Jabari Mandela vs.State Elizabeth Smith v. State ( 1998 )

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
AT NASHVILLE FILED
JULY SESSION, 1998 August 20, 1998
Cecil W. Crowson
ELIZABETH SMITH, ) Appellate Court Clerk
C.C.A. NO. 01C01-9709-CC-00436
)
Appe llant, )
)
) LINCOLN COUNTY
VS. )
) HON. CHARLES LEE
STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) JUDGE
)
Appe llant. ) (Post-Conviction)
ON APPEAL FROM THE JUDGMENT OF THE
CIRCUIT COURT OF LINCOLN COUNTY
FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:
ELIZABETH SMITH, PRO SE JOHN KNOX WALKUP
3881 Stewart Lane Attorney General and Reporter
Nashville, TN 37218-3302
LISA A. NAYLOR
Assistant Attorney General
425 5th Avenu e North
Nashville, TN 37243
W. MICHAEL McCOWN
District Attorney General
P.O. Box 878
Fayetteville, TN 37334
OPINION FILED ________________________
AFFIRMED PURS UANT TO RULE 20
JERRY L. SMITH, JUDGE
ORDER
Appe llant Elizabeth Smith w as con victed by a jury in the L incoln C ounty
Circu it Court on April 15, 1992 of the first degree murder of her husband. She
received a sentence of life imprisonment with the Tennessee Department of
Correction. This Co urt affirme d her co nviction a nd sen tence. State v. E lizabeth
Smith , C.C.A. No. 01C01-9211-CC -00362 , Lincoln C ounty (T enn. C rim. App .,
Nashville, March 2), perm. to appeal d enied, (Tenn. 1995). On appeal, she
presen ts the following issue for our review: w hether the trial cou rt erred in
dismissing Appellant’s petition for post-conviction relief on the ground that it was
barred by the statute of limitations.
After a review of the re cord, we affirm the judgmen t of the trial court
pursuant to Court of Criminal Appeals Rule 20.
On August 13, 1997, Appellant filed her pro se petition for post-conviction
relief in the Lin coln Co unty Circuit Court. In her petition, she alleg ed, inter alia ,
ineffective assistance of counsel and ex pos t facto application of laws b oth in the
sentencing and post-conviction proceedings. The trial court dismissed the
petition without a hearing on August 9, 1997.
Prior to the adoption of the recent Post-Conviction Procedure Act, petitions
like the pres ent one had to be filed within three years of the date of the final
action of the high est state appellate cou rt to which an appeal was taken. Tenn.
-2 -
Code Ann. § 4 0-30-10 2 (1995 , Repl.). H owever, the new Post-Conviction
Procedu re Act, which took effect on May 10, 1995, subsequently shortened the
three-year statute of limitations to one year. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-201 et
seq. (Supp. 1996). Appellant’s statute of limitations for the filing of a petition for
post-conviction relief began to run on June 1 2, 1995 , the date that the Tennessee
Supreme Court de nied he r applicatio n to appeal, and expired one year later on
June 12, 1996. Appellant filed her petition on August 13, 1997, more than one
year after the expiration of the limitations period. We conclude that the trial court
prope rly dismissed the August 19, 1997 petition as being barre d by the s tatute
of limitations.
Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s judgment pursuant to Court of
Criminal Appeals Rule 20.
____________________________________
JERRY L. SMITH, JUDGE
CONCUR:
___________________________________
PAUL G. SUMMERS, JUDGE
___________________________________
DAVID G. HAYES, JUDGE
-3 -