Hershel Wayne Grimes v. State of Tennessee

A Grundy County jury convicted the Petitioner, Hershel Wayne Grimes, of first degree murder, and the trial court sentenced him to life in prison. This court affirmed his conviction on appeal. State v. Grimes, No. M2000-01531-CCA-R3-CD, 2007 WL 1670188, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. June 8, 2007), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Nov. 13, 2007). The Petitioner filed a timely petition for post-conviction relief, which he later amended, that alleged that he had received the ineffective assistance of counsel and that the State had suppressed exculpatory evidence. After a hearing, the post-conviction court denied the petition. On appeal, the Petitioner contends that the post-conviction court erred when it denied his petition because: (1) trial counsel was ineffective for not calling as witnesses Steven Groves, Tracy Marie Pressley, Billy Ray Griffith, and Billy Eugene Caldwell; and (2) the State failed to disclose exculpatory information in the form of a letter written by Special Agent Larry Davis to U.S. District Judge Sparks. After review, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment.