One of the most common pieces of evidence used by prosecutors in DUI cases is the result of the defendant’s breathalyzer test. However, a skilled Knox County defense attorney knows that it is not uncommon for breathalyzers to give false readings. While breathalyzer testing is more accurate than other subjective field sobriety tests, breathalyzer tests can still be incorrect or inaccurate.

Breathalyzer Testing

When you are pulled over and the police officer has probable cause that you have been drinking, the officer can administer a breathalyzer test. A breathalyzer test is a chemical test that assesses how much alcohol vapor is on the breath of the individual taking the test. This data generally correlates to an individual’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level.

Tennessee is an implied consent state, meaning that by accepting a driver’s license that grants them the right to operate a vehicle, a driver automatically consents to be subjected to chemical testing when suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. Individuals do have a right to refuse a breathalyzer test, but there are steep consequences for refusal.

Under Tennessee law, the majority of people charged with criminal offenses have the constitutional right to be released on bond while their case works its way through the criminal justice system. There are a few exceptions to this law, such as a case where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty or if the person was a fugitive.

The problem under the current system, however, is that there are many defendants who are unable to come up with the bond amount and end up sitting in jail until their case is resolved one way or another. Tennessee lawmakers are considering changes to the current bond system and have introduced three different bills.

Disparities in the Bond System

As of January 31, 2022, there were 24,264 people being held in Tennessee jails. According to the state’s Department of Corrections, 59 percent of those inmates were being held pre-trial. Critics say the bond system goes against the state’s constitution, which they say promises bail for everyone except those who have been charged with capital offenses.

Drunk driving is punishable by significant penalties. Even a first-time conviction for driving under the influence (DUI) results in a 48-hour mandatory jail sentence, heavy fines, and a one-year license suspension. Second and subsequent DUI convictions are punished even more harshly.

If you or a loved one were charged with drunk driving, contact a DUI defense lawyer for help. Your attorney can evaluate the circumstances of the alleged offense, help you gather evidence, and explore your legal options. Your attorney can also represent you in any legal proceedings resulting from the charges.

Defense Strategies for DUI Charges in Tennessee

Fortunately, being charged with a criminal offense like drunk driving does not mean that the defendant will automatically face penalties for the alleged offense. All criminal defendants are innocent until proven guilty. In a DUI case, the prosecution must prove that the defendant was driving while intoxicated beyond a reasonable doubt. A skilled lawyer may cast doubt on a DUI defendant’s guilt by questioning the validity of the evidence against the defendant.

On January 25, 2022, the “Free All Cannabis for Tennesseans Act” was introduced and assigned to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee for consideration. This could be a game changer for legal medical and recreational cannabis. With 37 states across the country currently having some form of medical cannabis program, Tennessee can soon become number 38. The bill would overhaul current laws making both medical and recreational marijuana legal. Local governments would not be able to override proposed laws, but they could vote to ban the sale within their jurisdictions by a two-thirds vote. Several benefits for consumers could be available in the near future, but familiarizing yourself with all the rules and regulations is key. Until that time, it is important to remember that possession of cannabis is still illegal.

What Happens if You Are Caught With Cannabis in Your Possession?

A conviction on a first offense for marijuana possession under Tennessee law incurs fines of $250.00 for a half-ounce of marijuana or less. Possession will have mandatory fines and up to one year in jail if convicted. Maximum fines can reach up to $2,500. Penalties for possession with intent to distribute starts at $5,000 and will increase with the amount of marijuana found on hand. This is considered a serious offense and is handled as a Class E misdemeanor. Cultivation of 10 plants or less can land someone in prison for up to six years. Larger quantities can increase the time up to 60 years.

Over the last few years, many states around the country have legalized or decriminalized cannabis, making the drug easier to obtain than perhaps ever before. However, you should definitely think twice about bringing marijuana purchased legally in other states into the state of Tennessee, as the penalties for possession can be serious.

If you have ever seen red and blue lights flashing in your rearview mirror, then you are already familiar with the fear and nervousness that being pulled over on the road can invoke. It is never fun to realize that you are being pulled over by the police. 

If you know that you had been drinking prior to getting in the car and driving on the road, then you probably have a sinking feeling in your stomach that you are being pulled over under the suspicion of driving while intoxicated. 

Even so, do you have to tell the police that there is alcohol in your system? And must you participate in a field sobriety test simply because you are asked to step out of your vehicle and consent to the testing? The answers to these questions are important to know in case you find yourself in a situation where you are asked to take the field sobriety test in Tennessee. 

