State of Tennessee v. Curtis Keller

After a jury trial, the defendant was found guilty of three counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, three counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of attempted aggravated robbery, one count of aggravated burglary, and one count of evading arrest. He received an effective sentence of three hundred years. The defendant was convicted on the theory of criminal responsibility for the conduct of another as he was not physically present in the home during the violent home invasion. On appeal, the defendant claims that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions, that his convictions should be reversed because the State failed to establish the chain of custody of a ski mask containing the defendant’s DNA that was recovered from the getaway vehicle after the crimes, and that the trial court erred by failing to declare a mistrial after a witness made a general remark to the effect that the defendant had engaged wrongful behavior in the past. After review, we find that the defendant’s claims lack merit. The judgments of the trial court are affirmed.