STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MARIO DONTE KEENE - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. MARIO DONTE KEENE

Posted by: Landry Butler on Jan 12, 2018

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1:

J. Russell Pryor, Greeneville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Mario Donte Keene.

Attorneys 2:

Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Courtney N. Orr, Assistant Attorney General; Dan E. Armstrong, District Attorney General; and Cecil Mills, Jr., and Ritchie Collins, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): HOLLOWAY

The Greene County Grand Jury indicted the Defendant, Mario Donte Keene, on four counts of felony murder, one count of especially aggravated robbery, and one count of especially aggravated kidnapping, all in connection with the death of the victim, Donald Gunter. A jury convicted the Defendant as charged, and the trial court sentenced the Defendant to an effective sentence of life. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient for a rational juror to have found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of felony murder, especially aggravated robbery, and especially aggravated kidnapping. The Defendant also asserts that the State committed prosecutorial misconduct in its closing arguments, warranting a new trial. After a thorough review of the facts and applicable case law, we affirm the Defendant’s convictions but remand the case for entry of amended judgments merging counts two, three, and four into count one.

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