State of Tennessee v. Jeremy L. Saxton ( 2016 )


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  •         IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
    AT NASHVILLE
    Assigned on Briefs September 13, 2016
    STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JEREMY L. SAXTON
    Appeal from the Criminal Court for Sumner County
    No. 4592011 Dee David Gay, Judge
    ___________________________________
    No. M2015-01380-CCA-R3-CD – Filed November 15, 2016
    ___________________________________
    Defendant, Jeremy L. Saxton, was convicted of one count of assault and one count of
    resisting arrest. As a result of the convictions, Defendant received judicial diversion with
    probation for eleven months and twenty-nine days. After the denial of a motion for new
    trial, Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal. Upon our review we determine that
    Defendant was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing on the motion to suppress because
    there was no evidence to suppress. Further, we conclude that the record on appeal is
    incomplete, precluding our review of the sufficiency of the evidence. Consequently, the
    judgments of the criminal court are affirmed and the matter is remanded for correction of
    a clerical error.                .
    Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgments of the Criminal Court Affirmed
    and Remanded
    TIMOTHY L. EASTER, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JAMES CURWOOD
    WITT, JR., and ROBERT L. HOLLOWAY, JR., JJ., joined.
    Patrick G. Frogge, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jeremy L. Saxton.
    Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Andrew C. Coulam, Assistant
    Attorney General; Ray Whitley, District Attorney General; and Bryna Grant, Assistant
    District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
    OPINION
    On August 25, 2014, Defendant was arrested after an incident at a Mapco station
    in Portland, Tennessee. Defendant was ultimately indicted by the Sumner County Grand
    Jury for four counts of assault and one count of resisting arrest. Prior to trial, Defendant
    filed a motion to suppress on the basis that his seizure was illegal.
    Proof at Hearing on Motion to Suppress1
    At the hearing on the motion to suppress, David Alessio2 testified that on August
    25, 2014, at around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., he and his wife went to the Food Lion in Portland.
    Mrs. Alessio3 remained in their truck in the parking lot while Mr. Alessio went into the
    store. Mr. Alessio was in the checkout line when he received a call from his wife who
    told him ―something was going on out in the parking lot‖ and that he should ―hurry.‖ Not
    long thereafter, Mr. Alessio saw two ―girls‖ walk in the grocery store ―making a scene.‖
    One of the ―girls‖ was ―basically hollering at the other girl.‖
    Mr. Alessio left the store and returned to his truck. Mrs. Alessio told him she
    thought that there was a ―fight.‖ The couple decided to sit in their truck in the parking lot
    for a minute to see what was going on. The two ―girls‖ exited the store. One of them
    was talking on her cell phone. Mr. and Mrs. Alessio saw Defendant ―jump[] out of the
    car real quick and walk[] around to the back of the car‖ before ―turning‖ toward one of
    the ―girls.‖ The Alessios saw Defendant point his finger at the ―girl‖ before all three of
    them got back in the car and drove through the grocery store parking lot toward the
    Mapco.
    By that time, Mr. Alessio had already called the police because he thought it ―was
    a domestic [disturbance].‖ The police responded to the call and were directed to the gas
    station. Officer Shaun Burgett with the Portland Police Department responded to a
    dispatch report of a ―possible domestic in progress.‖ Officer Burgett explained that it
    was typical for ―two [officers]—up to as many as available—[to respond to a domestic
    call be]cause we don‘t know what‘s gonna [sic] happen. . . .‖ He thought that six officers
    responded to this particular call. When he arrived at the Mapco, he positioned his vehicle
    1
    During the hearing and the trial, Defendant was indigent. Additionally, the matter was a
    misdemeanor and there was not a court reporter present. Counsel for Defendant made an audio tape of
    the proceedings in anticipation of the preparation of a statement of the evidence for appeal purposes.
    Once the recording was reviewed, it was discovered by counsel that the witnesses could be heard with
    remarkable clarity. Therefore, instead of submitting a statement of the evidence, a member of counsel‘s
    support staff transcribed the audio recording and submitted it to the trial court for certification. Initially,
    the State objected to the transcripts but their motion was stricken by the trial court.
    2
    The witness‘s name is spelled ―Alessio‖ and ―Alesio‖ in the transcripts provided to this Court as
    part of the technical record. For consistency, we will refer to the witness as Mr. Alessio, the spelling
    utilized first in the record.
    3
    Mrs. Alessio is not identified by first name in the transcript.
