FILED

August 20, 1998

Cecil W. Crowson

Appellate Court Clerk

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT NASHVILLE

JULY SESSION, 1998

ELIZABETH SMITH, ) C.C.A. NO. 01C01-9709-CC-00436

)

Appellant, )

)

) LINCOLN COUNTY

VS. )

) HON. CHARLES LEE

STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) JUDGE

)

Appellant. ) (Post-Conviction)

ON APPEAL FROM THE JUDGMENT OF THE

CIRCUIT COURT OF LINCOLN COUNTY

FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:

ELIZABETH SMITH, PRO SE JOHN KNOX WALKUP

3881 Stewart Lane Attorney General and Reporter

Nashville, TN 37218-3302

LISA A. NAYLOR

Assistant Attorney General

425 5th Avenue North

Nashville, TN 37243

W. MICHAEL McCOWN

District Attorney General

P.O. Box 878

Fayetteville, TN 37334

OPINION FILED ________________________

AFFIRMED PURSUANT TO RULE 20

JERRY L. SMITH, JUDGE
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ORDER

Appellant Elizabeth Smith was convicted by a jury in the Lincoln County

Circuit Court on April 15, 1992 of the first degree murder of her husband. She

received a sentence of life imprisonment with the Tennessee Department of

Correction. This Court affirmed her conviction and sentence. State v. Elizabeth

Smith, C.C.A. No. 01C01-9211-CC-00362, Lincoln County (Tenn. Crim. App.,

Nashville, March 2), perm. to appeal denied, (Tenn. 1995). On appeal, she

presents the following issue for our review: whether the trial court erred in

dismissing Appellant’s petition for post-conviction relief on the ground that it was

barred by the statute of limitations.

After a review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court

pursuant to Court of Criminal Appeals Rule 20.

On August 13, 1997, Appellant filed her pro se petition for post-conviction

relief in the Lincoln County Circuit Court. In her petition, she alleged, inter alia,

ineffective assistance of counsel and ex post facto application of laws both in the

sentencing and post-conviction proceedings. The trial court dismissed the

petition without a hearing on August 9, 1997.

Prior to the adoption of the recent Post-Conviction Procedure Act, petitions

like the present one had to be filed within three years of the date of the final

action of the highest state appellate court to which an appeal was taken. Tenn.
- 3 -

Code Ann. § 40-30-102 (1995, Repl.). However, the new Post-Conviction

Procedure Act, which took effect on May 10, 1995, subsequently shortened the

three-year statute of limitations to one year. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-201 et

seq. (Supp. 1996). Appellant’s statute of limitations for the filing of a petition for

post-conviction relief began to run on June 12, 1995, the date that the Tennessee

Supreme Court denied her application to appeal, and expired one year later on

June 12, 1996. Appellant filed her petition on August 13, 1997, more than one

year after the expiration of the limitations period. We conclude that the trial court

properly dismissed the August 19, 1997 petition as being barred by the statute

of limitations.

Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s judgment pursuant to Court of

Criminal Appeals Rule 20.

____________________________________

JERRY L. SMITH, JUDGE

CONCUR:

___________________________________

PAUL G. SUMMERS, JUDGE

___________________________________

DAVID G. HAYES, JUDGE