STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TONY STAFFORD - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TONY STAFFORD

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Feb 4, 2025

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Phyllis Aluko, Public Defender, and Harry E. Sayle, III (on appeal) and Constance J. Barnes (at trial), Assistant Public Defenders, for the appellant, Tony Stafford.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; James E. Gaylord, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Steve Mulroy, District Attorney General; and Dru Carpenter and Gavin Smith, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): AYERS

Defendant, Tony Stafford, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of aggravated rape. The trial court sentenced Defendant as a Range I offender to twenty-five years. On appeal, Defendant claims that the State’s pre-indictment delay constituted a due process violation and that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. Defendant filed a motion requesting waiver of his untimely notice of appeal; however, he failed to file a timely motion for new trial before the trial court. We elect to waive the untimely notice of appeal in the interest of justice. However, because Defendant’s motion for new trial was not timely filed, we address only Defendant’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Upon review of the record, legal authority, and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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