The Tennessee Supreme Court is sending the case of an East Tennessee man convicted of killing a woman in a vehicle crash back to the trial court, ruling that both the judge and the state appellate court erred in his sentencing.
In 2012, Kevin E. Trent was driving a three-quarter ton pick-up that hit Karen Freeman's vehicle in Claiborne County. A mother of four, Freeman died in 2013 from her injuries.
Trent pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and faced an eight-year term.
The defense sought to show Trent was a first-time offender who previously had lost his two arms below the elbow and his left leg in a motorcycle crash. Testimony also showed he'd been taking Oxycodone and had a level of the drug in his blood that was "above the therapeutic level," according to records.
Claiborne County Judge John McAfee ruled Trent should spend his entire sentence in prison. Trent appealed.
The state Court of Criminal Appeals heard the case and reversed McAfee, ruling his sentencing was flawed. It ordered him to sentence McAfee to probation.
The state objected and the high court heard the case.
Justices decided both courts were mistaken.
The trial court misapplied what are called enhancement factors used to stiffen a sentence, the court ruled. Also, it found that a judge can't deny probation based solely the crime itself if lawmakers - as happened with this crime - had passed legislation making the crime probation eligible.
The Supreme Court also found flaws with the appellate court's decision. As a remedy, it ordered the case to go back to McAfee for a new sentencing hearing.
