State of Tennessee v. Craig Patrick Hebert, M2012-02299-CCA-R3-CD

Defendant Craig Patrick Hebert was indicted for aggravated assault after an incident at Southern Thrift Store; a jury convicted him of the lesser-included misdemeanor assault.
Store manager Sandra Dodson and employee Tyrese Buggs testified that after an in-store confrontation the defendant backed his pickup toward Dodson in the parking lot, forcing her to run into traffic and causing her to fear imminent bodily injury.
Surveillance video recorded the in-store events (no audio) but did not cover the parking lot; police did not obtain a copy of the store recording.
Defendant disputed the witnesses’ accounts, testified he did not force Dodson into the road, and denied she was behind his truck.
After conviction and a suspended six-month sentence, defendant appealed asserting (1) insufficiency of the evidence, (2) trial court’s failure to give T.P.I. Crim. 42.23 (duty to preserve evidence) and (3) denial of a coram nobis petition alleging the grand jury foreman was a convicted felon.

Issue	State's Argument	Hebert's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence	Witness testimony (Dodson, Buggs) proved assault beyond a reasonable doubt	Testimony conflicts undermine credibility and negate proof	Conviction affirmed; evidence sufficient when viewed in State's favor
Failure to give T.P.I. Crim. 42.23 (duty to preserve evidence)	No plain error: the missing video was not material (offense occurred in parking lot, video covered inside only)	Failure to preserve/store surveillance video required the jury be instructed to infer the missing evidence would favor defendant	No plain error; instruction not required because video was not material
Coram nobis: grand jury foreman ineligible (convicted felon)	Issue waived by failure to raise pretrial; grand juror status does not deprive court of jurisdiction	Indictment void because foreman was statutorily ineligible to serve	Petition denied; challenge waived and any defect cured by the jury verdict

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for appellate review of sufficiency of the evidence)
California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479 (1984) (due-process duty to preserve evidence limited to material, apparently exculpatory evidence)
State v. Ferguson, 2 S.W.3d 912 (Tenn. 1999) (adopts Trombetta standard for Tennessee prosecutions)
State v. Hester, 324 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2010) (plain-error framework in Tennessee appellate review)
State v. Lopez, 440 S.W.3d 601 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2014) (grand jury foreman’s felon status does not deprive court of jurisdiction; claim waivable)