Teague v. State
| Decision Date | 14 December 1988 |
| Citation | 772 S.W.2d 932 |
| Parties | Raymond Eugene TEAGUE, Appellant, v. STATE of Tennessee, Appellee. |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
William P. Redick, Jr., Nashville, for appellant.
W.J. Michael Cody, Atty. Gen. & Reporter, Gordon W. Smith, Asst. Atty. Gen., Nashville, Gary P. Gerbitz, Dist. Atty. Gen., Jerry Sloan, Asst. Dist. Atty. Gen., Chattanooga, for appellee.
The petitioner, Raymond Eugene Teague, entered a plea of nolo contendere to the offense of accessory before the fact to murder second degree. The petitioner was sentenced to serve a term of ten (10) years in the state penitentiary pursuant to a plea bargain agreement.
On November 1, 1985, the petitioner instituted a post-conviction proceeding in the Criminal Court of Hamilton County, Tennessee. The trial court denied the petition following an evidentiary hearing. The petitioner subsequently appealed as of right to this Court pursuant to Rule 3(b), Tenn.R.App.P.
The petitioner has raised three issues for our review. He contends that his plea of nolo contendere and subsequent conviction should be set aside and vacated because (a) the petitioner was denied the effective assistance of counsel when he entered the plea of nolo contendere, (b) the plea of nolo contendere was not voluntarily, understandingly and intelligently entered, and (c) the prosecution failed to disclose evidence favorable to the petitioner.
When the petitioner in a post-conviction proceeding is afforded an evidentiary hearing on the grounds raised in a petition for post-conviction relief, the finding of facts made by the trial court at the conclusion of the hearing has the weight of a jury verdict. Consequently, this Court is bound by the trial court's finding of facts unless the evidence contained in the record preponderates against the judgment entered in the cause by the trial court. 1
When the petitioner seeks to vitiate a conviction on the ground counsel's representation was ineffective, the petitioner must establish by a preponderance of the evidence (a) the services rendered or advice given by counsel fell below "the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases," Baxter v. Rose, 523 S.W.2d 930, 936 (Tenn.1975) and (b) the unprofessional conduct of counsel enured to the prejudice of the petitioner. Williams v. State, 599 S.W.2d 276, 279 (Tenn.Crim.App.1980). The United States Supreme Court adopted this two-prong test in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Later, the Court applied Strickland to allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel arising from guilty plea proceedings. Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 106 S.Ct. 366, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (1985).
This Court has applied the two-part standard to claims of ineffective assistance of counsel incident to guilty plea proceedings on numerous occasions. Today, we hold that this two-part standard applies when the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel arises incident to the entry of a plea of nolo contendere. See Manley v. United States, 588 F.2d 79 (4th Cir.1978).
In the case sub judice, the trial court found that the services rendered and advice given by the petitioner's privately retained counsel fell below the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases. However, the trial court found that counsel's ineffectiveness did not enure to the prejudice of the petitioner. The trial court ruled the petitioner's contention that his plea of nolo contendere was not voluntarily, understandingly and intelligently entered had been previously determined. Consequently, this Court's review is limited in scope to a determination of whether the evidence contained in the record preponderates against these findings of the trial court.
On the 19th day of September, 1979, the Hamilton County Grand Jury indicted the petitioner for murder first degree. The indictment alleged that the petitioner murdered John Mark Edmonds. Before the petitioner was tried for this offense, his wife, Teresa (Terri) Lynn Teague, was murdered. On the 25th day of April, 1980, the petitioner was again indicted by the Hamilton County Grand Jury for murder first degree. The second indictment alleged that the petitioner murdered Terri Teague.
The State of Tennessee elected to try the Terri Teague murder case first. On the 22nd day of November, 1980, the petitioner was convicted of murder first degree by a jury of his peers for the murder of Mrs. Teague. The jury sentenced the petitioner to the extreme punishment of death. The petitioner appealed as of right to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
The petitioner's retained counsel were confident that the petitioner's conviction and death sentence for the murder of Mrs. Teague would be set aside by the Supreme Court, and the case would be reversed and remanded to the trial court for a new trial. Mr. Edward E. Davis of the Chattanooga Bar, who had been retained to represent the petitioner, stated he felt "very good about the possibility of reversal." Mr. Robert J. Batson, Jr. of the Chattanooga Bar, who was retained by Mr. Davis to assist him in the representation of the petitioner, stated he "certainly felt like the matter [the Teague murder case] would be reversed." Counsel had expressed these sentiments to the petitioner before he entered the plea of nolo contendere in the case sub judice.
