CHARLES R. JOHNSON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE - Articles

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CHARLES R. JOHNSON v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Mar 20, 2025

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Gerald L. Gulley, Jr., Knoxville, Tennessee (on appeal), for the appellant, Charles R. Johnson.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Ryan Dugan, Assistant Attorney General; Dave Clark, District Attorney General; and Brian M. Gilliam, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): EASTER

After being convicted of several drug offenses, Charles R. Johnson, Petitioner, was sentenced to an effective thirty-year sentence. State v. Johnson, No. E2021-01106-CCA- R3-CD, 2023 WL 3535344, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. May 18, 2023), no perm. app. filed. Petitioner's direct appeal was unsuccessful. He sought post-conviction relief by filing a pro es petition ni which he argued that trial counsel was ineffective and that his due process rights were violated in various ways. The post-conviction court summarily dismissed the petition without appointment of counsel. On appeal, Petitioner argues that the post- conviction court improperly dismissed the petition. After a review, we affirm the post- conviction court's summary dismissal of Petitioner's standalone due process claims. However, we reverse and remand the post-conviction court's summary dismissal of Petitioner's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel without appointment of counsel or a hearing. Consequently, the judgment of the post-conviction court is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. On remand, the post-conviction court should appoint counsel for Petitioner, allow Petitioner to amend his pro se petition, and hold a hearing on the petition.

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