    2
    ―in the front near the pumps‖ so that he could block Defendant‘s vehicle if he tried to
    leave. Other officers were situated in other locations around the gas station. He
    described the parking lot and gas pump area as ―full.‖ He received information on the
    description of the vehicle and Defendant from dispatch.
    Officer Burgett located a car and subjects matching the descriptions provided by
    dispatch. As he approached Defendant, he explained that he was ―an officer with the
    police department‖ and asked if there was ―a white female in the back crying‖ and also
    asked if they just came from the Food Lion. When Defendant responded affirmatively,
    Officer Burgett informed Defendant that they received a 911 call for a ―possible
    domestic‖ and that they fit the description of the people involved.
    Officer Burgett asked Defendant to exit the vehicle. Officer Burgett testified that
    he asked Defendant to step out of the vehicle for ―safety reasons‖ because the vehicle
    was running and because Defendant could be concealing a weapon in the vehicle.
    Additionally, Officer Burgett wanted to separate the parties so that they could not hear or
    see each other while the officers investigated the situation to determine if there was
    indeed some type of domestic dispute taking place.
    Defendant refused, telling Officer Burgett, ―No, I‘m not getting out[.] I‘ve done
    nothing wrong.‖ Officer Burgett again asked Defendant to exit the vehicle. Defendant
    told Officer Burgett, ―F--- you, I‘m not getting out.‖ Officer Burgett then opened the
    door to the vehicle. He informed Defendant that he had asked twice for him to get out of
    the vehicle and that he would not ask again. Officer Burgett told Defendant, ―Get out or
    I‘m going to get you out.‖ Officer Burgett saw Defendant ―leaning in to the center
    console‖ and was not sure what Defendant was reaching for or doing so Officer Burgett
    ―reach[ed] in to try to gain access to him [be]cause [he didn‘t] know if he was gonna [sic]
    drive off [or had a weapon].‖ Officer Burgett ―grabbed the crook of [Defendant‘s] left
    arm‖ with his right hand and Defendant‘s wrist with his left hand. Defendant took ―his
    left arm, his elbow, threw it at [Officer Burgett] and tried to push off of [him] and then
    pull back.‖
    Officer Burgett went on to testify that the entire scenario—the female in the
    backseat crying, Defendant‘s refusal to comply with the officer‘s request to exit the
    vehicle, the report of a possible domestic disturbance, and the potential threat to the
    public at the crowded gas station—―le[]d [the officer] to believe that [Defendant] could
    have been angry towards [the female in the backseat] and an assault could have [taken]
    place.‖
    Defendant did not present any testimony at the hearing on the motion to suppress.
    At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court recounted the facts and found that, at the
    point Officer Burgett approached the vehicle, there were ―reasonable, specific, articulable
    3
    facts‖ of a ―possible domestic in progress‖ which supported the officer‘s actions. The
    trial court determined that the officer ―g[o]t another additional [ground for] reasonable
    suspicion here—the police officer goes up to this vehicle as in a caretaking function and
    as a consensual encounter and finds that the female is in fact crying—she‘s crying in this
    vehicle that had been identified.‖ The trial court determined that after asking Defendant
    twice to exit the vehicle, the officer had specific and articulable facts to seize Defendant.
    However, the trial court noted that the seizure was ―barely‖ constitutionally sufficient,
    pointing to:
    the fact that the female was in the back crying – . . . the possible domestic
    in progress – the fact that the vehicle was running – the fact that Defendant
    was asked to get out of the car – the fact that he said ―F you‖ – that adheres
    to the possibility that something here stronger than ―I just don‘t want to do
    it‖ – it crosses the line as to ―I‘ve done something wrong – possibly done
    something wrong and I‘m not going to do anything. . . .‖
    Proof at Trial
    At trial, Mr. Alessio‘s testimony mirrored his testimony at the suppression
    hearing. Mr. Alessio additionally recalled that he watched the confrontation between
    Defendant and the police from about twenty feet away. He observed that an officer
    approached Defendant‘s vehicle and spoke with Defendant through the rolled-down
    window. The officer asked Defendant to get out of the vehicle. Defendant refused and
    the officer repeated the request. Mr. Alessio looked away to talk to his wife. When he
    looked back, Defendant was on the ground. Mr. Alessio testified that the woman who
    had been seated in the back seat of the vehicle was also outside the vehicle by the time
    Defendant was on the ground. Mr. Alessio heard the officers tell Defendant to ―quit
    resisting‖ and the woman in the back seat said that Defendant ―didn‘t do anything.‖
    Officer Burgett also testified at trial. He commented that police response to a
    ―possible domestic‖ disturbance was ―[o]ne of the most difficult and dangerous
    [situations] because everybody is already in a heightened state.‖ When he arrived at the
    Mapco, Officer Burgett approached the vehicle with caution, identifying himself as a
    police officer responding to a 911 call. He asked Defendant to exit the vehicle. He
    thought that other officers asked the woman in the back seat to get out of the vehicle.
