Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

A mail carrier is faced with a variety of charges after she hit a Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper head-on Friday night while driving under the influence in her postal vehicle. The Trooper was apparently trying to turn into a gas station when the lady crossed lanes and struck his vehicle. The Trooper was taken to the hospital, but he was treated and released without critical injuries. The charges against the drunken driver include DUI, driving without insurance, failure to keep control of a vehicle, and vehicular assault.

Tennessee law provides that a driver can be charged with vehicular assault when, as a result of that driver’s intoxication, the driver recklessly causes serious bodily injury to another person by the operation of a motor vehicle. Intoxication in this context includes intoxication by both alcohol and drugs. Vehicular assault in Tennessee is a Class D felony, punishable by two to twelve years in prison and a fine of up to five thousand dollars.

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For the tenth time, a Tennessee man has been arrested for driving on a revoked license. Police pulled the man over after seeing him cross the center line last Friday. During the traffic stop, the man decided that if he just drove away really fast he might not get a ticket. A high-speed chase ensued, leading police across two counties and reaching speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. The man eventually pulled over and surrendered to police. The charges against him include driving with a revoked license.

T.C.A. section 55-50-504 makes it illegal to operate a motor vehicle on a public roadway with a suspended, cancelled, or revoked license. The first offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail. A second or subsequent offense under this statute is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to eleven months and twenty-nine days in jail.

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People often use the phrase, “You scared me to death!” in a joking fashion, but authorities say that is literally what happened to a seventy-nine year old grandmother in North Carolina recently. Apparently, the elderly lady suffered a heart attack when a man broke into her home while looking for somewhere to hide after robbing a bank. The man did not call for help, and the lady died from the heart attack. Police say the man thus literally killed the grandmother without ever touching her. He was found guilty of killing someone by kidnapping them, which carries an automatic life sentence in North Carolina.

In Tennessee, the man would be charged much the same way. The law allows someone to be charged with first-degree murder in Tennessee if they kill someone during “the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate any first degree murder, act of terrorism, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, theft, kidnapping, aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, rape of a child, aggravated rape of a child or aircraft piracy.”

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Any successful restaurant owner knows that the key to forming a stable base of repeat customers is calling the police on your patrons when they refuse to pay gratuity for bad service. At least that was the strategy employed by an employee of a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania pub recently who called the cops on two patrons who paid the entirety of their bill minus the added gratuity because they said their service was subpar. They were charged with theft of $16 since the gratuity was part of the bill.

In Tennessee, anyone who refused to pay an added gratuity in the same manner could technically be charged with theft of $500 or less under the Tennessee statute, since taking food and services of the restaurant without paying for it in its entirety does technically meet the requirements of the theft statute that a person knowingly obtain or exercise control over a person’s property without that person’s consent (in this case without paying for it). Theft in East Tennessee of $500 or less is a Class A Misdemeanor, punishable by up to eleven months and twenty-nine days in jail and a $2500 fine.

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Everyone has heard the old adage “don’t bring a knife to a gun fight,” but until recently no one had offered a satisfactory answer as to what should be brought instead. Clearly the person heading to the gun fight does not have a gun, or they would not have contemplated bringing a knife initially. Luckily for all unarmed gunfighters, the brilliant employees at the appropriately-named Einstein Brothers Bagels in Orlando, Florida have provided a definitive answer. When two would-be robbers walked into Einstein Brothers armed with a shotgun early yesterday morning, one of the employees pushed a bagel cart at the robbers. Sensing impending doom at the sight of the cart full of assorted bagels screaming toward them, the robbers fled.

For whatever reason, armed robbery seems to be popping up with increasing frequency in both the local and national headlines. Armed robbery is classified as aggravated robbery in Tennessee under T.C.A. section 39-13-402, which upgrades a robbery charge to aggravated robbery if a deadly weapon or the appearance or threat of a deadly weapon is used, or if the victim suffers serious bodily injury. Even though a shotgun is clearly no match for a bagel cart, it is still considered a deadly weapon in Tennessee. Thus, the crime detailed above would have been an aggravated robbery in Tennessee had the robbers followed through with their apparent plan to rob the store.

