01/20/2021 IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE Assigned on Briefs July 29, 2020 STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TAMMY LYNN WALKER Appeal from the Criminal Court for Campbell County No. 2018-CR-17814 E. Shayne Sexton, Judge No. E2019-00501-CCA-R3-CD Following a bench trial, the Defendant, Tammy Lynn Walker, was convicted of passing a worthless check, a Class D felony. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred in determining that she made a knowing and voluntary waiver of her right to counsel and by requiring her to proceed pro se at trial when she had not executed a written waiver to the effect. The State, after initially contending that the trial court did not err, alternatively argues that the Defendant implicitly waived her right to counsel by failing to retain counsel in a timely manner. In addition, the Defendant, as a separate issue, contends that the trial court violated her constitutional rights when it compelled her to testify against herself. We conclude that the non-indigent Defendant knowingly and voluntarily explicitly waived her right to counsel by her statements and conduct and that she was not compelled to testify against herself. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court Affirmed D. KELLY THOMAS, JR., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JAMES CURWOOD WITT, JR., and NORMA MCGEE OGLE, JJ., joined. Richard L. Gaines and Jeffrey Z. Daniel, Knoxville, Tennessee (on appeal); and Tammy Lynn Walker, LaFollette, Tennessee, Pro Se (at trial), for the appellant, Tammy Lynn Walker. Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; T. Austin Watkins, Assistant Attorney General; Jared R. Effler, District Attorney General; and David M. Pollard, Jr., Thomas E. Barclay, and Lindsey C. Cadle, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. OPINION FACTUAL BACKGROUND According to the affidavit of complaint, the Defendant, on May 12, 2016, wrote a check to the Campbell County Clerk and Master’s office (“the Clerk’s Office”) in the amount of $5,610.51 as payment for taxes owed on two LaFollette properties, 511 Prospect and 221 Fairway, and one Caryville property, 473 Ridge Road. She wrote this check one day before the properties were scheduled to be sold by the Clerk’s Office. The check was returned to the Clerk’s Office due to insufficient funds. The Clerk’s Office attempted to contact the Defendant by telephone and certified mail, with no results. On January 10, 2018, the Campbell County Grand Jury indicted the Defendant for passing a worthless check in an amount of $1,000.00 or more but less than $10,000.00.1 See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-121. On March 19, 2018, the Defendant appeared in court for arraignment. At the outset, the trial court indicated, “I have a note she was to retain counsel.” The prosecutor indicated that this was “the third setting.” The Defendant said that she was “in the process of retaining Robert Carter from Tullahoma,” but that Mr. Carter had ...
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