STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KENNETH C. DAVIS - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. KENNETH C. DAVIS

Posted by: Azya Thornton on May 29, 2026

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Eric M. Lutton, District Public Defender; Jonathan Harwell, Assistant District Public Defender (on appeal); and Keith Lowe and Halle Hammond (at trial), Assistant District Public Defenders, for the appellant, Kenneth C. Davis.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Benjamin L. Barker, Assistant Attorney General; Charme P. Allen, District Attorney General; and Ta Kisha M. Fitzgerald, Robert Debusk, and Jeannine Guzolek, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): HIXSON

The Defendant, Kenneth C. Davis, was convicted by a jury of burglary of a building other than a habitation and received a twelve-year sentence. The Defendant died while his motion for new trial was still pending, which prompted the Defendant’s counsel to file a motion to dismiss on the Defendant’s behalf, arguing that the common law doctrine of abatement ab initio should act to abate the Defendant’s entire case from the inception of the prosecution. The trial court denied the motion, relying on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Al Mutory, 581 S.W.3d 741 (Tenn. 2019). The Defendant’s counsel filed an appeal from that decision pursuant to Rule 3 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. On appeal, the Defendant’s counsel contends that the trial court erred by relying on Al Mutory and declining to apply the doctrine of abatement ab initio under these circumstances. Following supplemental briefing, we conclude that this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 3 to review the issue as presented. Further, we decline to extend the extraordinary judicial remedy of a writ of certiorari. The appeal is dismissed.

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