Brandon Leon Forbes v. State of Tennessee, W2017-00310-CCA-R3-PC

Brandon Leon Forbes was convicted of aggravated burglary, theft ($10,000–$60,000), and misdemeanor vandalism and sentenced as a Range III persistent offender to an effective 24-year term; convictions affirmed on direct appeal.
Victims reported a February 15, 2013 home burglary; police later executed a search warrant at Forbes’s mother’s house and recovered a gold bracelet and uncirculated coins from an attic bag that victims identified as stolen property.
Investigator McClain testified he recognized Forbes’s voice on a phone call during the search; Forbes denied speaking on the call and denied involvement in the burglary; he testified he was in Detroit at the time.
At post-conviction evidentiary hearing Forbes alleged ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failing to: call his sister (voice/alibi), investigate/retain an investigator, file a suppression motion for the search of his mother’s home, seek a mental evaluation, and negotiate a better plea.
Trial counsel testified he attempted to verify an alibi but could not confirm Forbes’s claimed incarceration in Michigan, that Forbes’s sister was unwilling/unreliable, he saw no competency flags, and he believed Forbes lacked standing to challenge the search.
The post-conviction court denied relief, finding Forbes failed to prove deficient performance or prejudice; the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance — failure to call sister as witness	Sister would have testified the voice on the phone was not Forbes’s	Sister was unwilling at trial, had multiple theft/forgery convictions and poor credibility	No ineffective assistance; calling her would not likely have changed outcome
Ineffective assistance — alibi investigation	Forbes had witnesses to show he was in Detroit at time of burglary	No corroboration provided; counsel attempted verification and could not confirm	No prejudice shown; alibi unsubstantiated, counsel’s efforts reasonable
Failure to move to suppress search of mother’s house	Counsel failed to challenge legality of attic search	Forbes lacked standing to challenge search of his mother’s residence	No relief; court found no standing and no deficient strategy
Failure to seek mental evaluation / plea negotiation	Forbes alleged intellectual deficits and said counsel should have sought evaluation and negotiated plea	No competence red flags; Forbes insisted he would not plead guilty; counsel tried to obtain offers but probation unlikely	No ineffective assistance; no prejudice or reasonable probability of different result

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (two‑prong ineffective-assistance standard)
Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52 (prejudice standard for plea cases)
Goad v. State, 938 S.W.2d 363 (Tenn. 1996) (objective reasonableness standard for counsel performance)
Baxter v. Rose, 523 S.W.2d 930 (Tenn. 1975) (counsel competence principles)
Henley v. State, 960 S.W.2d 572 (Tenn. 1997) (appellate review of factual findings)
Tidwell v. State, 922 S.W.2d 497 (Tenn. 1996) (post‑conviction findings conclusive unless preponderance shows otherwise)
Ruff v. State, 978 S.W.2d 95 (Tenn. 1998) (de novo review of law applied to facts)
Fields v. State, 40 S.W.3d 450 (Tenn. 2001) (standard for reviewing mixed questions in ineffective-assistance claims)
Burns v. State, 6 S.W.3d 453 (Tenn. 1999) (ineffective-assistance appellate principles)
State v. Taylor, 968 S.W.2d 900 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1997) (Strickland standard applied in Tennessee)
House v. State, 44 S.W.3d 508 (Tenn. 2001) (plea-related ineffective-assistance guidance)