# FILED
December 17, 1997 Cecil W. Crowson Appellate Cou rt Clerk IN THE COURT OF CR IMINAL A PPEALS OF TENN ESSEE AT NASHVILLE NOVEMBER 1997 SESSION

DONNIE CARPENTER, ) ) C.C.A. NO. 01C 01-9703-CC-00114 Appellant, ) ) MAURY COUNTY VS. ) ) HON. JAMES L. WEATHERFORD, STATE OF TENN ESSEE, ) JUDGE ) Appellee. ) (Post-conviction)

FOR THE APPE LLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:
SHARA FLA

CY JOHN KNOX WALKUP Public Defender Attorney General & Repor ter WILLIAM C. BRIGHT CLI NTO N J. MOR GAN Asst. Public Defender Counsel for the State P.O. Box 1208 450 Jame s Roberts on Pkwy. Pulaski, TN 38478 Nashville, TN 37243-0493 MIKE BOTTOMS District Attorney General ROBERT C. SANDERS Asst. District Attor

ney General P.O. Box 1619 Columbia, TN 38401

OPINION FILED:____________________

AFFIRMED JOHN H. PEAY, Judge1 As of M ay 10, 199 5, the tim ing for filing su ch a pe tition was re duced to one yea r from the date the c onvic tion b eca me final. 2 O P I N I O N

The petition er pled gui lty t o first -degree murder on September 23, 1986. He received a sentence of life i mprisonment. On August 21, 1991, he filed a petition for post-convictionrelief. Counsel was app ointed and an amended petition was filed on November

20, 1996. The petition was di smissed thefollowing day because it was filed outside the statute of limitations. The peti tioner now appeals and arg ues that the postconviction court erred when it dismissed his petition. We disagree an d a ffirm the judgmen t of the c ourt belo w.

In his p ost-co nviction petition, the petitioner alleges that hi s trial counsel
was ineffective and that his gui lty plea wasnot entered freely and vol untarily. He alleged in his petition that his counsel told him he would be out of pri son in six years when in actualit y, he would have to serv e seventeen years before bec om ing el igible for parole. He further allegedthat because he only has a seventh grade education, he was unaware that he had to bring these complai nts before the court withi n three years of his conviction becoming final. Thus, he argues that his petition should not bebarred for falling outside the statute of limitations.

At the time

the petitioner was conv icted, he had three years from the date his conviction became final to file his post-conviction petition. T.C.A. § 40-30-102 (1990). 1 His petition was fil ed nearly five year s afte r he ple d guilty; thus he is clearly outside the limitations period. H owever, the petitioner urges this Court to

dispense with the timing requirement beca use the petitioner was i ll-educated and was unable to hire an attorney to help him understand the legal process. This Court has previously hel d that3

ignorance of the statute of limitations is not an excu se for failing to timely file a postconviction petition. Brown v. State , 928 S.W.2d 453, 45 6 ( Te nn . C ri m. Ap p. 19 96 ). We have also held that the statute of limitations is not aff ected by when a petitioner “learns” that his constitutional rights might have been viol ated. Passarella v. State , 891 S.W.2d 619, 625 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1994). As this Court has prev iously stated, The Post-Conviction Pro cedure Act is not a constitutionally mandated procedure and this Court has repeatedly held that the legislature could pr ope rlyimpose limitations upon the time in which the cause of action arising under the act must be brought. There is nothing in the act to indicat e that the legislature intended for this provision to apply onlyto certain petitioners. For this Court to now attemp t to carve exceptionswould defeat the purpose of the act. We are not prepared to hold that the facts alleged by the petitioner tolled the running of the three year limitation. Melvin Douglas Boyle v.State , No, 02C01-9201-CC-00003, Fayette County (Tenn. Crim

. App. filed Nov. 18, 1992, at Jackson).

Thus, we affirm the t rial court’s dismiss al of the petition due to its hav ing been filed outside the statute of limitatio ns.

_ ___________

____________________ _ JOHN H. PEAY, Judge

CONCUR:

______________________________ JOSEPH M. TIPT ON, Judge

______________________________ DAVID H. WELLES, Judge4