Judge David D. Wolfe denied two motions filed by defendant Billy Lynn Hollis Jr. on grounds that no verifiable, accepted plea agreement existed and that a furlough would be unsafe and inappropriate.

The issues were heard after Hollis and defense counsel urged the court to enforce an alleged earlier offer that defense lawyers say amounted to roughly six years of community corrections and treatment. Hollis told the court he was prepared to accept a prior proposal but said he “was not brought to court” on the date he expected, and that the later prosecution team provided a significantly different, harsher offer.

Former Assistant District Attorney Jack Arnold, who had handled the case earlier, testified that he had discussed a settlement that was contingent on cooperation from Montgomery County prosecutors and that the matter “broke down” when the other jurisdiction declined to resolve its separate charges concurrently. Defense attorney Scott Saul said there were back-and-forth negotiations and that counsel believed an earlier offer had been available; Saul sought to supplement the record with notes and e-mails to show timing of the exchanges.

The state called Sergeant Matthew Ferrell of the Clarksville Police Department, who described a 2021 surveillance and pursuit in which agents observed a suspected hand‑to‑hand drug transaction, followed Hollis’s vehicle, attempted a traffic stop and alleged Hollis fled at high speed and later refused field sobriety testing. Ferrell’s testimony underpinned the prosecution’s argument that the record supported more aggressive treatment of the case.

“In this court’s opinion . . . there was never any official offer that was accepted by the defendant,” Judge David D. Wolfe said in ruling on the enforcement motion. The court found the parties had engaged in negotiations but that no firm, accepted plea appeared in the record that the court could enforce. The judge also denied the furlough request, citing the nature of the pending charges, Hollis’s record and the fact that recovery‑court placement had earlier been rejected.

The court said Hollis remains free to enter a plea or proceed to trial and indicated a trial date will be set. The judge denied both the motion to enforce and the furlough motion and the docket will proceed accordingly.