Travis Armstrong v. State of Tennessee, W2015-01244-CCA-R3-PC

While jailed, Travis Armstrong possessed crack cocaine; jail testing showed .76 g, TBI testing showed .2 g.
Indicted for class B felonies (possession ≥ .5 g with intent to sell/deliver) and possession of contraband in a penal institution; jury convicted on Count 2 (Class B), Count 3 (Class C), and merged Count 1.
Armstrong accepted a written sentencing agreement: 20 years (persistent offender) for Count 2 and 15 years (career offender) for Count 3, concurrent, and waived his right to appeal in exchange for the agreed sentence.
Armstrong filed a timely pro se post-conviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel (failure to argue the lesser .2 g weight to the jury; failure to explain appeal waiver) and later asserted incompetency on appeal.
At the post-conviction evidentiary hearing, trial counsel and the prosecutor testified that counsel argued the weight issue to the judge and jury and that counsel explained appellate rights; the post-conviction court found Armstrong not credible and denied relief.
The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed, holding Armstrong failed to prove deficient performance or prejudice and waived the competency claim by not raising it at the hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance — failure to argue lesser weight (.2 g) to jury	Armstrong: counsel did not advocate the .2 g result, so counsel was deficient	State: counsel did argue the weight issue to judge and jury; Armstrong's testimony was inconsistent	Denied — Armstrong failed to show counsel was deficient; trial court credited counsel/prosecutor testimony
Ineffective assistance — inadequate explanation of appeal waiver	Armstrong: counsel allowed him to waive appeal without understanding rights	State: counsel explained rights; Armstrong signed written waivers and discussed the deal	Denied — waiver was knowing, voluntary; no deficient performance shown
Prejudice from alleged deficiencies	Armstrong: alleged errors undermined his defense	State: Armstrong got a 20-year agreed sentence; risk of greater exposure if he litigated weight (could face consecutive 15-year terms)	Denied — no prejudice shown; accepting sentence reduced potential exposure
Competency to stand trial	Armstrong (on appeal): he was not mentally competent	State: issue waived because not raised at post-conviction hearing; no proof presented	Waived and not considered — raised first on appeal without evidence at hearing

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishes deficient performance and prejudice standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Dellinger v. State, 279 S.W.3d 282 (post-conviction factual findings are conclusive unless evidence preponderates)
Vaughn v. State, 202 S.W.3d 106 (credibility and factual resolution by post-conviction court generally binding on appeal)
Momon v. State, 18 S.W.3d 152 (trial court's findings on witness credibility and factual issues entitled to deference)
Pylant v. State, 263 S.W.3d 854 (ineffective assistance is ground for post-conviction relief)
Finch v. State, 226 S.W.3d 307 (objective standard for counsel performance)
Carpenter v. State, 126 S.W.3d 879 (no need to address prejudice where deficient performance not shown)
State v. Townes, 56 S.W.3d 30 (failure to raise issue at post-conviction hearing waives review on appeal)