Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

One would imagine that life as a trucker would get pretty boring sometimes. Driving across America alone, day after day, for hours at a time with nothing to do would certainly leave one desiring to find some ways to pass the time. Forty-five year-old Thomas M. Wallace, a truck driver from Ohio, certainly knows how dull life on the road can be, so he decided to spice his journeys up a little bit by watching some pornography on his laptop computer while he drove to his next destination. Unfortunately, someone who is watching pornography probably isn’t watching the road and so Wallace apparently didn’t notice that he had veered off the roadway and into the shoulder. By the time he noticed, it was too late and he crashed into thirty-three year-old Julie Stratton who had pulled into the shoulder, killing her. Wallace recently pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to three to nine years in prison.

Continue reading "Trucker Hits, Kills Woman While Watching Pornography" »

Another Knoxville bar has been closed down under the nuisance law, resulting in the arrest of five patrons on whom police found an assortment of illegal drugs. The following patrons were cited for the following charges:

• Michael Penrod for sale or delivery of schedule II drugs • Michael Brown for sale or delivery of schedule I drugs, possession of schedule II drugs for resale and possession of schedule IV drugs for resale • Dean Koss for possession of schedule II drugs for resale • Wayne Sherrod for possession of schedule II drugs for resale • Jennifer Evans cited for possession of drug paraphernalia

Continue reading "Drug Bust Made at Knoxville Bar" »

Every week, many Tennesseans all across the state are charged with drug or other offenses as a result of evidence uncovered by law enforcement officials pursuant to a routine traffic stop. In many such stops, the defendants feel like they have to allow the officers to search their car upon request, which simply isn’t true. Absent such consent, a search can only be conducted if the stop itself was valid (the officer must have reasonable suspicion to make the stop) and the officer has probable cause to conduct the search during the stop. Where a vehicle search is conducted and evidence of a crime is found, a defendant can face serious charges. The ability to prove that the stop was invalid can lead to suppression of the evidence and possibly result in the charges against the defendant being dropped.

Continue reading "Challenging Vehicle Searches Resulting From Traffic Stops" »

Twenty-one year-old Jeffrey Brian-Edward Wills of Mosheim, Tennessee is facing several charges after authorities say he intentionally ran the SUV of nineteen year-old Jackie Ricker of Rheatown off the road, causing Ms. Ricker to be killed in the wreck. Mr. Wills was reportedly driving at a high rate of speed when he intentionally hit the Ford Explorer driven by Ms. Ricker, causing her car to drive into an embankment. Ms. Ricker was killed in the crash and two of her passengers, 31-year-old Sammy Shanks of Greeneville and 29-year-old Nancy Wills of Rheatown were injured and taken to Johnson City Medical Center. The personal injury ramifications of this situation are discussed here.

Continue reading "Greene County Man Facing Vehicular Homicide Charge" »

When most people think of the crime of kidnapping, they envision someone being abducted from their home and taken to some remote location and held for ransom. In the real world, however, kidnapping scenarios often don't play out that way and Tennessee law allows for kidnapping to be charged when the period of confinement is as short as a few seconds.

In Tennessee, kidnapping is defined as knowingly removing or confining another person unlawfully so as to interfere substantially with that person's liberty (this is the definition of the offense of false imprisonment) under circumstances that expose that person to substantial risk of bodily injury (this additional element is what turns false imprisonment into kidnapping). It is noteworthy then, that there is no duration requirement whatsoever and that Tennessee courts have not read one into the statute as of yet.

Continue reading "No Period of Confinement is Too Small for Kidnapping Charge" »

Any parent knows that few things get the blood pumping like the sporting events of one’s children. Many a dispute takes place every year between parents or between a parent and a coach over issues such as kids being too rough, lack of playing time, etc. Unfortunately such disputes often turn physical and one or more of the adults makes a poor decision and ends up facing criminal charges. Such is the case with 43-year-old John Paul Gomoljack who was reportedly arrested on Tuesday for allegedly pushing and striking Heritage Middle School coach Lee Nachand in a dispute over his son’s playing time. At the time of the arrest, Gomoljack was apparently booked under the wrong name and did not notify authorities that the name was incorrect, according to this article. He has been charged with assault.