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If you have ever been to New York, you know that it seems like there are literally ten thousand people in each subway car, all struggling for a place to sit or a rail to hold on to for balance. Fighting for these prime positions on the subway can often result in contentious disputes that lead to violence. In the case of Gerardo Sanchez, a 37 year-old man from New York, a subway seat dispute led to murder. Apparently Sanchez got into a dispute over a seat with another passenger that resulted in Sanchez stabbing the man in the head and neck several times, eventually killing the victim. A train conductor alerted the authorities, and Sanchez was arrested when the train made its next stop. He was charged with murder and criminal possession of a deadly weapon.

In Tennessee, Mr. Sanchez would likely be charged with second-degree murder. A “knowing killing of another” is sufficient to qualify as second-degree murder under the Tennessee statute, which basically means that any time a person kills another person intentionally, they can be charged under the second-degree murder statute. It is possible that since Mr. Sanchez was obviously enraged by the victim taking his seat that he could be charged with the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, which is the intentional or knowing killing of another person while “in a state of passion produced by adequate provocation sufficient to lead a reasonable person to act in an irrational manner.”

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A man from Clinton, Tennessee died this past Wednesday night after a car struck him as he was crossing the street in Lexington, Kentucky. Police are still searching for the driver, who fled the scene. This is a classic and tragic example of what is known as a hit-and-run. From both a criminal law and injury law standpoint, commission of a hit-and-run is one of the absolute worst decisions that someone can make while driving a vehicle. The personal injury consequences are discussed in today’s blog on www.tennesseeinjurylawyerblog.com while this article deals with the criminal consequences of a hit-and-run.

A hit-and-run can give rise to a number of criminal offenses, the most serious of which is vehicular homicide (assuming the hit-and-run was not planned beforehand). T.C.A. section 39-13-213 defines vehicular homicide in the following manner:

• (a) Vehicular homicide is the reckless killing of another by the operation of an automobile, airplane, motorboat or other motor vehicle, as the proximate result of:
  
  1. Conduct creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to a person;
  
  
  2. The driver's intoxication, as set forth in section 55-10-401. For the purposes of this section, “intoxication” includes alcohol intoxication as defined by section 55-10- 408, drug intoxication, or both; or
  
  
  3. As the proximate result of conduct constituting the offense of drag racing as prohibited by title 55, chapter 10, part 5.

Continue reading "Hit-and-Run Kills Tennessee Man" »

The hits keep on coming for the University of Tennessee football team, especially off the field. Just last week the team was faced with the distraction of having three players charged with attempted armed robbery which resulted in two of them being dismissed from the team and the third suspended from participating in team activities. Now this week it has been discovered that freshman safety Nyshier Oliver was arrested for shoplifting about five hours before Tennessee kicked off against Memphis on November 7th. Apparently he was spotted putting a shirt that costs about $100 in a shopping bag without paying for it at a department store in West Town Mall which led to the arrest. He has been charged with shoplifting.

Shoplifting is basically punished as theft of property in Tennessee. A person is guilty of shoplifting when, with intent to deprive a merchant of the stated price of the merchandise, that person knowingly does any of the following:

1. Conceals the merchandise;


2. Removes, takes possession of, or causes the removal of merchandise;


3. Alters, transfers or removes any price marking, or any other marking which aids in determining value affixed to the merchandise;


4. Transfers the merchandise from one container to another; or


5. Causes the cash register or other sales recording device to reflect less than the merchant's stated price for the merchandise.

Continue reading "Legal Woes Continue for Tennessee Football Team" »

Now we know what Santa Claus does when he’s not engaging in his annual, worldwide, day-long burglary spree under the pretense of bringing toys to children: possessing and distributing child pornography. Well, that is at least what one Santa Claus from New Jersey does in his spare time as evidenced by his recent guilty plea entered in federal court in New Jersey to a multitude of child sex charges. The New Jersey man, who played Santa Claus at events like parties and bar mitzvahs, admitted to possessing and distributing child pornography and traveling to Thailand three times to have sex with boys as young as six years old, was sentenced to approximately twenty years in prison this past Monday for his involvement in what was discovered to be an international sex tourism ring. Not helping his cause was the fact that he led authorities on an international manhunt before being arrested in 2008. There has been no word as to what will become of the man’s reindeer and workshop full of toys.

The charges relating to the international sex tourism ring are charges that would be rooted in federal law and thus have no practical equivalent in Tennessee law. However, encouraging or forcing a minor to engage in the production of child pornography is contemplated by Tennessee law and can lead to substantial prison time. Intentionally commanding, persuading, hiring, inducing or otherwise causing a minor to participate in actual or simulated sexual activity that is patently offensive (as almost any sexual activity engaged in by a minor will be) is a Class B felony in Tennessee, punishable by up to thirty years in prison and a twenty-five thousand dollar fine.

