Troy Douglas Bartley v. State of Tennessee

The Petitioner, Troy Douglas Bartley, appeals the Sullivan County Criminal Court’s denial of post-conviction relief from his convictions of two counts of aggravated assault, Class C felonies, one count of delivery of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school zone, a Class B felony, one count of possession of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver within 1,000 feet of a school zone, a Class A felony, one count of attempted first degree murder, a Class A felony, one count of retaliation for past action, a Class E felony, and two additional counts of aggravated assault, Class C felonies. Based on the guilty plea hearing transcript, the Petitioner pleaded guilty in case number S57,639, to two counts of aggravated assault, both of which were merged by the trial court, and received a three-year-sentence. In case number S58,333, the Petitioner pleaded guilty to delivery of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school zone, count one, which merged with count two, possession of less than five-tenths of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver within 1,000 feet of a school zone, and received an eight-year sentence. In case number S58,374, the Petitioner pleaded guilty to attempted first degree murder, count one, retaliation for past action, count two, and two additional counts of aggravated assault, counts three and four, which the trial court merged with count two. In regard to case number S58,374, the Petitioner was sentenced to fifteen and four years, respectively. The trial court ordered “all counts in each case [to be served] concurrent[ly] but each of the cases [were] consecutive[,]”for an effective sentence of twenty-six years’ imprisonment. On appeal, the Petitioner argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that he entered involuntary and unknowing guilty pleas. 1 Upon review, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.