### IN THE COURT OF CRIMI NAL AP PEALS OF TENNES SEE AT JAC KSON A ssi gne d onBr ie fs D ec em be r 2, 200 3

JOSEP H BR OWN v. ST ATE OF TEN NES SEE

Direc t Appeal from the Cr im inal Cou rt for Shelby Coun ty

No. P -24735 W. F red Axley, Judge

No. W2002-03014-C CA-R 3-P C - F iled Fe bruary 11, 2004

Th e pe tit ion e r, Jose phB ro wn , a pp e a ls pr o s e the denial of hi s petition for post-conviction relief f rom his convictions for fa cilitation of first deg ree murder a nd two counts of espe cially ag g ravated kid na pp ing . H e argue s th a t th e tr ia l court ’s fa ilure to ad vis e him of his c on sti tut ion a l r ig ht a g a ins t self-inc rimination voids his g uilty pleas a nd that the court’s failure to pr ovide him with a tr anscr ipt of the post-c onviction hear ing v i o l at ed his constituti onal rig hts. Additionally , he ar g ues that the
rec ord does not re flec t that counsel who re prese nted him at the post-conviction hea ring was re lieved fr om c on tin

uin g to r e pr e se nt h im o n a pp e a l, a nd that he is e nti tle d to cou ns el in his a pp e a l to thi s court. W e agr ee that the petit ioner is entitled to be re prese nted by counsel in the fir st tier appea l of the denial of

his post-con v i ct i o n p et i tion and, acc ording ly , dismiss the appe al and r emand to the po st- c onvic tio n c ourt wi th in stru c tio ns to r e e nte r i ts f ind ing s o f f

a c t and c on c lus ion s o f l aw, wi th the petitioner’s time for

appea l to start at the date of ree ntry , and the pe titioner to be repr esente d by
c ouns e l on

a pp e a l.
Tenn. R. App . P . 3 Appeal as of Right; Appeal Dism issed and Rem anded

A L AN E. G L EN N , J ., delivere d the opinion of t h e co u rt , i n whi ch J A M ES C UR WO OD W I TT , J R ., and R OB E R T W. W EDEMEYER , J J ., joined.

J oseph B rown, Ha

rdema n County Correc tional Fac ility , Whit eville, Tenne ssee, Pro Se.

Pa ul G . Summe rs , Atto rn e y Ge ne ra l and Re po rt e r; Jenn if e r L . B le ds oe , A ssi sta

nt A tto rn e y

Ge ne ra l; Wil liam L . Gibbons, District Attorney Gene ral; an d

Re g in a ld H e n d e r s on, Assistant District Attorney Gene ral, for

the appe llee, State of Te nnessee

.
OP IN ION The pe titioner pled g uilty

on Fe bruar

y 28, 2000, to fac ilitation of first deg ree murder a nd two
c o un t s o f e s p e c i a l l y

a g g r av a t e d

k i dn ap p i n g , a l l C l a s s A f e l o n i e s

. H e w a s s e n t e n c e d a s a R an g e I, stan d ar d o f

f e n d e r t o f i f t e e n y e ar s f

o r th e f a c i l i t a t i o n o f f

i r s t d e g r e e m ur d e r c o n v i c t i o n a nda s a vio le nt o ff

e nd e r t o f if te e n y e ars fo r e a c h o f t

he e sp e c ia lly

a g g ra vate d k idn a

pp ingc on vic tio ns , a ll t oW e no te tha t t h e p e tit io n w a s n o ta riz e d o n F e b ru a ry 1 9 , 2 0 0 1 , an d tha t, a c c o rd ing to the p e tit io n e r’s 1

ce r t i f i ca t i on , h e mai l ed a copy t o t h e Sh el by Coun t y D i s t r i ct At t or n ey G en er al on Fe br u ar y 20, 2001.
-2- be ser ved conc urre ntly , for a

n eff ective f ifteen- y ear

sentenc e. No dire ct appe al of the pe titioner’s convictions was take n.
On Marc h 1, 2001, the petitioner filed a pr o s e petition for post-conviction re lief, counse l 1

wa s su bs e qu e ntl y

a pp ointe d, and

an ame nd e d p e tit ion wa s f ile d o n M ay

23 , 2 00 2. In h is p e tit ion s, the pe tit ion e r a lle g e d th a t he wa s d e nie d th e e ff e c tiv e a ssi sta

nc e of tr ia l c ouns e l and

tha t hi s guil ty pleas we re not voluntarily , knowing ly , and under standing ly enter ed.
Appar ently , a hea

ringwas he ld on the post-conviction petition for the post-c o nv ic tion c ourt’s order of Nove mber 26, 2002, denying the petition, r efe rre d to c erta in pa g es from the transcr ipt of the hear ing. T he petitioner pr epar ed a pr o s e notice of a ppeal, whic h bear s the date of November

