State of Tennessee v. Alvina Tinisha Brown, E2016-00314-CCA-R3-CD

During a traffic stop following a drug-team operation, deputies detained passenger Alvina Brown; an inventory/search of the stopped vehicle and her purse followed.
Deputies observed rolling papers, a straw with white residue, a pill crusher with white residue, scales, a glass tube, and multiple small bags; TBI testing identified oxycodone, alprazolam, and marijuana.
Video shows Brown handcuffed, deputies retrieving a small torn bag and scraps of pills from her hands; deputies alleged she tried to hide/tear a bag and scratched a pill.
Brown was tried by jury and convicted of tampering with evidence (Class C felony), possession of marijuana (misdemeanor), possession of alprazolam (misdemeanor), and possession of drug paraphernalia; trial court imposed an effective 15-year sentence as a Range III persistent offender.
Brown filed an untimely written motion for new trial; appellate court treated suppression and other issues as waived except sufficiency and sentencing.
On appeal the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed and dismissed the tampering conviction for insufficient evidence, affirmed the other convictions, upheld sentencing, and remanded to correct clerical errors in judgments.

Issue	State's Argument	Brown's Argument	Held
Admission/search/suppression of evidence	Searches were lawful; issue waived by untimely new-trial motion	Searches were warrantless, occurred while in custody, unsupported by probable cause	Suppression claim waived by untimely motion; no plain error found
Sufficiency of evidence for tampering with evidence (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-503)	Evidence showed she tore/concealed bag and altered pill, supporting tampering conviction	Conduct only minimally delayed discovery; did not impair evidentiary value	Reversed: evidence insufficient — concealment only minimally delayed discovery and did not impair evidentiary value; conviction vacated and dismissed
Sentencing (15 years for tampering)	Sentence within range and justified by extensive criminal history and failures on supervision	Fifteen-year sentence excessive for conduct alleged	Although tampering conviction vacated, sentencing process was proper and 15-year within-range sentence was not an abuse of discretion given record
Procedural: timeliness of new-trial motion and appeal	Court lacked authority to extend Rule 33 deadline; untimely motion waives many issues	Trial court set a later deadline at sentencing; argued motion/supplement timely	Oral motion did not satisfy Rule 33; written motion untimely; most issues waived except sufficiency and sentencing

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency review)
State v. Hawkins, 406 S.W.3d 121 (Tenn. 2013) (defendant’s brief concealment that minimally delayed discovery did not constitute tampering)
State v. Bise, 380 S.W.3d 682 (Tenn. 2012) (abuse-of-discretion review and presumption of reasonableness for within-range sentences)
State v. Bough, 152 S.W.3d 453 (Tenn. 2004) (Rule 33 thirty-day time limit for motion for new trial is mandatory)