An appellate panel considered whether a trial judge should have instructed the jury under a firearms self‑defense statute and whether the defendant’s appeal should be dismissed as untimely; the court took the arguments under advisement after extended questioning of counsel.

The Tennessee Supreme Court heard oral argument over whether the Court of Criminal Appeals properly dismissed an appeal by Mr. Hawley because the appellate record lacked a guilty-plea transcript. Appellant's counsel urged the court to reject a per-se dismissal approach tied to Miller and instead to apply Caudle's case-by-case review or to sua spon