State of Tennessee v. James Edward Allen

The Defendant, James Edward Allen, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court
jury of two counts of first degree felony murder; two counts of especially aggravated
robbery, a Class A felony; aggravated assault, a Class C felony; and possession of a firearm
by a convicted felon, a Class B felony, for which he received an effective two consecutive
life sentences plus thirty years. See T.C.A. §§ 39-13-202 (2018) (subsequently amended)
(first degree murder), 39-13-403 (2025) (especially aggravated robbery), 39-13-102
(Suppl. 2019) (subsequently amended) (aggravated assault), 39-17-1307 (2018)
(subsequently amended) (unlawful possession of a firearm). On appeal, the Defendant
contends that the trial court erred by failing to (1) grant his motion to suppress his
statements to law enforcement, (2) grant a continuance of the trial due to the unavailability
of a defense expert witness, and (3) instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter as a lesser
included offense of first degree murder. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.