A Madison County jury convicted the Defendant, Keenan A. Murphy, of first degree murder and attempted first degree murder. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective sentence of life imprisonment plus twenty-six years. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the proof is insufficient to support the convictions because the State failed to prove premeditation. The Defendant also asserts that the trial court committed plain error by allowing the State to cross-examine the defense expert about a second shooting the Defendant committed nine days after the offenses in this case. On our review, we respectfully affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Petitioner, Larry Johnson, appeals from the Lake County Circuit Court’s dismissal of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, in which he alleged that he received an illegal sentence. We conclude Petitioner has failed to timely appeal or to follow procedural requirements, and the interest of justice does not require waiver of the requirements. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed.

SUTTON, Chief Judge. Sanket and Nehaben Patel applied for visas to stay in the United States on a temporary basis. After fourteen months with no news, they sued the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for failing to process their applications. When the agency granted their visas, the Director filed a motion to dismiss the case for mootness and attached an exhibit showing that the applications had been granted. Realizing that she had not filed the exhibit under seal, the Director moved to seal the exhibit shortly thereafter. The Patels accepted one victory (the granting of their temporary visas) and sought another (statutory penalties for the Director’s disclosure of their personal information). The district court granted the Director’s motion to dismiss the case and denied the Patels’ motion for civil penalties. We affirm.

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Deaunta Belcher was convicted, and sentenced to life in prison, for his participation in a murder-for-hire scheme, hindering the investigation of a federal offense, and for two other offenses. On direct appeal, Belcher raises issues with both his murder-for-hire and obstruction convictions. Specifically, Belcher argues that his murder-for-hire conviction is invalid because the government and the court constructively amended the indictment such that he was sentenced for a crime with which he was never charged. Likewise, he claims that his obstruction conviction cannot stand because the government prejudicially varied from the indictment when it offered additional proof at trial to support the charge. Belcher also attests that the district court erred when it denied his motion for judgment of acquittal on the obstruction charge. For the reasons outlined below, we affirm.

A Lawrence County jury convicted the Defendant, Charles Timothy Rowden, of first degree felony murder, second degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, and aggravated arson. The trial court merged the two murder convictions and imposed an effective sentence of life without the possibility of parole. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that: (1) the trial court erred when it did not instruct the jury that the Defendant’s girlfriend was an accomplice as a matter of law; (2) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions; and (3) his attorney was ineffective. After review, we affirm the trial court’s judgments and remand for entry of an additional judgment form.

This appeal concerns the validity and enforceability of an oral loan agreement between former business partners. As discussed herein, we discern no error in the trial court’s enforcement of the parties’ agreement. As such, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

The Tennessee Department of Revenue has released its FY 2023 Annual Report & Informal Conference Summaries. The department's Administrative Hearing Office conducts informal conferences with taxpayers to resolve disputes about tax assessments. The annual reports provide a high-level overview of selected topics of interest and summaries of related informal conference decisions.

Registration is open for the Memphis YLD Basketball League. The league runs from March 21-May 5 on Thursday evenings from 6:30-9:30 p.m. CDT. Games will take place at Memphis University School. Click here for more information and to register.

TBA's Legislative Updates podcast is back with a new episode this week. TBA lobbyist Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorney and TBA lobbyist Ashley Harbin discuss Gov. Bill Lee's State of the State address; HB2710/SB2254, the TBA Conservatorship bill; HB2645, the adoption birth certificate bill; and HB2644, TBA's adoption clean-up bill. Legislative Updates airs each week on the TBA’s Facebook page. It is also released as a podcast on the same day and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The state House on Thursday passed HB1644/SB1679, legislation that would require all schools, public or private, to develop emergency procedures to determine the cause of an activated fire alarm, reports the Tennessean. Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, filed the bill in response to the Covenant School shooting, and the House first passed a version during the August special session. After the legislation failed to advance during a House and Senate stalemate, Lamberth refiled a new version earlier this year. In other news, Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, is sponsoring a bill to ban all but a narrowly defined list of flags from display in Tennessee public schools. Two heated committee meetings drew protestors on both sides of the issue. Broadly, HB1605, bans displays that “represent a political viewpoint, including but not limited to, a partisan, racial, sexual orientation, gender, or other ideological viewpoint.”