Tennessee high court hears dispute over need for guilty-plea transcript after appellate dismissal

May it please the court. Appellant's attorney Robert Suryani told the Tennessee Supreme Court that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in dismissing his client's sentencing appeal solely because the appellate record did not include a transcript of the guilty-plea colloquy.

Suryani argued the appeals court relied on Miller in dismissing the case instead of applying the "case-by-case" approach articulated in Caudle, and he asked the court to reverse the dismissal or, alternatively, to supplement the appellate record sua sponte under Bristol with the guilty-plea transcript and remand to the Court of Criminal Appeals. "I'd like the court to issue an opinion saying that the reliance on Miller was improper," Suryani said, and that the Court should "supplement the record with the guilty plea transcript, send that to the court of appeals, and let them make the decision." (Robert Suryani, oral argument, 00:08:15)

The State, represented by Will Lundy, told the justices the Court of Criminal Appeals reasonably…