STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JUAN MANUEL MEJIA NUNEZ - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JUAN MANUEL MEJIA NUNEZ

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jul 9, 2025

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Patrick G. Frogge, Executive Director, District Public Defenders Conference (on appeal); and James B. McVeigh, David Kittrell, and Taylor Witt, Nashville, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant, Juan Manuel Mejia Nunez.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Richard D. Douglas, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Robert J. Carter, District Attorney General; and Amber L. Sandoval and Jeffery D. Ridner, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): GREENHOLTZ

A Lincoln County jury convicted the Defendant, Juan Manuel Mejia Nunez, of three counts of aggravated sexual battery and two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed an effective sentence of eighteen years’ incarceration. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial court erred by (1) permitting several of the State’s witnesses to remain in the courtroom throughout the trial; (2) admitting testimony that referenced and described the victims’ forensic interviews; (3) admitting testimony from a police investigator about the behavioral characteristics of child sexual abuse victims; and (4) limiting testimony from the victims’ mother regarding the circumstances of her divorce. Upon our review, we respectfully affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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