Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Finds Career Criminal Not Entitled to Alternative Sentencing

by Bryan Hoss

• State of Tennessee v. William Henry Wiggins

The defendant, William Henry Wiggins, was convicted in Davidson County Circuit Court of felony possession of a controlled substance, in this case oxycodone, and a violation of the state’s sex offender registry. He was ordered to serve a six-year sentence in prison which he then appealed claiming insufficient evidence and an excessive punishment. The Court of Criminal Appeals reviewed the case and affirmed the trial court’s initial decision. 

When Wiggins was indicted for possession and a sex offender registry violation the grand jury indictment indicated his five prior convictions for unlawful possession of a controlled substance. The evidence presented at trial consisted of testimony by officers that they observed a car where Wiggins was the passenger cruising a gas station in search of drugs. When the officers pulled the car over and ran the driver’s and passenger’s names against their database they discovered Wiggins had a warrant out for a sex offender registration violation. When he was arrested, Wiggins admitted to having some pain pills given to him by the driver of the car in exchange for gas money. 

On appeal Wiggins claimed that the state failed to show that he knowingly possessed a controlled substance, believing them to be “pain pills” and not a controlled narcotic. The Court pointed out that Wiggins did not dispute that he possessed the pills or that oxycodone is a controlled substance, he only claimed that he did not know what he was given was oxycodone. The Court disagreed, citing evidence of a prescription label found in the car Wiggins was arrested in and Wiggins’ own statements to officers concerning the pills he had in his pocket. 

Regarding Wiggins’ contention that the length of confinement was too severe, the Court noted that the trial court found him to be a Range III, career criminal and thus not a good candidate for alterative sentencing. The trial court considered the possibility of probation but rejected it in favor of the minimum prison sentence allowed for his crimes. The Court of Criminal Appeals noted that Wiggins does not admit to having a drug problem, making rehabilitation next to impossible. Given his status as a career criminal, the Court found Wiggins’ initial sentence proper.

To read the full opinion, click here.

Earlier:

Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Discusses Factors for Determining Whether a Plea was Voluntary and Intelligent

TN Court of Criminal Appeals Finds Video Must Be Reviewed by Trial Court

6th Circuit Appeals Court Upholds Child Pornographer’s Life Sentence

by Lee Davis

• UNITED STATES v. STEPHEN LYNN HAMMONDS

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the life sentence of a Jackson, Tennessee man who pleaded guilty to the sexual exploitation of minors and in trafficking child pornography. Stephen Lynn Hammonds, 45, argued on appeal that his 2010 sentence by U.S. District Court Judge Bernice Donald of Memphis was unreasonable and excessive.

Hammonds argued that mandatory guidelines imposed a sentence that was too harsh for the crime that was committed. Hammonds was originally arrested as part of a larger sting operation in 2009 by the Memphis office of the FBI. 

According to court records, Hammonds told FBI agents (posing as children) that he wanted to meet and have sex with them and that he had done so in the past on multiple occasions with his own teenage stepdaughter. Agents with a warrant searched his home and found dozens of files containing child pornography. He then pled guilty to federal charges six months later. 

This wasn’t Hammonds’ first time in trouble with the law. In 1998 he was arrested on charges of statutory rape and incest with a young girl between the ages of 13 and 15. This previous convicted served to enhance the guidelines for his federal punishment and led to his life imprisonment. 

In his appeal he pointed to a psychologist’s report saying that he was only a medium-low risk of reoffending and he had accepted responsibility for his actions and even helped agents find and convict another child pornographer. 

The government argued that Hammonds had bragged about his earlier conviction for incest and used it while looking for new targets of abuse. Judge Donald declared Hammonds to be “particularly dangerous” and deemed him beyond the point of rehabilitation. She said that he needed to be permanently separated from society and the children he might place at risk.

Writing for a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Judge Julia Gibbons said Judge Donald did not abuse her discretion in doling out the tough sentence. “The district court did consider the mitigating factors in the case,” Gibbons said, “but found, appropriately and within its discretion, that concerns about the seriousness of the crime and the need to protect the public were paramount.”


Here is the full opinion of the court: United States v. Stephen Hammonds.

Read: “Federal appeals court upholds Tennessee child porn trafficker’s life sentence,” by Lawrence Buser, published at CommercialAppeal.com.

Earlier:

U.S. Supreme Court Permits Strip Searches of Any Inmate No Matter the Crime

Supreme Court decides two important cases affecting attorneys obligations to clients

Thirty-Seven Charges of Sexual Battery by an authority figure Reversed by Court of Appeals

• STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JIMMY DALE QUALLS

Judge Norma McGee Ogle of the Court of Criminal Appeals released an opinion today that reverses Hardeman County convictions of Jimmy Qualls for 37 counts of sexual battery by an authority figure. The problem with the trial and the reason for the reversal was because of the failure of the state to make an election of offenses.  Added to the state's failure was the failure of the trial court to cure the problem.  In its simplest terms, where the state alleges criminal sexual acts over a span of time, the state must specify (elect) what acts it is asking the jury to convict upon.  A general or vague accusation insufficient. 

This requirement of election is for five stated purposes: (1) it enables the defendant to prepare for the specific charge; (2) it protects a defendant against double jeopardy; (3) it ensures the jurors’ deliberation over and their return of a verdict based upon the same offense; (4) it enables the trial judge to review the weight of the evidence in its role as the thirteenth juror; and (5) it enables an appellate court to review the legal sufficiency of the evidence.

Here the state approached the case with a grab bag theory of justice. It alleged many bad acts over several months and it left it up to the jury to figure out what acts went with what dates. The Court recognized the problem with this approach. 

To illustrate the operation of this theory, in any given case the State could present proof on as many offenses within the alleged period as it chose. Because all such offenses will have been “proven,” the jury may, in effect, reach into the brimming bag of offenses and pull out one for each count. Even when done by this method, the argument goes, each offense will have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. We acknowledge that the illustration is an extreme one, but we think it makes the point: such an approach is contrary to our law.

Based on the state's failure to elect appropriate offenses, the Court reversed the convictions and has ordered a new trial.

Tennessee Sex Offender Act Applies to Other State Convictions Prior to Act's Passage

• JOHN DOE, alias a Citizen and resident of Hamilton County, Tennessee, v. MARK GWYN, TBI

The Tennessee Court of Appeals held that the TN Sex Offender Act applies to people living in TN convicted of crimes from other jurisdictions prior to the Act's existence.  At issue here is the civil declaratory action taken by one such affected individual.  A John Doe plaintiff filed suit seeking to show that the act was unconstitutional.  Of particular force was the argument that of the crimes that Mr. Doe pleaded guilty to, he was not required to register as a sex offender in his home state at the time, nor would he have been required to register in TN then, as the law then did not require registration.  The law changed in 2004 and now Tennessee law requires registration not only for current sex offenders but also for people from other states now living in TN and from earlier convictions as listed in the act.


The Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling of Chancellor Frank Brown, Hamilton County on essentially five major points.  They are as follows: 1. Courts have overwhelmingly viewed sexual offender registry statutes as nonpunitive. 2. Mr. Doe has failed to articulate how the registration requirements would uniquely impose disability or restraint on him, as he must to sustain an “as applied” challenge. 3. The court agrees that the Act was enacted to protect the welfare of the people of Tennessee and not to further punish the offenders who are required to register. 4.  The court concludes that there is a clear and rational non-punitive interest in the State of Tennessee’s desire to inform the public of Mr.Doe’s history of sexual offense. 5.  Here, Mr. Doe has not stated any reasons why requiring him to register would be more excessive than for any of the other thousands of sexual offenders registered in Tennessee.