Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts

Dwight Miller (“the Defendant”) was convicted by a jury of first degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison. The Defendant sought post-conviction relief and, after a hearing, the post-conviction court granted relief in the form of a delayed appeal. We now address two issues in the delayed appeal: (1) whether the trial court erred in refusing to grant a mistrial after a bomb threat; and (2) whether the trial court erred in allowing the prior testimony of an unavailable witness to be read into the record. After a thorough review of the record, we have determined that the Defendant is not entitled to relief on either of these issues. Accordingly, we affirm the Defendant’s judgment of conviction.

The defendant, Christopher Lance Osteen, was convicted of burglary, reckless aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, evading arrest, and resisting arrest and was sentenced by the trial court as a Range II offender to an effective term of sixteen years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days. On appeal, he challenges the trial court’s enhancement of his sentences by the use of prior convictions that were listed in his presentence report but not included in the State’s notice of enhanced punishment. Following our review, we affirm the sentencing determinations of the trial court.

The Defendant, Anthony S. Harding, was convicted by a Sumner County jury of six counts of aggravated statutory rape and one count of attempted aggravated statutory rape. The trial court later dismissed the attempt conviction. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered the Defendant to serve four years on each count of aggravated statutory rape, with all of these counts to run consecutively, resulting in an effective twenty-four-year sentence. On appeal, the Defendant raises the following issues for our review: (1) whether the indictment was insufficient for failing to provide specific dates for the offenses; (2) whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain the convictions; (3) whether the trial court erred by excluding testimony from an alibi witness; and (4) whether the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. Following our review, the Defendant’s convictions and sentences for aggravated statutory rape are affirmed. We remand solely for the entry of corrected judgment forms to reflect dismissal of Count Seven, the attempt conviction.

The petitioner, Willie A. Cole, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. In this case, the petitioner was convicted of first degree murder and tampering with evidence conviction. He was sentenced as a repeat violent offender to a term of life without the possibility of parole for the murder conviction and to six years for the tampering with evidence. On appeal, he contends that the denial of his petition was error because the evidence established that he was denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel. Following review of the record, we find no error in the denial and affirm the decision of the post-conviction court.

The defendant, Jeffrey Leo Rochelle, was indicted for first degree premeditated murder and was convicted by a jury of the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter, a Class C felony. On appeal, the defendant alleges the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction and that the trial court should have granted a mistrial when a witness testified regarding the defendant’s anger management issues. After a careful review of the record, we conclude there was no error and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The petitioner, Michael A. Virga, appeals from the post-conviction court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his first degree felony murder and aggravated arson convictions. On appeal, he argues that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel and that he was denied the right to trial by a fair and impartial jury. After review, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief.

Petitioner, Anthony Bond, appeals from the post-conviction court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief following an evidentiary hearing. Following a second jury trial after his first conviction was reversed and he was granted a new trial, Petitioner was again convicted for first degree murder. This court affirmed his conviction on direct appeal. Petitioner filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief in which he alleged that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to call an expert witness to challenge the State’s medical expert’s testimony regarding the victim’s cause of death. After a careful review of the record before us, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Defendant, Eric Shavonn Sayers, submitted a best interest guilty plea pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970), to criminal conspiracy to commit theft of property valued over $1000, a Class E felony, eleven counts of criminal simulation, Class E felonies, two counts of theft of property valued over $1000, Class D felonies, and driving without a license in his possession, a Class C misdemeanor. See T.C.A. §§ 39-12-103, 39-14-115, 39-14-103, 55-50-351 (2010). The parties agreed to an effective six-year sentence as a Range III, persistent offender with the manner of service to be determined by the trial court. At the sentencing hearing, the trial court ordered the Defendant to serve his sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that (1) the trial court failed to make the required factual findings to support the Defendant’s guilty pleas, (2) his convictions for criminal simulation and theft violate double jeopardy principles, and (3) the trial court erred by denying alternative sentencing. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

The defendant, Michael John Stitts, was convicted by a Madison County Circuit Court jury of theft of property over $1000, a Class D felony, and sentenced to six years as a Range II offender in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, he challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence and the sentence imposed by the trial court. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Michael Stewart, appeals the Shelby County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his 2008 conviction for destruction or interference with utility lines and his three-year, three-month sentence. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that counsel provided him the ineffective assistance of counsel (1) by failing to object to hearsay statements and (2) by failing to obtain a Memphis Light, Gas and Water incident report. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The petitioner, Darren Price, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions for attempted murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery, arguing that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to introduce a 911 call in support of his alibi defense. The petitioner also appeals the denial of his petition for DNA analysis of the knife, the victim’s vehicle, the crime scene, and the skin of the victim, arguing that “DNA testing of these items might yield DNA for analysis that could contain evidence that would assist [him] [to] establish his innocence.” Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court denying the petitions.

The Defendant, Cynthia Denise Marshall, pleaded guilty to introducing contraband into a penal institution, a Class C felony, possession with the intent to deliver morphine, a Class C felony, and possession with the intent to deliver more than one-half gram of marijuana, a Class E felony. See T.C.A. §§ 39-16-201 (2010) (amended 2012), 39-17-417 (2010) (amended 2012). She was sentenced as a Range I, standard offender to an effective six years on probation. On appeal, she contends that the trial court erred by denying judicial diversion. We reverse the trial court’s denial of judicial diversion and remand the case for a new sentencing hearing.