STATE OF TENNESSEE v. PARVEL GUDGER - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. PARVEL GUDGER

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 23, 2025

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Rebecca V. Lee, District Public Defender; and Keith E. Haas, Assistant District Public Defender, for the appellant, Parvel Gudger.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Abigal H. Hornsby, Assistant Attorney General; Jimmy Dunn, District Attorney General; and Mark B. Strange and S. Joanne Sheldon, Assistant District Atorneys General, for the appelee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): WARD

The Defendant, Parvel Gudger, was convicted by a Cocke County jury of aggravated sexual battery, continuous sexual abuse of a child,' rape of a child, and incest, for which he received an effective sentence of fifty-two years' incarceration. On appeal, the Defendant argues that (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress his confession, (2) the trial court erred in admitting a recording of the victim's forensic interview, (3) the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to sustain his convictions, and (4) his sentence is excessive. We ordered supplemental briefing to address whether the State's elections of offenses were sufficient to protect the Defendant's right to a unanimous jury verdict for the charges of rape of a child and incest. Following our review, we conclude that the State failed to elect an offense as to the rape of a child and incest charges and that this failure resulted ni plain error. Accordingly, we reverse the Defendant's convictions for rape of a child and incest and remand for a new trial on those charges. We otherwise affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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