Gwendolyn Hagerman v. State of Tennessee, E2016-01555-CCA-R3-PC

Gwendolyn Hagerman was convicted of five counts of rape of a child after a jury trial; she received an effective sixty-year sentence following resentencing.
The State originally made a written plea offer (February 16, 2010) of 15 years, all counts concurrent; at trial the State revoked offers after plea negotiations and a counter-offer by defense counsel.
Hagerman filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief claiming, inter alia, ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to timely convey plea offers; she later waived all claims except the plea-notification claim.
At the post-conviction hearing, Hagerman and her mother testified that Hagerman was not given the 15-year offer and that counsel behaved dismissively on the morning of trial.
Trial counsel and the prosecutor testified that the 15-year written offer was provided to counsel and discussed with Hagerman before trial; counsel made a 20-year counter-offer the morning of trial and the State revoked outstanding offers.
The post-conviction court credited trial counsel and the prosecutor over Hagerman, found Hagerman failed to prove deficient performance or prejudice, and denied relief; the appellate court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether counsel was ineffective for failing to timely convey plea offers	Hagerman: counsel did not give her the February 16, 2010 written 15-year offer and did not adequately advise her; she would have accepted the plea	State & counsel: written 15-year offer was provided to defense counsel, discussed with Hagerman pretrial; the morning counter-offer failed and offers were revoked	Court: Credited State and counsel; Hagerman failed to prove deficient performance or prejudice; claim denied

Baxter v. Rose, 523 S.W.2d 930 (Tenn. 1975) (standard for effective assistance of counsel under Tennessee law)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two-prong test for ineffective assistance: deficiency and prejudice)
Missouri v. Frye, 566 U.S. 133 (U.S. 2012) (duty to communicate formal plea offers)
Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52 (U.S. 1985) (standard for prejudice in plea context)
Lafler v. Cooper, 566 U.S. 156 (U.S. 2012) (plea negotiation errors can warrant relief)
Nesbit v. State, 452 S.W.3d 779 (Tenn. 2014) (plea-offer communication and prejudice analysis in Tennessee)
Burns v. State, 6 S.W.3d 453 (Tenn. 1999) (deference to tactical decisions of counsel and Strickland application)
Momon v. State, 18 S.W.3d 152 (Tenn. 1999) (post-conviction factfinding and credibility deference)