Though the Petitioner contends that the sentence must be specified in years, "the trial court is not required to specify a term of years in sentencing a defendant to life imprisonment." Blake v. State, No. W2015-01423-CCA-R3-PC, 2016 WL 4060696, at *11 (Tenn. Crim. App. July 27, 2016), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Nov. 22, 2016); see also Tenn. Code Ann. ยง 40-35-211(1) ("Specific sentences for a felony shall be for a term of years or months or life[.]") (emphasis added)
Id. at *3 (emphasis omitted). See also Blake v. State, No. W2015-01423-CCA-R3-PC, 2016 WL 4060696, at *11 (Tenn. Crim. App. July 27, 2016); Motley v. Lester, No. W2014-00355-CCA-R3-HC, 2015 WL 847414, at *2 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jan. 30, 2015); Daniel Lee Draper v. Cherry Lindamood, Warden, No. W2013-01030-CCA-R3-HC, 2014 WL 465723, at *3 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jan. 31, 2014). Contrary to the Petitioner's assertion his life sentence was authorized by Tennessee law in 2011, and it is still authorized by Tennessee law today.
Likewise, in Deandre Blake v. State, this court concluded that a sentence of life in prison was not an indeterminate sentence. No. W2015-01423-CCA-R3-PC, 2016 WL 4060696, at *11 (Tenn. Crim. App. July 27, 2016). The court in Deandre Blake then addressed the defendant's argument that the sentence should have been designated as a term of years and concluded that "the trial court is not required to specify a term of years in sentencing a defendant to life imprisonment."
Blake, 2011 WL 4433651. The Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief in which he alleged that trial counsel was ineffective in (1) failing to present evidence implicating the victim's mother and establishing "a break in the chain of events for felony murder"; (2) conceding guilt during the opening statement; and (3) failing to object to the trial court's imposition of an illegal sentence of life imprisonment without first holding a sentencing hearing. The post-conviction court held a hearing, after which it denied the Petitioner's petition. Deandre Blake v. State, No. W2015-01423-CCA-R3-PC, 2016 WL 4060696, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App., at Jackson, July 27, 2016), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Nov. 22, 2016).
Id. at *2-3 (emphasis omitted). See also Blake v. State, No. W2015-01423-CCA-R3-PC, 2016 WL 4060696, at *11 ( Tenn. Crim. App. July 27, 2016) perm. app. denied (Tenn. Nov. 22, 2016) (citing Carney, Vaughn and Tenn Att'y Gen. Op. 97-098); Motley v. Lester, No. W2014-00355-CCA-R3-HC, 2015 WL 847414, at *2 (Tenn. Crim. App. Jan. 30, 2015) perm. app. denied (Tenn. May 19, 2015). Most recently, in State v. Self, No. E2014-02466-CCA-R3-CD, 2016 WL 4542412, at *61 (Tenn. Crim. App. Aug. 29, 2016) perm. app. denied (Tenn. Jan. 19, 2017), the defendant contended that he should have been sentenced under Tenn. Code Ann. ยง 40-35-501(h)(1).