STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOSHUA MORRIS - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOSHUA MORRIS

Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Jan 28, 2026

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Garrett D. Ward and Katherine C. Redding, Senior Assistant Attorneys General; Charme P. Allen, District Attorney General; and Mitch D. Eisenberg, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellant, State of Tennessee.

Attorneys 2: T. Scott Jones and Baylee M. Brown, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellee, Joshua Morris.

Judge(s): WILSON

The State appeals the Knox County Criminal Court’s order dismissing the indictment against Defendant, Joshua Morris, charging him with driving under the influence (“DUI”). The State contends that the criminal court erred in concluding that under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, the State was precluded from relitigating the issue of probable cause that Defendant was driving under the influence in relation to his DUI charge after a circuit court determined that probable cause was not established in adjudicating Defendant’s implied consent violation charge. We conclude that the criminal court erred in finding that the doctrine of collateral estoppel applied and in dismissing the indictment. Accordingly, we reverse the criminal court’s dismissal of the indictment, reinstate the indictment, and remand to the criminal court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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