Opinion ID: 1057758
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendant Allen

Text: A jury convicted Defendant Allen of multiple counts of aggravated rape and aggravated robbery. These convictions arose out of three incidents in which Defendant Allen participated with the same cohort. On December 19, 1999, the two men entered an establishment named Brandy's where they accosted two women with a gun, robbing and raping them. On December 20, 1999, the men entered Southern Belles with guns drawn and raped and robbed at gunpoint three women. On January 14, 2000, the two men visited the Flamingo Club. They enticed two women into their car and then drew guns. The men drove to a hotel room where the men robbed and raped the two women at gunpoint. On direct appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial one of the aggravated rape convictions; affirmed the remaining four aggravated rape and seven aggravated robbery convictions; and remanded for resentencing on those offenses. See State v. Allen, No. W2004-01085-CCA-R3-CD, 2005 WL 1606350 (Tenn.Crim.App. July 8, 2005). [2] On remand, the trial court sentenced Defendant Allen to an effective term of 104 years by ordering some of Defendant Allen's sentences to run consecutively. Specifically, the trial court imposed consecutive sentences after finding that Defendant Allen's extensive criminal activity justifies the administration of a consecutive sentence, basing this finding on the offenses for which he was being sentenced. The trial court also determined Defendant Allen to be a dangerous offender, making the following written findings: After considering the statutory criteria and the purposes and principles of consecutive sentencing, the Court finds that the defendant is a dangerous offender according to the definition stated in Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-115(b)(4). The defendant systematically terrorized a number of females over the course of a month. He demoralized, robbed, and raped these women with an absolute disregard for human life which was made obvious by his unprovoked actions. What female was to be victimized was unimportant to the defendant. His random acts demonstrate that he did not hesitate to commit a crime in which the risk to human life was high. The defendant's conduct clearly satisfies the condition stated in Tenn.Code Ann. § 40-35-115(b)(4), therefore, the defendant is a dangerous offender. The trial court also found specifically that the effective term of 104 years reasonably related to the severity of the crimes Defendant Allen committed and that consecutive sentences were necessary to protect the public from further crime by Defendant Allen. Defendant Allen appealed from his resentencing on the grounds that the trial court's imposition of consecutive sentences violates the Sixth Amendment as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Apprendi and its progeny. Defendant Allen does not challenge the trial court's findings of fact, but rather the court's authority to make them and use them to impose consecutive sentences. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Defendant Allen's sentences.