State of Tennessee v. Michael Shane Honeycutt

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court held that Michael Shane Honeycutt was denied effective assistance of counsel at his aggravated child abuse trial because trial counsel failed to develop an available defense theory that the child's mother, Misty Stacey, was the perpetrator, despite her admissions to shaking and slapping the child and her access to the child during the critical injury period; because the case against Honeycutt rested entirely on circumstantial evidence, the Court found a reasonable probability that the outcome would have been different. It reversed the Court of Criminal Appeals and remanded for a new trial. As guidance for remand, the Court held under the Burns test that knowing or reckless aggravated assault and reckless endangerment are lesser-included offenses of aggravated child abuse, while intentional aggravated assault is not. No separate opinions were filed.