The 65-year-old and 30-year-old women were arrested early this month. The elder woman faces charges including four counts of especially aggravated kidnapping. The younger woman has been charged with conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping. She faces four charges for the four people who were allegedly abducted.
]]> The two women face prison terms between 15 and 60 years if convicted of the crimes. Bond for the older woman has been set at a half-million dollars, while the younger woman is being held for $300,000. Both will make their initial court appearance on May 22, according to district officials.An arrest warrant issued by Tennessee authorities indicated that the older woman confessed to driving a vehicle with the four captives, transporting them from Tennessee to Mississippi. Two of the captives sustained grievous bodily injury as a result of the kidnapping and their confinement, according to reports.
The bodies of two of the kidnapping victims were located recently in a small Mississippi town, which was supposedly frequented by the male suspect. Investigators recently found the other two girls, ages 12 and 8.
Some friends of the suspect have said that he demonstrated unusual behavior prior to the kidnapping, but they were surprised that he is suspected of committing the crime. The man's sister suffers from mental health issues, they said.
Source: CNN, "Police arrest mother, ex-wife of kidnapping suspect," May 8, 2012
]]>The Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle reports that a Tennessee man, 39, faces charges in Montgomery County of TennCare fraud for allegedly going from doctor to doctor to illegally secure multiple prescriptions.
]]> The Stewart County man is charged with doctor shopping in order to get Oxycodone and morphine prescriptions. His doctor visits were reportedly paid for by TennCare.The Inspector General said, "This type of criminal activity is serious business, but the Office of Inspector General is going after these cases in all 95 counties in Tennessee."
She said health care providers and health care employees are constantly looking for people who might be trying to illegally obtain drugs through TennCare.
The Big Rock man was arrested when he appeared in a Stewart County courtroom on unrelated charges, officials said.
He was taken into custody and then transported to Montgomery County, where he was booked into the county jail.
If convicted, he faces a possible two years in state prison for fraud against TennCare.
It isn't clear if he will face additional charges for drug sales or other related charges.
Source: Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, "Big Rock man charged with TennCare 'doctor shopping'," May 14, 2012
]]>The 22-year-old soldier was discovered by a passing driver on April 28. Officers continue to investigate the case.
]]> In another nearby case involving violent crime, a Murfreesboro man has been convicted of attempted voluntary manslaughter in connection with a November incident involving his infant son. The man was holding his son outside of an emergency room when he was approached by police. They wanted to question him because they saw that his child had a bruise around his eye.After the man was approached, he twisted his son's head in a threatening manner. The boy was not harmed in the incident, and the man and his attorneys maintain that he never intended to harm his child. The man was also convicted with attempted aggravated child abuse, child abuse, and simple assault and resisting arrest, according to records obtained from the three-day-long trial.
The man's charges had been downgraded from attempted second-degree murder.
The boy's father now faces eight to 20 years in prison. The amount of time he will serve is largely dependent upon whether the judge chooses to require concurrent or consecutive sentences. Prosecutors intend to present other allegations of child abuse during the sentencing hearing, during which he allegedly accosted his other child during another confrontation with authorities. That information was not permitted at the recent trial.
Source: The Tennessean, "Nashville area crime report 05/04/2012," May 4, 2012
]]>The suspect is from Hendersonville, Tennessee, officials said.
]]> Police investigators claim that at about 8:30 in the evening last Tuesday, a bloodied, crying woman walked up to a hotel clerk and asked the clerk to call police.The 25-year-old reportedly told the clerk that "the guy I am with killed the father of my children and I have to get a room or he will kill everyone here."
After police arrived, they went to the hotel room where the woman had gone and knocked on the door. They say the Tennessee man answered the knock with bloodied hands. A firearm was on the dresser.
The partially clothed woman was apparently crying; an ambulance later took her to a hospital.
Police later went to a Needmore Road residence, where they found the woman's husband with a head wound.
Detectives say that the Tennessee man visited the married couple, got into a fight with the husband and then ran him over with a vehicle. He then allegedly threatened to kill the couple's children if the woman didn't get in the vehicle with him.
The 37-year-old man then took her to the hotel, where he reportedly raped her.
He was charged by Clarksville police with aggravated assault, kidnapping and sexual assault. Bail was set at $125,000 and he was booked into Montgomery County Jail.
Source: Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, "Hendersonville man charged in Clarksville rape, kidnapping case," May 2, 2012
]]>Police were summoned to the store, located on the 2800 block of Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, at approximately 2:45 p.m., after the store's loss prevention officer reported seeing a man taking clothing from the store while armed with a knife. The store officer stated that he chased the suspect when he fled the store, and that police arrived just in time to observe this.
