Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

An apparent drug-dealer passing through Bensalem, Pennsylvania got incredibly unlucky last Saturday when a policeman pulled him over because he thought a GPS unit was blocking the driver’s view of the road. Once the cop had pulled over thirty-two year-old Nestor Luis Merced-Calderon from New York City, he noticed some rubber bands inside the vehicle, which the officer recognized as the type of rubber bands that were commonly used to bind stacks of money and decided to search the vehicle. A search reportedly uncovered a secret compartment in the vehicle that contained twenty-six pounds of cocaine. Calderon was subsequently arrested and is being held on an eight million dollar bond.

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For a criminal defendant, one of the most seemingly insignificant moments at trial occurs when all of the proof has been presented and the judge begins to instruct the jury on the specific elements of the offense with which the defendant has been charged as well as all of the elements for any lesser-included offenses which have been requested and approved for submission to the jury. This process can be lengthy, especially for serious charges such as homicide offenses where the lesser-included offenses are numerous, and may seem extremely repetitive when the trial judge goes through all of the elements of the offenses time and time again. What criminal defendants may not realize, though, is that this is one of the most important parts of the trial and errors during this stage of trial can present an important avenue for criminal defendants to exploit on appeal.

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Most Tennesseans are familiar with the concept of double jeopardy, the principle that is found in both the United States and Tennessee Constitutions and guarantees all citizens that they cannot be put on trial twice for the same offense. While the doctrine seems simple enough, it has applications that extend far beyond what a simple reading of the constitutional language would reveal to the ordinary reader. One such application is particularly relevant in sexual offense cases, such as rape of a child, sexual abuse by an authority figure, statutory rape, etc., where the double jeopardy provisions of the state and federal constitutions often work to prevent the prosecution from charging a defendant multiple times for different stages of the same criminal act.

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For many criminal defendants, one of the worst parts about facing a felony or misdemeanor charge is the prospect that such a charge may stay on that person’s criminal record for the rest of their lifetimes, making it extremely difficult to find certain types of employment, carry a firearm, or enjoy many of the rights and privileges of being a United States citizen that many of us take for granted. In certain situations, there is simply nothing a defendant can do to keep the charge from going on his or her record. Other situations, however, will enable a defendant to have the charged “expunged” or erased from his or her record. One such situation exists where the defendant meets the eligibility requirements for expungement set forth in T.C.A. §40-32-101.

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An often overlooked question with regard to DUI discussion is what type of conduct actually constitutes a DUI. This is defined in Tennessee Code Annotated §55-10-401, which basically provides that it is unlawful to drive or “be in physical control of” a motor-driven vehicle on a public road, highway, alley, or street, or any other place that is frequented by the public while you are:
(1) Under the influence of an intoxicant, marijuana, narcotic, or drug producing stimulating effect on the central nervous system, or
(2) The blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in your breath is eight hundredths of one percent (.08%) or more.
The penalties for violation of this statute are set out later in the Tennessee Code and generally become more severe as a defendant commits more DUI offenses. The punishment methods can vary depending on the circumstances and include jail time, fines, suspension and revocation of a driver’s license, and other forms of punishment such as community service.

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The concept of "lesser included" offenses is an important one in the realm of criminal law. Simply put, a "lesser included" offense is one that has many of the same elements as a more serious offense but is punished to a lesser degree. For instance, if a defendant is charged with first-degree murder, some lesser included offenses would be attempted first degree murder, second-degree murder, attempted second degree murder, etc. Lesser included offenses are so important in the area of criminal law that courts have held that attorneys sometimes provide ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to request jury instructions on lesser included offenses and that lower courts have made prejudicial errors by failing to give instructions on them.

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For most criminal defendants in Tennessee, probation is a welcome alternative to spending time in the county jail or state prison. Although probation is often accompanied by several onerous consequences, such as restricted travel, random drug screens, prohibition from consuming alcohol, anger management or other behavior-related classes, etc., agreeing to serve a probationary sentence is often the only way a defendant can avoid trial and still escape the risk of spending time behind bars. Not every offender is eligible for probation, however, and it is important to know when probation can or cannot be considered as part of a defendant’s sentence.

