Assigned on Briefs February 6, 2018
Appeal
from the Criminal Court for Shelby County No. 13-04457 J.
Robert Carter, Jr., Judge
The
petitioner, Kervin Jackson, appeals the denial of his
post-conviction petition, arguing the post-conviction court
erred in finding he received effective assistance of counsel
at trial. Following our review, we affirm the denial of the
petition.
Tenn.
R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal
Court Affirmed
Claiborne Ferguson, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant,
Kervin Jackson.
Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Ronald
L. Coleman, Assistant Attorney General; Amy P. Weirich,
District Attorney General; and Paul Goodman and Muriel
Malone, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the
appellee, State of Tennessee.
J.
Ross Dyer, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which
John Everett Williams and Camille R. McMullen, JJ., joined.
OPINION
J.
ROSS DYER, JUDGE
FACTS
On
January 13, 2013, the petitioner shot and killed his
brother-in-law in the kitchen of their family home. Despite
claiming self-defense at trial, a jury convicted the
petitioner of first degree murder, and he received a life
sentence. The petitioner subsequently challenged the
sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction on
direct appeal. This Court summarized the underlying facts
leading to the petitioner's conviction as follows:
The
victim, Taumarein Covington, was shot and killed on January
13, 2013, while standing in the kitchen of the home in which
he lived with his wife's family, including [the
petitioner], his brother-in-law. [The petitioner] was
arrested shortly after the shooting.
Pearlie Campbell, [the petitioner's] mother, owned the
house where the incident took place. The modest home was
occupied by multiple members of Ms. Campbell's family:
Ms. Campbell; [the petitioner]; the victim; Dominique
Covington, [the petitioner's] sister and the victim's
wife; and [the petitioner's] sister Ashley Jackson and
her child. Ms. Jackson and her child were not living at the
residence permanently but were staying there on the day of
the shooting.
Tancer Covington, the mother of the victim, testified that,
about a week prior to his death, she met the victim at a bank
to give him money for the first month's rent at a new
apartment. During that meeting, the victim told her that he
was "fearful of Dominique's brother."
The morning of the shooting, Ms. Campbell recalled sitting at
the kitchen table "[w]aiting on Dominique and Ashley to
get ready" to "go to the grocery store." The
victim was in the kitchen sitting behind Ms. Campbell.
According to Ms. Campbell:
[The petitioner] came in[, ] stood by the sink[, ] and asked
me where I was fixing to go[, ] and I told him the grocery
store[, ] and he asked me who was going with me[, ] and I
told him[, ] and then he said, "Well, it just ain't
right, mama. It just ain't right." So you know he
just kept talking so -- I mean when I bent to tie my shoe all
I hear was pow, pow, and I just ran out the door.
Ms. Campbell did not actually see her son shoot the victim
but "he was the only somebody in the room" other
than her and the victim. She admitted that in her initial
statement to police, she maintained that [the petitioner] was
responsible for shooting the victim. In fact, she described
the gun that [the petitioner] used to kill the victim as
"black and may have had a little silver on it." She
explained that [the petitioner] was employed as a security
guard and routinely carried a gun.
The victim and his wife, Dominique, had been staying at the
house for quite some time. They were saving money to move in
to their own place. Ms. Campbell knew that the victim and
Dominique were planning on moving out as soon as they were
"stable." While they lived at the house, Dominique
and the victim slept on the floor in the living room on a
blow up mattress. In order to make room for their bed, the
couple had to rearrange some of the furniture in the living
room. This often irritated [the petitioner], especially when
the victim's gaming television was blocking the door.
On the morning of the incident the victim and [the
petitioner] were "arguing." [The petitioner] was
"telling him . . . he had to leave." Dominique
stated that [the petitioner] never threatened to kill the
victim but there was definitely tension between the two. She
admitted that in her statement to police, she commented that
[the petitioner] used the phrase "tick tock" when
talking to the victim for several days prior to the incident.
The victim reported to her that [the petitioner] was
"taunting [the victim] and threatening to shoot
him." Dominique later explained that [the petitioner]
often used the phrase "tick tock" when "you
need to do something." She did not perceive it as a
threat toward her husband but thought that he was saying it
because he wanted them to move out of the house. She
described [the petitioner's] normal demeanor as
"mad" and opined that the victim was
"afraid" of [the petitioner] at the time of his
death.
On the morning of the incident, Dominique and the victim got
up around 11:00 or 12:00. After she arose that morning,
Dominique was sitting in the living room listening to her
iPod when she heard her mom say, "Kervin, no."
After that, she heard one shot. Dominique "hit the floor
and [she] heard [her] mom scream and run out the front
door." Dominique ran to the front door to see where her
mother was going but heard "the next couple of
shots" and got back down onto the floor. After the
shooting stopped, she ran in to the kitchen. She saw her
brother standing there and her husband lying on the floor
with blood around him. [The petitioner] "had a gun in
his hand." Dominique saw [the petitioner] lay the gun
down on the floor next to the victim's left hand. She
picked the gun up and put it on the kitchen table.
Ashley Jackson was present at the home that morning but did
not see anything happen. She heard the gunshots from her
...