Stephen Nicely v. State of Tennessee

The petitioner, Stephen Otis Nicely, appeals the Knox County Criminal Court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief from his rape of a child conviction, his aggravated sexual battery conviction, and his resulting effective sentence of twenty-two years. The petitioner claims that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorney (1) refused to let him testify at trial; (2) failed to challenge the admissibility of evidence of the victim's post-traumatic stress disorder; (3) failed to prepare and investigate adequately for trial; and (4) failed to instruct the petitioner on the range of punishment if convicted. We affirm the trial court's denial of the petition.