State of Tennessee v. Joshua Michael Stewart, E2017-00864-CCA-R3-CD

Victim (born Dec. 12, 2000) was the defendant’s stepsister; alleged sexual abuse occurred when she was between about second and fifth grade (ages ~7–10) across multiple residences where the defendant stayed or visited.
Allegations included multiple incidents: forced digital and manual sexual contact (including the defendant inserting his finger into her vagina), and forced touching of the defendant’s penis until ejaculation; some acts occurred on couches or in bedrooms and sometimes in the presence of other children asleep in the room.
The State indicted Joshua Michael Stewart for rape of a child and two counts of aggravated sexual battery; a jury convicted him on all counts.
Trial court sentenced: 25 years (rape of a child), 12 years and 8 years (aggravated sexual batteries), with partial consecutive service for an effective 33-year sentence at 100%.
On appeal Stewart argued (1) insufficiency of the evidence (claims of non-distinct offenses and lack of sexual-purpose touching in one count) and (2) trial court error for refusing to redact references to his tattoos and his relationship with his father from his police interview recording.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Stewart)	Held
Sufficiency of evidence (Counts 1 & 3)	Victim’s testimony alone was sufficient; State elected specific incidents (finger penetration for rape; touching over clothing for aggravated sexual battery) and presented enough detail for a rational juror to convict	Election failures because alleged incidents occurred under similar circumstances/locations with no clear chronology; touching in Count 3 not shown to be for sexual arousal/gratification	Affirmed: Victim’s detailed testimony supported convictions; election was adequate; jury could reasonably find touching was for sexual arousal/gratification
Admissibility of unredacted police interview references (tattoos, relationship with father)	References relevant to identity and family context; recording probative of demeanor and credibility	References irrelevant and unduly prejudicial; tattoos and father comment should be redacted	Affirmed: Trial court did not abuse discretion; references were minimally relevant and not unfairly prejudicial

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence)
State v. Vasques, 221 S.W.3d 514 (Tenn. 2007) (appellate view of evidence in sufficiency review)
State v. Bland, 958 S.W.2d 651 (Tenn. 1997) (credibility and weight reserved to jury)
State v. Dorantes, 331 S.W.3d 370 (Tenn. 2011) (same standard for circumstantial evidence)
State v. Elkins, 102 S.W.3d 578 (Tenn. 2003) (child victim testimony can alone support sexual-offense conviction)
State v. Lewter, 313 S.W.3d 745 (Tenn. 2010) (identity may be proven circumstantially)
State v. Brown, 762 S.W.2d 135 (Tenn. 1988) (election requirement for multiple sexual acts)
State v. Shelton, 851 S.W.2d 134 (Tenn. 1993) (purpose of election: ensure unanimous verdict on same offense)