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People may be required to take drug tests for a variety of reasons. Drug tests may be a mandatory job requirement, may be mandatorily imposed by the State of Tennessee as a result of a past conviction for certain offenses, or may be required by a health or life insurance provider. Even though drug tests are generally (but not always) known about beforehand and usually carry stiff penalties for failure, such as loss of a job or violation of probation, some Tennesseans end up in the precarious position of knowing they are about to fail a drug test before they take it. Unfortunately, this leads some people to attempt to falsify the results of the test, an effort which is becoming increasingly futile.

As medical science continues to evolve, drugs test results are becoming harder and harder to fake. This is especially true now that drug tests can be reliably administered by using hair follicles in addition to urine samples. However, the fact that it is harder to fake a drug test is not dissuading companies from coming up with products to assist the daring drug devotee in his or her efforts to beat the tests. Someone wishing to falsify a drug test can simply use the internet to purchase someone else’s urine, buy a warmer to heat the urine to the correct temperature, and even purchase a prosthetic “bladder” device that fastens to some remote location on one’s body that gives the appearance that the urine is being produced by the drug-test taker. The problem with this scenario, besides the fact that you can probably never be making a good life-decision if you find yourself purchasing another person’s urine, is that testing companies are always looking for new ways to detect when these methods are being used. If they are successful in detecting when a test-taker has falsified the results of his or her drug test in some manner, that person could be looking at jail time.

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One of the biggest keys to orchestrating a proper burglary would seem to be having a good disguise. For example, a burglar may wear a Bill Clinton mask while breaking into a house in order to pin the crime on the former president rather than themselves. Almost anything can be used to hide a face during a criminal activity, and almost anything has, including ski masks, underwear, paper bags, and cardboard boxes. The most important characteristics of a good disguise are twofold. First, it is important that the disguise makes it so that people cannot recognize you (hence the “disguise” element). Second, it must be easy to dispose of after the commission of the crime to avoid leaving a trail of evidence. Two clever criminals from Iowa recently neglected these two important factors in coming up with their disguise, facilitating their arrest for burglary.

The expression, “It’s written all over your face,” is often used to describe someone who looks guilty or whose face gives away the truth in some fashion. This phrase has taken on new meaning after the two burglars mentioned above decided to disguise themselves during a burglary attempt by coloring their faces with permanent markers. Shockingly, this disguise proved ineffective. Not only did the permanent marker fail to hide their facial features, but the burglars were more than likely the only two people riding around town with permanent marker all over their faces. Such a disguise clearly fails both of the important disguise-choosing criteria discussed above and was woefully ineffective at helping the criminals evade authorities. Police pulled over a car matching the description given by the victims some time after the burglary, saw the two men sitting inside with marker all over their faces, and arrested them. They were charged with burglary.

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Three University of Tennessee football players have been charged in connection with an attempted robbery that allegedly took place on Cumberland Avenue early Thursday morning. Janzen Jackson, Nu’Keese Richardson, and Mike Edwards have been identified as three of the suspects who were arrested in connection with the incident. The victims were apparently sitting in a vehicle at a Pilot gas station on Cumberland Avenue during the wee hours of Thursday morning when two males in hooded sweatshirts approached the car and demanded that the victims hand over everything they have. One of the males was also in possession of what appeared to be a handgun. The third male then came over and told the other two suspects that they needed to leave. A search of the surrounding area eventually uncovered the vehicle used by the suspects in the commission of the offense. A search of the vehicle’s contents uncovered two black hooded sweatshirts, marijuana paraphernalia, and a black pellet gun. The suspects were taken back to the site of the attempted robbery and identified by the victims. They have been charged with attempted aggravated robbery.

Aggravated robbery is a Class B felony in Tennessee, punished by up to thirty years in prison. A robbery is considered “aggravated” when the victim suffers serious bodily injury, the robbery is accomplished with a deadly weapon, or the robbery is accomplished with some item used or fashioned to lead the victim to believe it is a deadly weapon. In this case, it is clearly the latter condition that upgrades the robbery charge to aggravated robbery. The pellet gun was used in such a manner that the victim(s) believed it was a real gun and thus a deadly weapon. It is worth noting that this criterion can apply even where no type of gun is used at all. In fact, merely poking a finger through one’s shirt would qualify as aggravated robbery if it led the victim to believe the robber had a gun.

