STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DARIOUS GORY - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DARIOUS GORY

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Dec 11, 2023

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Claiborne H. Ferguson and Matthew Blissitt, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Darious Gory.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Katherine K. Decker, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Steve Mulroy, District Attorney General; and Jose F. Leon and Dru Carpenter, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): DYER

A Shelby County jury convicted the defendant of rape of a child for which he received a sentence of 60 years’ confinement as a career offender. On appeal, the defendant claims the trial court erred in allowing the State, over the defendant’s objection, to dismiss the second count of the indictment, aggravated sexual battery, at the close of its proof. Additionally, the defendant asserts that the demonstrative aid used by the prosecutor during jury voir dire constituted misconduct. The State insists that “it is within the State’s prerogative” to dismiss count two and that by failing to object, the defendant has waived his claim relating to the State’s voir dire. Upon our review of the record, the applicable law, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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