    Officer James Bartolotta was stationed on the passenger side of the vehicle with Officer
    Carlos Cruz. Officer Bartolotta saw Officer Burgett motion for Defendant to exit the
    vehicle. Officer Burgett explained that the officers wanted to separate the parties for
    safety and to determine what was actually happening. Officer Burgett again asked
    Defendant to exit the vehicle. Defendant responded, ―F--- you. I‘m not getting out of the
    car. I [haven‘t] done nothing wrong.‖ Officer Burgett described Defendant‘s demeanor
    as ―aggressive.‖
    4
    Officer Burgett opened the door to Defendant‘s vehicle and told him to ―please
    step out of the vehicle‖ or he would ―come in and get [him].‖ Defendant leaned toward
    the center console. Officer Burgett thought that Defendant was ―getting something or
    [was going to] drive off—so [he] reach[ed] in and grab[bed] his arm to try to control him.
    . . .‖ Defendant used his elbow to strike at the officer. Officer Cruz stepped around from
    the passenger side of the vehicle to help Officer Burgett remove Defendant from the
    vehicle. Officer Cruz attempted to ―subdue‖ Defendant‘s legs because Defendant was
    kicking. Officer Burgett lost his grip on Defendant. By that time, Officer Bartolotta had
    walked to the driver‘s side of the vehicle. Officer Bartolotta stepped in to try to gain
    control over Defendant because he ―wanted to make sure that there [were] no weapons‖
    accessible to Defendant in the vehicle. Officer Bartolotta ―got hold of [Defendant‘s] arm
    . . . trying to do arm rotate to take him . . . to the ground.‖ Defendant would not comply,
    ―aggressively jerked forward and then jerked backwards,‖ causing Officer Bartolotta to
    lose his balance and fall to the ground. Officer Burgett saw Defendant‘s arm ―come up in
    the same manner‖ as it did earlier towards his face immediately before Officer Bartolotta
    fell to the ground, but he did not see Defendant strike Officer Bartolotta. Defendant was
    being told to comply with the officers but he would not ―stop resisting.‖
    Corporal Dennis Dalbec was observing the interaction from his patrol car parked
    in the Mapco parking lot. When he saw Officer Burgett open the door to Defendant‘s
    vehicle and the ―scuffle‖ begin, he exited his patrol car and ran to the scene ―before the
    situation escalated.‖ Defendant was ―actively resisting physically,‖ and the situation
    needed to have ―an end‖ because he ―feared for the interests of the officers. . . [f]eared for
    the interests of [Defendant] . . . feared that if we didn‘t get the situation under control
    immediately that he could possibly put the vehicle in gear and flee the scene which put
    everybody else in jeopardy in the parking lot.‖ Corporal Dalbec used his taser on
    Defendant. Defendant started screaming that he had a hernia. Defendant ―kicked‖
    Corporal Dalbec in the chest. It ―jolted‖ Corporal Dalbec and ―shoved‖ him back but did
    not injure him. Corporal Dalbec grabbed Defendant by the legs and ―pull[ed] him out of
    the car.‖ Officer Cruz tried to grab Defendant by the feet to get him out of the vehicle.
    Defendant was kicking at the officers but still remained in the vehicle. Officer Cruz got
    kicked in the chest by Defendant. He was not injured. The first taser use was initially
    effective until Defendant started ―actively resisting again.‖ Corporal Dalbec deployed
    the taser a second time. Defendant was removed from the vehicle and placed in
    handcuffs. Officers offered medical services but Defendant refused.4
    4
    During Officer Burgett‘s testimony, the State showed some portion of a videotape from Officer
    Palmer‘s cruiser to the jury. The videotape does not appear to have been entered into evidence. The
    video purportedly showed a portion of the incident between Defendant and the officers. Another video
    recorded the conversation between Officer Bartolotta and Defendant while Defendant was sitting in
    Officer Bartolotta‘s cruiser at the scene. A third video recording depicted the conversation Officer
    Burgett had with Defendant on the way to the Sheriff‘s Department for booking. Finally, a fourth
    5
    Officer Bartolotta ultimately spoke to Katrina Groves, the passenger in the
    backseat of the vehicle, who claimed that she was arguing with her ―man‖ on the phone
    and that she was not assaulted by Defendant.