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In what can only be described as a bizarre occurrence, five men in the same family in Missouri were recently arrested and charged with a litany of sexual crimes against children. Some of the charges were especially heinous and include forcible sodomy, rape of a child less than twelve, and use of a child in a sexual performance. The men are also accused of bestiality and forcing an eleven year-old to have an abortion. While there are a plethora of legal issues presented by sexual crimes against children, this article will focus on a single aspect of such behavior: the role of age in enhancing criminal offenses.

Tennessee’s equivalent to the charge of rape of a child less than twelve is found in T.C.A. section 39-13-522, Tennessee’s rape of a child statute. This statute holds that a person commits rape of a child when they unlawfully sexually penetrate a child who is between the ages of three and thirteen. This offense is a Class A felony which is normally punishable by fifteen to sixty years of imprisonment. However, the child rape statute provides that in no case shall anyone convicted of this offense be sentenced to less than twenty-five years, effectively making it a twenty-five to sixty year sentence. Contrast this with the offenses of rape and aggravated sexual battery (Class B felonies) and even second-degree murder (a Class A felony with no mandatory twenty-five year minimum) and one can see that Tennessee has a public policy of considering sexual offenses especially heinous when the victim is younger than thirteen.

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In the wake of one of the worst recessions in American history, families simply do not have the discretionary income they once had. Pretty much everyone is feeling the crunch of not having the discretionary income necessary to afford certain luxuries. Take, for example, Trista Lathern, a Texas woman who recently became an entrepreneur of sorts in order to raise money to buy breast implants. Not having the money to buy them immediately, Mrs. Lathern did what any reasonable American would do and came up with a business model. However, that model consisted of an illegal scam in which she pretended to have cancer in order to get donations from sympathizers with which she intended to buy the breast implants.

Mrs. Lathern went as far as shaving her head under the pretense of undergoing chemotherapy and collected over $10,000 at a cancer benefit stages on her behalf. Unfortunately for Mrs. Lathern she will not be allowed to keep those donations, but there is a chance that, hearing of Mrs. Lathern’s touching story, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will be willing to donate food, clothing, and shelter to her for about a half-decade or so. She has been charged with theft by deception, a felony in Texas.

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Nothing says “I am mad at you” like dragging someone’s defenseless dog behind your truck like an amateur water-skier. At least that was apparently the mindset of a Knoxville man who was arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals after onlookers spotted him doing just that last Tuesday afternoon. One witness said that as many as twenty or thirty people were yelling at the man, who is ironically nicknamed “Dog,” to stop after noticing that he was dragging a small dog behind his truck on a street off of Middlebrook Pike, but the man refused to stop. When Mr. Dog finally came to a stop, he reportedly yelled at the onlookers, tossed the hapless animal into his truck, and drove off. The dog was later found abandoned by a business on Sutherland Avenue and is currently recuperating at the University of Tennessee’s College of Veterinary Medicine. There is no word on whether or not the accused gets to keep his nickname.

T.C.A. section 39-14-212 provides that someone commits aggravated cruelty to an animal when he or she, with aggravated cruelty and no justifiable purpose, intentionally kills or causes serious physical injury to a companion (non-livestock) animal. Aggravated cruelty is defined as that “which is done or carried out in a depraved and sadistic manner and which tortures or maims an animal, including the failure to provide food and water to a companion animal resulting in a substantial risk of death or death.” Intentionally dragging an animal behind your car seems to fit this definition pretty clearly. Violation of this statute is a Class E felony, punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine not to exceed $3,000.00.

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In a somewhat novel but seemingly legitimate defense strategy, a Florida man accused of killing his stepson in New Jersey recently used his obesity as an alibi. The circumstances surrounding the murder indicated that the killer fired a shot into the victim’s leg, sprinted up a flight of steps and then fired four more extremely accurate shots at the victim. After shooting the victim, the murderer apparently made a quick getaway before anyone could get a good look at him. Edward Ates, the man accused of the crime, argued that at 5’8” and approximately three-hundred pounds, he was simply too fat to have pulled the crime off in such a manner. Mr. Ates presented experts that testified that his physical condition would have rendered him unable to steadily fire four shots at the victim after running up a flight of steps because he would have been out of breath and his hands and legs would have been shaking due to the physical stress such an act would place on his body. He also argued that he would have been physically unable to drive for twenty-one straight hours to get back to his home in Florida, which the prosecution alleged was the case, after shooting the victim because his obesity would have prevented him from doing so. Unfortunately for Mr. Ates, this defense carried no weight (no pun intended) with the jury, and he was convicted of first-degree murder.

