What this shows
Every footprint is a step Donyell took himself, mostly by hand, from a cell. The gavels are the courts. The buildings are the State. This page shows 16 of his steps across three courts. The trial-court docket alone shows about 61 filings by him, every one denied, mooted or left waiting, as of August 29, 2025.
His step The court The State
Hamilton County Criminal Court
Trial court · Nos. 311081 & 317210 · Judge Amanda Dunn, Division II
- Mar 10, 2021Indicted in No. 311081.
- Jul 12, 2021Files his own motions for discovery and for evidence that could clear him.
- Jul 13, 2021Denied the next day.
- Jan 11, 2022Files a written demand for a speedy trial. It sits unanswered.
- Jan 13, 2023Files a second speedy-trial demand. It also sits unanswered.
- 2023 to Jan 2024Files motions to compel, to dismiss and for bond. The court forwards them to his lawyer.
- Apr 10, 2024New indictment, No. 317210, adds felony murder 34 days before trial.
- May 10, 2024His own pretrial motions are denied.
- May 14, 2024Trial begins.
- May 16, 2024Verdict.
- Jun 5, 2024Files his motion for a new trial.
- Aug 16, 2024His lawyer withdraws. He takes over his own case and files an amended motion for a new trial.
- Aug 16 – Nov 26, 2024Asks three times for his own case file (Aug 16, Nov 8, Nov 26). The docket shows all three still waiting.
- Oct 3, 2024Files a second amended motion for a new trial.
- Oct 25, 2024Sentenced: life plus fifty years.
- Jan 27, 2025Moves to close the old case file, No. 311081.
- Jun 3, 2025Moves to suppress the Teakwood evidence. Still unanswered as of Aug 29, 2025.
- Jun 2025His motions filed since the verdict are denied as moot.
- Jul 2, 2025Files a Rule 33(b) motion. Still unanswered as of Aug 29, 2025.
- Jul 14, 2025Motion for a new trial denied.
Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals
Direct appeal · No. E2024-01809-CCA-R3-CD
- Mar 17, 2025Wins his own motion: the appeals court sends the case back and orders the trial court to rule on his new-trial motion “and any amendments thereto.”
- Jul 23, 2025His appointed appeal lawyer is allowed to withdraw.
- Sep 24, 2025The State moves to dismiss his appeal.
- Nov 17, 2025Asks for an appeal lawyer.
- Nov 21, 2025Denied.
- Dec 19, 2025Files his amended brief himself.
- Jan 10, 2026The State’s motion to dismiss his appeal is denied.
- May 14, 2026The State files its brief.
- Aug 11, 2026The appeal is submitted to the judges on the briefs.
- Aug 17, 2026Moves to hold the appeal and add to the record. The State opposes on Aug 27.
- NowWaiting for the decision.
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee
Federal habeas · No. 1:25-cv-00200
- May–Jun 2025Files his own federal habeas petition. The federal docket shows two different filing dates.
- Jun 30, 2025Dismissed over filing-fee paperwork and returned mail, before any review of his claims.
- Jul 19, 2025The dismissal is mailed to him after the 30-day window to appeal it has closed.
Civil rights case
42 U.S.C. § 1983
- NextHis civil rights case is still ahead.
Dates come from the trial-court rule docket for No. 317210 (printed August 29, 2025), the orders of the Court of Criminal Appeals, and the federal docket. New steps are added as each paper comes in.