Case Law Updates

This is an analysis of the DUI case Tennessee v. Ferguson, where the defendant challenged the constitutionality of the implied consent statute, claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, argued that the trial court erred in admitting the official alcohol report without sufficient evidence of chain of custody, and contended that the trial court should have dismissed the DUI charge against him due to being indicted outside the statute of limitations.

In this case, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee at Knoxville reviewed multiple issues, including sufficiency of evidence, admitting evidence of another murder, testimony in violation of marital privilege, jury-out proceedings overheard from the jury room, and speedy trial concerns. The court ultimately upheld the Defendant's conviction for first-degree murder, finding the evidence sufficient and determining that the trial court did not err in its rulings on the other issues. Notably, the court concluded that the Defendant's constitutional right to a speedy trial was not violated, as much of the delay was attributed to the Defendant's repeated requests for new counsel and no particularized prejudice was shown to have resulted from the delay.

This blog provides a detailed analysis of the factors considered by a Tennessee appellate court in denying judicial diversion to a defendant with a criminal history for reckless driving resulting in a fatal crash.