Tennessee law holds that first-degree murder can encompass three types of criminal activity:

1. “A premeditated and intentional killing of another;


2. A killing of another committed in the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate any first degree murder, act of terrorism, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, theft, kidnapping, aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, rape of a child, aggravated rape of a child or aircraft piracy; or


3. A killing of another committed as the result of the unlawful throwing, placing or discharging of a destructive device or bomb.”

Continue reading "Man's "Too Fat to Kill" Defense Fails" »

The issue of children being tried as adults is one of the most controversial aspects of criminal law. There is an obvious tension between punishing the offender based on the severity of offense and protecting an offender whose youth and immaturity may dictate that he or she did not fully understand the consequences of his or her actions or possess the requisite intent. In order to try to balance this tension, Tennessee law allows a juvenile to be transferred from juvenile court to be tried as an adult, but only in limited circumstances. This is part of a comprehensive endeavor by Tennessee to define at what age a citizen could, and should, be considered capable of possessing the mental ability and requisite intent to commit a crime.

Any person who is under seven years of age in Tennessee is conclusively presumed to not be accountable for their actions. This applies regardless of the offense and is not an absolute rule. Persons between the ages of seven and fourteen are presumed to be incapable of committing a crime, but that presumption can be overcome if the circumstances show that the offender was clearly able to distinguish between good and evil at the time of the offense. A person above the age of fourteen is considered capable of distinguishing between right and wrong unless the circumstances indicate otherwise. Between the ages of seven and eighteen, any offender who is charged with a juvenile crime in East Tennessee will be handled by the juvenile court system unless they are transferred to a criminal court and tried as an adult.

T.C.A. section 37-1-134 sets out the requirements for an offender to be transferred from juvenile court to a criminal court to be tried as an adult. First, the offender must have been sixteen years-old or older at the time of the offense unless the offender is charged with “first degree murder, second degree murder, rape, aggravated rape, rape of a child, aggravated robbery, especially aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping or especially aggravated kidnapping or an attempt to commit any such offenses,” in which case the offender can be tried as an adult at any age (excluding children seven years-old and younger, see above). Second, a hearing on the transfer must be conducted in conformity with applicable law. Third, reasonable notice must be given to the child and the child’s legal guardian prior to the hearing. Fourth, the court must find that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the child committed the delinquent act(s) as alleged, the child is not committable to an institution for the developmentally disabled or mentally ill, and the interests of the community require that the child be put under legal restraint or discipline. The statute includes a list of factors the court can consider in making this determination.

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One aspect of the criminal justice system that is discussed far too little is the importance of courtroom behavior, specifically as it pertains to being respectful to the judge and other court officials. The most obvious reason one should always treat the judge with respect is that the judge is in charge of the courtroom and the proceedings that take place in that courtroom, and a defendant will not garner any favor with the person in charge of it all by being rude or belligerent. Another reason to behave appropriately is that bad behavior in the courtroom that reaches the level of contempt can be punished with jail time or a fine, possibly both. Trials are often contentious and heated, such is the nature of the adversarial system. Understandably, defendants will at times be unhappy or frustrated with the proceedings or the judge in charge of the proceedings and will feel the need to express their displeasure. Acceptable means of expressing displeasure in the courtroom include frowning, grimacing, or even crying. Unacceptable means of expressing displeasure include, but are not limited to, shouting, cursing, and giving the judge “the finger.”'

An Illinois man learned this lesson the hard way recently when he felt inclined to salute the judge in such a fashion while in court on home-invasion charges. Apparently, the man was instructed to raise his right hand to be sworn in before the court and elected to only raise part of it. No doubt this maneuver impressed friends and family alike, but the judge was not amused. Upon seeing the gesture, the assistant state’s attorney asked that the man be found in contempt of court, and the judge complied with the request. He was given six months in jail for his unfortunate method of self-expression.