    Amber Williams, Defendant‘s ex-girlfriend, was riding in the passenger seat on
    the night of the incident. Defendant drove Ms. Williams and her friend, Ms. Groves, to
    Food Lion so that Ms. Groves could buy a pack of cigarettes and use the Coinstar
    machine to exchange coins for cash so that Ms. Groves could ―put money on [her
    boyfriend‘s] books.‖ Ms. Groves‘s boyfriend was incarcerated at the Sumner County
    Jail. Ms. Williams recalled that Ms. Groves was upset and crying ―really bad[ly]‖
    because she had told her boyfriend that she slept with someone else. When Ms. Groves
    exited the store, she was upset and stopped to smoke a cigarette outside the vehicle.
    Defendant remained outside the vehicle, talked to her, and asked her if she was alright.
    After she smoked a cigarette, everyone got back into the vehicle and left Food Lion.
    Defendant drove the vehicle to Mapco. Ms. Williams, seated in the passenger seat,
    turned around to console Ms. Groves who was seated in the back seat on the passenger
    side. The next thing the women knew, there were police officers outside the vehicle.
    The officers asked Ms. Williams if she was okay. She replied affirmatively. The officers
    asked Defendant and Ms. Groves to step out of the vehicle. Ms. Groves exited the
    vehicle. Defendant twice refused. Ms. Williams testified that Defendant ―was not a
    person to curse‖ and did not curse at the officers. Ms. Williams saw an officer reach
    inside the car to grab Defendant; he flinched. Then, she saw an officer open the door and
    grab Defendant; he pulled away and the officers used a taser to subdue Defendant.
    Neither Ms. Williams nor Ms. Groves saw Defendant actively kick or hit an officer. Ms.
    Groves stated that Defendant ―may have accidentally kicked someone . . . while he was
    being tased.‖
    Defendant testified that when they arrived at the Food Lion, he got out of the
    vehicle to use the bathroom. Ms. Groves was crying. When Ms. Groves finished inside
    the store, she wanted to smoke a cigarette. Defendant was ―pretty much allergic to
    cigarettes‖ so he told Ms. Groves to smoke outside the car. Additionally, Defendant was
    driving a rental car because his own car was totaled a month and a half prior to the
    incident. Defendant stood outside the vehicle with Ms. Groves while she smoked and
    told her that everything would be fine. Once she finished smoking, they got into the
    vehicle and drove to the Mapco. Defendant stopped the vehicle and looked at his phone
    to ―check Facebook.‖ When he looked up, he ―noticed a bunch of cop cars were coming
    towards the parking lot.‖ An officer approached the vehicle and told Defendant he was
    videotape depicted Defendant at the Portland Police Department. None of the videos appear in the record
    on appeal and none appear to have been entered as exhibits at trial.
    6
    investigating a ―domestic call.‖         The officer asked Defendant to exit the vehicle.
    Defendant refused.
    Defendant explained that he had been arrested once before in Kentucky. On that
    occasion, Defendant was the passenger in a car that got pulled over after leaving a bar.
    During the stop, Defendant got out of the vehicle and was arrested for public intoxication
    ―for getting out of the car.‖
    Defendant denied cursing at the officers. He explained that an officer ―reached in
    [through the car window] and tried to pull [him] out of the car so [he] pulled back.‖ The
    second time, the officer ―opened the door and . . . grabbed [him] by the arm again and
    tried to pull [him] out.‖ Defendant heard an officer say ―taser taser,‖ and Defendant
    informed the officers that he had a hernia. Defendant stated that if he kicked any of the
    officers it was involuntary and that he did not assault the officers. Defendant testified
    that he was ―scared‖ of being injured and was ―nervous‖ that he was going to get
    arrested.
