State v. David Sharp ( 1999 )

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
AT JACKSON
JANUARY 1999 SESSION
FILED
April 22, 1999
Cecil Crowson, Jr.
Appellate C ourt Clerk
DAVID HOLLIS SHARP, )
) C.C.A. No. 02C01-9807-CR-00225
Appellant, )
) Shelby County
V. )
) Honorable James C. Beasley, Jr., Judge
)
STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) (Post-Conviction)
)
Appellee. )
FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:
DAVID HOLLIS SHARP, Pro Se JOHN KNOX WALKUP
Cold Creek Correctional Facility Attorney General & Reporter
P.O. Box 1000
Henning, TN 38014-1000 CLINTON J. MORGAN
Counsel for the State
425 Fifth Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37243-0493
WILLIAM L. GIBBONS
District Attorney General
Criminal Justice Center
201 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, TN 38103
OPINION FILED: ___________________
AFFIRMED
JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS,
Judge
OPINION
The petitioner, David Hollis Sharp, appeals from a judgment of the Shelby
County Criminal Court dismissing his petition for post-conviction relief. We
AFFIRM the judgment of the trial court.
On June 6, 1979, the petitioner was convicted of three counts of first
degree burglary and two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct.
This Court affirmed the petitioner’s conviction on direct appeal. See State v.
Sharp, 604 S.W.2d 886 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1980). The Tennessee Supreme
Court denied permission to appeal on July 28, 1980.
On May 22, 1998, the petitioner filed a pro se petition for post-conviction
relief challenging his convictions of first degree criminal sexual conduct. The
petitioner alleges (1) that he was denied effective assistance of counsel at trial,
(2) that criminal sexual conduct was not a “substantive criminal offense”
proscribed by the Tennessee Code, (3) that the trial court erred in failing to
instruct the jury as to lesser included offenses, and (4) that the indictments were
defective for failing to allege the requisite mens rea.
Finding the petition barred by the statute of limitation, the trial court
dismissed the petition without an evidentiary hearing. See Donehue v. State,
963 S.W.2d 766, 767-68 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1997) (A trial court may dismiss a
petition for post-conviction relief filed after the applicable statute of limitations
without an evidentiary hearing.).
The evidence does not preponderate against the findings of the trial court,
and we find no error of law mandating reversal. Therefore, pursuant to Rule 20
of the Court of Criminal Appeals, we AFFIRM the judgment of the trial court.
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_____________________________
JOHN EVERETT W ILLIAMS, Judge
CONCUR:
_____________________________
DAVID G. HAYES, Judge
_____________________________
JOE G. RILEY, Judge
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