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IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE
Assigned on Briefs October 26, 2005 VANORY ASKEW v. STATE OF TENNESSEE, KEVIN MYERS, WARDEN
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Wayne County No. 13617 Robert L. Jones, Judge

No. M2005-00524-CCA-R3-HC - Fied November 30, 2005

The Petitioner, Vanory Askew, pled guilty to intent to sell or deliver 300 grams or more of cocaine, and one count of possession of a deadly weapon with intent to employ it in the commission of an offense, and he was sentenced to eighteen years. Subsequently, the Petitioner pled guilty to possession of cocaine in an amount under .5 grams and was sentenced to four years in the Department of Correction to be served concurrently with his previous sentence. The Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that: (1) the trial court erred by summarily dismissing the his pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus and denying his request for the appointment of counsel; and (2) the concurrent sentence he received for his 2003 conviction was illegal, because he was on parole at the time of the offense. The trial court dismissed the petition, and we reverse the judgment of the trial court, and remand the case for the appointment of counsel, and for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court Reversed ROBERT W. WEDEMEYER , J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which THOMAS T. WOODALL and JAMES CURWOOD WITT JR., JJ., joined. Lindsay C. Barrett, Dickson, Tennessee, for the Petitioner, Vanory Askew. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Elizabeth B. Marney and Michael Markham, Assistant Attorneys General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee. OPINION I. Facts and Procedural History On November 7, 1994, the Petitioner pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to sell or deliver 300 grams or more of cocaine and one count of possession of a deadly weapon with intent to employ it in the commission of an offense. The trial court sentenced the Petitioner as a standard

Range I offender, to eighteen years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. On July 17, 2003, the Petitioner pled guilty to possession of cocaine in an amount under .5 grams, and he was sentenced to four years in the Department of Correction to be served concurrently with his previous sentence. The Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus on September 30, 2004, and the trial court granted the State's motion to dismiss the petition on November 23, 2004. It is from that order that the Petitioner now appeals. II. Analysis On appeal, the Petitioner asserts that: (1) the trial court erred by summarily dismissing the his pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus and denying his request for the appointment of counsel; and (2) the concurrent sentence he received for his 2003 conviction was illegal, because he was on parole at the time of the offense. Article I, Section 15 of the Tennessee Constitution guarantees its citizens the right to seek habeas corpus relief. In Tennessee, a "person imprisoned or restrained of [his or her] liberty, under any pretense whatsoever . . . may prosecute a writ of habeas corpus, to inquire into the cause of such imprisonment . . . ." Tenn. Code Ann.

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