Continue reading "Man Charged with Assault for Punching Coach" »

Unless you are Santa Claus, people probably aren’t going to take kindly to finding you stuck in their chimney. In fact, doing so will probably earn you a host of criminal charges just as it has for twenty-two year-old William Hussey of Chapel Hill, North Carolina who was found stuck in a chimney in South Knoxville early last Friday morning. There is no indication of exactly why the man decided to try to go through the chimney at around midnight on Friday but he apparently got stuck and rescue workers had to use rope to hoist him to safety. They also found his vehicle in the driveway of the home with seven cans of gasoline sitting inside. There is no word of what his plans were for the gasoline. He is charged with public intoxication, vandalism, and aggravated trespassing. Hussey told officers that it was not his intention to hurt anyone and that he was having mental issues.

Continue reading "Knoxville Man Found Stuck in Chimney" »

Last month, twenty year-old Jacob Hurst of Tazewell, TN and his nineteen year-old female companion were arrested as suspects in connection with multiple burglaries that had recently taken place in Claiborne County after a routine traffic stop and ensuing vehicle search uncovered a significant amount of cash and other valuables that were believed to have been taken during the robberies. Apparently, a full-scale investigation was launched into the robberies after the evidence was uncovered during the stop and the authorities now believe that Mr. Hurst and his companion were responsible for the slew of robberies. The robberies are now considered “solved” according to reports.

Continue reading "Traffic Stop Results in Burglary Arrests" »

Social media is all the rage nowadays, and the website Facebook has quickly become one of the most popular websites in the world. The website is so popular, in fact, that many people are becoming addicted to it, feeling the need to check their Facebook at all hours of the day and night regardless of where they are. For an example of how devoted people are becoming to this website, look at the example provided by nineteen year-old Douglas Wilgo of Beverly, Massachusetts. Mr. Wilgo was allegedly in the process of burglarizing a Massachusetts apartment when the urge to check his Facebook overcame him. He promptly used the homeowner’s computer to log in to Facebook, took care of all pressing Facebook matters, and then left the apartment without signing out or logging off. Thus, when police arrived to investigate the burglary, they found the alleged suspect still signed into Facebook on the homeowner’s computer and had no trouble tracking Mr. Wilgo down from there. Making the arrest even easier was the fact that Mr. Wilgo was apparently walking a dog that he had taken from the apartment at the time of his arrest.

Continue reading "Facebook Mishap Leads to Arrest" »

A major theme underlying Tennessee’s criminal code is that it is designed to protect Tennesseans from harm, especially serious harm such as death or serious bodily injury. For example, Tennessee’s criminal code would be doing Tennesseans a disservice if it were to punish them with a criminal charge, such as assault, for taking an action that ordinarily may be a criminal act but in the instant case actually operates to protect someone from even greater harm. For example, it would ordinarily be a crime to shove someone out a window, but such an act may not be criminal if it was done in order to get that person out of a burning house. Thus, Tennessee law contains the doctrine of necessity in order to distinguish criminal acts from those helpful acts society wants to encourage.

Continue reading "The Defense of Necessity" »

An attempted software update by a third-party vendor went horribly wrong and has resulted in the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department losing over 1,300 dashboard camera videos that were taken from cameras mounted inside its police cruisers. While most of the lost footage would have depicted routine traffic stops, some footage of DUI stops was also lost, according to a Metro police spokesman. The loss of DUI footage will have a substantial impact on both the state and the defendant in cases affected by the lost video.

Continue reading "Over 1,300 Dashboard Camera Videos Erased From Metro Police Database" »

On the heels of yesterday's blog article discussing the offense of custodial interference in Tennessee comes a possible real-life example of custodial interference pertaining to the taking of two Crossville children, 2 year-old Anna Shuey and 5 year-old Kylie Shuey, by their biological father, Richard Shuey, from the apparent custody of the childrens' grandmother. It should be noted that all of the facts surrounding this situation are not known and that this case is merely being analyzed in this blog as a possible case of custodial interference. Mr. Shuey is innocent of any and all crimes until his guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Continue reading "Endangered Child Alert Issued for Crossville Children" »