Nashville Criminal Defense Lawyer
Patriot Law defends people charged with misdemeanors and felonies in Davidson County and across Middle Tennessee. Every case is handled personally by Austin Tomlinson, a criminal defense attorney and military veteran.
What a Criminal Defense Lawyer Does at Each Stage of a Case
A criminal defense lawyer protects the accused at every stage: arraignment and bond, reviewing the State's discovery, filing motions to suppress illegally obtained evidence, negotiating with the District Attorney, applying for diversion, and trying the case to a jury when no acceptable resolution exists.
Most of that work happens before anyone sets foot in front of a jury. The cases that end well usually end well because somebody read the discovery closely enough to find the problem in it, and raised it at the right moment.
Criminal Charges Austin Defends in Nashville and Davidson County
Pick your charge for what the State has to prove, the penalties Tennessee attaches to it, and where these cases tend to break down.
DUI & DWI Defense
Field sobriety tests, breath and blood results, implied consent, license revocation.
DUI Defense →Drug Charges
Simple possession through trafficking, including Schedule VI and THC cases.
Drug Defense →Assault & Battery
Simple and aggravated assault, self-defense claims, mutual-combat situations.
Assault Defense →Domestic Violence
Orders of protection, no-contact conditions, custody fallout, gun-rights loss.
DV Defense →Theft & Burglary
Shoplifting, theft by value tier, aggravated burglary, property felonies.
Theft Defense →Sex Crimes
False accusations, registry exposure, cases built on one person's word.
Sex Crime Defense →White Collar Crime
Fraud, embezzlement, pre-indictment defense while the investigation is open.
White Collar Defense →Arson
Fire-origin science, cause-and-origin experts, insurance-driven investigations.
Arson Defense →Gun & Weapons Charges
Unlawful carry, felon in possession, and the firearm rights a conviction costs you.
Weapons Defense →Probation Violation
Violation warrants, revocation hearings, and keeping a suspended sentence suspended.
VOP Defense →Expungement
Clearing dismissals, diversions and eligible convictions off your public record.
Expungement →Veterans Defense
Veterans Treatment Court, service connection as mitigation, and protecting benefits and clearance.
For Veterans →Felony vs Misdemeanor in Tennessee
In Tennessee a misdemeanor carries a maximum of 11 months and 29 days and is resolved in General Sessions Court without a jury. A felony carries a year or more, goes to the grand jury, and if indicted moves to Criminal Court where a jury trial is available.
| Misdemeanor | Felony | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum jail | 11 months, 29 days | 1 year to 60 years |
| Where it starts | General Sessions Court | General Sessions, preliminary hearing |
| Jury available | No, unless appealed | Yes, in Criminal Court after indictment |
| Grand jury | No | Yes, must be indicted to proceed |
| Typical timeline | 2 to 4 months | 9 months to 2 years |
| Gun rights | Usually kept, except domestic violence | Lost on conviction |
| Voting rights | Kept | Lost on conviction, restoration possible |
Tennessee Sentencing Ranges by Offense Class
These are the authorized ranges set by Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-111. Where a given case lands inside its range depends on your criminal history, the enhancement and mitigation factors the court weighs, and whether diversion is available.
| Class | Authorized term | Maximum fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class A felony | 15 to 60 years | $50,000 |
| Class B felony | 8 to 30 years | $25,000 |
| Class C felony | 3 to 15 years | $10,000 |
| Class D felony | 2 to 12 years | $5,000 |
| Class E felony | 1 to 6 years | $3,000 |
| Class A misdemeanor | Up to 11 months, 29 days | $2,500 |
| Class B misdemeanor | Up to 6 months | $500 |
| Class C misdemeanor | Up to 30 days | $50 |
A fine above $50 must be imposed by a jury unless you waive that right. Seeing a number on this chart does not mean it is what you are facing. It is the ceiling, and the point of a defense is to keep you away from it.
How a Criminal Case Moves Through Davidson County Courts
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Arrest and Booking
You are processed at the Davidson County jail and given a first appearance date. Bond is set here. This is the point where most people talk themselves into a worse case than they started with.
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Arraignment in General Sessions
The charge is read and you enter a plea. Counsel at this hearing can affect bond conditions, no-contact orders and how quickly discovery gets moving.
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Discovery
Austin requests everything the State has: body cam, dash cam, dispatch logs, lab reports, witness statements, officer notes. Then he reads it against what actually happened.
