The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of criminal appeals reversing the trial court's sentence imposed in connection with Defendant's plea of guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication and other offenses, holding that the clear and precise language of the 2017 amendment to the probation eligibility statute, Tenn. Code Ann. 40-35-303, prohibits all forms of probation for a defendant convicted of vehicular homicide by intoxication.
Defendant pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication, aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and driving without a license. The trial court imposed a sentence of ten years in prison, largely suspended to probation with periodic weeks of confinement for the first three years. The court of criminal appeals reversed and ordered Defendant to serve the full sentence in confinement, concluding that the 2017 amendment to the probation eligibility statute expressly prohibits probation of any kind for criminal defendants convicted of vehicular homicide by intoxication. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the clear and precise language of section 40-35-303 prohibits defendants convicted of vehicular homicide by intoxication from receiving any form of probation, including periodic and split confinement sentences. View "State v. Robinson" on Justia Law
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