Travarious White v. State of Tennessee, W2016-01773-CCA-R3-PC

Background

In 2007 White participated in a robbery at gunpoint, stole a GMC Denali Yukon, and later fled in it during a high-speed police chase; the vehicle crashed and someone fled the scene. DNA (blood) recovered from the victim’s vehicle in 2007 matched White after a TBI database hit in 2012.
A jury convicted White of carjacking, felony evading arrest, and two counts of aggravated robbery; trial court imposed an effective 25-year sentence at 35% service.
White’s direct appeal upheld the convictions based on sufficient evidence, including the DNA match and victim descriptions.
White filed a post-conviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel for: poor communication (failed to discover alibi witnesses), inadequate investigation/failure to call witnesses (including Randall Forrest), deficient cross-examination, and failure to object/request mistrial or curative instruction regarding Captain Holt’s testimony implying White refused to give a statement or DNA.
At the post-conviction hearing counsel testified to multiple pretrial meetings, a defense strategy to admit presence in the vehicle while blaming others, and strategic cross-examination of Captain Holt to undermine his credibility about the DNA/statement implication. White admitted he withheld potential witness names because he did not want them in trouble.
The post-conviction court credited counsel’s testimony, found no deficient performance or prejudice, denied relief, and the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance — inadequate communication leading to missed alibi witnesses	White: counsel met rarely and failed to discover/call alibi witnesses (Forrest).	State: counsel met multiple times and discussed strategy; White withheld witness names.	Denied — court credited counsel; White’s failure to provide witness names precluded counsel from calling them.
Ineffective assistance — failure to investigate/call witnesses	White: counsel failed to investigate and present alibi/witness testimony.	State: counsel could not investigate what White did not disclose; Forrest was not provided to counsel pretrial.	Denied — petitioner failed to show deficiency or prejudice; post-conviction court credited counsel.
Ineffective assistance — failure to object/request mistrial or curative instruction to Captain Holt testimony (implicating refusal)	White: counsel should have objected or moved for mistrial/curative instruction when Holt implied White refused to give a statement/DNA.	State: counsel reasonably chose to impeach Holt on cross to show improper implication and weaken State’s case.	Denied — counsel’s strategic cross-examination was reasonable and not prejudicial.
Trial court sua sponte mistrial for Holt testimony	White: trial court should have declared a mistrial sua sponte or issued curative instruction.	State: claim not preserved/waived; White did not raise it in post-conviction petition or at trial.	Waived/Denied — claim was not raised earlier and is waived on post-conviction review.

Key Cases Cited

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (two-prong standard for ineffective assistance: deficient performance and prejudice)
Goad v. State, 938 S.W.2d 363 (Tenn. 1996) (application of Strickland in Tennessee; deficient performance standard)
Tidwell v. State, 922 S.W.2d 497 (Tenn. 1996) (post-conviction factual findings are conclusive unless the evidence preponderates against them)
Henley v. State, 960 S.W.2d 572 (Tenn. 1997) (appellate court will not reweigh purely factual issues on appeal)