Range Classification

Except as indicated, all indented material is copied directly from the court’s opinion.

Decisions of the Tennessee Supreme Court

Decisions of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals

State of Tennessee v. Borden, No. W2021-00305-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. Mar. 22, 2022).

The standard of review applicable to the length of sentences adopted in State v. Bise, 380 S.W.3d 682, 707 (Tenn. 2012), has now been applied to the trial court’s determination the range classification. State v. Laylon Ward, Jr., No. W2017-00736-CCA-R3-CD, 2018 WL 1091792, at *2 (Tenn. Crim. App. Feb. 23, 2018) (citing State v. Joseph Cordell Brewer, III, No. W2014-01347-CCA-R3-CD, 2015 WL 4060103, at *7-8 (Tenn. Crim. App. June 1, 2015)). Thus, if the trial court’s determination that Defendant was a Range III, persistent offender is supported by the record and reflects that the trial court properly applied the purposes and principles of sentencing, the trial court’s decision is reviewed for an abuse of discretion, with a presumption of reasonableness.