State v. Forshun Miller

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT JACKSON

APRIL 1997 SESSION FILED July 25, 1997

Cecil Crowson, Jr. Appellate C ourt Clerk

STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) NO. 02C01-9607-CC-00210 ) Appellee ) MADISON COUNTY ) V. ) HON. FRANKLIN MURCHISON, ) JUDGE FORSHUN DELAINE MILLER ) a.k.a. SHAWN MILLER, ) (Probation Revocation) ) Appellant ) )

FOR THE APPELLANT FOR THE APPELLEE

George Morton Googe John Knox Walkup District Public Defender Attorney General and Reporter 227 West Baltimore 450 James Robertson Parkway Jackson, Tennessee 38301 Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0493

Pamela J. Drewery Clinton J. Morgan Assistant Public Defender Assistant Attorney General 227 West Baltimore 450 James Robertson Parkway Jackson, Tennessee 38301 Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0493

James G. Woodall District Attorney General 225 Martin Luther King Dr. Jackson, Tennessee 38302-2825

Lawrence E. Nicola Assistant District Attorney General 225 Martin Luther King Dr. Jackson, Tennessee 38302-2825

OPINION FILED:______

AFFIRMED - RULE 20 ORDER

William M. Barker, Judge

ORDER

The Appellant, Forshun Delaine Miller, appeals as of right the judgment of the Madison County Criminal Court which revoked his probation. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

On March 5, 1992, a judgment of conviction was entered finding the appellant guilty of attempted arson following his plea of guilty. He was sentenced to a term of four years to be served on probation. Later, on March 9, 1993, the appellant was placed upon intensive probation for his failure to report to his probation officer as previously directed. He was also required to submit to random drug screens. Additionally, in 1993 the appellant was found guilty of possession of cocaine for resale. He was sentenced to eight years, to be served on probation consecutively to the prior attempted arson sentence, for a total probation period of twelve years.

On April 14, 1994, a probation violation was filed and an arrest order issued. The appellant, however, could not be located until 1996, and the revocation hearing was conducted on March 5, 1996. Following that hearing, the trial court found that the appellant had violated the terms of his probation and revoked his probation and ordered the appellant to serve his full twelve-year sentence in the Tennessee Department of Correction.

The decision to revoke a suspended sentence rests in the sound discretion of the trial court. On appeal, the findings of the trial court are entitled to the weight of a jury verdict, and the appellant has the burden to demonstrate that the record contains no substantial evidence to support the finding of the trial court that a violation of the conditions of probation has occurred. State v. Wall, 909 S.W.2d 8, 9-10 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1994); State v. Harkins, 811 S.W.2d 79, 82 (Tenn. 1991); State v. Gabel, 914 S.W.2d 562, 564 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1995). Our review of the record on appeal in this case reveals that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it revoked the appellant’s probation and ordered his incarceration. The trial court found that the appellant had violated the terms of his probation by failing to report to his probation *3 officer, failing to allow visits to his home, failing drug screens, and absconding from probation supervision from 1994 until his apprehension in 1996. The record on appeal fully supports the trial court’s findings and its decision to revoke the appellant’s probation.

Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed pursuant to Rule 20 of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.

__________________________ WILLIAM M. BARKER, JUDGE

CONCUR:

__________________________ JOSEPH M. TIPTON, JUDGE

__________________________ DAVID G. HAYES, JUDGE