T.C.A. section 29-9-102 gives a judge the power to find someone in contempt in any of the following circumstances:

1. “The willful misbehavior of any person in the presence of the court, or so near thereto as to obstruct the administration of justice;


2. The willful misbehavior of any of the officers of such courts, in their official transactions;


3. The willful disobedience or resistance of any officer of the such courts, party, juror, witness, or any other person, to any lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command of such courts;


4. Abuse of, or unlawful interference with, the process or proceedings of the court;


5. Willfully conversing with jurors in relation to the merits of the cause in the trial of which they are engaged, or otherwise tampering with them; or


6. Any other act or omission declared a contempt by law.”

Continue reading "Man Gives Judge the Middle Finger, Gets Six Months in Jail" »

In modern society, debates rage about which methods of discipline are appropriate for parents to use with their children. Most of the debate is focused on the ethics of spanking versus non-physical means of punishment and proponents of both sides differ as to what is acceptable and what amounts to going too far. In an effort to define with greater clarity what does indeed “go too far,” an Iraqi immigrant father living in Arizona recently ran his daughter over with the family car because he felt she was becoming too Americanized. The dad was apparently upset that the daughter was not living in comport with traditional Iraqi values and thus ran her over with the belief that she had caused the family too much dishonor to be allowed to live. He was later arrested at the Atlanta airport, but there is no word yet on what charges he will face. As of the writing of this article, the daughter remains hospitalized.

In Tennessee, the father would be looking at a litany of charges, most notably some sort of attempted murder charge (assuming the victim does not die from the injuries) depending on the circumstances surrounding the incident and the father’s mental state. Criminal attempt is an “inchoate offense,” which basically means that the person charged is accused of acting with the intent to commit the offense or attempting to commit the offense but did not actually follow through with the commission of the offense in such a manner that the offense attempted can be charged. For example, the father in this case allegedly attempted to kill his daughter by running over her with his vehicle and took steps to accomplish that goal. If the father’s plan would have been successful, he would have been guilty of murder. However, if the daughter does not die as a result of the attack, one of the necessary elements of a murder charge, a “killing,” is absent under the circumstances. Thus, the father can only be charged with attempted murder.

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A Wisconsin woman recently took the idea of “doing your civic duty” to a whole new level. Noticing that there was a drunk driver on the road, the woman immediately called to report the offender to emergency services. The 911 operator was shocked to find that the woman reported that the drunk driver was none other than herself, responding to the question of, “Are you behind them?”, with the reply of, “I am them.” The dispatcher recommended the woman pull over, and she obliged. She was later charged with driving drunk and operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of .1 or more. While her voluntary confession did not result in her being able to avoid the charges altogether, it may aid her in obtaining a more lenient punishment from the court.

In Tennessee, a person can be charged with driving under the influence under T.C.A. section 55-10-401 if they are operating an automobile or other motor-driven vehicle while:

1. “Under the influence of any intoxicant, marijuana, narcotic drug, or drug producing stimulating effects on the central nervous system; or


2. The alcohol concentration in the person's blood or breath is eight-hundredths of one percent (.08 %) or more.”

While self-reporting may not help you avoid a DUI charge in Tennessee, it can help mitigate the penalty imposed for the offense. The penalties for DUI in Tennessee range from misdemeanors to serious felony charges based on the circumstances surrounding the offense and the number of times a particular offender has been arrested for driving under the influence. Thus, a DUI conviction can be accompanied by stiff consequences, such as a decade or more of imprisonment.

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Life is full of surprises. One can go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in a matter of seconds. One minute you can be living the good life, ruling the road in your motorized recliner, and the next thing you know you are getting bushwhacked by a parked car. To make matters worse, the ambush could lead to your arrest for driving under the influence while not causing you serious enough injury for anyone to feel bad about making fun of you. While this hypothetical situation may seem far-fetched, it is exactly the scenario in which a Minnesota man found himself in August of 2008 and resulted in him pleading guilty recently to the charge of driving under the influence.

While it may seem odd to be charged with driving under the influence from the comfort of your easy chair, Tennessee law allows the offense to be charged against anyone who operates a “motor driven” vehicle while the alcohol concentration in the person’s breath or blood is .08% or more. The recliner in this case had been equipped with a converted lawnmower motor, steering wheel, stereo system, and cup holders, so the Tennessee statute clearly would apply to the vehicle. Also, the man’s blood alcohol content was allegedly .29% at the time of the offense, almost four times the legal limit in Tennessee. Although it seems rare that someone would be charged with a DUI on a piece of furniture, the Tennessee statute is drafted so that such activity is actually covered. Citizens would be well-advised to learn more information on the penalties for DUI in Tennessee.

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