]]> A chase ensued around the parking lot, and the suspect reportedly knocked down the store's assistant manager, who had attempted to stop him after he got into a Dodge Magnum. The suspect apparently backed the vehicle into the assistant manager before driving away.The assistant manager sustained injuries described as relatively minor. The store claimed that merchandise taken was worth approximately $300.
In an unrelated case, police have announced no leads in an incident in which a man suffered a gunshot in his back in the early morning hours of April 28 at Cutters, a private club. Several 911 calls were received reporting the shooting at approximately 4:13 a.m. The 27-year-old man who was shot was found near the club's entrance, sprawled bleeding on the floor.
Emergency responders transported the injured man by air to a medical facility for treatment, and he was listed as resting in stable condition. Neither he nor any of the many people in the club gave officers any indication of how and why the shooting occurred or who fired the gun.
Source: Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, "Suspect identified in shoplifting, assault," April 28, 2012
]]>The judge was arrested while in Knoxville. Though he's required by judicial conduct codes to "respect and comply with the law," the code doesn't prohibit him from hearing cases while facing misdemeanor charges.
]]> A spokesperson for the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts said it was too early to comment on whether or not the judge would continue to hear cases.A disciplinary counsel was likewise unwilling to say if the judge would be disciplined or restricted in duties in any way.
The Tennessee Supreme Court's Code of Judicial Conduct says jurists must "act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary." This applies to personal conduct as well as professional behavior.
Police said the judge in question, 58, was driving on a Knoxville street just before midnight when he was pulled over by a police officer who noticed that the rear hatch on the judge's Subaru Forester was open.
A piece of luggage was apparently ready to fall out of the vehicle, court records indicate.
The officer reported that the judge smelled of alcohol, had trouble forming words and failed a field sobriety test. He then refused to submit to a blood alcohol test.
He was taken to Knox County Jail shortly after two in the morning and then released on his own recognizance just before 6 a.m., according to a County Sheriff's spokesperson.
He's been on the Court of Appeals since 1995.
Source: WBIR, "TN Court of Criminal Appeals judge can work despite DUI arrest," April 25, 2012
]]>Police officials say that the man visited the woman's house late at night, waking her up and threatening her if she failed to purchase the cards. He allegedly intimidated the woman by saying that if she didn't buy the cards, other people would shoot at her house, set her car ablaze and kill her dog. He also said the men would hurt her if she didn't comply.
]]> The Visa gift cards were reportedly intended for the man's drug dealer, according to official reports.The man took the woman to the local Wal-Mart two times, where she purchased several $100 cards and provided the man with additional cash. The third time he visited the woman, officers say he asked her for a $100 check. He is also accused of breaking into another woman's car to steal her checkbook after she refused to write him a $50 check.
Furthermore, the man was charged with vehicular burglary in conjunction with the case, as well as the possession of unlawful drug paraphernalia. Authorities have not reported the status of the man's bail situation, nor have they revealed the identities of the alleged victim.
Source: Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: "Police: Woman forced to buy gift cards for drug dealer," April 22, 2012
]]>The incident ended with the driver facing serious robbery and drug charges in an incident about 125 miles east of Clarksville.
]]> The Nashville man, 26, behind the wheel of the Mercury SUV appeared to be "very nervous," according to a police report of the incident in Cookeville.The officer walked around to the other side of the vehicle, apparently to talk to the passenger, and saw the driver allegedly removing a small plastic bag from his mouth. The officer then examined the bag and determined that it contained crack cocaine.
At that point, he said he was placing the driver under arrest.
But as the man exited the vehicle, he reportedly pushed the officer out of his way and ran away toward a Cookeville residential area.
The cop called for backup, including a K9 unit, to help track the suspect down.
The man was soon found behind a nearby business building. An officer reported that the man rushed at him, but when warned of the police dog, the man stopped, raised his arms and surrendered.
The man was apparently wanted on for a Nashville robbery. He was booked on that charge, as well as possession of crack cocaine, resisting arrest and evading arrest.
Source: Herald Citizen: "Seatbelt stop results in drug arrest," Mary Jo Denton, April 21, 2012
]]>Lawyers for the accused man are concerned with the intense media coverage and never-ending debate and do not believe he will get a fair trial on the second-degree murder charge he faces in his home town.
