Robert L. Mitchell v. State of Tennessee

A Davidson County jury convicted the Petitioner, Robert L. Mitchell, of one count of especially aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, and one count of assault.  The trial court sentenced him to an effective sentence of thirty-seven years of incarceration.  This Court affirmed his convictions and sentence on appeal.  State v. Robert L. Mitchell, No. M2005-01652-CCA-R3-CD, 2006 WL 1506519, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Nashville, June 1, 2006), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Nov. 13, 2006).  After unsuccessfully seeking post-conviction and habeas corpus relief, the Petitioner filed a second petition for habeas corpus relief that is the subject of this appeal.  He challenged his conviction for especially aggravated kidnapping, alleging first that the allegation of “force, threat, or fraud” in the indictment for especially aggravated kidnapping did not support his conviction and, second, the indictment failed to charge aggravating factors that he asserts were required to support his conviction based upon the fact that he was the parent of the victim.  The habeas corpus court summarily dismissed the Petitioner’s petition, and he now appeals.  On appeal, we conclude that the habeas corpus court did not err, and we therefore affirm its judgment.