State of Tennessee v. Darrell Adams

04/09/2019

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT JACKSON

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DARRELL ADAMS

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Shelby County

No. 17-00651 Paula L. Skahan, Judge

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No. W2018-00543-CCA-R3-CD

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The Appellant, Darrell Adams, is appealing the trial court’s denial of his motion to

correct an illegal sentence. The State has filed a motion asking this Court to affirm

pursuant to Court of Criminal Appeals Rule 20. Said motion is hereby granted.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Order of the Trial Court Affirmed Pursuant

to Court of Criminal Appeals Rule 20

ALAN E. GLENN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which JOHN EVERETT

WILLIAMS, P.J., and J. ROSS DYER, J. joined.

J. Shae Atkinson, Memphis, Tennessee, for the Appellant

Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Sophia S. Lee, Senior Assistant

Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In July 2014, the Appellant pled guilty to one count of the unlawful possession of

a firearm by a convicted felon, a Class C felony. The Appellant received an agreed upon

fifteen-year sentence as a Range III Persistent Offender to be served at forty-five percent.

In January 2017, the Appellant filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence. See Tenn. R.

Crim. P. 36.1. The trial court appointed counsel. Following a hearing, the trial court

ultimately denied relief. The Appellant now appeals. In response to the filing of the

record on appeal and the Appellant’s brief, the State has filed a motion to affirm the

ruling of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20. For the reasons stated below, said motion is

hereby granted.

The Appellant’s argument on appeal is, in its entirety: “In the present case,

Appellant alleges that his negotiated sentence is not authorized by the applicable statute

or that his sentence directly contravenes an applicable statute. Appellant alleges that the

bargained for sentence exceeds this States Statutory Maximum for the crime and is illegal

on its face.” The Appellant offers no explanation in support thereof.

Rule 36.1 permits a defendant to seek correction of an unexpired illegal sentence

at any time. See State v. Brown, 479 S.W.3d 200, 211 (Tenn. 2015). “[A]n illegal

sentence is one that is not authorized by the applicable statutes or that directly

contravenes an applicable statute.” Tenn. R. Crim. P. 36.1(a). Our Supreme Court has

interpreted the meaning of “illegal sentence” as defined in Rule 36.1 and concluded that

the definition “is coextensive, and not broader than, the definition of the term in the

habeas corpus context.” State v. Wooden, 478 S.W.3d 585, 594-95 (Tenn. 2015). That

court then reviewed the three categories of sentencing errors: clerical errors (those

arising from a clerical mistake in the judgment sheet), appealable errors (those for which

the Sentencing Act specifically provides a right of direct appeal) and fatal errors (those so

profound as to render a sentence illegal and void). Id. Commenting on appealable errors,

the court stated that those “generally involve attacks on the correctness of the

methodology by which a trial court imposed sentence.” Id. In contrast, fatal errors

include “sentences imposed pursuant to an inapplicable statutory scheme, sentences

designating release eligibility dates where early release is statutorily prohibited, sentences

that are ordered to be served concurrently where statutorily required to be served

consecutively, and sentences not authorized by any statute for the offenses.” Id. The

court held that only fatal errors render sentences illegal. Id. A trial court may summarily

dismiss a Rule 36.1 motion if it does not state a colorable claim for relief. Tenn. R. Crim.

P. 36.1(b)(2).

“[A] plea-bargained sentence is legal so long as it does not exceed the maximum

punishment authorized by the plea offense.” Hoover v. State, 215 S.W.3d 776, 780

(Tenn. 2007). Here, the Appellant pled guilty to the unlawful possession of a firearm by

a convicted felon, a Class C felony. Tenn. Code Ann. 39-17-1307. A Class C felony is

punishable up to fifteen years. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-111(b). A Range III offender

convicted of a Class C felony shall be sentenced between ten and fifteen years. Tenn.

Code Ann. § 40-35-112(c). As the trial court correctly found, the Appellant’s sentence of

fifteen years does not exceed the maximum sentence authorized for a Class C felony.

In light of the discussion above, we conclude the Appellant’s sentence is not

illegal under the terms of Rule 36.1. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying

relief. The ruling of the trial court is therefore affirmed pursuant to Court of Criminal

Appeals Rule 20.

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Judge Alan E. Glenn

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