27, 20 02 , in the c e rt if ic a te of se rv ic e and

De c e mbe r 1 1, 20 02 , a s th e fi lin g date . In h is pr o s e a pp e llate brief, in a ddition to his claims that trial counsel wa s ineffe ctive, he c omplains about the fac t that he is not repre sented by

counsel on a

ppeal, sa ying that the rec ord contains no order rele asing appointed counsel who r epre sented him at the post-conviction hea ring from continuingto do so. I n our re view,
we fi rs t w ill c on sid e r t

he pe tit ion e r’ s c la im that he is e nti tle d to be re pr e se nte d b y c ouns e l. Wi th t

his claim, we ag ree

. Since the petitioner had no choice but to procee d pr o s e , a s h e did , o r r e lin qu ish his right to appea l, w e must re mand this matter to the post-conviction cour t so that counsel ca

n be appointed for

the petitioner, a ssuming that pre vious counsel was r elieved, a nd a notice of

appea l can then be r efiled.

I t is wi tho ut q

ue sti on that th e pe tit ion e r h a s a

statut or y ri g ht t o b e re pr e se nte d b y c ouns e l in the first tier a

ppeal of his p o s t -c o n viction petition, as we will expl ain. Tenne ssee Supre me Court Rule 28, section 10(A) provides that “[a]n appe al from the dismissal or denial of a post-convic tion pe tit ion s h a l l b e i na c c o r d an c e w i thth e T e n n e s s e e R u l e s o f Ap p e l l a t e P r o c e d

ur e

. ” Intur

n , R u le 18 (a ) o f t he Te nn e sse e Rul e s o f A

pp e llate Pr oc e dure pr ov ide s: A par ty who has be en per

mitted to procee d in an ac tion in t h e trial court a s a poor pe rson (whic h includes a pe rson who has be en pe rm itt e d to pr oc e e d th e re a s o ne wh o is fi na nc ia lly un a ble to o bta in adequate def

ense in a criminal ca se) may

proce ed on appe al as a poor person unless, be fore or af ter the a ppeal is take n, the trial court f inds the p arty is n o t e n ti tl e d s o to p r o c e e d , in w h ic h e v e n t th e tr ial court
s h al l s t at e i nwr i t i n g t h e r ea s o n s fo r s u ch fi n d i n g.

Tenne ssee Code A

nn o t at eds ec t i o n4 0 -3 0 -2 1 5 p ro v i d es th at “[ i ] n d i gen cy s h al l b e d et ermined and counse l and cour

t reporte rs appointed and reimburse d as now provided for criminal and ha beas corpus case s by chapte r 14, par ts 2 and 3 of this titl e.” Tenne ssee Code A nnotated sec tion 40-14-203
re qu ir e s th a t an att or

ne y a pp ointe d to re pr e se nt a

n in dig e nt d e fe nd ant m

us t c on tin

ue to d o s o “throug h the initial appellate revie w,” and section 40-14-205 provides that if the a ppointed attorney-3-

is allowed to withdraw “upon g ood cause shown,

. . . the court shall . . . immediately appoint another attorney in the former attorney ’s place .” In Drummer v. State, 6 S.W .3d 520, 523 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1999), we conclude d that these statutes a nd rules, take n toge ther, entitle a post-convic tion petitioner “to counse l on the direc t appea l from the denia l of [the] first petition for post-convic tion relief.”

The re cord on appea l contains neither an ex planation as to why counsel who r epre sented the petitioner befor e the post-conviction court is no longe r repr esenting him nor a dete rmination that the p et i t i o n er n o l o n ger

i s i n d i gen t

. T h e p et i t i o n er , wh o i s n o w p r o c e e d i n g pr o s e in t his matte r, is entitled to be re prese nted by counsel, as he has reque sted. Acc ording ly , we va cate the orde r of the post-conviction cour

t denying the petition for post-co n viction relief a nd direc t that counsel be
a pp ointe d f

or the pe tit ion e r an d that the c ourt re e nte r its or de r d e nyingpo st- c on vic tio n r e lie f, wi th the time for the pe titioner’s appe al beg inning to run f rom the time of the r eentr y of the orde r.

CO NC LU SION

B a se d u po n th e fo re g oin g a

uth or iti e s and reas on ing , w e va c a te the or de r o f t he po stconviction cour

t denying the petition and rema nd for pr ocee dings c onsistent with thi s opinion.

___________________________________ AL AN E. GL ENN, JUDGE