National parks across the United States offer expansive stretches of land full of wildlife and beauty galore. As inviting as national parks are, you are not welcome to enter a park without understanding and adhering to the rules and regulations of the park. 

For instance, in the Tennessee-based parts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, there are certain laws that you must abide by in order to explore all that the park has to offer. If you fail to uphold the legal expectations while in the park, you can run the risk of being charged with a federal crime. 

But what is a federal crime? And what are the laws you must respect when enjoying your time at Great Smoky Mountains National Park? 

Tennessee can be quite a lovely state to visit around the holidays. Whether you are returning home to visit your family or vacationing with friends, your plans almost certainly do not include being arrested. However, situations have a way of getting out of control during what can be a stressful time of year, and visitors to our state do occasionally end up visiting our jails. If this has happened to you, it is of the utmost importance that you do not leave the state without having retained counsel to address the charges. Failure to handle your case in Tennessee can result in a warrant being issued that could get you arrested back home as well. 

How Does Being From Out of State Affect Bond?

Before you can even think about returning home, you will need to get yourself released from jail. This may be a little more difficult for an out-of-state visitor than for a Tennessee resident. The purpose of bond is to guarantee that a defendant will show up to answer for his charges. The idea is that you pay money to the court, and get most of it back when your case concludes. Courts may fear that if they release an out-of-state visitor without a substantial bond, they are likely to return to their home state and never come back. This can result in substantially higher bonds. 

Typically, people out on bond cannot leave the state. With the assistance of an attorney and perhaps a bondsman, you may be able to return home while your case is pending. Always speak with an attorney before leaving Tennessee.

When you own a business, there are a myriad of issues and responsibilities you need to keep abreast of in order to be successful. According to federal and state laws, that also includes making sure that no criminal activity is taking place at your business. Failure to do so could result in criminal charges being brought against you. This is what recently happened to one nightclub owner and two of his managers when they were all convicted by a federal jury of managing drug premises, conspiracy to manage drug premises, and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. 

Details of the Convictions

According to federal prosecutors, the owner ran several popular nightclubs. Prosecutors alleged in their case that one reason for that popularity was that the defendant allowed drug dealers to sell cocaine in the bathrooms of the clubs, resulting in an increase in the clubs’ revenue of between $9 to $12 million. The jury was told that because the owner knew what was going on but continued to allow it because he was profiting by the increased business at his clubs, he was guilty of managing drug premises, along with the other charges. The jury agreed.

Part of the evidence federal prosecutors presented in the case included 17 controlled drug buys at several of the clubs of informants – who were all under the supervision of the FBI – purchasing bags of cocaine from drug dealers who were selling the drugs out of club bathrooms.

There are two clauses in the U.S. Constitution that specifically prohibits governments from retroactively changing punishments for a crime that was previously committed. This clause also bars a government from changing the rules of evidence in a case or punishing conduct that was legal at the time it was committed. These laws are referred to as Ex Post Facto and according to a recent ruling by a federal judge, the state of Tennessee is in violation of this clause for how they have continued to enforce retroactive punishments against sex offenders, including some whose crimes took place decades before the Tennessee sex offender registry law went into effect.  

Federal Lawsuit

In her recent ruling, the judge ordered the removal of eight different men from the state’s sex offender registry list, as well as ordering the state to stop imposing restrictions on what these men can and cannot do, accusing the state of “flouting the Constitution’s guarantees.”

The state’s lawyers argued that the eight men should be kept on the registry in order to prevent future offenses and for the protection of the public. However, in her ruling, the judge pointed out that the state failed to provide any evidence that any of the men posed a threat to the public.

In today’s society, there are all kinds of incidents that can end up escalating into violent confrontations. When this happens, law enforcement may treat at least one of the parties involved as the aggressor. Police do not always arrest the right person in these situations, and they may fail to further investigate the circumstances of the incident.

There are different levels of assault a person can be charged with in Tennessee, with each level carrying different penalties if a person is convicted. If you have been charged with assault, a Union County defense attorney can help.

Simple Assault

Under Tennessee law, a person commits simple assault if any of the following factors exist:

In Tennessee, just like in every other state in the country, the legal drinking age is 21. While it is against the law for anyone under 21 to consume or possess alcohol, the reality is that many do. This is especially true when it comes to college and social life. However, the criminal justice system takes underage drinking seriously and anyone under 21 who is caught with alcohol, especially in drinking and driving situations, faces especially harsh penalties.

Legal BAC in Tennessee

Under Tennessee law, anyone who is 21 years of age or older who has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent is considered legally drunk. However, for anyone under the age of 21, the legal limit is much lower and DUI charges may apply if a person has a BAC of 0.02 percent or higher.

