Opinion ID: 1060561
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficiency of the Indictments

Text: We first address the issue of the sufficiency of the seven indictments charging Wilson with the delivery of cocaine. The resolution of this issue is controlled by our decisions in Ruff v. State [6] and State v. Carter . [7] In Ruff , we were asked to determine the sufficiency of an indictment for aggravated kidnaping when the indictment referenced the appropriate statute but failed to include the mens rea required under the statute. Id. at 99. Reasoning that by referencing the aggravated kidnaping statute the defendant was placed on notice of the mental state required to commit the offense, we found the indictment legally sufficient. Id. Similarly, in Carter , we were asked to determine whether two indictments for felony murder, which referenced the felony murder statute but failed to include the statutorily required mens rea for the offense, were legally sufficient. 988 S.W.2d at 148. We held again that the indictments were legally sufficient because, by referencing the felony murder statute, the defendant was provided notice of the required mens rea. Id. at 149. Both Ruff and Carter are apposite to the case at bar. In this case, the required mental state under Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-17-417(a)(2), the statute defining delivery of cocaine, is knowingly. [8] The indictments charging Wilson with delivery of cocaine, however, do not mention this required mental state. Rather, they simply charge that BRANDON WILSON ... did unlawfully deliver a controlled substance, to-wit: Cocaine, as classified in Section 39-17-408, in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-17-417(c)(1), all of which is against the peace and dignity of the State of Tennessee. Nonetheless, under the reasoning of both Ruff and Carter , because the indictments charging Wilson with the delivery of cocaine referenced the appropriate statute, he was provided sufficient notice of the required mental state to commit the offense. The indictments, therefore, are legally sufficient, and Wilson's convictions are reinstated.