Zachary Robinson v. State ( 1999 )

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
AT KNOXVILLE FILED
FEBRUARY 1999 SESSION
March 31, 1999
Cecil Crowson, Jr.
Appellate C ourt Clerk
ZACHARY ROBINSON, )
alias CRUSADER, ) C.C.A. No. 03C01-9804-CR-00166
)
Appellant, ) Knox County
)
v. ) Honorable Ray L. Jenkins, Judge
)
STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) (Habeas Corpus)
)
Appellee. )
FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:
Zachary Robinson, pro se John Knox Walkup
Reg. No. 12404-074 Attorney General & Reporter
Qtr. Cla 1-B 425 Fifth Avenue North
P. O. Box 4000 Nashville, TN 37243-0493
Manchester, KY 40962-4000
Ellen H. Pollack
Assistant Attorney General
425 Fifth Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37243-0493
Randall E. Nichols
District Attorney General
400 Main Street
Knoxville, TN 37901-1468
OPINION FILED: ________________________________
AFFIRMED PURSUANT TO RULE 20
L. T. LAFFERTY, SENIOR JUDGE
OPINION
The petitioner, Zachary C. Robinson, alias Crusader, appeals as of right from the
trial court’s dismissal of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. After a review of the record,
briefs of the parties, and appropriate law, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
On April 1, 1998, the petitioner filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus with
the Knox County Criminal Court. Apparently, the petitioner is confined in a federal penal
institution in Manchester, Kentucky, for federal offenses. In essence, the petitioner is
seeking post-conviction relief from a conviction for aggravated assault, pursuant to a guilty
plea, on September 4, 1986, in the Knox County Criminal Court. In his petition, the
petitioner complains that: (a) his guilty plea was tainted by the trial court’s failure to follow
the mandates of State v. Mackey, 553 S.W.2d 337 (Tenn. 1977), and Tenn. Code Ann. §
40-30-105, and, more specifically, the future ramifications of a guilty plea; and (b) he was
denied the effective assistance of counsel. The trial court dismissed the petition for post-
conviction relief as being barred by the statute of limitations.
The petitioner’s brief consists of a copy of the original petition filed in the Knox
County Criminal Court. The state contends that the statute of limitations for the petitioner’s
petition had expired when it was filed. We agree.
The trial court properly considered this request for a writ of habeas corpus as a
petition for post-conviction relief. All post-conviction relief petitions filed after May 10,
1995 are governed by the Post-Conviction Procedure Act of 1995. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-
30-201, Compiler’s Notes (Supp. 1996). Post-conviction relief must be sought 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 the judgment
became final. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-202(a) (Supp. 1996).
Here, the petitioner filed his petition under the 1995 Act, and the one-year statute
of limitations applies. Even under the pre-1995 statute, the petitioner’s petition would be
subject to dismissal, since the petitioner failed to file the petition by September, 1989, three
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years from the entry of his guilty plea. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-101, et seq. (repealed
1995); State v. Douglas Mattes, No. 01C01-9609-CC-00398 (Tenn. Crim. App., Nashville,
August 22, 1997), per. app. denied (Tenn. 1998). The petitioner’s incarceration in another
state does not toll the statute of limitations. Brown v. State, 928 S.W.2d 453, 457 (Tenn.
Crim. App. 1996).
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed pursuant to Rule 20 of the Tennessee
Court of Criminal Appeals.
________________________________________
L. T. LAFFERTY, SENIOR JUDGE
CONCUR:
___________________________________
JERRY L. SMITH, JUDGE
___________________________________
THOMAS T. WOODALL, JUDGE
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