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Preliminary Hearing or Negotiation
On a felony, the State must show probable cause to bind the case to the grand jury. On a misdemeanor, this is usually where resolution or diversion gets negotiated.
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Indictment and Criminal Court
If a felony is indicted, it moves to Criminal Court. Motions to suppress, expert work and trial preparation happen here.
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Resolution or Trial
Dismissal, diversion, a negotiated plea, or a jury. You decide, with a clear picture of what each path actually costs you.
Your Rights After an Arrest in Tennessee
You Can Stay Silent, and You Should
Say that you are invoking your right to remain silent and that you want a lawyer, then stop. Half-answering is worse than not answering.
You Can Refuse a Search
Officers may ask for consent precisely because they lack a warrant or probable cause. Refusing is not evidence of guilt, and it preserves a suppression argument.
You Get a Lawyer Before Questioning
Once you ask for counsel, questioning is supposed to stop. If it did not stop, that matters, and it is one of the first things Austin checks.
Your Phone Is Usually Off Limits
Police generally need a warrant to search a phone. Do not unlock it because someone asked you to.
Recorded Jail Calls Are Evidence
Every call from the jail is recorded and prosecutors listen to them. Do not discuss your case with anyone but your attorney.
The Burden Is Never Yours
The State has to prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. You do not have to prove innocence, and you do not have to testify.
Veterans Have Defense Options Civilians Do Not
The Davidson County Veterans Treatment Court exists to route eligible veterans and service members toward treatment instead of conviction, taking participants through a diversion program or as a condition of probation. Service-connected PTSD, TBI and substance issues also carry weight with the District Attorney when they are documented and raised early.
Austin is a veteran himself. That is not a tagline on this page, it is why these options get raised in the first conversation instead of the fourth.
Veterans Defense OptionsService Connection as Mitigation
A documented service-connected condition carries real weight with a prosecutor and a judge. It has to be raised early and with records behind it.
Veterans Treatment Court
Nashville pairs eligible veterans with treatment and a veteran mentor instead of jail. Austin handles the screening and the referral.
Clearance and Benefits
A plea that looks minor in General Sessions can cost a security clearance, a VA benefit or a CDL. Austin maps that before you agree to anything.
Why Clients Hire Austin Tomlinson
One Lawyer, Start To Finish
The attorney you hire is the attorney who reads your discovery, negotiates your case and stands next to you at the podium. No handoff.
Flat Fees, Quoted Up Front
You get the number in the first conversation, in writing, at no charge. No surprise invoices in the middle of a case you cannot walk away from.
Straight Answers, Including Bad Ones
You will hear what the State actually has and what your realistic outcomes are. Nobody gets talked into false confidence here.
Nashville Criminal Defense FAQ
Should I just get a public defender?
Public defenders in Davidson County are capable lawyers carrying caseloads no private attorney would accept. If you qualify financially and cannot hire counsel, take the appointment. What you get with retained counsel is time: someone who can sit with your discovery, return your calls, and chase a suppression issue that takes twenty hours to develop.
What is the difference between diversion and a dismissal?
A dismissal ends the case outright. Diversion puts it on hold while you complete conditions, then dismisses it if you finish. Tennessee offers pretrial diversion, judicial diversion under Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-313, and Veterans Treatment Court for eligible veterans. Completed diversions end in dismissal and are generally eligible for expungement.
Can I get my charge reduced?
Often, yes. Reductions come from leverage: a weak identification, a bad stop, a missing element, a chain-of-custody gap, or mitigation the prosecutor had not seen. Leverage comes from reading the file, which is why the answer to this question is never available in the first phone call.
Do I have to appear at every court date?
Generally yes for misdemeanors and always for felony settings, though counsel can sometimes waive your appearance for routine matters. Missing a court date gets a capias issued for your arrest and undoes a lot of goodwill, so tell your attorney early if a date is a problem.
Will a charge show up on a background check if the case is dismissed?
Yes, until it is expunged. A dismissal removes the conviction, not the arrest record. Expungement is a separate filing and it is the step people most often skip, then discover two years later when an apartment application comes back denied.
How soon should I hire a lawyer?
Before your first court date, and ideally before you speak to anyone about the case. In pre-indictment investigations, counsel involved early can sometimes keep a charge from being filed at all, which is the best outcome available and the one that disappears once an indictment lands.