Torian Dillard v. State of Tennessee

The petitioner, Torian Dillard, was convicted in 2006 of aggravated kidnapping and sentenced to twenty years. His conviction was affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Torian Dillard, No. W2007-00911-CCA-R3-CD, 2008 WL 3342952, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Aug. 11, 2008), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Feb. 2, 2009). He then filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that trial counsel had been ineffective in that counsel failed to properly investigate the facts of the case or to provide a sufficient reason to dismiss a prospective juror and that the trial court erred in allowing the victim to sit facing the jury, with her back to the petitioner. After an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief; and, following our review, we affirm that order.