State of Tennessee v. Stacey Joe Carter

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court granted review to determine how the 2005 revisions to the Criminal Sentencing Reform Act of 1989 affect the method of imposing a sentence. It held that because the amendments abolished the presumptive sentence and made enhancement and mitigating factors merely advisory, appellate courts may not increase a sentence merely because the trial court 'failed to appropriately adjust' it for such factors; the Defendant's ten-year minimum Range III sentence for vehicular homicide was reinstated. The Court separately held that the trial court reversibly erred in granting probation: the Defendant, a persistent offender who committed the offenses while on parole and probation, failed to carry his burden of establishing suitability for probation, and the gravity of the offense required incarceration. The misdemeanor sentence was corrected to six months and the matter remanded for entry of corrected judgments.