Bobby V. Summers v. Johnny Fitz, Warden

Summary

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the summary dismissal of Bobby V. Summers’s petition for writ of habeas corpus. The court held that the petition was procedurally defective and that facilitation of first-degree murder is a valid offense even when the principal offender has not been prosecuted or convicted. The court also concluded that the indictment was not facially void and that claims concerning the voluntariness of Summers’s guilty plea were not cognizable in habeas corpus proceedings.

Holdings

1. The petition was procedurally defective because Summers left unanswered whether the legality of his restraint had previously been adjudicated and failed to attach his prior habeas petition or the prior disposition, despite stating that the present petition was his second application.
2. Facilitation of first-degree murder is a valid statutory offense, and a principal offender need not be prosecuted or convicted before a facilitator may be convicted.
3. The indictment was not void because it charged facilitation of first-degree murder, a valid statutory offense, and Tennessee law does not require prosecution of a principal before a facilitator may be convicted.
4. A claim challenging the voluntariness of a guilty plea is not cognizable in a Tennessee habeas corpus proceeding.
5. Summers did not establish that the judgment was void or that his confinement was illegal; therefore, he was not entitled to habeas corpus relief.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the habeas petition was subject to summary dismissal for failure to satisfy the mandatory procedural requirements of Tennessee Code Annotated section 29-21-107(b)(3) and (4).
2. Whether facilitation of first-degree murder is a valid offense when the principal offender has not been prosecuted or convicted.
3. Whether the absence of a prosecution or conviction of a principal offender renders Summers's judgment or indictment void.
4. Whether an alleged involuntary or coerced guilty plea is cognizable in a Tennessee habeas corpus proceeding.
5. Whether the judgment was facially void or the sentence had expired so as to warrant habeas corpus relief.

Disposition

affirmed