Rayner v. Mills, No. 10-5242 (6th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseIn 2001, a Tennessee jury convicted Rayner of five counts of rape of a child (his daughter) and five counts of aggravated sexual battery. He was sentenced to an effective term of 51 years: 21 years for each rape conviction, and nine years for each aggravated sexual battery conviction, with two rape counts and one sexual battery count to run consecutively, and the remainder to run concurrently. He exhausted state direct and collateral review. The district court denied a petition for habeas corpus. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, rejecting a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel that had not been raised in state court. At trial, the prosecution presented medical proof that the victim suffered from trichomoniasis, a sexually transmitted disease. No evidence was presented that Rayner had trichomoniasis. On cross-examination, defense counsel pointed out that trichomoniasis could be transmitted in ways not involving sexual contact. Defense strategy focused on the theory that the victim was lying about the abuse.
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