]]> Zimmerman's criminal defense attorneys asked for a new judge, citing conflict of interests. The judge recused herself from the case.The shooting took place in a gated community near Orlando. The man being accused of the crime was not arrested until six weeks later as investigators pored over evidence. The man never denied killing the boy, but argued he did it in self-defense.
Many experts say that because of the intense publicity, it might be difficult for the man to receive a fair trial with an impartial jury near his home town. With emotions running high over the case, jurors would likely feel pressured to convict the man fearing that if they didn't, they would be subject to backlash from the victim's supporters.
One defense attorney cited by Fox News pointed out that whether or not the man committed the crime, most people throughout the country have heard details of the story and already formed their own opinions. This would mean a pool of completely unbiased jurors would be difficult to compile.
Source: Fox News: "Fair trial for Zimmerman not likely on home turf, say legal experts, as lawyer asks for new judge in the case," April 16, 2012
]]>The 2011 documentary, "Scenes of a Crime," shines a spotlight on the arrest and conviction for murder of a New York man who confessed to the abuse and then recanted when he went to trial.
]]> The makers of the film about Adrian Thomas think the threats, lies and other psychological tactics used by police in conducting interrogations significantly raises the risk that innocent people confess to crimes in order to bring the questioning to a close.One of the detectives who questioned Thomas for nine hours admits early in the documentary: "When we're speaking to you, we're of course lying."
An appeals court last month upheld Thomas's murder conviction.
The directors used extensive video of the recorded interrogation, along with interviews with criminal defense attorneys and others involved to make their case that Thomas, who didn't have an attorney at the time of the questioning, is a victim of a system much hungrier for convictions than it is for justice.
Thomas was interrogated over two days after his four-month-old son was found unconscious in his crib. Doctors believed the boy was unlikely to survive, but police repeatedly told Thomas that the boy could be saved if Thomas would confess to the crime.
Thomas, who weighs 500 pounds, eventually confessed to violently throwing the boy on a mattress three times in the four days prior to the child's death.
At trial, doctors testified the boy died of swelling of the brain consistent with trauma. The defendant's expert witnesses said the boy died of a blood infection.
Thomas, who had an attorney at trial, said his confession should be inadmissible because he was misled and pressured by "false promises, misrepresentations and threats."
A jury found him guilty of murder and he was sentenced to 25 years to life.
An appeals court last month ruled that the officers conducting the interrogation employed "permissible strategies aimed at eliciting the truth."
One of the directors said the film was made to challenge the belief that no one would give "a full-throated admission of guilt," complete with details of a crime they did not commit.
Source: Thomson Reuters: "Film puts 'false confessions' in the spotlight," April 13, 2012
]]>The most recent survey of crimes committed on Tennessee college campuses actually saw numbers go up in 2011. Officials from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are not sure why, but last year bucked recent trends in their latest Crimes on Campus report with a 4.2-percent increase over 2010. All areas of student crimes had been steadily decreasing for the last six of seven years across the state.
]]> According to the TBI, nearly 7,500 total offenses were reported last year. Drug charges were up nearly 50 percent in the last four years. In 2011 alone, there were 26 percent more drug-related charges reported than the year before. The University of Tennessee filed 47 assault complaints. While the number of aggravated assaults dipped, there was an increase in simple assault complaints. Reports of forcible sex crimes increased 47 percent. Larceny and other theft charges were reported in 37 percent of all criminal complaints. Motor vehicle thefts actually declined by 25 percent since 2009 and DUI offenses have also decreased 25 percent.According to the TBI, a 1989 College and University Security Information Act requires all Tennessee colleges and universities to report crime statistics as an effort to fight crime and apply crime prevention strategies across law enforcement organizations and school administrations.
Source: volunteertv.com, "Crime up on Tennessee campuses last year, bucking recent trends," April 4, 2012
]]>Police officers are working with the Tennessee Highway Patrol to get drunk drivers off the road.. Police authorities said that data shows that accidents involving people driving under the influence of alcohol are often fatal.
]]> Since Metro police have ramped up their DUI patrols, police have arrested 918 people for driving under the influence, compared to 632 arrests for the same time period last year (January through early April). Metro police has a DUI squad. Last year it consisted of four officers. In August 2011, Metro police increased the squad to eight officers. The squad watches out for drunk drivers and helps other officers who stop people for suspected driving under the influence.Police officials say they are starting to target "hot spots," spots where it is common to see drunk drivers. Metro police have increased drunk driving arrests by 96 percent in 2012, compared with arrests in 2011, and this doesn't include DUI arrests made by officers not in the DUI squad.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol is also increasing DUI arrests, as they are making DUIs a top priority. This could affect Clarksville in areas where the Tennessee Highway Patrol has jurisdiction. The head of the highway patrol said that he felt the highway patrol wasn't doing enough to enforce drunk driving and has rearranged officers' schedules based on data obtained by previous arrests.
