Nashville Criminal Defense Blog
The criminal appeals process
For many Tennessee residents, the process of appealing a court ruling is a bit unclear. In order for an appellate court to consider an appeal, there must be demonstrable evidence indicating that a grievous error was made during the trial, one that had a large effect...
read moreNashville Conviction Review Unit to uncover wrongful convictions
"We need to be able to look at old cases, especially where someone is claiming that they are wrongfully convicted," says Assistant District Attorney Robert Jones, who leads the Conviction Review Unit at the Nashville District Attorney's office. According to the...
read moreVisiting Tennessee? Understand our reckless driving law
In many states, the offense of reckless driving is limited to a few specific activities. In Tennessee, there are some specific activities that constitute reckless driving, but the overall definition is driving any vehicle "in willful or wanton disregard for the safety...
read moreCould the Brown case mean criminal justice reform in Tennessee?
As you probably know, Governor Bill Haslam granted clemency to Cyntoia Brown. Brown, 30, was sentenced to life in prison after she, a teenage sex trafficking victim, killed a man who paid to have sex with her. Brown had appealed her life sentence after the U.S....
read moreWhy would you appeal a felony conviction?
If you’ve been found guilty of a felony, you might wonder how your trial could’ve gone differently. Paying fines, providing compensation to a victim or their family, serving prison time and parole may all factor into your sentencing. But in some cases, your punishment...
read moreTennessee man wins release, finally, thanks to First Step Act
You may remember the plight of Matthew Charles. Convicted for a crack offense, Charles was lucky enough to be released from prison in 2016, nearly a decade before his term was up. He had been saved -- he thought -- by a reduction in the federal sentencing guidelines'...
read moreThe holidays could find you needing a Tennessee criminal defense
The holiday season is here, and you may be visiting friends or family here in the Nashville area. You could attend plenty of parties and holiday gatherings with those you love, which means you may travel between locations and/or to and from a hotel. During those...
read moreCyntoia Brown to serve 51 years before eligible for parole
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama that sentencing juvenile offenders to life in prison without the possibility of parole violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments. The court had previously ruled that the...
read moreDoes the Constitution’s ‘excessive fines’ clause apply to states?
In 2015, Tyson Timbs pled guilty to heroin charges and sentenced to five years' detention and probation. However, since his 2012 Land Rover was allegedly used to transport the drugs, the state of Indiana seized it as property that had been involved in crime. The...
read moreCan you get a DUI in Tennessee without actually driving?
In Tennessee as in many states, people can be convicted of DUI not because they were actually driving, but because they were in physical control of a motor vehicle. This can potentially lead to some troubling cases. For example, suppose an intoxicated person is found...
read more
