Marc Baechtle v. State of Tennessee, W2020-01429-CCA-R3-PC

Marc Baechtle was indicted on multiple sexual-offense counts for abusing his girlfriend’s daughter; he had earlier pleaded guilty in Florida to sexual offenses involving the same victim and was serving a Florida sentence.
The victim testified to repeated sexual abuse from age 10–11 into 2001; a recording of the Petitioner molesting the victim was recovered from his computer and his recorded police statement admitted sexual contact.
The trial court dismissed aggravated sexual battery and rape counts on statute-of-limitations grounds and convicted Baechtle of rape of a child, sentencing him to 25 years consecutive to his Florida term; this conviction was affirmed on direct appeal.
Baechtle filed a post-conviction petition claiming ineffective assistance of trial counsel for (1) failing to impeach the victim with reference to a Hoobastank song and (2) advising him not to testify.
Trial counsel testified he investigated, used an investigator, chose a narrow defense focused on the victim’s age, avoided aggressive cross-examination, and advised against testifying to prevent opening the door to prior Florida convictions and because the defendant’s police statement already contained his planned testimony.
The post-conviction court denied relief; the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed, finding no deficient performance or prejudice under Strickland/Goad standards and rejecting waiver as a bar to appeal.

Issue	Baechtle's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Failure to impeach victim with Hoobastank song on cross-exam	Impeachment with the song would have refreshed/undermined the victim’s timeline and credibility	Counsel reasonably investigated and the song lacked probative value as to when abuse began; impeachment would be cumulative or prejudicial	No deficient performance or prejudice; counsel’s decision was a reasonable strategy
Advice not to testify	Counsel improperly advised him not to testify, depriving him of a chance to present his age-defense	Counsel reasonably advised against testifying because the defendant’s police statement already contained admissions and would open door to Florida convictions; defendant was informed and decision was his	No ineffective assistance — advice was reasonable and defendant suffered no Strickland prejudice
Waiver by late notice of appeal	(implicit) Baechtle’s late notice should not bar review	State argued waiver due to untimely notice	Court accepted late filing as timely by prior order and reached merits

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (establishes two-prong ineffective assistance test)
Goad v. State, 938 S.W.2d 363 (Tenn. 1996) (applies Strickland in Tennessee)
State v. Burns, 6 S.W.3d 453 (Tenn. 1999) (deference to counsel’s strategic choices)
Momon v. State, 18 S.W.3d 152 (Tenn. 1999) (defendant’s right to testify and requirement of informing defendant)
Whitehead v. State, 402 S.W.3d 615 (Tenn. 2013) (standard of review for post-conviction mixed questions)