Kyle Hixson, Judge (Service Ended August 31, 2022)
Reports of Cases Reviewed by Appellate Courts – Beginning Jan. 1, 2022
Text is the appellate court’s summary of the opinion.
Scroll down for important information.
State of Tennessee v. Gay, No. E2021-01418-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Jan. 23, 2023). Defendant, Ambrus Gay, was charged in a five-count indictment with two counts of
aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of robbery. The case proceeded to a jury trial. At the conclusion of the proof, the trial court partially granted
Defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal, reducing the robbery charge to the lesser included charge of theft. The jury found Defendant guilty as charged on all counts, and the trial court imposed an effective 10-year sentence. In this appeal as of right, Defendant contends: 1) the trial court should have suppressed his confession based on a violation of his Miranda rights; 2) the trial court should have suppressed his confession because it was not voluntarily made; 3) the trial court erred by denying Defendant’s motion to sever the offenses; and 4) the evidence was insufficient to support his aggravated robbery convictions because he had completed the thefts prior to producing a weapon. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. Editor’s Note: The opinion notes that “Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob R. McGee presided over the hearing on Defendant’s motion to sever and motion to suppress his statement.”
State of Tennessee v. Hamlin, No. E2022-00139-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Jan. 9, 2023). Following convictions for unlawful possession of a weapon and a felony drug offense, the
Defendant, Tavares Tobin, was sentenced to an effective term of eleven years and placed on probation. Thereafter, the Defendant engaged in new criminal conduct and stopped reporting for supervision. As a consequence of the violations, the trial court revoked the suspended sentences and ordered that the Defendant serve the balance of the effective
sentence in custody. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion by finding that he violated the conditions of his probation and by fully revoking his suspended sentences without considering lesser options. We respectfully affirm the judgments of the trial court.
State of Tennessee v. Digma, No. E2022-00309-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Dec. 5, 2022). The defendant, Roberto Digma, appeals the Knox County Criminal Court’s order revoking his probation and ordering him to serve the balance of his eight-year sentence for possession of .5 grams or more of methamphetamine with the intent to sell or deliver in confinement. Discerning no error, we affirm.
State of Tennessee v. McBee, No. E2021-01048-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Nov. 9, 2022). Defendant, Jacquiz McBee, was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and received a life sentence to be served consecutively to his prior three-year sentence for aggravated assault. On appeal, Defendant argues: that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction; that the trial court erred by excluding the victim and Defendant’s minor child’s statement to a forensic interviewer; that the trial court erred by failing to redact the words “on probation” from searches made on the internet from Defendant’s cell phone; that the trial court erred by admitting the results of a Google search conducted by Detective McFarland consistent with a search made by Defendant; that the trial court erred by ordering consecutive sentencing; and that cumulative error entitles him to relief. Following our review of the entire record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Pike v. State of Tennessee, No. E2021-01055-CCA-R3-PC (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Oct. 17, 2022). The Petitioner, Steven Jeffrey Pike, appeals the Knox County Criminal Court’s denial of his post-conviction petition, wherein he challenged his conviction for first degree premeditated murder. On appeal, the Petitioner argues that (1) trial counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to impeach a witness for the State with the witness’s prior statement to police; (2) appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to raise on appeal the trial court’s limitation of defense expert’s testimony; (3) appellate counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to raise on appeal that the Petitioner’s involuntary statements constituted a due process violation not subject to harmless error analysis; and (4) the multiple errors committed by trial counsel and appellate counsel constituted prejudicial error in the aggregate.1 After review, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief.
State of Tennessee v. Donton, No. E2021-00721-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Aug. 31, 2022). Defendant, David Allen Donton, Jr., was indicted by the Knox County Grand Jury for one count of observation without consent, involving an eight-year-old female victim. Defendant pleaded guilty as charged and agreed to serve one year as a Range I offender with the manner of service to be determined by the trial court after a sentencing hearing. Following a hearing, the trial court denied Defendant’s request for probation and imposed a sentence of confinement. Defendant filed an untimely notice of appeal, and this Court granted his motion to waive the timely filing. Defendant contends that the trial court departed from the principles and purposes of sentencing in several ways. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Smith v. State of Tennessee, No. E2021-01303-CCA-R3-PC (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Aug. 18, 2022). The petitioner, Larry Lee Smith, appeals the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, which petition challenged his convictions of aggravated rape and aggravated kidnapping, alleging that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel. Discerning no error, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief.
