State v. Hill

OPINION

BIRCH, Justice.

We accepted the State’s application for review in this cause in order to determine the validity of an indictment which charged aggravated rape. 1 The Court of Criminal Appeals held the indictment void and the subsequent conviction invalid because the language of the indictment failed to allege a culpable mental state. 2

This issue arises because the Sentencing Reform Act of 1989 provides that a culpable mental state is required to establish an offense unless the definition of the offense “plainly dispenses with a mental element.” Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-ll-301(b)(1991).…