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Tate v. Jones

Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee. at Knoxville
Feb 13, 1998
No. 03C01-9707-CR-00264 (Tenn. Crim. App. Feb. 13, 1998)

Opinion

No. 03C01-9707-CR-00264.

February 13, 1998.

Morgan County, Honorable E. Eugene Eblen, Judge (Habeas Corpus).

AFFIRMED PURSUANT TO RULE 20

For the Appellant:

Tommy Horton Tate, Pro Se

For the Appellee:

John Knox Walkup, Attorney General of Tennessee and Michael J. Fahey, II, Assistant Attorney General of Tennessee, Charles E. Hawk, Jr., District Attorney General and Frank Harvey, Assistant District Attorney General.


OPINION

The petitioner, Tommy Horton Tate, appeals as of right the Morgan County Criminal Court's denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief. He contends that his convictions for rape of a child are void because the indictments do not allege the required mens rea.

According to the petitioner's habeas corpus petition, the indictments charged that the petitioner "did unlawfully engage in sexual penetration, to wit: fellatio, with [the victim], who is less than thirteen (13) years of age. . . ." In State v. Hill, 954 S.W.2d 725 (Tenn. 1997), our supreme court held that an indictment charging a defendant with the unlawful sexual penetration of a person less than thirteen years of age was sufficient to charge the mental state needed for rape, aggravated by the victim being less than thirteen years old. Thus, underHill, the allegations in the indictments charge the offense for which the petitioner was convicted.

After full consideration of the record, the briefs, and the law governing the issue presented, we are of the opinion that the trial court properly dismissed the petitioner's petition for habeas corpus relief and that no precedential value would be derived from the rendering of a full 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:

________________________________ Gary R. Wade, Judge

________________________________ Curwood Witt, Judge


Summaries of

Tate v. Jones

Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee. at Knoxville
Feb 13, 1998
No. 03C01-9707-CR-00264 (Tenn. Crim. App. Feb. 13, 1998)
Case details for

Tate v. Jones

Case Details

Full title:TOMMY HORTON TATE, Appellant, v. CHARLES JONES, WARDEN, Appellee

Court:Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee. at Knoxville

Date published: Feb 13, 1998

Citations

No. 03C01-9707-CR-00264 (Tenn. Crim. App. Feb. 13, 1998)