 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Woods v. State2/18/2003
FACTS
In 1997, the petitioner, Roscoe H. Woods, was convicted by an Anderson County Criminal Court jury of three counts of rape based on three separate incidents of oral sex in 1993 and 1994 with his daughter, J.W., who was thirteen years old at the time. The petitioner was sentenced by the trial court to an effective sentence of ten years in the Department of Correction. His convictions were affirmed by this court on direct appeal, and his application for permission to appeal to the supreme court was denied. See State v. Roscoe H. Woods, No. 03C01-9801-CC-00029, 1999 WL 2831, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jan. 6, 1999), perm. to appeal denied (Tenn. July 19, 1999).
The direct appeal opinion provides the following account of the crimes:
In 1989, after the defendant divorced his first wife, he was awarded custody of his two children, the victim J.W. and her twin brother Josh. In 1992, the defendant remarried, and by May 1993, he, J.W., and Josh had moved into their new home with the defendant's new wife, Paula Woods, and her two daughters from a prior marriage. J.W. testified that around midnight one evening in November 1993, the defendant asked her to watch television with him downstairs. According to J.W., he eventually undressed her, performed oral sex on her, and forced her to reciprocate. J.W. also testified that one evening in the spring of 1994, the defendant woke her in her bedroom at night and told her to come downstairs with him to watch television. According to J.W., he placed her on the floor, and the two engaged in mutual oral sex. J.W. further testified that later that spring, the defendant again woke her in her bedroom at night and touched her breasts, stomach, and in between her legs. According to J.W., he then undressed her and performed oral sex on her, but when he attempted to penetrate her, she pushed him off of her.
J.W., who was thirteen years old at the time of these incidents, testified that none of this contact was consensual. Over objection, she also testified she first told a friend of these incidents approximately two years after they occurred. She then told her friend's mother, another friend, and her psychologist. In July 1996, she reported the incidents to the authorities. Id. (footnote omitted).
On July 20, 2000, the petitioner filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief, asserting a number of different grounds for relief, including ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The post-conviction court appointed post-conviction counsel, and on February 26, 2001, an amended petition for post-conviction relief was filed. An evidentiary hearing was held on April 2 and April 6, 2001. Because the post-conviction court determined that ineffective assistance of counsel was the petitioner's only colorable claim, the proof was limited to evidence relating to the petitioner's allegations concerning the representation provided by his trial counsel. Six witnesses appeared at the hearing: trial counsel; a friend of the petitioner, Sheila Hudson, and her son, Chris; the petitioner's son; the petitioner; and the victim.
Trial counsel testified he had been practicing law in Tennessee for thirty-four years. When the indictments in the instant case were returned, he was representing the petitioner on a contingency basis in a civil lawsuit based on the petitioner's injury in an automobile accident. At the petitioner's request, he agreed to represent him in the criminal case as well, ultimately receiving $25,000 of the petitioner's judgment in the personal injury suit as payment for his representation in both cases.
Trial counsel described his preparation for the petitioner's criminal case. He did not hire
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Tennessee Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
By using the system, you agree to TERMS OF SERVICE
|