New Sentencing Hearing Granted In Putnam Theft Case

A man convicted on burglary and theft charges in Putnam County has won his appeal and will be given a new hearing.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals said the trial court in the case of Matthew Norris failed to consider appropriate factors when issuing the sentence in 2018.

The Appeals Court’s report states the trial court was incorrect when it denied Norris judicial diversion and a probation sentence.

Norris was convicted and sentenced to an eight-year prison term in 2018 after breaking into and stealing property from a storage unit. The separate incidents occurred in December 2016 and January 2017 in which Norris and a co-defendant took nearly $2,500 in property from the unit along Pigeon Road.

A Putnam County grand jury indicted Norris in 2017 on two counts of theft of property over $2,500 and one count of burglary before Norris entered a guilty plea.

In the appeal, Norris argued that his lack of a criminal background prior to the theft incident qualified him for an alternative sentence. However, the state responded did not address the argument due to the trial court’s incorrect sentencing.