Opinion ID: 2916030
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: First Degree Felony Murder During Rape

Text: Our criminal code also defines first degree murder as including “[a] killing of another committed in the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate any . . . rape.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-202(a)(2) (emphasis added). Rape, in turn, is defined as including the “unlawful sexual penetration of a victim by the defendant” and “[f]orce or coercion is used to accomplish the act.” Id. § 39-13-503(a)(1) (2010). The Defendant contends that the evidence was not sufficient to establish that he raped the victim because her DNA was not found on the outside of the condom and his DNA was not found on or in the victim‟s body. However, the medical examiner testified that the victim‟s body had blunt force injuries to her inner thighs. When the victim was found, her shirt was torn open 22 One of Husband‟s neighbors and employees testified that there was another route between the woods behind the House and a location near the Defendant‟s house that could be run in thirty seconds. 33 and her bra was pulled down, exposing her chest. This evidence, combined with the Defendant‟s semen contained by the condom left at the assault location, permitted the jury to infer that the Defendant intended to penetrate the victim and that he at least attempted some sexual activity with her. The first degree felony murder statute does not require that the perpetrator consummated the rape but only that he killed the victim in conjunction with attempting a rape.23 For these and the reasons set forth above, we hold that the evidence was more than sufficient to support the Defendant‟s conviction of first degree felony murder during the perpetration of a rape. The Defendant is entitled to no relief on this basis.