IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON SEPTEMBER 1997 SESSION FILED September 16, 1997 Cecil Crowson, Jr. Appellate C ourt Clerk LAIRD PAYNE, also known as ) MICHAEL GREGG, ) No. 02-C-01-9611-CR-00394 ) APPELLANT, ) Shelby County ) v. ) Bernie Weinman, Judge ) STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) (Post-Conviction) ) APPELLEE. ) FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE: Laird Payne, Pro Se John Knox Walkup Northwest Correctional Center Attorney General & Reporter Route 1, Box 660 500 Charlotte Avenue Tiptonville, TN 38079 Nashville, TN 37243-0497 Georgia Blythe Felner Assistant Attorney General 450 James Robertson Parkway Nashville, TN 37243-0493 William L. Gibbons District Attorney General 201 Poplar Avenue, Suite 3-01 Memphis, TN 38103 Glen C. Baity Assistant District Attorney General 201 Poplar Avenue, Suite 3-01 Memphis, TN 38103 OPINION FILED: ____________________________ AFFIRMED PURSUANT TO RULE 20 Joe B. Jones, Presiding Judge OPINION The appellant, Laird Payne, also known as Michael Gregg, (petitioner), appeals as of right from a judgment of the trial court summarily dismissing his suit for post-conviction relief. The trial court dismissed the proceeding because it was barred by the statute of limitations. The petition states upon its face that the petitioner was convicted of aggravated rape on February 4, 1987 and sentenced to confinement for sixty (60) years in the Department of Correction. His appeal as of right to this Court resulted in his conviction and sentence being affirmed on December 9, 1987. The Supreme Court denied the petitioner’s application for permission to appeal on April 4, 1988. The petitioner did not file the present suit until August 12, 1996, more than eight (8) years after the final action of the Supreme Court. The petitioner contends the sentence imposed was illegal and he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. The right to litigate these issues is barred by the statute of limitations. There is nothing contained in the petition or attached to the petition which establishes the sentence imposed was illegal. After a thorough review of the record, the briefs submitted by the parties, and the law governing the issues presented for review, it is the opinion of this Court that the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed pursuant to Rule 20, Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. ________________________________________ JOE B. JONES, PRESIDING JUDGE CONCUR: ___________________________________ DAVID H. WELLES, JUDGE ___________________________________ JOE G. RILEY, JUDGE 2