The Court of Criminal Appeals is one of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

's two intermediate appellate courts. It hears

trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually made by higher courts with the power of appellate review ( appellate courts). M ...

appeals in

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that res ...

and

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than ad ...

cases, as well as post-

conviction In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is ...

petitions. Appeals in civil cases are heard by the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The Court of Criminal Appeals was established by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1967. At that time, the court had nine members. Its membership was increased from nine to twelve on September 1, 1996, as a result of action by the General Assembly.

Proceedings

The court's judges sit monthly in panels of three in Jackson,

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...

and

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

. The court may meet in other locations as necessary. As an appellate court, there are no juries and the court does not hear

testimony In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. ...

from witnesses. Rather, attorneys present oral and written arguments for the court's consideration. Decisions of the Court of Criminal Appeals decisions may be appealed to the

Tennessee Supreme Court The Tennessee Supreme Court is the ultimate judicial tribunal of the state of Tennessee. Roger A. Page is the Chief Justice. Unlike other states, in which the state attorney general is directly elected or appointed by the governor or state leg ...

by permission. All decisions in capital cases are, however, appealed automatically.

Judges

The judges are elected to eight-year terms. If a vacancy occurs during a judge's term, the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

appoints a new judge to serve until the next August of an even-numbered year, when a state

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

is held. The names of incumbent judges up for reelection, including judges appointed to fill vacancies, are listed on the ballot without opposition. They are retained or rejected based on a "yes-no" vote. (See Tennessee Plan.) The twelve judges sitting on the Court as of February 2017 are: *J. Ross Dyer – Western Section *Timothy L. Easter – Middle Section *Alan E. Glenn – Western Section * Robert L. Holloway Jr. - Middle Section *Camille R. McMullen - Western Section *Robert H. Montgomery Jr. - Eastern Section *Norma McGee Ogle – Eastern Section *D. Kelly Thomas – Eastern Section *Robert W. Wedemeyer – Middle Section *John Everett Williams – Western Section *James Curwood Witt – Eastern Section *Thomas T. Woodall – Middle Section

References

Intermediate Appellate Courts
in the Tennessee Blue Book {{Authority control State appellate courts of the United States Tennessee state courts Courts and tribunals established in 1967 1967 establishments in Tennessee