State of Tennessee v. Joey Walton

The defendant, Joey Walton, was convicted by a Shelby County Criminal Court jury of aggravated rape, a Class A felony; false imprisonment, a Class A misdemeanor; aggravated sexual battery, a Class B felony; and especially aggravated kidnapping, a Class A felony. The trial court merged the false imprisonment count into the aggravated rape count and sentenced the defendant as a violent offender to twenty-two years for the aggravated rape conviction, fifteen years for the especially aggravated kidnapping conviction, and twelve years for the aggravated sexual battery conviction. The court ordered that the aggravated rape and aggravated sexual battery sentences be served concurrently to each other but consecutively to the especially aggravated kidnapping sentence, for an effective sentence of thirty-seven years at 100% in the Department of Correction. The defendant raises three issues on appeal: (1) whether the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress his statement to police; (2) whether the trial court properly admitted a police officer’s testimony about his conversation with the defendant; and (3) whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain his convictions. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.