State of Tennessee v. Porter, E2021-00915-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Aug. 18, 2022). The petitioner, Rodney Deon Porter, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court erred in finding he received effective assistance of counsel on direct appeal. Following our review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s denial of the petition.
Hardin v. State of Tennessee, E2021-01244-CCA-R3-PC (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Aug. 15, 2022). The petitioner, Malik DeWayne Hardin, appeals the partial denial of his Rule 36 motion to correct a clerical error, asserting that a clerical error resulted in his being sentenced as a Range II offender and that he did not receive all the pretrial jail credit he was promised. After review, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Goodman v. State of Tennessee, No. E2021-00914-CCA-R3-PC (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. July 14, 2022). The Petitioner, Akeem Goodman, appeals the Knox County Criminal Court’s denial of his post-conviction petition, seeking relief from his convictions of attempted first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery and resulting effective forty-four-year sentence. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel because trial counsel failed to prepare for trial adequately, failed to advise him about his case, failed to interview multiple witnesses, and failed to call a witness to testify at trial. After review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
State of Tennessee v. Brewster, No. E2021-00793-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. July 11, 2022). Defendant, Kadrean J. Brewster, pled guilty to possession with the intent to sell more than 0.5 grams of cocaine. He was sentenced to eight-years split between one year in confinement and the remainder of the sentence on probation. Following revocation hearings, Defendant’s probation was revoked and Defendant was ordered to serve the balance of his sentence in confinement. On appeal, Defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion in revoking his probation and ordering him to serve the sentence in confinement. Following our review of the entire record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
State of Tennessee v. Daniels, No. E2021-00561-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. June 29, 2022). During a time when the Tennessee judicial system was grappling with the lingering effects of COVID-19, a Knox County jury convicted Defendant, Neal Scott Daniels, of driving under the influence of an intoxicant (“DUI”); driving with a blood alcohol level in excess of 0.08 percent (“DUI per se”); simple possession of marijuana; driving on a revoked license; failing to provide evidence of financial responsibility; DUI per se fourth offense; and DUI by impairment fourth offense. The trial court imposed a total effective sentenceof two years to be suspended to four years on supervised probation after serving 150 days in jail. In this appeal as of right, Defendant contends that: 1) the trial court erred by denying his motion to continue on the grounds that courtroom procedures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic interfered with his right to a fair trial; 2) his right to confrontation was denied when he was made to wear a face mask during trial; 3) his right to the effective assistance of counsel was denied by requiring trial counsel and jurors to wear masks; 4) the trial court erred by admitting the results of his blood alcohol test because a valid chain of custody was not established; 5) the judgments of conviction in counts 6 and 7 are invalid because the indictment failed to include the dates of Defendant’s prior convictions; and 6) there was insufficient evidence to support Defendant’s conviction for simple possession of marijuana. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
McNair, Jr. v. State of Tennessee, No. E2021-00219-CCA-R3-PC (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. June 13, 2022). The Petitioner, Joseph Sanford McNair, Jr., filed a petition for post-conviction relief from his convictions of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, and possession of marijuana and the accompanying effective twelve-year sentence. In the petition, the Petitioner alleged that trial counsel was ineffective (1) by failing to pursue a Sixth Amendment claim regarding the racial composition of the jury pool; (2) by failing to pursue a claim regarding the “constructive amendment in the indictment”; and (3) by failing to fully pursue the Petitioner’s Fourth Amendment rights during a motion to suppress. The Petitioner also raises two free-standing claims: (1) his Sixth Amendment right to a jury composed of a fair cross-section of the community was violated because black people were underrepresented in the jury pool; and (2) his rights against double jeopardy were violated when the trial court allowed the indictment to be constructively amended after the jury rendered its verdict. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and the Petitioner appeals. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
Byrd v. State of Tennessee, No. E2021-00562-CCA-R3-PC (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. June 1, 2022). The Petitioner, George John Byrd, filed a petition for post-conviction relief from his three aggravated rape convictions, his aggravated assault conviction, and the resulting effective sentence of twenty-five years. The Petitioner alleged that his trial counsel was ineffective by “opening the door” to evidence that was detrimental to the Petitioner, inadequately preparing for trial, failing to interview and call certain defense witnesses, and failing to prepare the Petitioner to testify at trial. The post-conviction court denied the petition, and the Petitioner appeals this ruling. Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction court.
