The Arkansas Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction and sentence recommended by a Miller County jury following a trial last year in Texarkana, Ark.
Tyree Maurice Goins, 34, was found guilty of rape following a February 2018 trial at the Miller County Courthouse in Texarkana, Ark. The jury recommended a sentence of 60 years.
At trial, the victim, 13 at the time she was assaulted, testified to encounters involving sexual misconduct by Goins. Goins lived near the victim's residence in a Texarkana, Ark., apartment complex and was familiar to her. Goins managed to get the girl alone by offering her rides to the store.
On appeal, Goins argued that the trial court should have granted pre-trial motions in the case and that the jury should not have heard jailhouse recordings of Goins encouraging a relative of the victim's to absent herself from court. The higher court rejected all of Goins' arguments and affirmed both his rape conviction and 60-year prison term.
Because of prior drug-related felony convictions, Goins was sentenced as an habitual offender and faced a 25-year minimum sentence once the jury found him guilty of rape.
Goins is being held at the East Ark. Regional Unit in Brickeys, Ark. The Arkansas Department of Correction website shows Goins will be eligible for parole July 8, 2058.