Title: Lock v. State

State: indiana

Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court

Document:

338 N.E.2d 262 (1975)
Donald Allen LOCK, Appellant (Defendant below),
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff below).
No. 475S105.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
December 10, 1975.
*263 Thomas L. Ryan, Fort Wayne, for appellant.
Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., J. Roland Duvall, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
HUNTER, Justice.
Petitioner-appellant Lock pleaded guilty to two counts of rape in 1963. He was sentenced to one year on the State Farm,[1] which term was served. In August, 1974, petitioner launched a collateral attack upon these convictions pursuant to Post-Conviction Remedy Rule 2. His petition for permission to file a belated motion for a new trial and his motion to correct errors were denied by the trial court. Upon the filing of his appeal, he sought transfer to this Court under the provisions of Ind. Rules of Appellate Procedure, Appellate Rule 4(A)(10), which provides:
We now grant transfer, and for the reasons stated below, order this appeal dismissed.
Petitioner presently stands charged with first-degree murder. Long after he pleaded guilty to the charges of rape and served his term, the legislature enacted IC 1971, XX-XX-X-X, Ind. Ann. Stat. § 10-3401 (Burns Supp. 1974), which provides in part:
Disregarding any questions of constitutionality of this statute, or its application to appellant  questions which he will have ample opportunity to present to the trial court  it remains obvious that if appellant's "prior unrelated convictions of rape" rest upon invalid pleas of guilt, he should be afforded the opportunity to so demonstrate and thereby remove himself from the class of those doomed to death.
The preferred procedural mechanism for adjudicating post-conviction claims relating to guilty pleas is not, however, the filing of a belated motion to correct errors under P.C. Rule 2, as was here filed and denied. Rather, the proper method is the filing of a petition for post-conviction relief pursuant to P.C. Rule 1. As we stated in Crain v. State (1973), Ind., 301 N.E.2d 751:
Appellant's petition to transfer is granted. The appeal from denial of relief under P.C. Rule 2 is dismissed without prejudice to appellant's rights to challenge his pleas of guilty under P.C. Rule 1. The order issuing from this Court on April 28, 1975, and restraining the Judge of the Marshall Superior Court from commencing trial of appellant in cause number SCR 74-84 is hereby dissolved.
GIVAN, C.J., and ARTERBURN, DeBRULER and PRENTICE, JJ., concur.
[1]  Appellant was sixteen years old when sentenced, and was sentenced under the minor's statute, IC 1971, 35-8-3-1, Ind. Ann. Stat. § 9-1815 (Burns 1956 Repl.).