STATE OF TENNESSEE v. YANCEY LEE WILLIAMS II - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. YANCEY LEE WILLIAMS II

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jul 29, 2020

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Casey A. Long, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, for the appellant, Yancey Lee Williams II.

Attorneys 2: Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Clark B. Thornton, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Brent A. Cooper, District Attorney General; and Gary M. Howell and Christi L. Thompson, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): THOMAS

The Defendant, Yancey Lee Williams II, was convicted by a jury of first degree premeditated murder, for which he received a sentence of life imprisonment. On appeal, the Defendant argues that (1) there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction, specifically, challenging the element of premeditation; (2) the trial court erred by finding that he was engaged in unlawful activity and thereby omitting the “no duty to retreat” language from the self-defense instruction; (3) the prosecutor made improper and inflammatory comments regarding religion and race during closing arguments; and (4) plain error occurred when the State failed to provide pretrial documentation of a witness’s statement to law enforcement despite an order being in place directing such disclosure. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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