Wayne Sellers v. State of Tennessee, W2016-01776-CCA-R3-PC

Wayne Sellers was convicted in Shelby County (2013) of aggravated rape and sentenced to 23 years; conviction affirmed on direct appeal and cert. denied.
Victim reported being assaulted in December 2011, had vaginal injuries, and DNA from the victim’s vaginal swab contained a mixture consistent with Sellers.
Victim could not identify Sellers from a photographic lineup shortly after the attack but made an in-court identification at trial while Sellers wore jail clothing.
Trial counsel presented no defense witnesses and Sellers did not testify; counsel discussed DNA evidence, plea offers (15 and 8 years) with Sellers, and advised against testifying.
Post-conviction petition argued ineffective assistance: (1) counsel failed to explain defense strategy (so Sellers unknowingly waived testifying and rejected pleas), and (2) counsel failed to object to the suggestive in-court identification. The post-conviction court denied relief.

Issue	Seller’s Argument	State’s Argument	Held
Trial counsel failed to explain defense strategy / failure to present evidence and thereby caused Seller to forgo testifying and reject pleas	Counsel didn’t tell Seller that no defense proof would be presented; had Seller known he would have testified (and/or accepted an 8-year plea) the outcome would differ	Record shows counsel discussed DNA, plea offers, and lack of witnesses; Seller acknowledged no alibi witnesses and waived testimony at a Momon colloquy	Denied — Seller knew counsel had no proof; no deficient performance or prejudice shown
Failure to object to victim’s in-court identification as impermissibly suggestive	In-court ID was tainted because victim failed to ID in photo array and Seller was conspicuously in jail clothing	Counsel reasonably declined to object given prior photo-array non-ID, the DNA evidence was dispositive, and Seller refused offered civilian clothing	Denied — no deficient performance or prejudice; DNA evidence more probative

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (performance and prejudice test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Henley v. State, 960 S.W.2d 572 (Tenn. 1997) (standard for assessing counsel effectiveness in Tennessee)
Goad v. State, 938 S.W.2d 363 (Tenn. 1996) (counsel performance must fall below objective standard)
Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501 (defendant forced to wear jail clothing may implicate due process)
Jaco v. State, 120 S.W.3d 828 (post-conviction burden of proof)
Fields v. State, 40 S.W.3d 450 (appellate review standards for post-conviction factual findings)
Kendrick v. State, 454 S.W.3d 450 (appellate review of post-conviction mixed questions)
Baxter v. Rose, 523 S.W.2d 930 (competence standard for counsel in Tennessee)