State of Tennessee v. Aaron Michael King

The Defendant, Aaron Michael King, appeals his jury convictions for rape, rape of a child, statutory rape by an authority figure, incest, aggravated sexual battery, especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, tampering with evidence, especially aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated kidnapping. For these convictions, he received an effective seventy-seven-year sentence. On appeal, the Defendant argues that (1) there was insufficient evidence to support his kidnapping convictions because they were merely incidental to the contemporaneous rapes; (2) the trial court erred by failing to grant his motion for a mistrial after a State’s witness impermissibly vouched for the victim’s credibility; (3) the trial court erred by failing to grant his motion for new trial where defense counsel, who was acting as treasurer for the prosecuting assistant district attorney general’s campaign for a general sessions court judgeship during the Defendant’s trial, had an impermissible conflict of interest; and (4) the cumulative effect of these errors entitle him to a new trial. After our review, we conclude that sufficient evidence supports the challenged convictions, that the trial court properly denied a mistrial, and that the Defendant is not entitled to relief pursuant to the cumulative error doctrine. We further conclude that no adverse effect resulted from the improper conflict of interest. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.