The outcome of a Rutherford County Circuit Court case has been reversed and a new trial will take place for a man convicted on one count of aggravated rape and one count of domestic assault.

Looking back, on June 18, 2015, Lawrence Eugene Allen, was arrested for aggravated rape and domestic assault of his wife, Kimberly Allen. The charges were based primarily on Ms. Allen’s statement to Detective Dustin Fait that Defendant struck her and penetrated her with his hand. On June 22, 2015, the day before the original setting of the preliminary hearing, Ms. Allen sent two emails to Detective Fait. In the first email, Ms. Allen stated that the Defendant did not rape her. She claimed that she had a consensual sexual encounter with an unknown man in his vehicle outside a bar in Nashville during the early morning hours of June 18, 2015.

After numerous continuances, a preliminary hearing was finally held on March 18, 2016. The State did not disclose the emails to Defendant before the preliminary hearing. Both Ms. Allen and Detective Fait testified at the preliminary hearing and were cross-examined by defense counsel. Neither witness mentioned Ms. Allen’s emails or her recantation of the rape allegation.

A few days after the preliminary hearing, Ms. Allen was murdered. The murder was unrelated to the case and unrelated to the Defendant, Lawrence Eugene Allen.

On December 10th of this month, the Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee filed that the case is now reveresed and a new trial will be scheduled.