Penalties for Underage DUI

While the penalties for underage DUI may not be as harsh as adult DUI penalties, they still leave a permanent mark on the individual’s criminal record. For drivers who are under 18, the matter is deemed a delinquent act. If the driver is between 18 to 20, the crime is charged as a misdemeanor. Penalties for both categories are the same:

Arrest reports in Tennessee have a new line item that has been added to them. This information lets a person who has been arrested know that in some cases, the charges they face can be expunged from public records. An expungement basically erases all public records of an arrest. Under some circumstances, one may even be granted to expunge any records of a conviction. To find out if you could qualify for an expungement, consider speaking with a Knoxville defense attorney.

Notification of Expungement Possibility

The new information was added to arrest reports as of July 1st under a new law. Many defendants are unaware that they may be able to have their arrests expunged if they meet certain criteria.

Under Tennessee law, in order to petition for an expungement, you must meet certain eligibility requirements. These include:

Autumn is now in full force in Tennessee and that means lots of fun and exciting events for students at the University of Tennessee. Rush week, Halloween parties, football games, Homecoming, and Thanksgiving all provide opportunities to get together with friends and enjoy downtime from the rigors of studying and exams. Unfortunately, those fun times can also provide situations where a college student finds themselves in legal trouble, facing arrest and criminal charges.  

While there are a wide variety of different charges that a person may be arrested for, there are certain criminal charges that seem to be common ones among college students. If your young adult child has been charged with any of the following crimes, it is important to contact a Knox County defense attorney for legal assistance.

Underage Drinking

Drinking and college seem to go together, but the National Minimum Drinking Age Act set the legal drinking age at 21 years of age. Despite that law, many students under 21 do partake in activities that involve drinking. Binge drinking is a serious and common problem, with about 600,000 college students suffering injuries due to heavy drinking each year.

Social media is known for its viral challenges. Some have been for a good cause – such as the Ice Bucket Challenge a few years ago that generated about $15 million for The ALS Association – while others can be dangerous. Some of the more dangerous social media challenges over the past several years include the Tide pod challenge (where people ate the toxic detergent), the fire challenge (where people were doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire), and the sunburn tattoo challenge (place a stencil to cover a small portion of skin and then sit in the sun for hours). However, the latest social media challenge that has gone viral can result in minors facing criminal charges.

The Devious Licks Challenge

The devious licks challenge is the latest trend to go viral, thanks to the social media platform Tiktok. The challenge – also referred to as dastardly licks or diabolical licks – involves students damaging or stealing items from their schools and then posting videos of the act on Tiktok. In teen slang, the word “lick” in the challenge means a successful type of theft which provides the actor with an impressive payday.

The challenge is being taken up by middle school, high school, and even college students across the country who commit the vandalism, most commonly to school restrooms. Videos of missing soap dispensers, smashed floor tiles, and stolen urinals are showing up all over TikTok. Although the company is doing its best to quickly take down the posts, many of the videos are also shared on other social media sites. Many schools have been forced to keep student restrooms locked for most of the school day to help prevent destruction.

In an attempt to help alleviate the financial hardships that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to many businesses, the federal government established multiple programs that provided financial assistance, including the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Unfortunately, while these programs did help prevent hundreds of thousands of companies from going out of business, they also created multiple opportunities for fraudulent claims. The U.S. Department of Justice is aggressively investigating and prosecuting these cases, as two Tennessee residents recently discovered.

U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Tennessee Announcements

In August, the DOJ’s Eastern District of Tennessee announced two separate cases of fraud connected to pandemic relief programs.

In one case, a Knoxville, TN woman pled guilty to one count of executing a wire fraud scheme. According to the announcement by the DOJ, the woman had applied for 10 loans, totaling $547,286 through the PPP and EIDL programs. These applications were submitted under companies that either did not exist or did not qualify for the loans. The woman submitted false records regarding the revenue the companies generated, the amount of employees she had, and the amount of payroll expenses the company had. She is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2022 and faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, supervised release of up to three years, and a fine of up to $250,000. The woman has agreed to pay restitution of $471,621.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), approximately 80 percent of crimes in Tennessee are in some way connected to drugs. Tennessee has some of the harshest penalties for drug crimes in the country. Even a charge like simple possession can result in jail time if you are convicted. Anyone who has been charged with a drug offense should contact a Knoxville defense attorney for help in defending against the charges.

