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
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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
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