Dwane Washington v. State of Tennessee

The petitioner, Dwane Washington, appeals the post-conviction court’s ruling that he failed to prove prejudice by clear and convincing evidence after his case was remanded for a determination of prejudice. The proper standard of review was whether the petitioner had shown that there was a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s errors, he would not have pled guilty and would have insisted on going to trial. After a careful review, we conclude that the post-conviction court used the wrong standard in requiring the petitioner to prove prejudice by clear and convincing evidence and that the record before us clearly establishes that there was a reasonable probability that, but for trial counsel’s inaccurate assurances that the petitioner was eligible for boot camp, he would not have pled guilty and would have insisted on going to trial. We reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court, vacate the petitioner’s judgment of conviction, and remand the case for a trial.