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IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE
Assigned on Briefs August 15, 2006

DONALD WADE GOFF V. STATE OF TENNESSEE
Direct Appeal from the Criminal Court of Campbell County No 12,238 E. Shayne Sexton, Judge

E2005-02605-CCA-R3-PC - Filed December 6, 2006

Petitioner, Donald Wade Goff, was convicted following a November 2001 jury trial on two counts of rape of a child, eleven counts of incest, nine counts of rape, seven counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and one count of attempted rape. The trial court imposed an eighty-year sentence. On direct appeal, the sentence was modified to fifty-six years based upon this Court's dismissal of the nine rape counts due to lack of evidence of force or coercion. Petitioner subsequently filed a post-conviction petition on August 9, 2004. After the appointment of counsel and the filing of an amended petition, the post-conviction court conducted an evidentiary hearing. Following the hearing, the post-conviction court dismissed the petition. Petitioner filed this appeal claiming the post-conviction court erred in denying his post-conviction petition. Upon our review, we affirm the post-conviction court. Tenn. R. App. P.3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court is Affirmed J. S. DANIEL, SR., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS, J., and ALAN E. GLENN , J., joined. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Assistant Attorney General, William Paul Phillips, District Attorney General; Michael O. Ripley, Assistant District Attorney General, for Appellee, State of Tennessee. David M. Pollard, Jr., Jacksboro, Tennessee, Attorney for the Petitioner, Donald Wade Goff.

OPINION
BACKGROUND The Petitioner, Donald Wade Goff, was indicted by the Campbell County grand jury in June 2001 on a thirty-six (36) count indictment, including two counts of rape of a child, thirteen counts of incest, eleven counts of rape, nine counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and one count of attempted rape. The alleged victim was petitioner's daughter. During a jury trial on these

counts, the trial court entered judgments of acquittal following the state's case-in-chief on two rape counts, two incest counts and on two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The jury returned guilty verdicts on the remaining counts. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed an effective eighty-year sentence. On direct appeal to this Court, a panel of this Court dismissed certain charges due to insufficient evidence and modified the sentence to fifty-six years. See State v. Donald Wade Goff, No. E2002-00691-CCA-R3-CD (Tenn. Crim. App. filed August 5, 2003 at Knoxville). On August 9, 2004, petitioner timely filed his pro se petition for post-conviction relief. Following the appointment of counsel, petitioner filed an amended petition. On October 12, 2005, the trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing. Following the hearing, the trial court entered findings of fact and dismissed the post-conviction petition. At the evidentiary hearing, petitioner testified that he first met trial counsel in the Campbell County Jail in March 2001, after being arrested on the present charges. He said he met with trial counsel on two occasions prior to the trial

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