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One of the more difficult decisions that parents face is at what age their child is old enough to stay at home alone. For many parents, the decision that a kid is mature enough to stay at home alone usually comes when the kid is in their mid to late teens. For twenty-two year-old Joseph Moore of Clarksville, Tennessee that decision was allegedly made when he decided that his three-year old son could hold down the fort while he went out and had a drink or two. Surprisingly, the young boy was not yet ready to be the man of the house and neighbors spotted him a short time later near the road, crying for his mother. When police responded to the scene, they found the boy asleep on a couch inside the house. It is suspected that the boy was given a dose of Benadryl to keep him asleep. Mr. Moore arrived back at the house about an hour after the police came to the scene and reportedly smelled strongly of alcohol. He has been charged with child neglect and was booked into the Montgomery County jail.

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The right to counsel is one of the most fundamental and constitutionally well-protected rights that Americans enjoy. The fundamental premise of the right to counsel is that the law recognizes that attorneys are formally trained in, and are supposed to be intimately familiar with, the law and that citizens have the right to rely on the expertise of attorneys rather than risk incriminating themselves with regard to possible criminal charges. This essentially protects defendants from giving inculpatory statements, such as confessions, or cooperating with something like a warrantless search which may seem to be in the defendant’s best interest at the time but which experienced criminal counsel would know is almost never a good idea.

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Many criminal defendants find themselves in the unfortunate circumstance of pleading guilty or no contest or being convicted by a jury during the initial trial phase of their case. For most defendants, the next logical step is to appeal the conviction whether it is based on technical defects that occurred during the trial or insufficiency of the evidence presented at trial. Appeals from criminal defendants in Tennessee often make their way to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals or Tennessee Supreme Court, where appellants find themselves fighting an uphill battle due to the standard of review employed by those courts.

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One of the biggest obstacles that criminal defense attorneys encounter frequently is figuring out how to suppress, explain, or otherwise avoid a statement that has been given by a criminal suspect to law enforcement officials prior to the suspect consulting with his or her attorney. Suspects often feel like it may help their cause to be overly cooperative with law enforcement officials, and, in fact, many suspects are explicitly informed by the authorities that cooperating will make things go smoother for them or will help them in some way. Occasionally, defendants are even threatened for their refusal or unwillingness to cooperate. The key point for criminal suspects in Tennessee to remember is that you are never under any obligation to give a statement of any kind to law enforcement officials other than for purposes of identifying oneself.

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According to reports, authorities believe that thirty-seven year-old Frank Huber Sumner attacked and robbed an eighty-four year old female victim just hours after being released on his own recognizance due to being arrested for allegedly attacking and robbing a seventy-nine year old woman. He was thus arrested for a second time early Wednesday morning and is being held on a $300,000 bond. It is important to note that Mr. Sumner is presumed innocent of these charges until he is found guilty or admits guilt in a court of law.

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Authorities claim a man has confessed to the killing of a Chattanooga pastor that took place on October 10 of this year. Detective Michael Wenger testified at a preliminary hearing yesterday that twenty-five year-old Antonio Henry and another individual, a teenager, confessed to killing Reverend David Strong at the pastor’s home approximately a month ago. The teenager also reportedly told police that the two defendants intended to rob and kill the pastor. According to reports, Mr. Henry also indicated that he had been sexually abused by Henry in the past. The testimony was enough to meet the state’s burden at the preliminary hearing and the case was bound over to the circuit court for trial.

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Harassment is a term that encompasses a broad spectrum of legal subjects and causes of action. The term usually surfaces in the civil law context in the form of sexual harassment lawsuits brought by people who are harassed at the workplace or discussed in the context of orders of protection, where one party feels threatened as a result of harassment by another party and seeks to prevent further contact with, or abuse by, the other party. In the criminal context, harassment can take many different forms and is punished differently under the law according to what form the harassment takes.

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Current University of Tennessee defensive lineman Jacques Smith was arrested and charged with assault stemming from an incident that occurred in a Knoxville bar on Saturday night. The victim, 21-year-old Allen Lewis, reportedly told officers that he was dancing with a girl when Smith struck him in the head from behind. Lewis stated that he then fell to the ground and said Smith continued to assault him by kicking and punching him. According to reports, the incident involved a dispute over a girl with whom Smith had been in a relationship. I also appears to have been an isolated incident with regard to Smith.

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