STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MICHAEL GREEN a/k/a MICHAEL CHEAIRS - Articles

All Content

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MICHAEL GREEN a/k/a MICHAEL CHEAIRS

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jul 21, 2025

Head Comment: WILSON dissents

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: William W. Gill, Assistant Public Defender, Appellate Division (on appeal); Parker O. Dixon and Tyler Graham, Assistant District Public Defenders (at trial), for the appellant, Michael Green aka Michael Cheairs.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; John H. Bledsoe, Deputy Attorney General; J. Katie Neff, Assistant Attorney General; Jody Pickens, District Attorney General; and Michelle Pugh, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): WEDEMEYER

The Defendant, Michael Green a/k/a Michael Cheairs, appeals his Madison County Circuit Court jury conviction of violating the sex offender registry requirements, see Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-208, arguing that the admission of and testimony about the violation report by someone other than the officer who prepared it violated the Confrontation Clause and that the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the report was the only evidence supporting his conviction. The State argues that the Defendant waived plenary review of the issue, and that he is not entitled to relief via plain error review. Upon review, we conclude that the Defendant properly preserved the issue below and agree that the admission of the violation report via a substitute witness violated the Confrontation Clause. The error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the inadmissible statements in the report were the primary evidence of the Defendant’s guilt. Accordingly, we reverse the Defendant’s conviction and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Attachments: