COY J. COTHAM, JR. v. STATE OF TENNESSEE - Articles

All Content


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Apr 13, 2026

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Coy J. Cotham, Jr., Pikeville, Tennessee, Pro Se.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth Evan, Assistant Attorney General; Glenn R. Funk, District Attorney General; and Janice Norman, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): WEDEMEYER

A Davidson County jury convicted the Petitioner, Coy J. Cotham, Jr., of first-degree premeditated murder and especially aggravated robbery, and the trial court imposed a life sentence without parole and a consecutive twenty-five-year sentence. The Petitioner appealed, and this court affirmed the trial court’s judgments. State v. Coy J. Cotham, Jr., M2012-01150-CCA-R3-CD, 2014 WL 3778613, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. July 31, 2014). Subsequently, the Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief pursuant to the Post- Conviction DNA Analysis Act, which the post-conviction court summarily dismissed. On appeal, the Petitioner maintains that he is entitled to DNA testing of a blue towel recovered from his vehicle. Following our review of the record, we affirm the post-conviction court’s denial of relief.

Attachments: