Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts

Otis Maclin ("the Petitioner") filed a petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions based upon guilty pleas to the offenses of kidnapping, sexual battery, and aggravated assault. In accordance with the plea agreement, the Petitioner received an effective ten-year sentence. In his petition, he argued that he was denied effective assistance of counsel in conjunction with his guilty plea and that his plea was constitutionally infirm. After an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief, and this appeal followed. Upon our thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Petitioner, Denzel Wallace, appeals the Davidson County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his conviction of second degree murder and resulting sentence of twenty years to be served at 100%. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that he did not enter his guilty plea knowingly and voluntarily and that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. Based upon the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

The Criminal Court for Campbell County sentenced the Defendant, Kevin C. Potter, to fifteen years of probation for multiple offenses that occurred between 2009 and 2011. In late 2011, the Defendant’s probation officer filed an affidavit seeking a probation violation warrant for the Defendant’s arrest. After a hearing, the trial court revoked the Defendant’s probation and ordered that he serve his sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends he was denied a fair hearing on the probation violation warrant and that the trial court erred because it failed to make specific findings of fact. The State agrees, and it asks us to reverse the case and remand it to the trial court for an order containing specific factual findings based upon the proof adduced at the revocation hearing. After a thorough review of the record and applicable authorities, we agree with the parties. We, therefore, reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand for entry of an order that sets forth specific factual findings for the revocation of probation.

The Petitioner, Harvey Taylor, pled guilty to rape, a Class B felony, and, pursuant to the plea agreement, the trial court sentenced him to twelve years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. The Petitioner timely filed a petition for post-conviction relief claiming that his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary because he received the ineffective assistance of counsel. After a thorough review of the record and applicable authorities, we affirm the post-conviction court’s dismissal of the petition.

A Macon County jury convicted the Defendant, Kevin Gross, of criminal responsibility for facilitation of burglary and theft of property. The trial court sentenced the Defendant as a persistent offender to concurrent terms of four years and eight years, respectively, in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court erred in ruling that, if the Defendant chose to testify, the State could use his prior conviction for burglary of an automobile to impeach his testimony under Rule 609 of the Tennessee Rules of Evidence. After thoroughly reviewing the record and applicable authorities, we find that the trial court did not err when it ruled that the State could impeach the Defendant with his prior conviction for burglary of an automobile. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

A Cocke County jury convicted the Petitioner, Billy Joe Carter, of first degree murder, first degree felony murder, and especially aggravated robbery. The jury sentenced him to life in the Department of Correction without the possibility of parole for the two first degree murder convictions, and the trial court sentenced him to 40 years in the Department of Correction as a Range II, multiple offender for the especially aggravated robbery conviction. On direct appeal, this Court ordered the trial court to merge the two first degree murder convictions, and we affirmed the Petitioner’s convictions in all other respects. State v. Billy Joe Carter, No. E2005-01282-CCA-R3-CD, 2007 WL 1515010 (Tenn. Crim. App. May 24, 2007), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Aug. 13, 2007). The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief claiming that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel failed to request a pre-trial mental evaluation of him. After a thorough review of the record and applicable authorities, we affirm the post-conviction court’s dismissal of his petition.

The appellant, Bobby Lee Johnson, pled guilty to one count of possession of morphine with intent to sell, a Class B felony; one count of driving under the influence, a Class A misdemeanor; and one count of aggravated burglary, a Class C felony. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-17-417, 55-10-401, 39-14-403. Following a sentencing hearing, appellant was sentenced to an effective sentence of eight years to be served in confinement. In this appeal as of right, appellant contends that the trial court erred by denying his request for alternative sentencing. We affirm the trial court’s sentence.

The petitioner, Antonio D. Vaughn, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that he received ineffective assistance of counsel due to counsel’s failure to adequately communicate with him. After review, we affirm the denial of the petition.

The defendant, Antwain Green, was convicted of two counts of attempted second degree murder of Anthony Fizer and Carrie Searcy, Class B felonies, and three counts of aggravated assaults on, Fizer, Searcy and Laura Dykes, Class C felonies. The aggravated assault convictions of Fizer and Searcy merged with the two attempted second degree murder convictions. The defendant was sentenced as a Range II offender to eighteen- year terms for each attempted murder conviction and a nine- year term for the aggravated assault conviction of Dykes, to be served consecutively to each other for an effective sentence of forty-five years. The defendant appeals his convictions and sentences, asserting that the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to sustain the convictions, that a witness was improperly permitted to testify regarding one victim’s identification of the defendant, and that his sentences are improper and excessive. Having reviewed the record, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the convictions, that the error in admitting the testimony regarding identification was harmless, and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing. Accordingly, we affirm the judgments of convictions and sentences of the trial court.

The Petitioner, Abisai U. Maldonado, appeals as of right from the Shelby County Criminal Court’s summary dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The Petitioner contends that he received an illegal, one-year sentence for a misdemeanor conviction. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the habeas corpus court.

A Davidson County jury convicted the Defendant, Mousen Yisak Aden, of aggravated robbery. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to eleven years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On appeal, the Defendant asserts that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction and that his sentence is excessive. After a thorough review of the record and applicable law, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.