State v. Jeffery Casey ( 1998 )

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
AT JACKSON
FEBRUARY 1998 SESSION FILED
February 24, 1998
Cecil Crowson, Jr.
Appellate C ourt Clerk
JEFFERY A. CASEY, )
) No. 02-C-01-9701-CC-00015
APPELLANT, )
) Decatur County
v. )
) Julian P. Guinn, Judge
STATE OF TENNESSEE, )
) (Post-Conviction Relief)
APPELLEE. )
FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:
Pamela J. Drewery John Knox Walkup
1008 West Forest Attorney General & Reporter
Jackson, TN 38301 425 Fifth Avenue, North
Nashville, TN 37243-0493
Georgia B. Felner
Counsel for the State
425 Fifth Avenue, North
Nashville, TN 37243-0493
OPINION FILED: __________________________________
AFFIRMED PURSUANT TO RULE 20
Joe B. Jones, Presiding Judge
OPINION
This case represents an appeal from the dismissal of the petitioner’s petition for
post-conviction relief. On March 8, 1984, the petitioner was convicted on two counts of first
degree murder and received two concurrent life sentences. This court affirmed the
convictions and sentences on appeal, State v. Casey, No. 1 (Tenn. Crim. App., Jackson,
March 27, 1985), and the supreme court denied application for permission to appeal on
June 3, 1985. On May 9, 1996, the petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief
alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, improper jury instructions, the denial of his right
to testify on his own behalf, and the denial of a fair and impartial trial. Finding that the
statute of limitations had expired, the trial court dismissed the petition without a hearing.
Pursuant to T.C.A. § 40-30-202(a), 1 a person in custody under a sentence of a court
of this state must petition for post-conviction relief within one year of the date of the final
action of the highest state appellate court to which an appeal is taken or, if no appeal is
taken, within one year of the date on which judgment became final. The Post-Conviction
Procedure Act provides several limited exceptions to the one-year statute of limitations;
however, none of them are applicable to the present case. See § 40-30-202(b). The
petition in this case was filed well beyond the applicable statute of limitations and is,
therefore, untimely.2 Accordingly, the post-conviction court properly dismissed the petition
without an evidentiary hearing. T.C.A. § 40-30-206(b).
Contrary to the petitioner’s claim, the 1995 Post-Conviction Procedure Act did not
create a one year window in which previously barred claims could be raised. Carter v.
State, 952 S.W.2d 417 (Tenn. 1997). The petitioner also claims that the statute of
limitations should not apply in his case because he is suffering from a mental disability.
The petitioner, however, has failed to document this claim or support his argument with
citation to relevant authorities. Accordingly, this issue is waived. Rule 10, Rules of the
Court of Criminal Appeals. See also Workman v. State, 868 S.W.2d 705, 711 (Tenn. Crim.
1
The petition in this case was filed on May 9, 1996, and is therefore governed by the
provisions of the 1995 Post-Conviction Procedure Act. See Compiler’s Notes, T.C.A. § 40-
30-201 (1997).
2
The petition would also be barred under the previous three-year statute of
limitations. See T.C.A. § 40-30-102 (1990) (repealed); Passarella v. State, 891 S.W.2d
619 (Tenn. Crim. App.), per. app. denied (Tenn. 1994).
App.), per. app. denied (Tenn. 1993) (“petitioner not entitled to an evidentiary hearing when
a ground, couched in conclusory language, is not supported by a factual allegation”).
For the reasons stated above, we conclude that the trial court did not err in
dismissing the petitioner’s petition for post-conviction relief. Accordingly, it is hereby
ordered that the judgment of the trial court is affirmed in accordance with Rule 20, Rules
of the Court of Criminal Appeals.
________________________________________
JOE B. JONES, PRESIDING JUDGE
CONCUR:
___________________________________
JOHN H. PEAY, JUDGE
___________________________________
THOMAS T. WOODALL, JUDGE