Tobias Johnson v. State of Tennessee

On May 25, 2007, the petitioner, Tobias Johnson, pled guilty to first degree murder in the perpetration of a felony; two counts of rape, Class B felonies; and incest, a Class C felony.  He received a negotiated sentence of life in the Tennessee Department of Correction, with the possibility of parole, for the first degree murder conviction. As a Range I, standard offender, he received eight years for each of the rape convictions and three years for the incest conviction, all sentences to be served concurrently with his life sentence. The petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which the post-conviction court denied. On appeal, the petitioner argues that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance when they (1) did not timely litigate an issue regarding the state’s loss of the audio tape of the petitioner’s August 27, 2003, interrogation; (2) failed to allege in a motion to suppress that the state violated the petitioner’s right to remain silent; and (3) misadvised the petitioner regarding his release eligibility. The petitioner further argues that he did not enter his guilty plea knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. Following our review, we affirm the denial of post-conviction relief.