While the petitioner's appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court was still pending the Edmonds case was set for trial. The day before the trial was to commence the assistant district attorney generals, who were to prosecute the petitioner for the murder of Edmonds, advised defense counsel that they were willing to recommend a sentence of ten (10) years in the state penitentiary if the petitioner desired to dispose of the prosecution without a trial. Apparently, the plea bargain agreement included the option of permitting the petitioner to enter a plea of nolo contendere as opposed to a plea of guilty.
Shortly after the plea bargain offer was made, Mr. Davis went to the Hamilton County Jail, where the petitioner was confined, and conveyed the offer to the petitioner. The petitioner responded by asking Mr. Davis what effect, if any, would his entry of a plea of nolo contendere in the Edmonds case have upon the Terri Teague murder case, if, as defense counsel had advised him, the Teague murder case was reversed by the Tennessee Supreme Court and remanded to the trial court for a new trial or sentencing hearing. Mr. Davis advised the petitioner that if he entered a plea of nolo contendere, his conviction in the Edmonds case would have absolutely no effect upon the Teague murder case if the Tennessee Supreme Court did in fact reverse his conviction or order a new sentencing hearing. The following morning the petitioner discussed the matter with his family; and, relying upon the advice given him by Mr. Davis, entered a plea of nolo contendere to the offense of accessory before the fact to second degree murder. The petitioner was sentenced to serve a term of ten (10) years in the state penitentiary.
Mr. Davis' advice to the petitioner was based upon a faulty reading of Rule 11(e)(6), Tenn.R.Crim.P. He could not recall nor did his file reflect that he consulted any other source before advising the petitioner regarding the future effect of a conviction following a plea of nolo contendere.
The Tennessee Supreme Court subsequently affirmed the petitioner's conviction for murder first degree in the Teague murder case, but the Court remanded the case to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing. State v. Teague, 645 S.W.2d 392 (Tenn.1983). A second sentencing hearing was conducted as ordered by the Court, and the petitioner was again sentenced to the extreme penalty of death by a jury of his peers. The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence following a direct appeal pursuant to T.C.A. § 39-2-205. State v. Teague, 680 S.W.2d 785 (Tenn.1984). The United States Supreme Court denied the petitioner's petition for writ of certiorari. Teague v. Tennessee, 473 U.S. 911, 105 S.Ct. 3538, 87 L.Ed.2d 662 (1985).
Prior to the second sentencing hearing the trial court was advised that the State of Tennessee would rely upon a new aggravating circumstance, namely, the petitioner had been convicted of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person. T.C.A. § 39-2-203(i)(2). The prior felony alluded to by the assistant district attorney generals was the petitioner's conviction in the Edmonds case.
Messrs. Davis and Batson objected to the use of the petitioner's conviction in the Edmonds case on the ground the petitioner had entered a plea of nolo contendere, and, according to Rule 11(e)(6), Tenn.R.Crim.P., the conviction could not be used for any purpose. When the trial court overruled the objection, and held that the judgment of conviction following the petitioner's plea of nolo contendere could be used as an aggravating circumstance, Messrs. Davis and Batson realized for the first time that Mr. Davis' interpretation of Rule 11(e)(6), Tenn.R.Crim.P. was erroneous. According to Mr. Davis, the petitioner immediately "wanted to know why he let him do it [enter the plea of nolo contendere] if it was gonna be used against him at some point."
Mr. Davis stated at the evidentiary hearing that the advice he gave to the petitioner, shortly before the petitioner entered the plea of nolo contendere, was "[t]he worst [advice] I ever gave anybody."
Although the defendant elected not to testify at the hearing on the advise of counsel, there is strong circumstantial evidence contained in the record that the petitioner would not have entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in the Edmonds case if his conviction could be used for any purpose in the Teague case.
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