State v. Blackmon

OPINION

BIRCH, J.

We granted permission to appeal pursuant to Tenn. R.App. P. 11 to the appellant, Bobby Vincent Blackmon, in order to determine whether, and if so, under what circumstances, the right to be tried by a judge who is constitutionally qualified 1 can be waived. We address also the appellant’s contention that the judgment of forfeiture entered against his vehicle seized incident to his arrest on April 20, 1993, constitutes “punishment,” such as would violate the constitutional prohibitions 2 against double jeopardy.

Following a careful consideration of the issues, we conclude that a…