Title: Gregory v. State

State: indiana

Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court

Document:

463 N.E.2d 464 (1984)
Lonnie GREGORY, Appellant (Defendant below),
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below).
No. 4-483A115PS. 584S202PS.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
May 29, 1984.
Lonnie Gregory, pro se.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Michael Gene Worden, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
PRENTICE, Justice.
This cause is before us upon the petition of Gregory, the Appellant, to transfer it from the Court of Appeals, Fourth District, that court having decided the matter by a decision and opinion published at 456 N.E.2d 1072 (Young, J., dissenting).
The aforesaid decision, holding that a petitioner in a proceeding under Post Conviction Rule 1 has the burden of disproving laches once the State raises the defense by pleading, contravenes ruling precedent of this Court, i.e. Frazier v. State, (1975) 263 Ind. 614, 335 N.E.2d 623 and Twyman v. State, (1984) Ind., 459 N.E.2d 705. Transfer is, therefore, granted and said decision and opinion of the Court of Appeals is now ordered vacated.
On February 21, 1974, Gregory was convicted, upon his plea of guilty, of entering to commit burglary. On September 21, 1982, he filed his petition for post conviction relief in the trial court. The State filed an affirmative answer, alleging laches in view of Gregory's delay in excess of eight years in seeking post conviction relief.
At the hearing upon his petition, Gregory merely identified himself and introduced the record of the guilty plea hearing, thereby making a prima facie case for relief. The State did not cross-examine him, and he rested his case offering no further evidence. The State thereupon rested without offering any evidence.
The Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law reveal that the trial court denied Gregory's petition upon the basis of laches, inferred from the delay in seeking relief, concerning which no evidence had been presented.
At the time the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment herein, Twyman v. State, (1983) Ind. App., 452 N.E.2d 434, was pending in this Court on Twyman's Petition to Transfer. This appeal was decided by the Court of Appeals in conformity with its decision in Twyman and earlier cases, and its interpretation of our decision in Frazier v. State, (1975) 263 Ind. 614, 335 N.E.2d 623. Thereafter, however, we granted transfer in Twyman (DeBruler, J., dissenting on another issue), vacated the Court of Appeals opinion and reversed the trial court. Chief Justice Givan, for the majority, wrote:
Twyman v. State, (1983) Ind. 459 N.E.2d 705, 711-12 (Emphasis ours).
Our decision here is controlled by Twyman. The judgment of the trial court is reversed and the case is remanded with instructions to grant Gregory a new trial upon his petition.
GIVAN, C.J., and HUNTER and DEBRULER, JJ., concur.
PIVARNIK, J., dissents.