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Criminal Law

Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Covers DUI, Narcotics and Drugs, White Collar Offenses and other Criminal Defense law issues with a focus on Tennessee State law.
By Baker Associates

Post Frequency: 5.4/day

Last Entry: March 31, 2011 at 00:14:19

Appealing a Conviction

Posted on November 10, 2010
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...

The Right to Remain Silent

Posted on November 08, 2010
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...

Man Released on Bond Allegedly Strikes Again

Posted on November 05, 2010
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...

Police Claim Man Confessed to Killing of Pastor

Posted on November 04, 2010
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...

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Criminal Harassment in Tennessee

Posted on November 02, 2010
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...

Jacques Smith Charged with Assault

Posted on November 01, 2010
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...

Drug Roundup Takes Place in Claiborne County

Posted on October 29, 2010
According to reports, a major ?drug roundup? got underway in Claiborne County this morning when officers with the Claiborne County Sheriff's Office, Tazewell Police Department and agents with the Eighth Judicial Drug Task Force began executing capias warrants that were issued by the Claiborne County Grand Jury against 26 suspected drug dealers...

Man Accused of Heaving Corn Dog at Girlfriend

Posted on October 28, 2010
Corn dogs are among the most polarizing of foods: some people absolutely love them and view them as a guilty pleasure, and some people, like yours truly, view them as the ruination of what might otherwise be a perfectly good hot dog. Regardless of your opinion of the taste quality or nutritional value of corn dogs, however, it is never a good idea to chuck them at someone during an argument...

Felony Murder: Attempt

Posted on October 26, 2010
The ?felony murder? rule is a hotly debated topic in the criminal law arena and is an argument that has proponents with strong convictions on both sides of the aisle. Simply put, states that follow the ?felony murder? rule allow a defendant to be charged with first degree murder if he or she causes the death of another person while committing or attempting to commit certain types of felonies...

Plea Bargaining Can Prove Tricky

Posted on October 25, 2010
Court records and appeals briefs are littered with examples of criminal defendants who claim to have been caught by surprise after agreeing to one or more onerous conditions as a result of entering into a plea bargain. A plea bargain can be a fantastic tool for a defendant to use in order to be able to avoid a lengthy period of incarceration, but it can also contain provisions that greatly enhance a person?s sentence if convicted later down the road...

Bond Factors: Nature of the Offense

Posted on October 22, 2010
This blog constitutes yet another installment in our series on bail and the factors that judges, clerks, or magistrates consider when deciding to grant a defendant his or her release on bail and what amount. Almost every offense is a bailable offense under Tennessee state law (the exception being capital offenses where the evidence is overwhelming or the presumption of guilt is great) so the factors discussed in this blog primarily shed light on the amount at which bail will be set...

Bond Factors: Criminal History

Posted on October 21, 2010
In this installment of our series dealing with bond factors, we will take a look at one of the most important factors dictating whether or not an individual is allowed to post bond and at what amount: the accused?s criminal history. As discussed in previous blogs, the primary purpose of allowing the accused to post bond is to allow them to await their court date with some semblance of freedom while ensuring that such individuals arrive back at court for their court date...

Bond Factors: Family Ties

Posted on October 20, 2010
As mentioned in our previous two blogs, this blog is part of a series looking at some of the many factors a magistrate, judge, or clerk will consider when deciding whether to release a defendant on bail and how to calculate the bail amount. The concept of bond was invented to allow the defendant to avoid having to remain incarcerated until his or her court date while ensuring that he or she will show up to court and answer to the charges that have been levied against him or her...

Bond Factors: Length of Residence in the Community

Posted on October 19, 2010
As promised in our previous criminal law blog, this and upcoming articles will focus on some of the factors courts look at when deciding whether or not to release a defendant on bail and how high to set the bail amount. The purpose of requiring a defendant to post bond is to allow the defendant to avoid having to sit in jail until the court date while ensuring that he or she will return to court when required to answer for the charges that have been levied against him or her...

Is My Bail Set Too High?

Posted on October 15, 2010
Criminal defense attorneys often deal with the issue of clients believing that their bail is set too high given the circumstances for which they are detained. The truth of the matter is that judges and magistrates are given a great deal of discretion in setting bail amounts and would probably prefer to err on the side of setting it too high to avoid endangering society or allowing the defendant to flee the state or country if it is set too low and he or she happens to be a flight risk...

Woman Faces Criminal Charges After Letting Son Drive

Posted on October 13, 2010
A McMinn county mother is facing criminal charges, including contributing to the delinquency of a minor, after she let her twelve year-old son drive on a county road with his neighbor as a passenger. According to reports, this is not the first time Nancy Poteet, the mother of the boy, has allowed her son to drive the family vehicle, but it may be the first time he has ever wrecked while doing so...

