IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT JACKSON

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DARRELL ADAMS

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Shelby County

No. 17-00651 Paula L. Skahan, Judge

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No. W2018-00543-CCA-R3-CD

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The Appellant, Darrell Adams, is appealing the trial court’s denial of his motion to 

correct an illegal sentence. The State has filed a motion asking this Court to affirm 

pursuant to Court of Criminal Appeals Rule 20. Said motion is hereby granted.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Order of the Trial Court Affirmed Pursuant 

to Court of Criminal Appeals Rule 20

ALAN E. GLENN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which JOHN EVERETT 

WILLIAMS, P.J., and J. ROSS DYER, J. joined.

J. Shae Atkinson, Memphis, Tennessee, for the Appellant

Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Sophia S. Lee, Senior Assistant 

Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In July 2014, the Appellant pled guilty to one count of the unlawful possession of 

a firearm by a convicted felon, a Class C felony. The Appellant received an agreed upon 

fifteen-year sentence as a Range III Persistent Offender to be served at forty-five percent. 

In January 2017, the Appellant filed a motion to correct an illegal sentence. See Tenn. R. 

Crim. P. 36.1. The trial court appointed counsel. Following a hearing, the trial court 

ultimately denied relief. The Appellant now appeals. In response to the filing of the 

record on appeal and the Appellant’s brief, the State has filed a motion to affirm the 

ruling of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20. For the reasons stated below, said motion is 

hereby granted.

04/09/2019
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The Appellant’s argument on appeal is, in its entirety: “In the present case, 

Appellant alleges that his negotiated sentence is not authorized by the applicable statute 

or that his sentence directly contravenes an applicable statute. Appellant alleges that the 

bargained for sentence exceeds this States Statutory Maximum for the crime and is illegal 

on its face.” The Appellant offers no explanation in support thereof.

Rule 36.1 permits a defendant to seek correction of an unexpired illegal sentence 

at any time. See State v. Brown, 479 S.W.3d 200, 211 (Tenn. 2015). “[A]n illegal 

sentence is one that is not authorized by the applicable statutes or that directly 

contravenes an applicable statute.” Tenn. R. Crim. P. 36.1(a). Our Supreme Court has 

interpreted the meaning of “illegal sentence” as defined in Rule 36.1 and concluded that 

the definition “is coextensive, and not broader than, the definition of the term in the 

habeas corpus context.” State v. Wooden, 478 S.W.3d 585, 594-95 (Tenn. 2015). That 

court then reviewed the three categories of sentencing errors: clerical errors (those 

arising from a clerical mistake in the judgment sheet), appealable errors (those for which 

the Sentencing Act specifically provides a right of direct appeal) and fatal errors (those so 

profound as to render a sentence illegal and void). Id. Commenting on appealable errors, 

the court stated that those “generally involve attacks on the correctness of the 

methodology by which a trial court imposed sentence.” Id. In contrast, fatal errors

include “sentences imposed pursuant to an inapplicable statutory scheme, sentences 

designating release eligibility dates where early release is statutorily prohibited, sentences 

that are ordered to be served concurrently where statutorily required to be served 

consecutively, and sentences not authorized by any statute for the offenses.” Id. The 

court held that only fatal errors render sentences illegal. Id. A trial court may summarily 

dismiss a Rule 36.1 motion if it does not state a colorable claim for relief. Tenn. R. Crim. 

P. 36.1(b)(2).

“[A] plea-bargained sentence is legal so long as it does not exceed the maximum 

punishment authorized by the plea offense.” Hoover v. State, 215 S.W.3d 776, 780 

(Tenn. 2007). Here, the Appellant pled guilty to the unlawful possession of a firearm by 

a convicted felon, a Class C felony. Tenn. Code Ann. 39-17-1307. A Class C felony is 

punishable up to fifteen years. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-111(b). A Range III offender

convicted of a Class C felony shall be sentenced between ten and fifteen years. Tenn. 

Code Ann. § 40-35-112(c). As the trial court correctly found, the Appellant’s sentence of 

fifteen years does not exceed the maximum sentence authorized for a Class C felony.

In light of the discussion above, we conclude the Appellant’s sentence is not 

illegal under the terms of Rule 36.1. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying 

relief. The ruling of the trial court is therefore affirmed pursuant to Court of Criminal 

Appeals Rule 20.
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Judge Alan E. Glenn