State of Tennessee v. Ashton Buford, Devante Terrell and Melvin Hopkins
Case Details
- Judge(s)
- Judge Norma McGee Ogle
- Status
- Published
- Procedural Posture
- Appeal from criminal conviction affirmed by appellate court
Related Laws
No specific laws identified for this ruling.
Outcome
The appellate court affirmed the criminal convictions of three defendants for first degree felony murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery, rejecting all appellants' arguments regarding jury instructions, severance, evidence admissibility, and cumulative error.
Excerpt
A Shelby County Criminal Court Jury convicted the Appellants, Ashton Buford, Devante Terrell, and Melvin Hopkins, of two counts each of first degree felony murder one count each of especially aggravated kidnapping, a Class A felony and one count each of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony. The trial court merged the felony murder convictions, and the Appellants received effective sentences of life in confinement. On appeal, the Appellants contend that the trial court erred by deleting "killing" from portions of the jury instructions for first degree felony murder by denying severance motions, admitting evidence of codefendants' statements, and failing to give a limiting instruction in violation of Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968) and by allowing the State to engage in improper jury voir dire and closing arguments. In addition, Appellant Buford contends that the trial court erred by failing to list the elements for the underlying felonies in the jury instructions for first degree felony murder, that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on facilitation of the charged offenses, that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions of first degree felony murder and especially aggravated kidnapping, and that cumulative error warrants a new trial. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties' briefs, we find no reversible error and affirm the judgments of the trial court.
What This Ruling Means
This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.
Similar Rulings
Defendant, Montrell Reid, appeals from his guilty-pleaded convictions for harassment and stalking, both Class A misdemeanors. Under the plea agreement, Defendant agreed to serve eleven months and twenty-nine days for each count, with the sentences to be served consecutively and the manner of service to be determined by the trial court. At sentencing, the trial court denied Defendant's request for probation and ordered that he serve his sentence in confinement. On appeal, Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his request for probation. Following our review, we affirm the trial court's judgments as to the denial of probation, but we remand for a determination of the percentage of service pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-302(d).
The Madison County Grand Jury indicted Defendant, Andre Davis, Jr., for one count each of harassment and aggravated stalking. A jury found Defendant guilty as charged, and the trial court imposed an effective two-year sentence. Defendant appeals and argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. After a careful review of the record and the briefs of the parties, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
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