Dennis Jarrett v. State of Tennessee

The petitioner, Dennis Jarrett, proceeding pro se, appeals the Madison County Circuit Court’s denial of his petition for post-conviction relief. In two separate cases, the petitioner was convicted of two counts of driving after being declared a habitual motor vehicle offender, felony reckless endangerment, felony evading arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia, violation of the implied consent law, failure to appear, and violation of the open container law. On appeal, he contends that the post-conviction court erred in denying relief. Specifically, he contends that he was denied his right to the effective assistance of counsel based upon: (1) trial counsel’s failure to properly challenge that the traffic stop was based on reasonable suspicion in Case No. C07-351; (2) trial counsel’s failure to object to inadmissible hearsay in Case No. 07-385; (2) the judge’s application of enhancement factors not found by the jury; and (3) the cumulative effect of trial counsel’s errors. Following review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.