Ronnie Finch v. State of Tennessee

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court held that trial counsel performed deficiently by failing to object when the trial court improperly took the defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal under advisement and by continuing to participate in the trial. The court nevertheless denied post-conviction relief because the State's evidence at the close of its case-in-chief was sufficient to support the facilitation convictions, so counsel's error caused no prejudice. The court reversed the intermediate appellate court and reinstated the convictions.