JEFFREY LEE POTTS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE - Articles

All Content

JEFFREY LEE POTTS v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Feb 13, 2026

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Daniel J. Murphy, Lewisburg, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jeffrey Lee Potts.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Benjamin A. Ball, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Glenn R. Funk, District Attorney General; and D. Paul Dewitt and Doug Thurman, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): HOLLOWAY

Petitioner, Jeffrey Lee Potts, claims the post-conviction court erred by denying his petition for relief from his conviction for attempted second degree murder. On appeal, Petitioner claims (1) that Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-30-110(f), which requires that petitioners prove “allegations of fact by clear and convincing evidence,” is inconsistent with Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984), and “erects an unconstitutional barrier to relief” and (2) that trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to obtain and call a use-of-force expert witness at trial. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.

Attachments: