STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RODDARRIUS EUGENE JENKINS - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RODDARRIUS EUGENE JENKINS

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jul 21, 2026

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Manuel B. Russ (on appeal), and Jodie Bell and Caleb Cassell (at trial), Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Roddarrius Eugene Jenkins.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skermetti, Attorney General and Reporter; William C. Lundy, Assistant Attorney General; Glenn R. Funk, District Attorney General; Paul D. DeWitt and Abby L. Taylor, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): MONTGOMERY

Roddarrius Eugene Jenkins, the Defendant, was convicted of first degree felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, a Class A felony, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, a Class B felony, by a Davidson County Criminal Court jury. See T.C.A § 39-13- 202 (2018) (subsequently amended) (first degree murder); § 39-13-403 (2025) (especially aggravated robbery); § 39-17-1307 (2018) (subsequently amended) (felon in possession of a firearm). On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred by (1) violating his Equal Protection rights by denying his motion to appoint a second attorney, (2) denying his motions to suppress his pretrial statements, (3) admitting the Defendant’s uncorroborated statements as evidence, (4) denying, at the close of the State’s proof, the Defendant’s request for a self-defense instruction, (5) restricting the scope of the codefendant’s cross-examination, and (6) finding enhancement factors applied to the Defendant’s sentence. The Defendant also contends that the evidence is insufficient to support the Defendant’s convictions for felony murder and especially aggravated robbery. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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