State v. Gibson

973 S.W.2d 231, 1997 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 586, 1997 WL 347901
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJune 25, 1997
Docket02C01-9604-CC-00117
StatusPublished
Cited by60 cases

This text of 973 S.W.2d 231 (State v. Gibson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Gibson, 973 S.W.2d 231, 1997 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 586, 1997 WL 347901 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

JONES, Presiding Judge.

The appellant, Roy Don Gibson (defendant), was convicted of four counts of rape of a child, a Class A felony, by a jury of his peers. The trial court, finding the defendant was a standard offender, imposed a Range I sentence consisting of confinement for twenty-one (21) years in the Department of Correction for each offense. He was also fined $25,000 for one conviction involving penile penetration. The trial court ordered that the sentences are to be served concurrently. The judge’s sentencing order stated Gibson will serve 30 percent of his term before he is eligible for release classification.

Gibson presents six issues for review. Gibson contends the evidence is insufficient, as a matter of law, to support the convictions for rape of a child. He also contends the court erred by (a) failing to require the state to file a bill of particulars; (b) failing to compel a physical and psychiatric examination of the victim; (c) failing to allow him to review Department of Human Services records pertaining to the victim; (d) allowing into evidence and playing for the jury two audio tapes containing incriminating conversations between the defendant and his ex-wife; and (e) allowing the child-victim to testify while holding a teddy bear.

The state also raises an issue on appeal. The state contends the court erred when it ordered that Gibson would be eligible for release after serving 30 percent of his 21-year sentence. Gibson was convicted of four counts of child rape, a statute which went into effect July 1, 1992. Prior to the enactment of the, new statute, the same offense was prohibited under the aggravated rape statute. Under the child rape statute a defendant serves 100 percent of his sentence. From the evidence presented at trial, only one of his four convictions could have occurred prior to the effective date of the child rape statute. The record establishes three offenses occurred after the effective date. The state agrees the defendant was properly sentenced at 30 percent for one count. However, for the. remaining three convictions, Gibson should be required to serve 100 percent of his sentence.

This Court remands the case for resen-tencing; otherwise, the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant was a teacher and coach. His work history was sporadic. His tenure at a school usually lasted only a year or two and he moved on. He also worked non-teaching jobs in between the school year. The defendant first befriended Brenda Wil-banks in 1988 while the two were working at a truck stop in West Memphis, Arkansas. The relationship progressed and eventually Brenda Wilbanks and her two young daughters, Elizabeth Wilbanks and D.W. 1 moved in with the defendant and lived together as a family. The defendant returned to coaching and teaching in 1989 and took a job at a school in Tipton County. The defendant and Brenda Wilbanks were married in July 1990. The next year in August 1991, the defendant took a job teaching and coaching at Rossville Academy and the group moved to a double-wide trailer in Fayette County. The couple’s relationship was tumultuous at best. A daughter was born of his union on November 19, 1992. In October 1993 the two were divorced. They reunited in March 1994 and Brenda Gibson’s two girls went to live with their biological father. The defendant and Brenda Gibson lived together with their daughter until June 7, 1994. The investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse began a short-time thereafter.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

Gibson contends the state failed to prove that the child victim was penetrated vaginally by the defendant (Count 2), she engaged in *235 fellatio with the defendant (Count 8) and she was digitally penetrated by the defendant (Counts 6 and 7).

A.

When an accused challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence, this Court must review the record to determine if the evidence adduced during the trial was sufficient “to support the finding by the trier of fact of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” Tenn.R.App.P. 13(e). This rule is applicable to findings of guilt predicated upon direct evidence, circumstantial evidence, or a combination of direct and circumstantial evidence. State v. Matthews, 805 S.W.2d 776, 779 (Tenn.Crim.App.), per. app. denied (Tenn.1990).

In determining the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court does not reweigh or reevaluate the evidence. State v. Cabbage, 571 S.W.2d 832, 835 (Tenn.1978). Nor may this Court substitute its inferences for those drawn by the trier of fact from circumstantial evidence. Liakas v. State, 199 Tenn. 298, 305 286 S.W.2d 856, 859 (1956). To the contrary, this Court is required to afford the State of Tennessee the strongest legitimate view of the evidence contained in the record as well as all reasonable and legitimate inferences which may be drawn from the evidence. State v. Herrod, 754 S.W.2d 627, 632 (Tenn.Crim.App.), per. app. denied (Tenn.1988).

Questions concerning the credibility of the witnesses, the weight and value to be given the evidence as well as all factual issues raised by the evidence are resolved by the trier of fact, not this Court. State v. Pappas, 754 S.W.2d 620, 623 (Tenn.Grim.App.), per. app. denied (Tenn.1987). In State v. Grace, 493 S.W.2d 474, 476 (Tenn.1973), the Supreme Court said, “A guilty verdict by the jury, approved by the trial judge, accredits the testimony -of the witnesses for the State and resolves all conflicts in favor of the theory of the State.”

Since a verdict of guilt removes the presumption of innocence, Grace, 493 S.W.2d at 476, the accused has the burden in this Court of illustrating why the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict returned by the trier of fact. State v. Tuggle, 639 S.W.2d 913, 914 (Tenn.1982). This Court will not disturb a verdict of guilt due to the sufficiency of the evidence unless the facts contained in the record and the inferences which may be drawn from the facts are sufficient, as a matter of law, for a rational trier of fact to find the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Matthews, 805 S.W.2d at 780.

B.

The indictment originally charged the defendant with aggravated rape pursuant to Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-502. The original indictment is not included in the record. A superseding indictment was returned charging child rape pursuant to Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-522. The state was permitted to amend the new indictment before the trial commenced. The amendment related to the time the offense occurred.

D.W.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
973 S.W.2d 231, 1997 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 586, 1997 WL 347901, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gibson-tenncrimapp-1997.