Source: The Tennessean: "DUI arrests soar in Nashville," March 31, 2012
]]>If a person is convicted of domestic violence a second time, they will spend a minimum of 30 days behind bars, while those with three or more offenses will spend no less than 90 days in jail. The primary goal of this bill is intended to increase the minimum sentences for those found guilty in multiple domestic assault incidents.
]]> Lawmakers are motivated to pass this bill by the desire to decrease the overall number of domestic incidents. However, some have raised concerns about how much this bill will cost the state on an annual basis. While basically every state in the country is strapped for cash, this reform will end up costing at least an additional $8 million, likely attributed to the costs that come along with keeping people in jail. Despite the financial impact, advocates say the intent of the bill justifies the expense.There is no doubting that nearly every domestic violence incident involves a long string of complicated details and emotions. Under Tennessee laws, police are obligated to arrest the person considered to be the primary aggressor when responding to a call. Even if the individual deemed the primary aggressor did not incite the incident, they could still be the only one charged. Knowing how unclear some domestic situations can be, arrests may be based on a somewhat arbitrary, on-the-spot decision made by law enforcement.
Should the proposal in become law, it will be increasingly important for law enforcement officers to get the details of a domestic violence situation straight. Otherwise, an individual could be spending extra time in jail and paying heavy fees based on a misunderstanding. In the case that charges are based on an inaccurate account of events, it is of the utmost importance for the accused to prepare a strong defense to protect their rights.
Source: WVLT-TV News, "Repeat domestic violence offenders could spend more time behind bars," Sharee Gilbert, March 28, 2012
]]>A few days ago, a Tennessee couple far from Clarksville was arrested after law enforcement officials said their alleged purchases of pseudoephedrine had raised red flags on the state's pseudoephedrine database called NPLEX.
]]> After the database apparently indicated that the 41-year-old woman ranked fifth in the state in pseudoephedrine purchases, Sullivan County authorities obtained a search warrant for the couple's home. There they said they found a methamphetamine lab in operation.The law forbids pharmacies from selling more than 3.6 grams of pseudoephedrine per day or more than nine grams over a 30-day period. An exception is made for those with valid prescriptions for the substance.
Inside the pair's home, officers said they found a number of large containers of urine. Investigators said they believe the couple was trying to extract meth from urine.
Because meth is listed as a Schedule II drug, manufacturing the substance is considered a Class C felony. A conviction for the manufacture of methamphetamine can mean a potential prison sentence of from three to 15 years and a fine of up to $100,000.
The punishment is much more severe if the amount of meth in the person's possession is greater than 26 grams, however. Then the offense is a Class B felony, which can mean years longer in prison and a fine of up to $200,000.
Possession of over 300 grams can lead to a Class A felony conviction with even longer periods of incarceration and heavier fines.
Source: WCYB: "Police: Computer Database Leads To Meth Arrest," April 4, 2012
]]>The 11 suspects were about 140 miles southwest of Clarksville.
]]> The accusations were spelled out in two separate indictments returned March 19 by a Jackson County federal grand jury. The drug trafficking charges all arise under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Those arrested are accused of distributing, selling, and manufacturing cocaine as well as crack cocaine (sometimes referred to as cocaine base). Each of the arrestees is charged with being a member of a drug trafficking conspiracy, and could, if convicted, be sentenced from five to 40 years of incarceration and fined up to $5 million.Conviction would also result in the imposition of a minimum four year period of supervised release after any prison sentence was served.
One of the arrestees is a resident of Ripley, two live in Union City, and the remaining eight all live in Dyersburg. They range in age from 20 to 37. At the time of the arrests, two of them were already in custody for unrelated reasons.
The drug trafficking conspiracy claimed took place in the state since March of last year, according to investigators. All those arrested were to be arraigned in front of a federal judge in Madison County.
Agencies involved in the investigation and arrests included the sheriff's officers from Obion, Lauderdale, and Dyer Counties, the Dyersburg Police Department, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, ATF, DEA, FBI, and U.S. Marshals.
Source: State Gazette: "11 arrested on federal drug charges," April 3, 2012
]]>