Serious Drug Issues

The TBI also estimates that at any given time, there are 800 or more methamphetamine labs in operation in the state. Although the use of methamphetamine has decreased, the use of heroin has spiked again. Even more alarming is that the heroin being sold in Tennessee is often laced with fentanyl, a dangerous and powerful synthetic opioid that is supposed to only be prescribed to patients dealing with severe pain. Pure fentanyl is so powerful and so dangerous that it can kill a person if even just a small amount is absorbed through the skin.

Prescription drug use is also a criminal issue in the state. Tennessee ranks third in the U.S. for prescription drug abuse. In recent studies, more than 70 percent of participants admitted to using prescription drugs for non-medical reasons that they obtained from a family member or friend. People who become addicted to these drugs often find themselves facing some kind of criminal charges for drug-related crimes, often convicted and sentenced to jail.

The statistics of domestic violence are alarming. It is estimated that one in four women and one in seven men will experience domestic violence. In Tennessee, almost half of all crimes are domestic violence related. Tennessee also ranks in the top 10 states in the U.S. for women killed by men.

In an effort to help combat these numbers, Tennessee lawmakers have passed a new bill that will require all licensed beauty professionals in the state to undergo one hour of anti-domestic violence training.

HB 120/SB 216

Similar beauty professional domestic violence training laws have been enacted in a handful of states already. The relationship between a beauty professional and a client is often an intimate one, with clients having the comfort level of sharing personal information with the professional. In many domestic violence situations, the abuser has isolated the victim from their friends and family, yet still allows the victim to visit their hair salon, nail salon, barber, etc. That professional may be one of the only outside contacts the victim has.

January 1 and July 1 are traditionally the dates that new laws go into effect in Tennessee and this year is no different. Tennessee lawmakers have been busy passing a wide array of new bills, many of them aimed at the criminal justice system. The following are some of the changes that everyone should be aware of, especially since they could affect what type of criminal charge and penalties an individual may be facing.

Constitutional Carry Law

One of the major changes is in Tennessee’s Constitutional Carry law. The new law means that residents who are 21 years of age or older will no longer have to apply for a permit or take safety courses in order to carry a handgun. The penalty for stealing a gun is harsher, however, since the crime will now be charged as a Class E felony. More details about this law can be found in a prior post our firm published, “Tennessee Passes New Permitless Gun Law.”

Spencer Bristol Act

Another law that increases the penalties for conviction involves evading arrest by foot. If the evading of arrest causes a law enforcement officer to suffer serious bodily injury, the charge is now a Class C felony. Conviction means three to 15 years in prison. If the officer dies from their injuries, the charge is a Class A felony, and conviction means 15 to 60 years in prison. The new law was named after Master Patrol Officer Spencer Bristol of the Hendersonville Police Department, who was struck and killed by a vehicle while chasing a suspect on foot.

Gun violence has reached epidemic proportions around the country. Tragically, Knoxville has not been spared. So far this year, 22 victims have been shot to death. According to information released by the Knoxville Police Department, five of the victims were teenagers and, just as alarming, three of those accused of committing the murders are also teens.

Knoxville Community Involvement

Now that summer is here, the concern is that the violence will escalate since teens are out of school and have more time on their hands. This has led Knoxville officials to look for different ways to help minimize the violence and keep teens off the streets and out of trouble.

The city has partnered with 13 different community groups to employ teens from 12 to 21 years of age who have been identified as high risk for either perpetrating a violent crime or being a victim of one. High-risk youth are referred to as “opportunity youth.” Knoxville officials have awarded grants of between $3,000 to $20,000 to organizations that have developed programs that will introduce mentors to teens, teach them job skills, and provide activities that will keep them occupied.

On April 20th of this year, two teenage brothers were found dead in their Roane County, TN home. According to law enforcement, the teens, aged 19- and 17-years old, had a variety of drugs on them and it was determined both died from a lethal dose of fentanyl in pill form. Last week, police arrested a Rockwood, Tennessee couple, charging them with two counts of second-degree murder in the brothers’ death. The couple has also been charged with reckless endangerment, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia, money laundering, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony.

Death By Distribution

Tennessee, just like at least 20 other states in the country, has enacted a death by distribution/drug-induced homicide law. Under Tennessee’s death by distribution law, an individual can be charged with second-degree murder if they sell or give someone fentanyl or carfentanil either alone or in combination with any controlled substance (per the Tennessee Drug Control Act of 1989) and that person dies because of those drugs.

When a person is charged with death by distribution, the prosecutor does not have to prove the individual acted with malice; they only need to prove that they supplied someone with the drugs that killed them.