STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TYROME CAMERON FERGUSON - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TYROME CAMERON FERGUSON

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Apr 14, 2026

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Katherine C. Redding (at oral argument), Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Johnny Cerisano, Assistant Attorney General; Stephen Hatchett, District Attorney General; and Dorothy Cherry (at trial and at motion to dismiss hearing), Chris Post, and Paul Rush (at interlocutory appeal hearings), Assistant District Attorneys General, for the petitioner, State of Tennessee.

Attorneys 2: Robert L. Jolley, Jr. (at trial and at certiorari review); and Devon G. Rodgers (at certiorari review), Knoxville, Tennessee, for the respondent, Tyrome Ferguson.

Judge(s): SWORD

The Defendant, Tyrome Cameron Ferguson, was charged by a Monroe County grand jury with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon relating to an alleged road-rage incident. On the first day of the Defendant’s trial, the trial court found that the State had violated Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16 and declared a mistrial. In a subsequent hearing, the trial court ordered the State to pay defense counsel $500 “as a contribution toward his attorney[’s] fees” as a sanction for its discovery violation. The Defendant’s charges were ultimately dismissed by agreement. The State thereafter filed both an application for extraordinary appeal pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Appellate Procedure 10 and a petition for common law writ of certiorari challenging the trial court’s assessment of $500. We denied the State’s application for an extraordinary appeal but granted its petition for writ of certiorari. State v. Ferguson, No. E2025-00044-CCA-WR-CO (Tenn. Crim. App. Apr. 1, 2025) (Order). Finding that the trial court’s order violated the State of Tennessee’s sovereign immunity from suit, we grant certiorari and reverse and vacate the trial court’s order.

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