STATE OF TENNESSEE v. HOUSTON THOMAS WILKES - Articles

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STATE OF TENNESSEE v. HOUSTON THOMAS WILKES

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 9, 2026

Court: TN Court of Criminal Appeals

Attorneys 1: Josie S. Holland, Memphis, Tennessee (on appeal); and Marcus Lipham, Jackson, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant, Houston Thomas Wilkes.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Ronald L. Coleman, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Joshua R. Gilbert, Legal Assistant (pro hac vice); Neil Thompson, District Attorney General; and W. Michael Thorne, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Judge(s): CAMPBELL

This case comes to this court by way of a delayed appeal. The Defendant, Houston Thomas Wilkes, was convicted in the Carroll County Circuit Court of domestic assault, violation of a no-contact order, possession of more than .5 grams of methamphetamine with the intent to deliver, and possession of fentanyl with the intent to deliver, for which he received an effective sentence of thirty years as a career offender. The trial court denied the Defendant’s motion for a new trial on the grounds that it was untimely, and the Defendant did not file a direct appeal to this court. In a post-conviction petition, the Defendant raised a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based, in part, on trial counsel’s failure to file a timely motion for new trial and a notice of appeal. Without holding an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court entered an agreed order granting a delayed appeal. Because a delayed appeal cannot be granted by agreement of the parties, we reverse and remand to the post-conviction court for an evidentiary hearing and findings of fact regarding whether a delayed appeal is appropriate in this case.

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