State v. Lester Page ( 2010 )

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
AT JACKSON FILED
JUNE 1997 SESSION July 2, 1997
Cecil Crowson, Jr.
Appellate C ourt Clerk
LESTER PAGE, )
) C.C.A. No. 02C01-9605-CR-00176
Appellant, )
) SHELBY COUNTY
VS. )
) HON. ARTHUR T. BENNETT,
) JUDGE
STATE OF TENNESSEE, )
) (Post-Conviction)
Appellee. )
FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:
LESTER PAGE (on petition) JOHN KNOX WALKUP
Pro Se Attorney General & Reporter
Federal Correctional Institute
P.O. Box 34550 ELLEN H. POLLACK
Memphis, TN 38184-0550 Assistant Attorney General
450 James Robertson Parkway
D. TYLER KELLY (appeal only) Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0493
P.O. Box 98
Jackson, Tennessee 38302 WILLIAM L. GIBBONS
District Attorney General
JENNIFER NICHOLS
Assistant District Attorney General
201 Poplar Ave. Ste. 301
Memphis, Tennessee 38103-1947
OPINION FILED: __________________
AFFIRMED
JOE G. RILEY,
JUDGE
OPINION
Petitioner, Lester Page, appeals the trial court’s summary denial of post-
conviction relief. In 1991, petitioner entered guilty pleas and was convicted of two (2)
counts of simple possession of cocaine. His effective sentence was eleven (11)
months and twenty-nine (29) days in the local correctional facility. On March 21,
1996, petitioner filed for post-conviction relief claiming that the above guilty pleas
were involuntary and unknowingly entered. Without an evidentiary hearing, the trial
court dismissed the petition as time-barred. The judgment of the trial court is
AFFIRMED.
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
Petitioner argues that he is entitled to a post-conviction hearing because the
new Post-Conviction Procedure Act extends the filing period to May 10, 1996. Under
the new Post-Conviction Procedure Act, the statute of limitations for post-conviction
relief is reduced to one (1) year. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-202 (Supp. 1996). The
Act also provides for a one (1) year grace period from May 10, 1995, to file a petition
or reopen a petition for post-conviction relief. However, the grace period does not
apply in this instance because post-conviction relief was already barred by the
statute of limitations when the legislation was enacted. Since the petitioner did not
appeal his original conviction, the judgment became final in 1991. His claim was in
existence and expired prior to enactment of the new Post- Conviction Procedure Act.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-102 (repealed by 1995 Tenn. Pub. Act 207, § 1).
The new Post-Conviction Procedure Act did not revive previously barred
claims. See Ralph Dewayne Brock v. State, C.C.A. No. 03C01-9508-CC-00247,
Sullivan County (Tenn. Crim. App. filed April 10, 1997, at Knoxville); Eric C.
Pendleton v. State, C.C.A. No. 01C01-9604-CR-00158, Davidson County (Tenn.
Crim. App. filed February 12, 1997, at Nashville); Johnny L. Butler v. State, C.C.A.
No. 02C01-9509-CR-00289, Shelby County (Tenn. Crim. App. filed December 2,
1996, at Jackson). The majority of this Court is no longer following Arnold Carter v.
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State, C.C.A. No. 03C01-9509-CC-00270, Monroe County (Tenn. Crim. App. filed
July 11, 1996, at Knoxville). Accordingly, this issue is without merit.
DUE PROCESS & EQUAL PROTECTION
Petitioner next argues that under Burford v. State, 845 S.W.2d 204 (Tenn.
1992), the former three-year statute of limitations violates due process and equal
protection because he was never advised that his convictions could later be used to
enhance sentences for future crimes. As a result, he contends his 1991 guilty pleas
were unknowingly and involuntarily entered.
The facts and circumstances of this case do not amount to a later arising
claim under Burford v. State, supra. Jimmy Lee Key v. State, C.C.A. No. 03C01-
9509-CC-00277, Knox County (Tenn. Crim. App. filed March 27, 1997, at Knoxville).
Furthermore, the right to be informed of the enhancement possibilities of one’s plea
is not constitutional in nature and not subject to post-conviction relief. State v.
Adkins, 911 S.W.2d 334, 348 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1994). The petition was properly
dismissed.
The judgment of the trial court is AFFIRMED.
___________________________
JOE G. RILEY, JUDGE
CONCUR:
_________________________
PAUL G. SUMMERS, JUDGE
_________________________
DAVID H. WELLES, JUDGE
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