Miqwon Deon Leach v. State of Tennessee

CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJuly 14, 2005
DocketW2004-01702-CCA-R3-PC
StatusPublished

This text of Miqwon Deon Leach v. State of Tennessee (Miqwon Deon Leach v. State of Tennessee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miqwon Deon Leach v. State of Tennessee, (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON Assigned on Briefs March 1, 2005

MIQWON DEON LEACH v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Direct Appeal from the Circuit Court for Obion County No. 3-424 William B. Acree, Jr., Judge

No. W2004-01702-CCA-R3-PC - Filed July 14, 2005

Petitioner, Miqwon Deon Leach, appeals the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief arguing that he was denied his constitutional right to testify and that his rights under the Interstate Compact on Detainers were violated. Petitioner also contends that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance (1) by failing to follow the procedures set forth in State v. Momon; (2) by failing to object to the State’s failure to comply with the provisions of the Interstate Compact on Detainers, and (3) by failing to file a motion for a speedy trial. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court Affirmed

THOMAS T. WOODALL, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JAMES CURWOOD WITT , JR., and J.C. MCLIN , JJ., joined.

Danny H. Goodman, Jr., Tiptonville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Miqwon Deon Leach.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; J. Ross Dyer, Assistant Attorney General; Thomas A. Thomas, District Attorney General; and James T. Cannon, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, the State of Tennessee.

OPINION

I. Background

Following a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of first degree felony murder, second degree murder, and conspiracy to commit second degree murder. The jury sentenced Petitioner to life without the possibility of parole for his felony murder conviction. The trial court merged Petitioner’s conviction for second degree murder with his felony murder conviction, and sentenced Petitioner to eight years for his conspiracy conviction, to be served concurrently with his life sentence. This Court affirmed Petitioner’s convictions on direct appeal. State v. Clarence Carnell Gaston, Miqwon Deon Leach, and Mario Deangalo Thomas, No. 22001-02046-CCA-R3-CD, 2003 WL 261941 (Tenn. Crim. App., Jackson, Feb. 7, 2003), perm. to appeal denied (Tenn. 2003). The evidence supporting Petitioner’s convictions was summarized as follows:

[Nicholas] Hansard testified that [Petitioner] told him approximately three weeks before the shooting that he had been robbed by Jeff Young. On New Year's Eve, Hansard heard [Petitioner], [Mario] Thomas, and [Justin] Hill discussing plans to get Young if they ran into him at the club. When Hansard was at the club later that evening, [Petitioner] called him away from dancing, told him that it was about to "go down," and led him outside. Hansard said that he saw a pistol in [Petitioner]'s hand, and, when the initial firing stopped and he peeked from his hiding place, he saw [Petitioner] standing over the victim's body, kicking him with his foot. The next day, [Petitioner] told him that he had shot the victim.

The woman with whom Hansard had been dancing, Sonya Polk, confirmed that [Petitioner] called Hansard away during the middle of a dance, and the two men then left the club. After the men left, she heard gunshots. Jeff Young and Jarvis Jones, who were both standing with the victim before the shooting began, testified that they saw [Petitioner] with a pistol, with Young adding the additional detail of having seen [Petitioner] "jackin' the gun off."

Id., at *6.

At the post-conviction hearing, Petitioner said that he was arrested for the offenses in February 1999. At some point, Petitioner said that he was transferred to federal custody and was confined in a federal facility from June 1999 to February 2000 when he entered a plea of guilty to the federal charges. He was transferred back to the State’s custody on the same day that he entered his guilty plea in federal court. He was tried on the State charges in March 2001.

Petitioner stated that he never discussed with his trial counsel whether or not he would testify at trial, and the trial court did not hold a hearing concerning his decision to testify or not to testify. Petitioner said that his testimony would have assisted his defense by giving the jury “something to reweigh other than what they had.”

On cross-examination, Petitioner conceded that he had never filled out any “paperwork on the Interstate Compact.” Petitioner said, however, that his counsel had orally requested a speedy trial which was part of the terms of the Interstate Compact on Detainers (“Compact”). Petitioner said that although he had been arrested before the current charges, he had never been tried for another offense.

Jerry Vastbinder, the Sheriff of Obion County, said that Petitioner was arrested on February 23, 1999, and remained in the Obion County jail because he could not make bond. On June 29, 1999, the Sheriff’s Department transferred Petitioner to federal custody pursuant to an order of writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum issued by the United States Marshall Service. Petitioner was released back into the custody of the Obion County Sheriff’s Department on February 24, 2000,

-2- immediately after entering a guilty plea to the federal charges. Sheriff Vastbinder said that Petitioner’s transfer from state to federal custody and back to state custody was not achieved through the Compact.

Petitioner’s trial counsel said that he discussed the issue of testifying at trial with Petitioner on several occasions, and had records of at least two of those meetings. Following a discussion on January 18, 2001, counsel advised Petitioner it would be in his best interest to testify but cautioned Petitioner that he had to prepare himself for the State’s cross-examination. Counsel and Petitioner met again on February 28, 2001, and discussed calling Tamara Fuller as a witness in lieu of Petitioner testifying. Eventually, Petitioner decided not to testify primarily because none of his co- defendants were going to testify. Counsel supported Petitioner’s decision because Petitioner’s statement to the police was not introduced into evidence during the State’s case-in-chief, and the prior statement, which would most likely have been introduced during Petitioner’s cross- examination, was damaging to Petitioner’s defense. Counsel admitted that a Momon hearing was not conducted because he simply forgot to request one.

The post-conviction court found that the record established that the procedural mandates reflected in Momon were not carried out. The post-conviction court concluded, however, that the failure to conduct a Momon hearing was harmless error beyond a reasonable doubt based on the testimony of several eyewitnesses at trial that Petitioner was present during the commission of the offenses, and the corroboration of other elements of the State’s evidence by various witnesses.

Relying on United States v. Mauro, 436 U.S. 340, 98 S. Ct. 1834, 56 L. Ed. 2d 329 (1978), the post-conviction court further found that provisions of the Compact were not applicable to Petitioner’s case.

The post-conviction court found that there was no unreasonable delay between Petitioner’s indictment for the current offenses and his trial on those charges, and that Petitioner failed to establish that he was prejudiced by any conduct on the part of his trial counsel in this regard.

II. Standard of Review

A petitioner seeking post-conviction relief must establish his allegations by clear and convincing evidence. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-210(f) (1997).

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Miqwon Deon Leach v. State of Tennessee, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miqwon-deon-leach-v-state-of-tennessee-tenncrimapp-2005.