State of Tennessee v. Ladonte Smith

Petitioner, Ladonte Smith, was convicted by a Davidson County jury of one count of first degree murder and two counts of attempted first degree murder stemming from a drive-by shooting that occurred at a market. State v. Ladonte Montez Smith, M1997-00087-CCA-R3- CD, 1999 WL 1210813, at *1-5 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Nashville, Dec. 17, 1999), perm. app. denied, (Tenn. Oct. 9, 2000). He received a sentence of life with the possibility of parole for the first degree murder conviction and seventeen years for each conviction for attempted first degree murder, to run consecutively to the life sentence. Petitioner subsequently filed a timely pro se petition for post-conviction relief, alleging, among other things, ineffective assistance of counsel. The post-conviction court held a hearing on the petition, after which the petition was denied. Petitioner now appeals. After a thorough review, we conclude that petitioner has failed to show that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel and affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.