Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

On January 14, 2009, the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals had an opportunity to revisit the law on the voluntariness of a guilty plea. In Shockley v. State of Tennessee, a Davidson county grand jury indicted the petitioner/defendant on four counts of rape of a child and nine counts of aggravated sexual battery. Under a plea agreement, the defendant pled guilty to only four counts of aggravated sexual battery in Tennessee. The trial court then imposed an effective sentence of sixteen years in prison.

After sentencing, the defendant petitioned for post-conviction relief claiming that his guilty plea was not knowingly and voluntarily entered because he had taken Zoloft, Xanax, and Ambien prior to the plea hearing. The Court, however, rejected the defendant’s petition because there was no evidence other than the defendant’s testimony that he had taken the prescription drugs. Moreover, the record of the sentencing hearing showed that defendant represented on several occasions that he understood the nature and consequences of his guilty plea.

Post-conviction relief in Tennessee describes the many laws that can help you after your conviction. The Tennessee code states that post-conviction “relief…shall be granted when the conviction or sentence is void or voidable because of the abridgment of any right guaranteed by the Constitution of Tennessee or the Constitution of the United States.”

Pursuant to this Tennessee criminal law, a person who pleads guilty must do so voluntarily and with knowledge of the consequences that are involved with such a plea. In reviewing the voluntariness of a guilty plea a court must look at the totality of the circumstances. The circumstances relevant to a guilty plea include:

• the relative intelligence of the defendant;
• the degree of his familiarity with criminal proceedings;
• whether he or she was represented by competent counsel and had the opportunity to confer with counsel about the options available to him;
• the extent of advice from counsel and the court concerning the charges against him or her; and
• the reasons for his or her decision to plead guilty, including a desire to avoid a greater penalty that might result from a jury trial.

Although the court ruled otherwise, it seemed as though the defendant was not fully apprised of the full breadth of the consequences of his plea. At Baker Associates, our skilled Gatlinburg criminal defense attorneys work hard to help you understand the issues involved in your case, including the consequences of a plea. If you have been charged with a crime, or convicted of a crime and seeking post-conviction relief, don’t hesitate to call 866-853-2888 for a complete case evaluation.