I looked up Tennessee code on the stop light issue and found this: "(2) Yellow alone or “Caution,†when shown following the green or “Go†signal:
(A) Vehicular traffic facing the signal is thereby warned that the red or “Stop†signal will be exhibited immediately thereafter and such vehicular traffic shall not enter or cross the intersection when the red or “Stop†signal is exhibited;"
This is Tennessee code 55-8-110 from this website: http://michie.lexisnexis.com
Wouldn't this mean you can't cross the intersection when the stop light is Red? Therefore, if you were in the intersection (entered while yellow) and it turned red you would be violation of this code.
Of course, I know someone who fell in this situation, defended themselves in court by saying how can someone possibly time the yellow? They were in the intersection while the light was yellow and the light turned red before they cleared the intrersection. If they tried to stop for the light, they would have stopped in the middle of the intersection. The judge agreed with them and gave them the ticket anyway.
I'm not disagreeing with Wolfy's comment. I think what Wolfy is saying should be the interpretation of the code. However, this situation seems to fly in the face of this. Or the judge interpretated the code incorrectly.