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State v. Tansil9/18/2001
1991), the court stated that a failure to advise a defendant fully of the rights waived by a guilty plea "merely renders the related judgment voidable, not void." In Archer v. State, 851 S.W.2d 157, 163-64 (Tenn. 1993), the court held that a conviction resulting from a guilty plea entered without a knowing and voluntary waiver of the right against self-incrimination was not open to attack through a habeas corpus proceeding because the lack of a proper waiver only rendered the conviction voidable, not void. It noted that a post-conviction proceeding is the proper avenue for relief. Id.
In the present case, the Davidson County judgment, signed by a general sessions judge, reflects that the defendant waived his right to counsel, his right to indictment or presentment by a grand jury, and his right to trial by a jury. The written waiver of the right to counsel is necessary for the facial validity of the judgment because the United States Supreme Court has held that in the context of using a prior conviction against a defendant to support guilt or enhanced punishment for another offense, a record of a conviction that does not show either the existence of counsel or the waiver of counsel is presumptively void. See Burgett v. Texas, 389 U.S. 109, 114-15, 88 S. Ct. 258, 261-62 (1967). The express waivers of the defendant's rights to grand jury review, to indictment or presentment, and to trial by jury confer jurisdiction upon the general sessions court to dispose of the defendant's misdemeanor case. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-1-109.
Regularity of criminal proceedings in general sessions court is presumed when it appears on the face of the proceedings that the court had jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties. See McClintock, 732 S.W.2d at 270. Such is the case before us. We conclude that the Davidson County General Sessions Court judgment is valid on its face and was properly used to enhance the defendant's sentence. Any attack upon the facially valid judgment had to be made in a post-conviction proceeding, not this case.
In consideration of the foregoing and the record as a whole, the judgment of conviction is affirmed.
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