Randy Oscar Blakeney v. State of Tennessee, No. E2021-00508-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. May 3, 2022). The Petitioner, Randy Oscar Blakeney, pled guilty in the Knox County Criminal Court to first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery and received a sentence of life plus forty years in confinement. Subsequently, he filed a petition requesting DNA analysis of evidence pursuant to the Post-Conviction DNA Analysis Act of 2001. The post-conviction court summarily denied the petition, and the Petitioner appeals. Based upon our review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
Lance Falcon v. State of Tennessee, No. E2021-00398-CCA-R3-PC (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Apr. 1, 2022). The Petitioner, Lance Falcon, appeals the denial of post-conviction relief from his convictions for rape, statutory rape by an authority figure, and sexual battery by an authority figure, arguing that his trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting to the trial court’s questioning of the Petitioner during his testimony before the jury and that his trial counsel and appellate counsel were ineffective for not raising an objection to the lack of merger and/or violation of double jeopardy as to count three of the indictment. Based on our review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court denying relief.
State of Tennessee v. Jeffery T. Siler, No. E2021-00395-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. March 22, 2022). The pro se Defendant, Jeffrey T. Siler, appeals the Knox County Criminal Court’s order summarily dismissing his motion to correct a clerical error. See Tenn. R. Crim. P. 36. The State has filed a motion to affirm the trial court’s order pursuant to Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Rule 20. Following our review, we conclude that the State’s motion is well-taken and affirm the order of the trial court.
Clarence E. McCaleb v. State of Tennessee, No. E2021-00201-CCA-R3-PC (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. March 10, 2022). The Petitioner, Clarence E. McCaleb, appeals from the Knox County Criminal Court’s dismissal of his petition for post-conviction DNA analysis. The petition sought DNA testing of a fork found on the victim’s bedroom floor. The Petitioner now appeals, arguing that DNA analysis of the fork would result in a reasonable probability that he would not have been prosecuted or convicted if DNA profiles inconsistent with the Petitioner’s and the victim’s were discovered. Following our review, we affirm the judgment of the postconviction court.
Demetrius Grimes v. State of Tennessee, No. E2021-00120-CCA-R3-PC (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Feb. 24, 2022). Petitioner, Demetrius Grimes, appeals the denial of his post-conviction petition arguing that the post-conviction court erred in denial of his petition. Following our review of the entire record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
State of Tennessee v. Michael Brown, No. E2020-01392-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Jan. 25, 2022). The Appellant, Michael Brown, pled guilty in the Knox County Criminal Court to two counts of aggravated assault, a Class C felony. Pursuant to the plea agreement, he received an effective six-year sentence with the trial court to determine the manner of service of the sentence, including his request for judicial diversion. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court denied diversion and ordered that he serve the sentence in confinement. On appeal, the Appellant contends that the trial court erred by denying his requests for judicial diversion and full probation. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
Understanding the Limitations and Use of the Information Found in This Book
Tennessee’s trial judges resolve hundreds of thousands of legal and factual issues in tens of thousands of cases every single year. No appeal is filed in the vast percentage of those cases, indicating that while the “losing” party may not like a ruling on a particular issue, that party understands there was an appropriate reason for the judge’s decision or, at a minimum, the judge was acting within his or her discretion.
Of course, a small number of decisions of trial judges do result in an appeal. Experienced trial lawyers know that the number of cases appealed out of a particular trial judge’s court does not, in and of itself, reveal much about the trial judge. For example, some judges hear more complex cases than others, and those cases are more likely to be appealed. Convictions in child sex abuse cases are frequently appealed, as are many criminal cases resulting in long sentences. There are a large number of parental rights termination cases that find their way to the appellate courts. Judges who routinely try those types of cases will, other things being equal, see more of their cases reviewed by appellate courts than judges who do not see such cases.
