warrant exception applied. The district court denied the motion. So Whiteside pleaded guilty but reserved the right to challenge the motion-to-suppress ruling. He now appeals that ruling, and we affirm.

LARSEN, Circuit Judge. Freddie Knipp, Jr., sold methamphetamine on two occasions to a friend. He also bought a gun for that same friend, knowing he was a felon. For this, Knipp was convicted of two counts of distributing a controlled substance and one count of knowingly selling or disposing of a firearm to a felon. The district court sentenced him to 138 months’ imprisonment. Knipp appeals his conviction and sentence. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM.

The petitioner, Donald James Robinson, 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 Haywood County jury convicted the Defendant, Tondre Dupress Ragland, of attempted second degree murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, and aggravated assault. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective sentence of twenty years in confinement. On direct appeal, this court affirmed the Defendant’s convictions, but we reversed the imposition of consecutive sentences and remanded to the trial court for consideration of the Wilkerson factors. State v. Ragland, W2022-01303-CCA-R3-CD, 2023 WL 3947501, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. June 12, 2023), no Tenn. R. App. P. 11 application filed. On remand, the trial court found that the Defendant was a dangerous offender and again imposed consecutive sentences. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred when it found that he was a dangerous offender for purposes of consecutive sentencing. After conducting a de novo review, we conclude that the Defendant’s sentences should be served concurrently, rather than consecutively.

A Maury County jury convicted the Defendant, Marcus Dejuan Perkins, of rape, and the trial court sentenced him to nine years’ imprisonment. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by misapplying an enhancement factor and denying an alternative sentence to incarceration. Upon our review, we respectfully disagree and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

A Bedford County jury found the Defendant, Christ M. Christopher, guilty of two counts of rape of a child. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of forty years. On appeal, the Defendant challenges the length of the sentences imposed. He argues that the trial court misapplied two enhancement factors and imposed an effective sentence greater than necessary to achieve the purposes and principles of sentencing. Upon our review, we respectfully disagree and affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The Defendant, Tobarus Burton, pleaded guilty in the Shelby County Criminal Court to one count of aggravated sexual battery. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-504. He received an agreed eight-year sentence to be served in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Defendant subsequently filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(f), which was denied by the trial court. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to withdraw his plea. Discerning no abuse of discretion, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Woodie Jeanette Arendall, pled guilty to one count of aggravated child neglect, and the trial court sentenced her to serve fifteen years’ imprisonment. Thereafter, the Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging that she was denied the effective assistance of counsel during the plea process. Following a hearing, the post- conviction court denied relief, and the Petitioner appealed. Upon our review, we respectfully affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The State of Tennessee, on behalf of Mother, brought suit against Father for retroactive and prospective child support. The trial court deviated from the Child Support Guidelines in setting Father’s retroactive child support, and he appeals. Because the trial court failed to make necessary findings of facts and conclusions of law to support its deviation from the guidelines, we cannot conduct a meaningful review. The trial court’s order is vacated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings.