State Tennessee v. Eric Lemart Harris

The appellee, Eric LeMart Harris, was indicted by the Washington County Grand Jury in a three count indictment, charging him with two misdemeanor sales of marijuana and one class E felony sale of marijuana. Pursuant to the negotiated plea agreement, the appellee received a sentence of one year for the felony conviction and a sentence of eleven months, twenty-nine days for each misdemeanor conviction. All three sentences were to run concurrently. The manner of service of the sentence, including the availability of judicial diversion, was submitted to the trial court for determination. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court granted judicial diversion. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-313(a)(1) (1995 Supp.) The State appeals this sentencing decision, contending that the trial court abused its discretion in granting diversion. Specifically, the State argues that the appellee is ineligible because the plain language of the statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-313(a), commonly referred to as judicial diversion, limits diversion to only one offense.