IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT NASHVILLE

LESLIE LAMONT COLEMAN, PRO SE v. STATE OF TENNESSEE 

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Davidson County

No. 91-S-677 J. Randall Wyatt, Judge

No. M2003-01755-CCA-R3-PC - Filed October 13, 2004

The Petitioner, Leslie Lamont Coleman, appeals the trial court's dismissal of his petition for post

conviction relief. The State has filed a motion requesting that this Court affirm the trial court's

denial of relief pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Petitioner filed

his petition outside the statute of limitations. Accordingly, the State's motion is granted, and the

judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3; Judgment of the Trial Court Affirmed Pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of

the Court of Criminal Appeals

ROBERT W. WEDEMEYER,J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which DAVID H. WELLES,J.,

and JERRY L. SMITH, J., joined.

Leslie Lamont Coleman, pro se.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter; Elizabeth T. Ryan, Assistant Attorney General, for

the appellee, State of Tennessee.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This matter is before the court upon motion of the appellee, the State of Tennessee, to affirm

the judgment in this case pursuant to Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. The

petitioner is appealing the trial court's dismissal of his third petition for post-conviction relief. On

October 17, 1991, the petitioner pled guilty to felonymurder and especially aggravated robbery. The

trial court imposed a life sentence for the murder conviction and fifteen years for the especially

aggravated robbery conviction, to be served concurrently. Petitioner did not appeal the judgment.

On October 1, 1992, petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief, but it was withdrawn prior

to a hearing on the merits. On August 15, 1995, petitioner filed a second petition for post-conviction

relief, which was dismissed by the trial court as time barred. This court affirmed the dismissal on

appeal. Leslie Lamont Coleman, No. 01C01-9605-CR-00203, 1997 WL 254237 (Tenn. Crim. App.

at Nashville May 16, 1997). Petitioner filed the instant petition for post-conviction relief, his third
such petition, on May 29, 2003. The trial court dismissed the petition as being time barred by the

statute of limitations. 

Tennessee Code Annotated Section 40-30-102(a) provides that a petition for post-conviction

relief must be filed within one yearfrom final judgment. The appellant filed his petition well beyond

the time allowed by the statute, and none of the enumerated exceptions to this time limit apply in this

case. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-102(b). Under the Post-Conviction Procedure Act, exceptions

to the statute of limitations are explicitly set forth, i.e., (1) claims based upon a new rule of

constitutional law applicable to a petitioner's case, (2) claims based upon new scientific evidence

showing innocence, and (3) claims based upon sentences that were enhanced because of a previous

conviction and the previous conviction was subsequently found to be illegal. See Tenn. Code Ann.

§ 40-30-102(b)(1)-(3) (2003 Repl.). Petitioner has failed to assert one of these exceptions for tolling

the statute. He cites no new constitutional rule, refers to no new scientific evidence, and makes no

claim that an earlier conviction has been overturned. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-106(g) (2003

Repl.). Thus, no grounds exist as an exception to the statute of limitations. Moreover, the PostConviction Procedure Act does not contemplate the filing of successive petitions. The filing of only

one petition for post-conviction relief attacking a single judgment is contemplated by Tennessee

Code Annotated Section 40-30-102(c). 

Accordingly, the state's motion is hereby granted. The judgment is affirmed in accordance

with Rule 20, Rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Because the appellant is indigent, costs are

taxed to the state.

____________________________________

ROBERT W. WEDEMEYER, JUDGE