Second, certain litigants (and certain lawyers) are more likely to appeal a case than others. Thus, judges who have those litigants or lawyers regularly appear in their courtrooms will find more cases reviewed by the appellate courts.
For these and other reasons, the reader is cautioned not to read too much into the number of cases appealed from a court. Stated differently, there is no reason to believe that a judge who has ten cases reviewed by an appellate court in a single year is a “worse” judge than one who has one case appealed, or that a judge who has three cases appealed is a “better” judge than one who has nine cases appealed.
Next, the number of times a judge’s ruling is reversed by an appellate court is not necessarily indicative of the quality of his or her work. For example, experienced lawyers know that there are “holes in the law,” i.e., cases where there is no law directly on point and the judge is forced to predict what an appellate court would rule on the issue. The fact that a judge decided an open legal issue one way and an appellate court decided it another way does not mean that the trial judge was “wrong” or does not understand the law. It simply means that the trial judge had a different view of what the law should be than the appellate court that decided the issue. A trial judge is not blessed with a crystal ball that can with 100 percent accuracy forecast how an appellate court will rule on an undecided legal issue.
In addition, the trial court is sometimes not provided with the same in-depth legal arguments and law that is supplied to the appellate court by the parties, or which is provided by law clerks at the appellate level (many trial courts do not have law clerks). The trial judge may have reached the same conclusion as the appellate court if he or she had been supplied with additional law or argument.
Finally, the law changes constantly, and the trial judge may rule on a case based on today’s law, which may evolve between the time of that ruling and the issuance of an opinion of the appellate court. In such cases, the reversal of the case by the appellate court is a question of timing of the original court decision as compared to changes in the law, not one of error by the trial court.
So, what is the value of this book? How can the trial lawyer use it to help his or her clients given the limitations expressed above? Permit me to digress slightly.
You have seen the coffee cups or t-shirts that proclaim, “A good lawyer knows the law, but a great lawyer knows the judge.”
Some read this phrase as suggesting that the “great lawyer” is one who has an improper relationship with the judge – that he or she can use a personal relationship to improperly influence the judge. But most lawyers know better. Most lawyers understand that “knowing the judge” means knowing the judge’s background, preferences concerning the presentation of evidence (including exhibits), arguments of motions, drafting of proposed orders, and given that experience, how he or she is likely to rule on a particular issue. “Knowing the judge” also means knowing the local rules, local forms, local customs, and what things irritate the judge (and every judge is irritated by at least one thing that lawyers or litigants may do).
Many lawyers, particularly those in more rural areas of the state or who limit their practice to one area of law, understand the personality and preferences of the judges they see on a regular basis. Many of these lawyers may have a fair advantage appearing before that judge. (The advantage is “fair” because it results from experience and knowledge.) That advantage – knowing how the judge thinks and his or her preferences – is not outcome-determinative, but it still may be an advantage, similar to a sports team playing on their home field.
Why did I say it “may” be an advantage, given what I said earlier about the benefits of “knowing the judge?” Because simply knowing the judge’s thought processes and preferences is not enough. You still need to have the law and the facts on your client’s side. And you need to be prepared to be able to give the judge what he or she needs to know to make a ruling.
So, the purpose of “The Book” is to give Tennessee lawyers case-related information to help them understand the trial judge who will rule on their client’s case or preside over a jury trial. By looking at past appellate court rulings arising from cases decided by the trial judge, anyone unfamiliar with a judge can get a “feel” for the judge. The case data contained herein does not compare with daily or weekly appearances in front of the judge on issues like a given case, but it is readily available information that give you an idea of how the judge has ruled in the past on a variety of matters.
The cases included are those originally decided by the trial judge that were in appellate court opinions released on or after January 1, 2022. Note that there are a substantial number of judges who first took office in 2022 and thus it is reasonable to assume that there will be no appellate decisions for such judges until late 2023 or 2024.
