STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CHRISTOPHER LANCE OSTEEN - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CHRISTOPHER LANCE OSTEEN

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Apr 8, 2026

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Joshua V. Lehde, Assistant Public Defender – Appellate Division, Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference (on appeal); David Walker, Paris, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant, Christopher Lance Osteen.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Park Huff, Assistant Attorney General; J. Neil Thompson, District Attorney General; and Courtney Morgan Crocker, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): MCMULLEN

The Defendant, Christopher Lance Osteen, entered a guilty plea to two counts of aggravated kidnapping. As a part of his plea, and pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 37, the Defendant sought to reserve one certified question of law related to the trial court’s finding that his right to a speedy trial did not attach when he was arrested in Florida due to his escape status as well as being served with a warrant from Kentucky; one certified question related to the trial court’s finding that the Defendant’s verbal request to the Florida court to invoke his constitutional rights was insufficient to properly invoke his rights to speedy trial and due process; and one certified question related to the trial court’s finding that the Defendant’s written letters and motion to dismiss sent to both the general sessions clerk and the district attorney’s office failed to properly invoke his constitutional rights to a speedy trial and due process as it pertained to his Henry County, Tennessee general session case arrest warrants. Because the Defendant did not properly reserve certified issues for review, we are without jurisdiction to review the merits of the Defendant’s claims, and we dismiss his appeal.

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