Court Hears Post‑Conviction Challenge Over Prior‑conviction Evidence in Ricky Davis Case

May it please the court, Ricky Davis is entitled to post‑conviction relief in this case for three reasons, Joshua Hedrick told the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals during oral argument in Knoxville. Hedrick, counsel for appellant Ricky Davis, said trial counsel was ineffective for allowing the jury to hear that Davis had a prior conviction for causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon, for failing to challenge admissibility of prior gun possession, and for not objecting when a key witness’s prior statement was read into the record.

Hedrick framed the problem around State v. Faust, arguing that Faust identifies bifurcation as the preferred practice when an indictment links a homicide charge with a weapons/status offense that depends on prior convictions. “We note the better procedure,” he quoted from Faust, and said trial counsel’s failure to raise a bifurcation motion left the homicide jury exposed to prejudicial information that “undermines our confidence in the verdict.”

The three judges on the panel — Judge Jill Barty Ayers, Judge Tom Greenholtz and Judge Kyle Hickson of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals — pressed defense counsel on both Strickland prongs: deficient performance and prejudice. Judge Hickson emphasized…