Charlie A. Clark v. State of Tennessee
W2015-01484-CCA-R3-PC
| Tenn. Crim. App. | Nov 22, 2016Background
- Charles Anderson Clark was convicted by a Henderson County jury of rape and sentenced to 25 years as a Range III persistent offender; this Court affirmed on direct appeal.
- Clark filed a pro se post-conviction petition asserting (1) the jury venire was unconstitutionally all-white and (2) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to locate and call certain witnesses (Cortney Morton and Andre Rice).
- At the post-conviction evidentiary hearing, trial counsel testified he met Clark multiple times, pursued a strategy of impeaching the victim, and attempted but failed to locate witnesses because names/phones provided were incomplete or were "street" names.
- Two alleged witnesses (Morton and Rice) and Clark's cousin testified at the hearing that they knew Clark and would have testified they saw Clark with the victim, and that they were not contacted prior to trial.
- The post-conviction court found trial counsel credible, concluded counsel was not deficient because he lacked adequate contact information and the fault for nonproduction lay with Clark and his family, and further found the claimed new witness testimony would not have changed the outcome.
- Clark appealed; this Court held Clark failed to prove ineffective assistance by clear and convincing evidence and waived/forfeited the jury-pool claim.
Issues
| Issue | Clark's Argument | State's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ineffective assistance — failure to locate/call witnesses | Trial counsel failed to find/subpoena Morton and Rice, depriving Clark of favorable testimony about his relationship with the victim | Counsel reasonably attempted to locate witnesses but lacked usable contact info; Clark/family failed to provide addresses; counsel's performance not deficient | Denied — court credited counsel, found no deficient performance and thus no need to reach prejudice |
| Unconstitutional jury pool (all-white venire) | Clark alleged the jury pool was all white and unconstitutional; sought relief on that basis | State argued claim was not properly presented, was waived, and Clark failed to develop the issue or cite authority | Denied/waived — claim considered waived for lack of argument and statutory waiver for issues not raised earlier |
Key Cases Cited
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-part test for ineffective assistance: deficient performance and prejudice)
- Baxter v. Rose, 523 S.W.2d 930 (Tenn. 1975) (Tennessee standard for ineffective assistance claims)
- Goad v. State, 938 S.W.2d 363 (Tenn. 1996) (objective-reasonableness standard for counsel performance under Strickland)
- Plyant v. State, 263 S.W.3d 854 (Tenn. 2008) (post-conviction claimant must present alleged missing witnesses at hearing and show admissibility and materiality)