State of Tennessee v. Charles A. Walker

The defendant, Charles A. Walker, was convicted by a Montgomery County jury of two counts of rape of a child, a Class A felony, and one count of aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony, based on acts he committed against his stepdaughter, who was less than thirteen years old when the offenses occurred. He was sentenced by the trial court to twenty years for each of the rape convictions and to eight years for the aggravated sexual battery conviction, with the rape sentences to be served concurrently to each other and the aggravated sexual battery sentence to be served consecutively to the rape sentences, for an effective sentence of twenty-eight years at 100% in the Department of Correction. The defendant raises the following issues on appeal: (1) whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain his convictions; (2) whether the State sufficiently proved the date of two of the offenses as set out in the bill of particulars and the verdict forms submitted to the jury; (3) whether the trial court committed reversible error by not issuing unanimity and election of offenses jury instructions; and (4) whether the totality of alleged evidentiary ruling errors warrants a new trial. Following our review, we affirm the rape convictions but reverse and remand for a new trial on the aggravated sexual battery offense. Additionally, we remand for entry of corrected judgments on the rape convictions to reflect that the defendant was sentenced to twenty years, rather than twenty-two, in each count.