Kelley v. State

The then 8-year-old victim identified the defendant as the man, who approached her while she was playing behind a vacant house, told her to ' "Give me head," ' and put his ' "private" ' in her mouth.

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A grand jury indicted Deion Kelley for the offenses of aggravated sodomy and false imprisonment. A jury subsequently found him guilty of aggravated sodomy, but not guilty of false imprisonment. Kelley appeals, alleging the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s verdict and he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. We find no error and affirm Kelley’s conviction. 1. On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to support the jury’s verdict, and the defendant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence; moreover, this Court determines evidence sufficiency and does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility.1 “Resolving evidentiary conflicts and inconsistencies, and assessing witness credibility, are the province of the factfinder, not this Court.”2 As long as there is some competent evidence, even though contradicted, to support each necessary element of the state’s case, this Court will uphold the jury’s verdict.3

Viewed in that light, the evidence shows that the victim, who was eight years old at the time of the incident, positively identified seventeen year old Kelley in court. She testified that sometime in June of 2004, Kelley approached her while she was playing behind a vacant house. Kelley grabbed her arm and said, “Give me head.” She did not know what that meant. Kelley then put his “private” in her mouth. She did not want to do it, but he made her and told her not to tell her sister or her mother. The victim repeatedly froze on the witness stand and admitted she was afraid of Kelley.

Kelley v. State

The then 8-year-old victim identified the defendant as the man, who approached her while she was playing behind a vacant house, told her to ' "Give me head," ' and put his ' "private" ' in her mouth.

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