Drug Offenses- Conspiracy

Posted on October 12, 2010
Very rarely is it the case that a person grows, cultivates, or manufactures his or her own illegal drugs and then sells them to consumers on the streets. Thus, it is almost always the case that two or more people have to work together to produce and distribute illegal drugs...

Lack of Evidence

Posted on October 11, 2010
If the O.J. Simpson trial taught you anything, it is that the evidence in a criminal case is sometimes simply insufficient to sustain a conviction. While cases with extremely weak evidence are frequently abandoned prior to proceeding to trial, such cases do occasionally make their way to the trial stage at which point the state has to attempt to sell its extremely weak case to the jury...

Tennessee?s Highest Court Rejects Intoxication Instruction

Posted on October 08, 2010
It is no secret that voluntary intoxication rarely leads to intelligent decisions. In fact, it is primarily responsible for a large amount of violent and vehicular crime that finds its way to the criminal courts of Tennessee on a daily basis. Almost daily in Tennessee, one could go to any court in any county and hear someone plead voluntary intoxication as a defense or use it as a justification for his or her criminal behavior...

Police Fear Attempted Murder as Goal in Truck Tampering

Posted on October 07, 2010
A reward is reportedly being offered for any information leading to the arrest of the individual who tempered with a Williamsburg, Kentucky police officer?s truck in an apparent effort to kill him. The incident occurred in early August when Officer Shawn Jackson lost control of his pickup on Highway 25W and ran off the road...

Knoxville Teenager Reports Attempted Kidnapping

Posted on October 06, 2010
A fifteen year-old Knoxville girl contacted authorities yesterday afternoon to report an attempted kidnapping that occurred shortly after she got off the school bus. According to the teen, she got off the bus at around 5 p.m. at the intersection of Gap Road and Bonny Avenue, when she noticed a dark red truck speeding toward her...

First-Degree Murder Trial of Accused Mall Shooter Gets Underway Today

Posted on October 04, 2010
Today marked the start of the first-degree murder trial of William Johnson, the man who is accused of opening fire inside Reno Menswear, a department store located in Knoxville Center Mall (formerly known as East Towne Mall) in October of 2008, killing a store employee...

Men Get Naked, Expose Themselves to Tigers

Posted on October 01, 2010
No matter how great your life is, there comes a time when you are going to have a bad day. Everyone reaches a boiling point where they have had enough and need to blow off some steam. People choose to do this in different ways; some folks take martial arts classes, some go out and hit the town, and some, like Jake B...

Lack of Notice gets Life Sentence Overturned

Posted on September 30, 2010
Notice is an extremely important concept in American criminal law, the basic premise being that no person should be imprisoned or otherwise punished without at least some sort of warning that something bad is about to befall them. Tennessee?s criminal justice framework places a very high premium on the concept of notice by requiring that it be given in certain situations where the state seeks to enhance a defendant?s sentence...

Morristown Man Charged with Evidence Tampering

Posted on September 29, 2010
22-year-old James Adam Grant of Morristown, Tennessee, who is currently incarcerated on other charges, was charged today with evidence tampering for moving the body of 27 year-old Megan Lynn Ratliff to a vacant house, where it was found Sunday night...

Drunken Driver Found Guilty of Murder in Death of Baseball Player

Posted on September 28, 2010
Andrew Thomas Gallo of California is facing fifty years to life after he ran a red light while driving drunk on April 9, 2009 and killed three people, including Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Nick Adenhart. Gallo was reportedly speeding in a minivan, traveling about 65 m...

Search and Seizure in Tennessee

Posted on September 27, 2010
Many drug-related and other criminal offenses hinge on the fact that a search was conducted of the defendant's home or automobile that revealed the presence of drugs, drug paraphernalia, or some other evidence of criminal activity that was incriminating for the defendant...

Tennessee's Driver Points System

Posted on September 21, 2010
Speeding and other minor traffic violations are much like downloading free music or fudging the numbers on one's income taxes in that those who do it know it's wrong but are hoping that there are so many people doing the same thing, hopefully to a greater degree, that the individual will not get caught...

Alternative Sentencing Advantageous for Vols Football Player

Posted on September 15, 2010
Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Da?Rick Rogers caught a big break this week when prosecutors dropped charges against Rogers in exchange for Rogers?s agreement to completion of a minimal amount of community service time. Rogers was facing resisting arrest and disorderly conduct charges following a bar brawl in Knoxville that sent an off-duty policeman to the hospital...

Greenback Woman Facing Charges for TennCare Fraud

Posted on September 13, 2010
Fifty-four year-old Mary Shaffer of Greenback, Tennessee is facing thirteen counts of TennCare fraud and fourteen counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and identity theft after authorities say she used a relative?s forged prescriptions to obtain Hydrocodone...

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