IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT JACKSON

Assigned on Briefs November 5, 2019

JEFFREY MCCOY v. STATE OF TENNESSEE

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Gibson County

No. 19202 Clayburn Peeples, Judge

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No. W2019-00574-CCA-R3-PC

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The Petitioner, Jeffrey McCoy, pleaded guilty to theft of property valued at $10,000 or 

more and three counts of burglary of a building other than a habitation. The trial court 

imposed a twelve-year effective sentence to be served consecutively to a previous 

sentence in South Carolina. The Petitioner appeals the post-conviction court’s summary 

dismissal of his pro se petition for post-conviction relief. The Petitioner maintains that 

the post-conviction court erred in finding that the petition was barred by the statute of 

limitations. The State concedes error. After a review of the record and applicable law, 

we reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand for appointment of 

counsel and further proceedings consistent with the Post-Conviction Procedure Act. 

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court Reversed; 

Case Remanded

JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS, P.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which CAMILLE R.

MCMULLEN and ROBERT L. HOLLOWAY, JR., JJ., joined.

Jeffrey McCoy, Columbia, South Carolina, pro se.

Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Senior Assistant 

Attorney General; Garry G. Brown, District Attorney General; and Jason C. Scott, 

Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 13, 2016, the Petitioner pleaded guilty to theft of property valued at 

$10,000 or more and three counts of burglary of a building other than a habitation. 

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Following a sentencing hearing on December 2, 2016, the trial court sentenced the 

Petitioner to an effective sentence of twelve years. State v. Jeffrey Glynn McCoy, No. 

W2016-01619-CCA-R3-CD, 2017 WL 6507232, at *1 (Tenn. Crim. App. Dec. 17, 

2017), perm. app. denied (Tenn. Apr. 23, 2018). The Petitioner appealed his sentence,

and this court denied relief. Id. Subsequently, the Petitioner filed an application for 

permission to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court, which was denied on April 23, 

2018. 

On September 5, 2018, the Petitioner filed a pro se petition for post-conviction 

relief, in which he alleged that trial counsel was ineffective. In the petition, the Petitioner 

noted both his appeal to this court and the denial of permission to appeal to the Tennessee 

Supreme Court. The State filed a response, asserting that the petition was barred by the 

statute of limitations because over one year had elapsed from the time the Petitioner was 

sentenced until he filed his petition for post-conviction relief. The State’s response failed 

to mention the Petitioner’s direct appeal to this court or his application for permission to 

appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court. On March 13, 2019, the post-conviction court 

entered an order dismissing the petition, finding that it was not timely filed. The postconviction court noted that the Petitioner was sentenced on December 2, 2016, and did 

not file his petition for post-conviction relief until September 4, 2018. 

On March 15, 2019, after the post-conviction court had entered its order, the 

Petitioner filed a reply to the State’s response, again noting that the Tennessee Supreme 

Court’s final action denying him permission to appeal was entered on April 23, 2018, and 

that his petition for post-conviction relief was filed on September 5, 2018, clearly within 

the one-year statute of limitations. The post-conviction court entered a second order 

again dismissing the petition on the same grounds. The Petitioner now appeals the postconviction court’s summary dismissal of his petition. 

ANALYSIS 

The Petitioner asserts that his petition for post-conviction relief was timely, and 

the State concedes that the post-conviction court erred. This court reviews a postconviction court’s summary dismissal of a post-conviction petition de novo. See Burnett 

v. State, 92 S.W.3d 403, 406 (Tenn. 2002). The Post-Conviction Procedure Act requires 

that a petition for post-conviction relief be filed “within one (1) year of the date of the 

final action of the highest state appellate court to which an appeal is taken or, if no appeal 

is taken, within one (1) year of the date on which the judgment became final.” T.C.A. § 

40-30-102(a). The Tennessee Supreme Court denied the Petitioner permission to appeal 

this court’s decision on April 23, 2018. The Petitioner filed his petition for postconviction relief on September 5, 2018, within the one-year statute of limitations. 
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As noted by the State in its brief, the post-conviction court’s order also failed to 

satisfy the requirements articulated in Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-30-106(b). 

Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-30-106(b) requires a post-conviction court’s order 

dismissing a petition as untimely to “state or the record shall reflect the date of 

conviction, whether an appeal was taken, the name of each court to which an appeal was 

taken, the date of final action by each appellate court, and the date upon which the 

petition was filed.” The post-conviction court’s order failed to meet these requirements 

because the order did not discuss whether an appeal was taken, the name of the courts in 

which the Petitioner sought relief, and the dates of the final actions taken by those courts. 

Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the post-conviction court and remand for 

appointment of counsel and further proceedings consistent with the Post-Conviction 

Procedure Act. 

JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS, PRESIDING JUDGE