STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DANIEL J. DREADEN - Articles

All Content

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DANIEL J. DREADEN

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 5, 2025

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Patrick T. McNally (on appeal), Nashville, Tennessee; Joshua T. Crain (at trial), Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellant, Daniel J. Dreaden.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Garrett D. Ward, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Jennings H. Jones, District Attorney General; and Matthew Westmoreland, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): EASTER

The Rutherford County Grand Jury indicted Defendant, Daniel J. Dreaden, for three counts of rape. On the State’s motion, the trial court dismissed Count 3. Defendant waived a jury trial, and following a bench trial, Defendant was convicted on the remaining two counts. The trial court sentenced Defendant to a total effective sentence of eight years, with ten months to serve and the balance to be supervised on probation. Defendant appeals his convictions, asserting 1) that his confrontation right was violated when the trial court prohibited him from cross-examining the victim, Defendant’s then-wife, about her extra- marital affair to establish her motive for the allegations of rape; and 2) that the evidence was insufficient to establish that Defendant raped the victim. We affirm the judgments of the trial court, but remand for entry of a judgment form in Count 3 to reflect dismissal of that count.

Attachments: