STATE OF TENNESSEE v. BILLY GENE SLIGER - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. BILLY GENE SLIGER

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Apr 30, 2025

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Mitchell A. Raines (on appeal), Assistant Public Defender – Appellate Division, Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference, Franklin, Tennessee; Rebecca V. Lee (at trial), District Public Defender; and Cashauna Lattimore and Graeson McCaslin (at trial), Assistant District Public Defenders, Dandridge, Tennessee, for the appellant, Billy Gene Sliger.

Judge(s): HIXSON

The Defendant, Billy Gene Sliger, appeals his convictions for two counts of rape of a child and one count of aggravated sexual battery. Specifically, he argues that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his aggravated sexual battery conviction; (2) the trial court erred by interrupting jury deliberations to inform the jury of the court’s schedule; (3) the State committed prosecutorial misconduct during voir dire, opening statement, and closing arguments; (4) the trial court erred by not requiring the State to elect an offense for count two charging rape of a child and instead giving a modified unanimity instruction; and (5) the trial court abused its discretion by ordering consecutive sentences. After review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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