James Hardin v. State of Tennessee, W2016-00536-CCA-R3-PC

On January 12, 2013, two men robbed Dr. Allyson Anyanwu’s home at gunpoint; James Hardin (Petitioner) was identified by Dr. Anyanwu in a photo array and later convicted jointly with a co-defendant of two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated burglary.
Jury convicted; trial court imposed consecutive sentences totaling 22 years (two 11-year aggravated robbery terms consecutive; 5-year burglary concurrent). Appellate court affirmed.
Petitioner filed a pro se post-conviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel; counsel was appointed and an evidentiary hearing held.
Petitioner alleged limited pretrial contact with counsel, counsel’s failure to locate or present an alibi witness (Michelle Douglas), failure to obtain store surveillance video, and failure to call Petitioner’s mother at sentencing.
Trial counsel testified he met with Petitioner multiple times, attempted to locate Ms. Douglas and the store video but could not, reviewed discovery, and declined to call the mother at sentencing because it would not help.
The post-conviction court credited counsel’s testimony, found Petitioner’s supporting evidence lacking (no alibi witness or video produced at hearing, no testimony from mother), and denied relief. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance of counsel for inadequate preparation/investigation and failure to present witnesses (alibi, video, mother)	Hardin: counsel met only twice, failed to locate/present alibi (Michelle Douglas), failed to obtain/store video, and failed to call mother at sentencing, resulting in prejudice	State: counsel met multiple times, investigated, attempted to locate witness and video but could not, and strategically declined to call mother; Petitioner offered no evidence of what those witnesses would have said	Court: Counsel’s performance not shown deficient; Petitioner failed to prove prejudice; post-conviction court’s credibility findings credited; petition denied and affirmed on appeal

Hodges v. S.C. Toof & Co., 833 S.W.2d 896 (Tenn. 1992) (definition of clear and convincing evidence)
State v. Holder, 15 S.W.3d 905 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1999) (standard for clear and convincing proof in post-conviction context)
Henley v. State, 960 S.W.2d 572 (Tenn. 1997) (post-conviction factual determinations and credibility assessments)
Fields v. State, 40 S.W.3d 450 (Tenn. 2001) (deference to post-conviction findings on appeal)
State v. Burns, 6 S.W.3d 453 (Tenn. 1999) (ineffective assistance claims are mixed questions of law and fact)
Goad v. State, 938 S.W.2d 363 (Tenn. 1996) (Strickland standard applied in Tennessee)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two-prong test: deficient performance and prejudice)
Baxter v. Rose, 523 S.W.2d 930 (Tenn. 1975) (competence standard for criminal defense counsel)
Black v. State, 794 S.W.2d 752 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1990) (petitioners must present missing witnesses at post-conviction hearing to support claim)