TN Supreme Court Affirms Johnson City Employee Conviction

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DANNY LYNN DAVIS
Today the Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Danny Lynn Davis, an employee of Johnson City.  Davis was convicted in Washington County Criminal Court of theft of property, a Class B felony; official misconduct, a Class E felony; and twenty-five counts of forgery, Class E felonies.  Defendant was employed as the day-to-day coordinator of  Johnson City government.

Davis submitted bids for contracted construction work through Gray Home Improvements (GHI), a company he operated and his wife owned. When the bids were accepted, the Defendant hired subcontractors to perform the work for less than the bid amount and kept the difference for his personal use.

Davis alleged that Johnson City lacked standing to prosecute him for these crimes. The Supreme Court noted that Davis was prosecuted by the State of Tennessee under the State’s criminal code. See T.C.A. § 39-11-103 (2010) (“Every person . . . is liable to punishment by the laws of this state, for an offense committed in this state, except where it is by laws cognizable exclusively in the courts of the United States.”). The Court found that Davis is not entitled to dismissal of the prosecution on this basis.

Davis was sentenced to ten years (theft) and one year for each of the Class E felony convictions, all concurrent, to be served on one year of split confinement and the rest on probation.