State v. Trawick

Full title: STATE OF TENNESSEE, Appellee, v. PATRICK TRAWICK, also known as TARUS…

Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee. at Jackson

Date published: Jul 26, 1996

No. 02C01-9506-CR-00160 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jul. 26, 1996)

Opinion

No. 02C01-9506-CR-00160.

July 26, 1996.

Appeal from Shelby County, Hon. Bernie Weinman, Judge.

For the Appellant:

Dianne Thackery, Assistant Public Defender, (AT TRIAL), Walker Gwinn, Assistant Public Defender, (ON APPEAL).

For the Appellee:

Charles W. Burson, Attorney General of Tennessee, Charlotte H. Rappuhn, Assistant Attorney General of Tennessee, John W. Pierotti, Jr., District Attorney General, Patience Branham, Assistant District Attorney General.

AFFIRMED PURSUANT TO RULE 20

TIPTON, Judge

OPINION

The defendant, Patrick Trawick, also known as Tarus Norfleet, appeals from his jury conviction in the Shelby County Criminal Court for rape, a Class B felony. He received a sentence of nine years as a Range I, standard offender to be served in the custody of the Department of Correction. In this appeal as of right, he contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction for rape.

The sixteen-year-old victim testified that the codefendant, who was a friend of the defendant, grabbed her, carried her into his apartment, and sexually assaulted her. She said that then, the defendant entered the apartment, and threw her onto a couch, and penetrated her. The victim testified that another of the defendant's friends was in the room and that he held her down while the defendant penetrated her. The defendant's contention is that conflicts in the victim's statements about the assault made her testimony unbelievable. However, questions of credibility were for the jury to resolve. State v. Pruett, 788 S.W.2d 559 (Tenn. 1990).

After a full consideration of the record, the briefs, and the law governing the issue presented, we are of the opinion that the evidence is sufficient, as viewed under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789 (1979), to support the defendant's conviction for rape and that no precedential value would be derived from the rendering of an opinion. Therefore, we conclude that the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed pursuant to Rule 20, Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. R.

_______________________ Joseph M. Tipton, Judge

CONCUR:

_______________________ Paul G. Summers, Judge

_______________________ Jerry L. Smith, Judge