IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT JACKSON

January 8, 2019 Session

CORDARIUS MAXWELL v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Madison County

No. C-17-308 Donald H. Allen, Judge

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No. W2018-00318-CCA-R3-PC

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J. ROSS DYER, J., dissenting.

I conclude that the post-conviction court properly dismissed the petition for failing 

to comply with the mandates of Tennessee Code Annotated § 40-30-104(d), (e) and 

Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 28 § 5(E)(2). Therefore, I respectfully dissent from the 

majority’s opinion reversing the post-conviction court’s dismissal of the petition.

A petition for post-conviction relief and any amended petition “shall be verified 

under oath.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-104(e); see Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 28 § 5(E)(2) 

(requiring that a post-conviction petition include an affidavit from the petitioner). “It is

imperative that factual allegations be made and that the petition be verified as true under 

oath.” Hutcherson v. State, 75 S.W.3d 929, 931 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2001). The purpose 

of this requirement is to “deter or to reduce intentionally false allegations primarily made 

by petitioners by exposing them to aggravated perjury charges,” which ultimately results 

in a more efficient use of the judicial system. Sexton v. State, 151 S.W.3d 525, 530 

(Tenn. Crim. App. 2004). “Whether prepared by a petitioner or by counsel, the petition 

and its amendments must be verified under oath.” Id.

Here, the petitioner’s counsel filed the petition for post-conviction relief on 

November 16, 2017, absent a verification oath signed by the petitioner. On December 6, 

2017, the State filed a response indicating, among other things, that the petition “fails to 

meet the mandates of Tennessee Code Annotated § 40-30-104(c), (d), (e), (f), (g) and 

must be dismissed.” Despite being on notice the petition lacked a verification oath, see 

Tennessee Code Annotated § 40-30-104(d), (e), the petitioner failed to attempt to correct 

his error. Then, on January 25, 2017, fifty days after the State filed its motion to dismiss, 

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the post-conviction court entered an order dismissing the petition for failing to include a 

signed verification oath.

Although the petitioner’s counsel prepared the petition for post-conviction relief, 

the petitioner was required to verify the petition under oath but failed to do so. “Petitions 

which are incomplete shall be filed by the clerk, but shall be completed as set forth in an 

order entered in accordance with § 40-30-106(d).” Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-104(b).

Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-30-106(d) provides that if “the petition was filed 

pro-se, the judge may enter an order stating that the petitioner must file an amended 

petition that complies with this section within fifteen (15) days or the petition will be 

dismissed.” Furthermore, “[n]o pro se petition shall be dismissed for failure to follow the 

prescribed form until the court has given petitioner a reasonable opportunity to amend the 

petition with the assistance of counsel.” Tenn. S. Ct. R. 28 § 6(B)(4)(b). While I 

understand and respect the majority opinion’s position that allowing a pro se litigant the 

opportunity to amend while not allowing a petitioner represented by counsel the same 

could “discourage[] a petitioner from seeking the assistance of counsel before filing a 

post-conviction petition,” the principles of statutory construction require me to presume 

both the Tennessee Supreme Court and our legislature were aware of this potential 

“conflict” yet purposefully chose not to create an exception for those represented by 

counsel. I believe I am constrained to follow the law as promulgated by our legislature 

and our supreme court. 

In reaching this result, I also feel it necessary to address the timeline of events and 

the notice of deficiency provided to the petitioner. The majority seems to suggest the 

State’s “notice” was not sufficient and the petitioner only received notice of the 

deficiency upon receiving the post-conviction court’s order. I do not believe the record 

supports this conclusion. First, the State’s December 6, 2017 motion to dismiss clearly 

stated that the petition did not meet the mandates of Tenn. Code Ann. 40-30-108 and 

provided the sections of the statute it relied on. Therefore, the petitioner was on notice 

upon receiving the State’s motion. Second, as to the sufficiency of the State’s notice,

other than requiring the State to admit or deny each allegation and to assert any 

affirmative defenses, neither the rule nor the statute give specific direction or guidelines 

as to how the State’s answer or motion should be worded. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-

108; Tenn. S. Ct. R. 28 § 5(G). While the State did not elaborate by directly quoting the 

sections, the State specifically plead that the petition “fails to meet the mandates of 

Tennessee Code Annotated § 40-30-104(c), (d), (e), (f), (g) and must be dismissed.”1 

 

1

The sections of Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-20-104 applicable here state,

(d) The petitioner shall include all claims known to the petitioner for granting postconviction relief and shall verify under oath that all the claims are included.
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Thus, unlike the petition in this matter, the State’s response complied with the statute and 

was not deficient. 

As noted above, fifty days lapsed between the filing of the State’s motion to 

dismiss, which placed the petitioner and counsel on notice of the deficiencies, and the 

trial court entering an order of summary dismissal for the same. At no point during those 

fifty days did the petitioner or his attorney attempt to amend or correct the deficiencies in 

his filing. The failure to verify the petition could have easily been corrected prior to the 

post-conviction court’s order of dismissal. Accordingly, I would affirm the postconviction court’s judgment. 

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 J. ROSS DYER, JUDGE

 

(e) The petitioner shall include allegations of fact supporting each claim for relief 

set forth in the petition and allegations of fact explaining why each ground for 

relief was not previously presented in any earlier proceeding. The petition and any 

amended petition shall be verified under oath. Affidavits, records or other

evidence available to the petitioner supporting the allegations of the petition may 

be attached to it.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-104(d), (e) (emphasis added).