    At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found Defendant guilty of one count of
    assault with respect to Corporal Dalbec and guilty of resisting a stop. The jury found
    Defendant not guilty of the remaining three counts of assault, all pertaining to
    Defendant‘s actions against the other officers. The trial court sentenced Defendant to
    judicial diversion. With respect to the assault of Corporal Dalbec, Defendant was
    sentenced to eleven months and twenty-nine days of supervised probation at 75%
    service.5 With respect to the resisting a stop conviction, Defendant was sentenced to six
    months of supervised probation at 75% service with a ―[b]eginning date of 5/8/15 and an
    [e]nding date of 11/8/15.‖
    Defendant filed a timely motion for new trial in which he argued that the trial
    court improperly denied the motion to suppress and that the evidence was insufficient to
    support the verdicts. The trial court denied the motion. Defendant filed a timely notice
    of appeal.
    Analysis
    I. Motion to Suppress
    On appeal, Defendant first challenges the trial court‘s denial of the motion to
    suppress. Specifically, Defendant argues that his seizure was illegal ―because the [p]olice
    5
    The judgment reflects that the probationary period had a ―[b]eginning date‖ of ―5/8/15‖ and an
    ―[e]nding date‖ of ―5/7/15.‖ On remand, the judgment should be corrected to reflect an ending date of
    5/7/16.
    7
    had no probable cause to attempt to arrest [Defendant].‖ Moreover, Defendant insists
    that this was not the type of situation contemplated by Terry v. Ohio, 
    392 U.S. 1
    , 21
    (1968), because it was ―a custodial arrest in which [Defendant] was seized, ta[s]ed,
    handcuffed, and searched.‖ The State disagrees, instead arguing that the ―seizure‖ of
    Defendant occurred when Officer Burgett opened Defendant‘s car door and ordered
    Defendant to exit the vehicle and that the detention and resulting arrest were justified
    based on the report of a citizen informant of a domestic disturbance, a visibly upset
    female in the back seat of the vehicle, and Defendant‘s hostile refusal to exit the vehicle.
    The motion to suppress filed by Defendant in this case sought to suppress ―any
    evidence that flows from the illegal arrest‖ without identifying the nature or identity of
    the evidence. This Court has stated:
    A motion to suppress, like any other motion, is required to state the grounds
    upon which it is predicated with particularity. Tenn. R. Crim. P. 47. Thus,
    before an accused is entitled to an evidentiary hearing, the motion ‗must be
    sufficiently definite, specific, detailed and non-conjectural, to enable the
    court to conclude a substantial claim . . . [is] presented.‖ State v. Davidson,
    
    606 S.W.2d 293
    , 297 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1980). See State v. Howell, 
    672 S.W.2d 442
    , 444 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1984).
    State v. Burton, 
    751 S.W.2d 440
    , 445 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1988). When a motion does not
    comply with Rule 47, a defendant is ―not entitled, as a matter of law, to an evidentiary
    hearing.‖ 
    Id. (citing Howell,
    672 S.W.2d at 444). On the other hand,
    [w]hen the allegations contained in a motion to suppress entitled the
    accused to an evidentiary hearing, the accused has the initial burden of
    proving by a preponderance of the evidence (a) he has a legitimate
    expectation of privacy in the place or property from which the items sought
    to be suppressed were seized, State v. Roberge, 
    642 S.W.2d 716
    , 718
    (Tenn. 1982); State v. White, 
    635 S.W.2d 396
    , 399 (Tenn. Crim. App.
    1982), (b) the identity of the items he seeks to suppress as evidence, State v.
    Johnson, 
    705 S.W.2d 681
    , 683 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1985), and (c) the items
    were seized without a warrant.
    
    Burton, 751 S.W.2d at 445
    (emphasis added). The motion to suppress herein contains a
    lengthy recitation of the facts leading up to Defendant‘s arrest and seeks to suppress ―any
    evidence that flows from the illegal arrest.‖ In our view, Defendant was not ―entitled, as
    a matter of law, to an evidentiary hearing.‖ 
    Id. at 445;
    see also State v. Jefferson, 
    938 S.W.2d 1
    , 9 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1996) (upholding trial court‘s refusal to hold evidentiary
    hearing where motion to suppress was inadequate while recognizing ―the time constraints
    and plight of appointed counsel‖ but refusing to ―overlook or bend the rules to
    8
    accommodate these individuals‖). Of course, a trial court may conduct an evidentiary
    hearing incident to a motion to suppress notwithstanding the deficiency in the pleadings.
    In this case, however, no actual evidence was obtained as a result of the allegedly illegal
    seizure that could be suppressed. Defendant suggests that an allegedly illegal seizure can
    somehow operate to vitiate a crime committed after the seizure. That is not the law.
