STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROBERT KING VAUGHN, JR. - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROBERT KING VAUGHN, JR.

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Feb 18, 2025

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Kendall Stivers-Jones (on appeal), Assistant Public Defender—Appellate Division of the Tennessee District Public Defender’s Conference; Shelley Thompson Gardner; District Public Defender; and Kelly A. Skeen, Nick Clemmons, John A. Gholson, IV, and Sharon J. Linville (at trial), Assistant District Public Defenders, for the appellant, Robert King Vaughn, Jr.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Richard D. Douglas, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Jason Lawson, District Attorney General; and Ian Daniel Bratton and Thomas H. Swink, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): HOLLOWAY

Defendant, Robert King Vaughn, Jr., appeals his convictions for attempted first degree murder and aggravated rape, for which he received a total effective sentence of 120 years’ confinement. Defendant contends that: (1) the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his conviction for attempted first degree murder; (2) no reasonable trier of fact could find that he failed to establish the insanity defense by clear and convincing evidence; and (3) the prosecutor engaged in improper argument by misstating Tennessee law and vouching for witnesses during the State’s closing argument. Following a thorough review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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