State vs. Harry Goff
Annotate this CaseCourt Description:
Authoring Judge:
Trial Court Judge: Roy B. Morgan, Jr.
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IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON FILED MARCH SESSION , 1999 June 10, 1999 Cecil Crowson, Jr. Appellate Court Clerk STATE OF TENNESSEE, Appellee, V. HARR Y LEE GOF F, JR., Appe llant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) C.C.A. NO. 02C01-9806-CC-00177 MADISON COUNTY HON. ROY B. MORGAN, JR., JUDGE (VEHICL E BUR GLARY ) FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE: CLIFFORD K. McGOWN, JR. 113 North Court Square P.O. Box 26 Wa verly, TN 37185 (On App eal Only) JOHN KNOX WALKUP Attorney General & Reporter GEORGE MORTON GOOGE District Public Defender STEPHEN P. SPRACHER Assistant Public Defender 227 West Baltimore Street Jackson, TN 38301 (At Tr ial) GEORGIA BLYTHE FELNER Assistant Attorney General 2nd Floor, Cordell Hull Building 425 Fifth Avenue North Nashville, TN 37243 JAMES G. WOODALL District Attorn ey Ge neral JAMES W. THOMPSON Assistant District Attorney General P.O. Box 2825 Jackson, TN 38302 OPINION FILED ________________________ JUDG MEN T AFF IRME D; REMANDED TO TRIAL COURT THOMAS T. WOODALL, JUDGE OPINION The Defendant, Harry Lee Goff, Jr., appeals as of right following the revocation of his probation by th e Circuit Court of Madison C ounty. Defendant was indicted for vehicular burglary and theft of property with a value of less than $500.00. He pled nolo contendere to vehicular burglary and the theft charge was dismissed in exchange for a two (2) year sentence subject to judicial diversion under Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-313. Therefore, no judgment of guilt was entered. Under the terms of this se ntence, De fendant was ordered to pe rform two hundred (200) hours of public service work, pay restitution in the amount of $80.00, and was ordered to comply with the standard provisions of probation under supervision of the Community Corrections program. As a result of alleged violations of the terms of his proba tion, a hearing was held before the trial court on May 12, 1998. Defenda nt’s probation wa s revoked an d he was tak en into custod y to serve his sentence. The Defendant conten ds that the trial court erre d in orde ring him to serve the rem ainde r of his s enten ce in the Madison County Jail or workhouse after his probation wa s revoked. W e affirm the judgment of the trial court, but remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion. At the revocation hearing, Janey McNatt testified that Defendant was placed in the program in May 1997 to serve a two (2) year sentence on probation . On December 2, 1997, D efendant was convicted of assault. Other charges of contributing to the delin quenc y of a min or and e ncoura ging thos e mino rs to shoplift were pendin g at the tim e of the revocation hearing. McNatt stated that the Defendant admitted to consuming alcohol while he was in Community Corrections, -2- which she explained was specifically in violation of the terms of that probation. In addition, when Defendant was arrested for the assault, he failed to notify that arrest to his Com munity Corrections o fficer, another violation of his probation. Defendant did not provid e evide nce o f his employment during this probation period, except for a brief four (4) or five (5) week period. Finally, he failed to report to his probation officer and to pay his fees. The Defe ndan t testified at the h earing and a dmitte d that h e did n ot pers onally inform his proba tion officer of h is arrest, although D efendant state d he did leave a message on the officer’s answ ering machine. He further admitted that he did not have steady emplo ymen t and wa s convicte d of assa ult. Defendant stated that the probation officer testified truthfully regarding his violations of the terms of probation. The trial court ordered Defendant’s sentence of probation to be revo ked, with the Defendant to serve the remainder of his two (2) year sentence in the Madison Coun ty Jail or Workhouse. The trial court entered a “Revocation Order,” however no judgment of guilt was entered. Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-35-313 states that “[u]pon violation of a c ondition of the probation, the court may enter an adjudication of gu ilt and proceed a s otherwise pro vided.” Because the trial c ourt faile d to en ter a jud gme nt of D efend ant’s g uilt, this case must b e rema nded to enter the judgment reflecting the conviction and sentence accord ing to the p rovisions o f Tenn essee Code Annota ted sectio n 40-35 -313. The order of the trial court revoking the probation pursuant to judicial diversion and requiring Defe ndan t to serve a two (2 ) year s enten ce in the Ma dison Coun ty Jail -3- or Wo rkhouse is affirm ed. However, this case is remanded to the trial court to enter the stand ard judg ment o f conviction . ____________________________________ THOMAS T. W OODALL, Judge CONCUR: ___________________________________ GARY R. WA DE, Presiding Judge ___________________________________ JOSEPH M. TIPTON, Judge -4-
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