# FILED
July 18, 1997 Cecil Crowson, Jr
. App ellate C ou rt Clerk IN THE COUR

T OF CRIMIN AL APPEALS OF TENN ESSEE AT JACKSON APRIL 1997 SESSIO N

JAMES MORN ING C RAFT, ) NO. 02C01-9606- CR-00194 ) Appellant ) SHELBY COUN TY ) V. ) HON. W. FRED AXLEY , JUDGE ) STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) (Post-Conv iction) ) Appellee ) )
FOR THE APPELLANT FOR THE APPELLEE Jame s Mo rni ng C raft John Knox Walkup Cold Creek Correction al Facili ty Attorney Gen eral and Repor ter P.O. Box 1000 450 James Roberts on Parkway Henning, Tenness ee 38041-1000 Nashvil le, Tennessee 37243- 0493 Elizabeth T. Ryan Assistant Attorney Gener al 450 James Roberts on Parkway Nashvil le, Tennessee 37243- 0493 John W. Pierotti Distric t Attorney General 201 Poplar Av enue Memphis, Tennessee 38103-1947 C. Alanda Hor ne Assistant D istrict A

ttorney Gener

al 201 Poplar Av enue Memphis, Tennessee 38103-1947

OPINION FILE D:______
AFFIRMED
W illiam M. B arker, Ju dge2 Opinion The Appellant, James Morning C raft, appeals as of r ight the Shel by County Criminal C ourt’s dismi ssal of his peti tion for post-conviction relief. The petit ion was dismissed w ithout a hearin g, because i t was filed outside the appli cable statute of limitations. Although the Appe llant raises several issues on appeal, the applicab le stat ute o f lim itat ions perio d is di spos itive . Aft er revi ewing t he re cord on ap pea l, we find that the tri al court pro perly di smissed the peti tion. On January 26, 1988, the Appell ant was conv icted of felony mur der and later sentenced to life imp risonment. He unsuccessf ully appealed that conviction to this Court. State v. James

Morning Craft & Lewi s Moorlet , C.C .A. No . 31 (Te nn. Cr im. App., Jackson, Mar. 8, 1989). On Au gust 7, 1989, the Tenn essee Supreme Court denied his permi ssion to appeal. On April 24, 1992, the Appellant filed a pro se petition req uesting post
convicti on relief. After ahearing on t he merits the trial court den ied the petiti on and this Court affirmed. James Craft v . State , C.A.A. No. 02C01-9405-CR-00091 (Tenn. Crim. App., J ackson, Dec. 7, 1994). At so me point, the Appell ant filed a second petition for post-convic

tion relief w hich was dismissed in January of 1994. The Appellant filed t his third pet ition on July 11, 1996, alleg ing that the t rial court erred by allowing him to be tri ed on an inval id indictment a nd that the tri al court submi tted erroneous informat ion to the Depar tment of Correcti on. The trial court dismiss ed the petition as time barred by the statute of limitations. The Appellant’s po st-convi ction petiti on is governed by the now-repeal ed PostConvicti on Procedure Ac t. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-101 et seq (repealed 1995)

. That Act imposed a th ree year s tatute of limitati ons on post-conv iction petit ions. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40- 30-102 (repeal ed 1995). It al so provid ed that the limi tations period runs fro m the date of the final act ion of the highes t state appellate court to which an app eal is taken. Id

.3 With regard to this cas e, the final acti on of a state appellate court took pl ace on August 7, 1989, when the Ten nessee Supreme Court de nied the Appellant’s permission to appeal petition. The statute of limi tations expi red three years after that date, in Augus t of 1992. Conseq uently, the Appellant’s pet ition for post- convicti on relief, whi ch was fil ed in 1996, is b arred by t he statute of limitation. Any contenti on by the Appel lant that the new Post-Conv iction Proc edure Act, effective May 10, 1995, provided him with a one-year window of opportunity within which to fil e his post-conviction petition is meritless. Similar attempts to circumv ent the statute of limita tions in this manner have been previously rejected by panels of this Court. See Roy Barnet t v. State , C.C .A. No . 03C01 -9512- CV-00 394 (Ten n. Cr im. App., Knoxv ille, Feb. 20, 1997); Stephen Koprowski v. S tate , C.A.A. No. 03C01-9511- CC-00365 (Tenn. Crim. App., Kn oxvil le, Jan. 28, 1997) ; Johnny L. Butl er v. State , C.C.A. No. 02C01-9509-CR-00289 (Tenn. Cr im. App., Jacks on, Dec. 2, 1996)

. But
see Arnold Carter v. State , C.C.A. No . 03C01-9509-C C-00270 (Tenn. C rim. App., Knoxville, July 11, 1996). Accordingl y, we affirm the trial court’s dismi ssal of the Appell ant’s postconvicti on petition.

__________________________ WILLIAM M. BARKER, JUDG E
CONCUR:

__________________________ JOSEPH M. TIPTON , JUDGE

__________________________ DAVID G. HA

YES, JUDG E