STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROY GARRENS, JR. - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ROY GARRENS, JR.

Posted by: Azya Thornton on May 6, 2025

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Kendall Stivers Jones, Assistant Public Defender – Appellate Division, Tennessee District Public Defenders Conference (on appeal); Bo Burk, District Public Defender; and Matthew C. Edwards and Terry Dycus, Assistant District Public Defenders (at trial), for the appellant, Roy Garrens, Jr.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Richard D. Douglas, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Mark E. Davidson, District Attorney General; and Falen M. Chandler and Erik Haas, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): GREENHOLTZ

A Fayette County jury convicted the Defendant, Roy Garrens, Jr., of especially aggravated kidnapping of a child under thirteen, aggravated assault by strangulation, and two counts of aggravated kidnapping by the possession or threat of the use of a deadly weapon. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of fifteen years’ imprisonment. On appeal, the Defendant argues that the evidence is legally insufficient to support one of his aggravated kidnapping convictions. He also asserts that the trial court erred by (1) failing to merge convictions representing alternative theories of especially aggravated kidnapping; and (2) sentencing the Defendant as a Range II, multiple offender. Upon our review, we agree with the parties that the Defendant’s kidnapping convictions in Counts 2 and 3 should be merged, and we respectfully remand these counts for entry of corrected judgments noting the merger. In all other respects, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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