### IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE Assigned on

Briefs J une 24, 2003 JAMES RUSSELL GA NN v. DAVID MILLS, WARDEN Direct Appeal from the Criminal Court for Mor gan County No. 8596 E. Eugene Eblen, Judge

No. E2 003-0 0281- CCA-R3 -PC July 24, 2003
The Defendant, James Russell Gann, petitioned for hab eas cor pus relie f on the g rounds tha

t his judgment of conviction is not signed by the trial judge. The trial court denied relief a nd this direct appeal f ollowed. We affir

m the judg ment of the

trial cou rt. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court Affirmed
D AV ID H. W ELLES , J., deliver ed the opinion of the

court, in which G ARY R. W ADE , P.J., and N ORMA M C G EE O GLE , J., joined. Walter B. Johnson, Harriman, Tennessee, for the appellant, James Russell Gann. Paul G. Summers, Attorney Gene ral andRep ort

er; Bre nt C. Che rry , As sist

ant Attorn ey Gen era l; J. Scott McCluen, District Attorney Ge neral; and Frank Harvey , AssistantDistrict Attorney Genera l, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. OPINION The De fe nd an t, Ja me s R us se ll Ga nn , w as co nv ic te d b y a jury in 1985 of aggravated ra

pe and aggravated

se xu al ba tt er y. For these crimes, the Defendant wa s sentenced to ninety- nine year s plus one day, and

twelve yea

rs. The document reflecting the Defe ndant’s c onviction s and sent ences se ts forth the judge’s name but does not contain the judge’ s signature. The document is signed by the Deputy Clerk on beha

lf of the Clerk of the Criminal Court of Hamilton County. The Defend ant filed

a petition for writ of habeas corpus on June 23, 1999, alleging that the judgmen t documen

t is void on it s face b ecause it does not contain the judge’s signature. The tr ial court summarily denied the

Defendant’s claim for relief on the basis that this Court has pr eviously held t hat the tr

ial j udge’s failure to sign the judgme nt form does not give rise to a claim for relief under ha beas cor pus proceedings. The tria l court wa s corre ct.-2-

As has been stated many times, a writ of ha beas corpus “will issue only when it appea rs upon the face of the judgment or the record of the proc eedings upon which the judgment is rendered that a court lacked jurisdiction or authority to s e ntence a defendant or that the sentence has expired.” McLaney v. Bell , 59 S.W.3d 90, 93 (Tenn. 2001) (quotation omitted). “When the petiti on for wr it of habeas corpus does not demonstrate that the judgment is void, a

trial cou rt may properl y di smiss the petition without a hearing.” Dixon v. Holland , 70 S.W.3d 33, 36 (Tenn. 2002). “To esta blish that the judgment

is void, the

petitione r must prove that a jurisdictional defect appears in the record of the original trial.” Id. (emphasis added).
As we most recently

stated in Michael Thomason v. Kevin Myers , No. M2002-01346-CCAR 3-CO, 2002 WL 31852868, at *2 (Tenn. Crim. App., Nashville, Dec. 20, 2002), a tri al judge’ s failure to sign a judgment “does not establish a jurisdictional defect r endering the Defendant’s conviction void.” This decision is in accord with prior opinions of this Court. See Jack P. Carr v. David Mills , No. E200 0-00156- CCA-R3-PC, 2000 WL 1520267, a

t *2 (Tenn . Crim

. App., K noxville, Oct. 13, 2000); Wil lie James Rob inson, Jr. v. State , No. E1999-00945-CCA-R3-PC, 2000 WL 1228023, at *2 (Tenn. Cri m. App ., Knoxville , Aug. 3 0, 2000); Jerry L. Johnsv. State , No. E1999-00260-CCA-R3-CD, 2000 W L 262901, at

*2 (Tenn. Crim. App., Knoxville, Mar. 9, 2000); Paul A. Mayes v. State , No. E1999-01374-CCA-R3-CD, 2000 WL 215675, at *2 (Tenn. Crim. App., Knoxville, Feb. 24, 2000). The Defendant

contendsthat “the se case s are inc orrect ” and asks t

hat we the

refore revers e our position on this matter. However, our supreme court has denied permission to appeal on all of the above-referenced cases. Accord ingly , we dee

m it approp

riate to d eny the Defe ndant’s r equest. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

___________________________________ DAVID H. WEL

LES, JUDGE