State of Tennessee v. Frank Lee Tate

Following a jury trial, Defendant, Frank Lee Tate, was convicted of aggravated rape, a Class A felony, and incest, a Class C felony. The trial court sentenced Defendant as a Range III, career offender, to concurrent sentences of sixty years for his aggravated rape conviction and fifteen years for his incest conviction. In his pro se appeal, Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence, the trial court’s evidentiary rulings, and his classification as a career offender for sentencing purposes. The State argues on appeal that the trial court erred in not sentencing Defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole after finding that Defendant was a repeat violent offender. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm Defendant’s convictions and his sentence for his incest conviction. We set aside the sentence for aggravated rape, and remand this matter for a new sentencing hearing on the sole issue of whether Defendant should be sentenced as a repeat violent offender or as a career offender for his aggravated rape conviction.