Category Archives: Uncategorized

Few criminal accusations carry the reputational weight of a sex-offense charge, and in Tennessee even a relatively minor allegation of exposure can land a person on that side of the ledger. An arrest for indecent exposure or public indecency often begins with an ambiguous moment — a person changing clothes in a parking lot, urinatingContinueContinue reading “Indecent Exposure and Public Indecency in Tennessee”

Tennessee law recognizes that a person below a certain age cannot legally consent to sexual activity, and it defines a set of offenses to address sexual contact with minors based on the ages of the people involved. These offenses are grouped under T.C.A. § 39-13-506, which establishes three tiers — mitigated statutory rape, statutory rape,ContinueContinue reading “Statutory Rape in Tennessee: Age Ranges and Mitigated Statutory Rape”

Extortion is the crime of using threats or coercion to get something from another person — money, property, an advantage, or an action they would not otherwise take. What people commonly call “blackmail” is one familiar form of it: a threat to reveal embarrassing information unless the target pays or complies. In Tennessee, this conductContinueContinue reading “Extortion and Blackmail in Tennessee”

Credit and debit cards run through nearly every purchase people make, and Tennessee law responds with a set of offenses aimed at their misuse. Using someone else’s card without permission, possessing a card you know to be stolen, or running a card that has been revoked or cancelled can all be charged under T.C.A. §ContinueContinue reading “Credit Card and Debit Card Fraud in Tennessee”

A bounced check is a common part of everyday commerce, and most of the time it is resolved with a phone call, a fee, and a quick second payment. Tennessee law, however, treats some dishonored checks as a criminal matter. When a person writes or passes a check knowing there is not enough money inContinueContinue reading “Worthless Checks in Tennessee: Criminal Charges and Penalties”

Forgery and criminal simulation are Tennessee’s core “fraud on paper” offenses — crimes built not around violence or force but around deception through documents and objects. Forgery covers the making, altering, or passing of false writings with the intent to defraud: a signature that is not yours on a check, an altered contract, a falsifiedContinueContinue reading “Forgery and Criminal Simulation in Tennessee”

When a firearm is involved in a serious felony in Tennessee, the consequences do not stop with the underlying crime. Tennessee law creates a separate, stand-alone offense for using a gun in connection with a “dangerous felony,” and that offense carries a mandatory sentence that must be served consecutively — stacked on top of —ContinueContinue reading “Employing a Firearm During a Dangerous Felony in Tennessee”

Human trafficking is among the most serious categories of offense in Tennessee law, carrying penalties that can rival those for the most violent felonies and, in many cases, requiring a defendant to serve the entire sentence without release eligibility. The label covers a range of conduct — forcing or coercing someone into labor, subjecting aContinueContinue reading “Human Trafficking Charges in Tennessee”

Most people picture murder as an act of deliberate violence — one person forming the intent to kill another and carrying it out. Tennessee law recognizes that version of the crime, but it also recognizes a second, very different path to a first-degree murder conviction. Under the felony murder rule, a person can be convictedContinueContinue reading “The Felony Murder Rule in Tennessee: When a Death During a Felony Becomes First-Degree Murder”

Reckless endangerment is a charge that covers a wide swath of conduct, from a heated confrontation to a firearm discharged in the wrong direction to a driver who puts others at risk. What ties these situations together is not that anyone was hurt — often no one is — but that a person’s conduct createdContinueContinue reading “Reckless Endangerment in Tennessee: Charges and Defenses”