    ―Whether the arrest was or was not supported by probable cause is not determinative as
    to whether [the] defendant resisted arrest. A defendant may still be guilty of resisting
    arrest even if the arrest is unlawful.‖ State v. Edward Iroghuehi Isibor, No. 01C01-9610-
    CC-00041, 
    1997 WL 602945
    , at *3 (Tenn. Crim. App. Sept. 30, 1997), perm. app. denied
    (Tenn. Aug. 3, 1998) (citing T.C.A. § 39-16-602(b)). Thus, suppression was not an
    available remedy in this case because no evidence was obtained as a result of the
    allegedly illegal seizure and, therefore, there was no evidence to be suppressed.
    Defendant is not entitled to relief on this issue.
    II. Sufficiency of the Evidence
    Defendant also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence with regard to his
    convictions for assault and resisting a stop. He argues that there ―was no testimony that
    he intentionally used any force‖ but merely pulled away from the officers and
    involuntarily came in contact with the officers as a result of his reaction to the taser.
    Moreover, Defendant insists that the State failed to prove assault because Corporal
    Dalbec never testified that he feared imminent bodily injury. The State disagrees.
    While not raised by either party, we are compelled to point out a few things that
    happened during the trial in this matter and its effect on our review. First, as noted at the
    outset of the opinion, the transcripts provided to this Court on appeal were not prepared
    in the typical fashion by a court reporter but instead were transcribed by a member of
    defense counsel‘s staff from a recording made by defense counsel. Secondly, of
    particular importance to our discussion of the sufficiency of the evidence, there were no
    exhibits submitted with the record on appeal. In fact, the record does not reflect that any
    exhibits were entered during the trial. However, in the transcript, during the testimony of
    Officer Burgett, the jury viewed at least a portion of a videotape of the incident recorded
    by a police cruiser at the scene. Counsel for Defendant did not object to the jury viewing
    the videotape. It does not appear that counsel for the State or Defendant ever admitted
    the videotape into evidence as an exhibit. There are no videotapes in the record on
    appeal.
    While the testimony in the record certainly supports the jury‘s verdict, as pointed
    out above, the record does not contain what the jury saw in one of the videos. The
    defendant has a duty to prepare a record that conveys ―a fair, accurate and complete
    account of what transpired with respect to the issues which form the basis of the appeal‖
    and will enable the appellate court to decide the issues. Tenn. R. App. P. 24(b).
    9
    It is well-established that an appellate court is precluded from considering
    an issue when the record does not contain a transcript or statement of what
    transpired in the trial court with respect to that issue. Moreover, the
    appellate court must conclusively presume that the ruling of the trial judge
    was correct, the evidence was sufficient to support the defendant's
    conviction, or the defendant received a fair and impartial trial. In summary,
    a defendant is effectively denied appellate review of an issue when the
    record transmitted to the appellate court does not contain a transcription of
    the relevant proceedings in the trial court.
    State v. Draper, 
    800 S.W.2d 489
    , 493 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1990). Accordingly,
    Defendant‘s failure to include a complete record of the proceedings forming the basis of
    this appeal results in waiver to any challenge of the lower court‘s rulings. See generally
    State v. Ballard, 
    855 S.W.2d 557
    , 560-61 (Tenn. 1993) (determining appellant‘s failure to
    provide court with complete record relevant to issues presented constitutes waiver of
    issue); State v. Draper, 
    800 S.W.2d 489
    , 493 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1990) (holding appellate
    court is precluded from considering issue when record does not contain transcript of what
    transpired in trial court with respect to that issue). In the absence of a complete record,
    we must presume the findings of the trial court are correct. See State v. Boling, 
    840 S.W.2d 944
    , 951 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1992); State v. Bibbs, 
    806 S.W.2d 786
    , 790 (Tenn.
    Crim. App. 1991) (citing Smith v. State, 
    584 S.W.2d 811
    , 812 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1979);
    Vermilye v. State, 
    584 S.W.2d 226
    , 230 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1979)). This Court is
    precluded from reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence. Defendant is not entitled to
    relief on this issue.
    Conclusion
    For the foregoing reasons, the judgments of the Criminal Court are affirmed.
    However, the case is remanded for the correction of a clerical error.
    ____________________________________
    TIMOTHY L. EASTER, JUDGE
    10