George Anthony Bell v. State of Tennessee

The petitioner, George Anthony Bell, appeals the Sumner County Criminal Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. The petitioner was convicted of selling more than .5 grams of a Schedule II controlled substance and sentenced to eighteen years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he contends that the denial of his petition was error because he was denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel. Specifically, he contends that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to: (1) provide and review with him copies of the discovery materials provided by the State; (2) investigate the allegation that the petitioner was known by the alias “Jerry Johnson” or if in fact a real person of that name was the provider of the drugs to the confidential informant; and (3) use a peremptory challenge to remove a juror. Following review of the record, we find no error in the denial of the petition and affirm the decision of the post-conviction court.