Bobby Ray Graves, Jr. v. State of Tennessee

The Petitioner, Bobby Ray Graves, Jr., appeals from the Warren County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief, wherein he challenged his conviction for failure to appear.  See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-609.  On appeal, the Petitioner submits that he received the ineffective assistance of counsel due to trial counsel’s failure to call the Petitioner’s brother to testify in his defense at trial.  Then, requesting this court to apply the cumulative error doctrine, the Petitioner contends that he was prejudiced by trial counsel’s “failures to properly object to the State’s impermissible statements during cross-examination and closing arguments,” trial counsel’s failure to present the Petitioner’s brother to testify, and trial counsel’s “fail[ure] to argue the missing witness rule.”  As a final issue, he submits that appellate counsel was ineffective by failing to address the missing witness rule on appeal.  Following our review of the record, we affirm the post-conviction court’s judgment denying relief.