Henry Zillon Felts v. State of Tennessee

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• noting that the reasonableness of trial counsel=s investigation is informed by information provided by the defendant
• holding counsel was not ineffective in failing to pursue alternative defense theory when counsel conducted a complete investigation of the law and facts
• concluding no deficient performance when developments in the trial, including more favorable testimony from other witnesses, supported defense counsel’s decision to change strategies despite promise in opening statement
• determining strategic decision not to present promised testimony of defendant based, in part, on more-favorable-than-anticipated testimony of victims was not deficient
• determining trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to pursue self-defense and voluntary manslaughter defenses
• “[A] reviewing court must be highly deferential and should indulge a strong presumption that counsel’s conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).